Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain once described Kelly and McKee as his "most favorite songwriters in the whole world".
The band released two singles, "Son of a Gun" and "Dying for It", prior to releasing an album. In 1989 they released their only album, Dum Dum, on the record label Rough Trade. Following the closing of the record label 53rd and 3rd, which they had originally signed to, the band broke up in 1990. However, they reunited later that year to open for Nirvana when they played in Edinburgh.
Though they were not widely known when the band existed, covers of their songs by Nirvana and Kurt Cobain's tendency to mention them as an influence brought exposure to the band. With their songs "Son of a Gun" and "Molly's Lips" covered on Nirvana's album Incesticide and "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" covered as "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" on MTV Unplugged in New York, the band gained a new audience from people who wanted to discover the bands that influenced Cobain (a similar situation happened to the band The Meat Puppets). Due to this new exposure, in 1992 Sub Pop released The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History, a compilation that contained The Vaselines' entire body of work on one album.
No longer together, members of the band moved on to new bands. Kelly went on to found the band Captain America (later renamed Eugenius). He currently performs solo. McKee founded the band Suckle and released her first solo album, Sunny Moon, in 2006.
In 2008, the band reformed and began to make sporadic appearences at festivals in the United Kingdom and the United States and various tours supporting Belle and Sebastian. The band will perform at the Belle and Sebastian's second Bowlie Weekender festival in December 2010.
In 2010, the band announced they would release their second album "Sex With An X" on September 14, 2010 on Sub Pop Records.
You Think You're a Man
The Vaselines Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You are only a boy.
You think you're a man
You are only a toy.
You think you're a man
But you just couldn't see
You weren't man enough to satisfy me.
You are only a boy.
You think you're a man
You are only a toy.
You think you're a man
But you just couldn't see
You weren't man enough to satisfy me.
Man
Boy
Man
Boy
Man
Boy
Man
Boy
You think you're a man,
But you're only a boy.
You think you're a man
But you're only a toy.
You think you're a man
But you just couldn't see
You weren't man enough to satisfy me.
Man (man)
Boy (boy)
Man (man)
Boy (boy)
Man (man)
Boy (boy)
Man (man)
Boy (boy)
You think you're a man,
You are only a boy.
You think you're a man
You are only a toy.
You think you're a man
But you just couldn't see
You weren't man enough to satisfy me.
The Vaselines’s song “You Think You're a Man” is an upbeat, catchy tune whose lyrics seem to convey a message of disappointment and frustration towards a partner who is unable to live up to the expectations of their lover. The first verse establishes the contrast between the way the man sees himself and the reality of the situation. He thinks he's a man but he's merely a boy or a toy, incapable of fulfilling his partner's desires.
The repetition of the lyrics in the second and third verses reinforces this message, as the constant alternating between the words “man” and “boy” reveals the immaturity and inadequacy of the man in the relationship. The use of the phrase “You just couldn't see” suggests that the man was completely unaware of his shortcomings, and that his partner was forced to leave him because he wasn't able to satisfy her.
Overall, the lyrics to “You Think You're a Man” paint a picture of a relationship in which one partner is let down by the other's inability to be a true man, highlighting the importance of being emotionally mature, responsible, and capable of fulfilling your partners' needs.
Line by Line Meaning
You think you're a man,
You believe that you are a fully matured adult male,
You are only a boy.
But in fact, you are still quite immature and undeveloped like a young boy.
You think you're a man
In spite of this, you continue to believe that you are indeed a man.
You are only a toy.
However, you are more like a plaything or amusement for others.
You think you're a man
Once again, you persist in your delusion that you are a matured and responsible man.
But you just couldn't see
Unfortunately, you are unaware that your actions and behavior show otherwise.
You weren't man enough to satisfy me.
You failed to meet the expectations or standards that I had for a real man, and thus could not satisfy me physically or emotionally.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: GEOFFREY DEANE, WILLIAM KEITH MILLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind