Raleigh brings her waifish, Audrey Hepburn looks and a vintage Southern Gothic sensibility to the band’s style. Her lyrics come from some deep, dark place. The guys' instrumentation and arrangements are determinedly rootsy and acoustic, layering textures of riffs and vocal harmonies. They all share a musical sympathy, sounding at once like they are testing and discovering, a unique voice with stories to tell, steadily gaining ground and generating quite a buzz.
It’s a fine day in Scarlet Furyville.
Heart-Shaped Box
The Scarlet Furies Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak
I′ve been locked inside your heart-shaped box for weeks
I've been drawn into your magnet tar-pit trap
I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black
Hey! Wait!
I′ve got a new complaint
Forever in debt to your priceless advice
I've got a new complaint
Forever in debt to your priceless advice
Your advice
Meat-eating orchids forgive no one just yet
Cut myself on angel's hair and baby′s breath
Broken hymen of your highness I′m left back
Throw down your umbilical noose so I can climb right back
Hey! Wait!
I've got a new complaint
Forever in debt to your priceless advice
Hey! Wait!
I′ve got a new complaint
Forever in debt to your priceless advice
Your advice
Hey! Wait!
Hey! Wait!
Hey! Wait!
"Heart-Shaped Box" is a song by American rock band Nirvana that was released in 1993 as a single from their album In Utero. The lyrics of the song are quite obscure and open to interpretation, but it is widely believed that it was written by Kurt Cobain about his tumultuous relationship with his wife Courtney Love. The song contains various metaphors and enigmatic lines that lend themselves to multiple interpretations.
The first line "She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak" refers to the astrological sign and is used metaphorically to suggest that the woman in question is looking at him with compassion or empathy when he is feeling vulnerable. The second line "I've been locked inside your heart-shaped box for weeks" is interpreted as Kurt's feeling of being trapped and controlled by his partner. The "heart-shaped box" can be seen as a symbol of the relationship, and the fact that he has been locked inside it for weeks suggests that he has been struggling to escape.
The lines "Meat-eating orchids forgive no one just yet, cut myself on angel's hair and baby's breath" are among the most puzzling in the song. The imagery of meat-eating orchids is a reference to the movie The Little Shop of Horrors, wherein a plant eats human flesh. The second line might be a reference to the death of his friend and fellow musician Jennifer Finch's cat Angel, or perhaps as is often believed, to the use of heroin, as "baby's breath" is a slang term for H. The song closes with the lines "Throw down your umbilical noose so I can climb right back" and "Forever in debt to your priceless advice" this refers to his need to detach himself from the constraints of the controlling relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak
When I am vulnerable, she looks at me with a cold and uncaring gaze, like a Pisces.
I've been locked inside your heart-shaped box for weeks
I have been trapped in your love, unable to escape, for what feels like an eternity.
I've been drawn into your magnet tar-pit trap
Your magnetic pull has ensnared me, leaving me stuck like an animal in tar.
I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black
I wish I could take away your suffering and pain, even if it meant consuming it myself.
Hey! Wait! I've got a new complaint
Hold on a minute, I need to express my latest grievance with you.
Forever in debt to your priceless advice
I am eternally grateful for your wise words and guidance, and can never repay you enough for them.
Your advice
Your wise counsel and suggestions have been invaluable to me.
Meat-eating orchids forgive no one just yet
Even the plants, like the orchids, that consume nutrients from others are not yet ready to forgive.
Cut myself on angel's hair and baby's breath
I have hurt myself with things that are supposed to be pure and innocent, like the hair of an angel and the breath of a baby.
Broken hymen of your highness I'm left back
I have been rejected and left behind by someone of royal status, like the bursting of a hymen during virginity loss.
Throw down your umbilical noose so I can climb right back
Release me from the ties that bind me to you, so that I can climb back up and start anew.
Hey! Wait!
Hold on a minute!
Hey! Wait!
Hold on a minute!
Hey! Wait!
Hold on a minute!
Writer(s): Kurt Cobain
Contributed by Mason D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.