The band's 2003 album Up All Night reached the top five of the Australian Albums Chart, it achieved double platinum status and won four ARIA Awards in October. Two further top five albums were issued, Sun Dirt Water in 2007 and Temptation in 2011. The Waifs have three top fifty singles, "London Still" (2002), "Bridal Train" (2004) and "Sun Dirt Water". The band supported Bob Dylan on his 2003 Australian tour and then his 2003 North American tour, including a gig at the Newport Folk Festival.
The Waifs founded the independent label Jarrah Records in July 2002, co-owned with fellow musician John Butler, and their common manager Phil Stevens, which handles their Australian releases.
Flesh and Blood
The Waifs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In the soul of me
Things I keep inside
Places you will never see
Hidden under lock and key
Flesh and blood and skin and bone
You're looking from the outside in
Flesh and blood and skin and bone
It's par for the course
It's a matter of fact
People are all the same
They want to make
My business theirs
Slandering my good name
All around my neighborhood
People trying to say
That I ain't no good
Pointing their finger
At me and mine
Look at what's hanging
On my clothesline
Flesh and blood and skin and bone
What's mine is mine is mine alone
Stand at the window on your tippy toes
Blinds are down, skin and bone
Ashes come to ashes
Dust becomes to dust
My secret soul will never die
As my body surely must
When I'm buried under the ground
I'll still be here in kind
Invisible and sinister
The things I leave behind
Flesh and bone and skin and blood
Bury me deep beneath the mud
When I die only thing that's gone
Flesh and blood, skin and bone.
The Waifs’ song, Flesh and Blood, explores the theme of secrecy and privacy in a person’s life. The opening lines of the lyrics, “There are secrets in the soul of me / Things I keep inside / Places you will never see / Hidden under lock and key,” immediately set the mood and tone of the song. The first verse talks about the things that a person keeps hidden away from the outside world, and that not everything can be seen by others. The chorus, “Flesh and blood and skin and bone / You’re looking from the outside in / All you’ll see is what you’re shown / Flesh and blood and skin and bone”, emphasizes that a person may be judged by their outward appearance, but there’s more to them than what meets the eye.
The song also delves into the idea of privacy and how people can be intrusive and nosy, wanting to know more about other people’s lives. The lyrics, “It’s par for the course / It’s a matter of fact / People are all the same / They want to make / My business theirs / Slandering my good name,” depict how people can be quick to judge and make assumptions about others without truly knowing them. The final verse talks about the inevitability of death, and how a person’s secret soul will always remain even when their body is in the ground, “When I’m buried under the ground / I’ll still be here in kind / Invisible and sinister / The things I leave behind.”
Line by Line Meaning
There are secrets
I have things I don't share with anyone.
In the soul of me
These things exist inside me, deep in my mind and heart.
Things I keep inside
I don't reveal these things to anyone.
Places you will never see
No one will ever know about these things.
Hidden under lock and key
I keep these things very private and locked up inside me.
Flesh and blood and skin and bone
I am a physical, living human being.
You're looking from the outside in
You can't truly see what's going on inside me or my life.
All you'll see is what you're shown
I only let others see what I want them to see.
It's par for the course
This is just a normal part of life.
It's a matter of fact
This is something that is true.
People are all the same
Everyone is similar in some way.
They want to make
They try to get involved in my life.
My business theirs
They want to know everything about me, even if it's none of their business.
Slandering my good name
They are saying negative things about me that aren't true.
All around my neighborhood
This is happening in the area where I live.
People trying to say
They are attempting to spread rumors about me.
That I ain't no good
They are accusing me of being a bad person.
Pointing their finger
They are pointing the blame at me.
At me and mine
They are targeting me and those close to me.
Look at what's hanging
They are examining every aspect of my life.
On my clothesline
They are judging me based on everything I do.
What's mine is mine is mine alone
I don't like others interfering in my affairs or trying to claim things that belong to me.
Stand at the window on your tippy toes
You can try to spy on me, but you won't see anything that I don't want you to see.
Blinds are down, skin and bone
I am still just a physical being, even when I am hidden from view.
Ashes come to ashes
When I die, my body will decompose and eventually turn to ash.
Dust becomes to dust
This is a natural part of the cycle of life and death.
My secret soul will never die
The parts of me that are hidden inside will continue to exist, even after my physical body is gone.
As my body surely must
My physical body will eventually die.
When I'm buried under the ground
After I die, my body will be buried.
I'll still be here in kind
The parts of me that are hidden away will still exist, even though I'm no longer alive.
Invisible and sinister
These hidden parts of me might be scary or negative in some way.
The things I leave behind
After I die, people will remember the physical things I've left behind, but they won't know about the hidden parts of me.
Bury me deep beneath the mud
After I die, bury my physical body in the ground.
When I die only thing that's gone
Only my physical body will be gone when I die.
Flesh and blood, skin and bone.
I was a physical, living human being, but now I am no longer alive.
Lyrics © WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
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