Thee Headcoatees was an all-female vocal group (originally called The Delmo… Read Full Bio ↴Thee Headcoatees was an all-female vocal group (originally called The Delmonas) which was associated with Billy Childish and the all-male group Thee Headcoats.

The line-up was Holly Golightly, Kyra LaRubia and Ludella Black. Bongo Debbie often performed songs with the band when they played live (she left in 1999).

Run for Your Life
Thee Headcoatees Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Well I'd rather see you dead, little boy
Than to see you with another girl
You better keep your head, little boy
Or you won't last in my world

You better run for your life if you can, little boy
Hide your head in the sand, little boy
Catch you with another girl

That's the end ah
Little boy

Well you know that I'm a wicked chick
And I was born with a jealous mind
And I can't spend my whole life trying
Just to make you toe that line

You better run for your life if you can, little boy
Hide your head in the sand, little boy
Catch you with another girl
That's the end ah
Hmm

Well let this be a sermon
I mean everything I've said
And baby, I'm determined
Cuz I'd rather see you dead

You better run for your life if you can, little boy
Hide your head in the sand, little boy
Catch you with another girl
That's the end ah
You hear me

I'd rather see you dead, little boy
Than to see you with another girl
You better keep your head, little boy
Or you won't last in my world

You better run for your life if you can, little boy
Hide your head in the sand, little boy
Catch you with another girl

That's the end ah
Little boy

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Thee Headcoatees’ song “Run for Your Life” are an expression of jealousy and possessiveness from a woman to her lover. She would rather see him dead than with another woman, and warns him to keep his head and not cross her. The woman acknowledges her wicked nature due to her jealous mind and declares that she won’t spend her entire life trying to make him behave a certain way. The song ends with a warning, as the woman repeats that she would rather see him dead than with another woman.

The song's powerful delivery and the lyrics' content challenged conservative gender roles in the 60s and continued to do so when Thee Headcoatees released their cover in 1991. The song's origins come from The Beatles' song "Run for Your Life," which was written by John Lennon and inspired by Elvis Presley's song "Baby, Let's Play House." However, Thee Headcoatees changed some of the lyrics and added their own twist to the song.

Line by Line Meaning

Well I'd rather see you dead, little boy
I'd prefer if you weren't here, little boy

Than to see you with another girl
Because I don't want you to be with anyone else

You better keep your head, little boy
You better watch out, little boy

Or you won't last in my world
Or else you won't survive in my world

You better run for your life if you can, little boy
You better run away while you still can, little boy

Hide your head in the sand, little boy
Pretend like you didn't see anything, little boy

Catch you with another girl
If I find you with another girl

That's the end ah
It's all over

Well you know that I'm a wicked chick
You should already know that I'm a bad girl

And I was born with a jealous mind
I naturally have a tendency towards jealousy

And I can't spend my whole life trying
And I don't want to spend my whole life trying