I Don't Want You to Die
The Flaming Lips Lyrics

Well it’s a funny thing when your friends are chasing you
It's amusing when your friends chase you - like in a game of tag.

Like you hit one of them in the balls and stuff like that
It's usually something innocent that caused them to chase you - like accidentally hitting them during play.

Most times they’ll stop chasing you after a while when they can’t catch you
Normally, if you outrun your friends, they'll get tired and stop chasing you eventually.

But cops don’t do that and, and, and I found out the hard way
Police officers are different - they won't stop chasing you even if they can't catch you. The singer learned this lesson the hard way.

But, but they proceeded to tell an old lady to go back inside
The cops instructed an innocent old woman to retreat to her home, presumably out of concern for her safety.

And right when they were fixing to go through the door
The officers were preparing to enter a building or house.

They pulled the drummer down and slammed him on the ground
The police officers forcefully tackled the drummer and threw him to the ground.

Slammed him, slammed him
The force of the attack was repeated and intense.

Needless to say the crowd went a little crazy
Understandably, the onlookers were alarmed and upset by the police brutality they witnessed.

And so did the cops, they were in a frenzy
The officers were also acting erratically and with great intensity.

They came in and started macing everybody
The police officers used pepper spray on the crowd indiscriminately.

About that time, macing
The situation was escalating, with more and more people being victimized by the officers' indiscriminate use of pepper spray.

Bombing, macing, whatever you need to bug…you the bugs all night, your house
The cops were acting like pests, using excessive force and weaponry to assert their authority.

So he comes through, one cop comes through
A single officer entered the singer's personal space.

Bumps me on the back
The cop made physical contact with the singer, in a way that felt intrusive.

Without even thinking
The officer didn't seem to consider or care about the singer's response to his touch.

In my primal rage stage I was inebriated with alcohol,
The singer was under the influence of alcohol, which may have affected his judgment and emotional state.

That is it, that is it
The cop's actions were the final straw for the singer.

And young, young vitality, vitality
The singer was youthful and felt invigorated by the chaos of the moment.

And I don’t even think, and I grab the cop from behind
Without much thought or planning, the singer impulsively grabbed the officer from behind.

And he, and he and I was like what are you doing man?
The singer was confused and agitated by the cop's behavior, and demanded answers.

And he turns around and proceeds to mace me right in my face
The cop reacted aggressively by spraying the singer in the face with pepper spray.

Not even a foot, away from my face
The singer was in extremely close proximity to the officer when he was sprayed with pepper spray.

So I stop thinking, I just take off running
The singer's instincts took over, and he fled the scene as fast as he could.

I was actually high-stepping, it was like
The singer was running so quickly that he was practically skipping or dancing in order to keep up his pace.

My buddy said he saw me, and I was like he saw some
The singer's friend witnessed him running away, but may not have recognized him due to how quickly he was moving.

Long legged creature just like
The singer's movements were compared to those of a strange and lanky creature.

He took a base high stepping
The singer's friend observed him taking long and exaggerated strides, as if he were running around a baseball diamond.

Going down sixth street, stop tinkling
The singer was running down a street called Sixth, and may have accidentally urinated due to the stress of the situation.

So I stopped and turned around
Eventually, the singer decided to stop running and confront the officers once again.

Because they caught me, because they caught me
Despite his best efforts, the police officers were able to catch up to the singer and apprehend him.

And proceeded to take me to the ground
The officers used physical force to knock the singer to the ground and subdue him.

And taser me, taser me, taser me
As an additional form of punishment, the officers used a taser on the singer multiple times, causing him great pain and distress.

Tasered and maced, uh, pretty good
The singer was subjected to extreme police brutality, including being pepper sprayed and tased numerous times.