Adrian Thaws (born 27 January 1968), better known as Tricky, is a rapper an… Read Full Bio ↴Adrian Thaws (born 27 January 1968), better known as Tricky, is a rapper and musician from Knowle West, Bristol, England who is important in the trip-hop scene (despite loathing the tag) and remains influential on the British scene more generally.

He is noted for an asthmatic whispering lyrical style that is half-rapped, half-sung. As a producer and a musician he is known for having an aversion to perfection preferring to build up a dark, rich and layered sound. Culturally, Tricky bridges white and black Britain particularly in his fusion of rock and hip-hop, high art and pop culture. He drew his influences from rap (Public Enemy) to post-punk (he covered a Siouxsie and the Banshees's song Tattoo).

Throughout his work, Tricky blurs the normally clear sexual definitions found within hip hop. Despite the heavy influence he drew from American hip hop in his debut album, Maxinquaye, he fights against typical sexual representations by, for example, dressing as a woman on the side sleeve of his album cover. Within many of his tracks he blends elements of varying types of music, and use his lyrics to create a much more ambiguous and blurry reality of sexuality.

Maxinquaye remains his most commercially and critically successful album to date. About it, Tricky originally said in an interview with Raygun in October 1996 that he wanted to make an 'out-an-out punk record' and that "I thought it was going be heavier. I thought it was just going to be an out-an-out punk record. But you end up straying. What I wanted to do was a total fast album. Some of the tracks are fast and hard, but they didn't come out like that." He also said that he hated being stuck with the trip-hop tag so "That's why I did Nearly God, and that's why I did Pre-Millennium Tension. You can't see them as trip-hop albums. So I just keep running away from it. But the farther you run, it's still there. They'll find you." Ever since, Tricky' style has evolved away from obscure, sample-based textures to a more contemporary, electronic sound.

Tricky was in Massive Attack and appeared in the movie The Fifth Element as well as the music video for Parabola by Tool. He has collaborated extensively with other artists on tracks on his various releases, including Bjork, Alanis Morissette, Cyndi Lauper, Anthony Kiedis , John Frusciante and Flea (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers), Martina Topley-Bird, and Alison Goldfrapp of Goldfrapp also many others.

After his initial success in the latter 1990's, he started his own label called Durban Poison. Currently he is heading a new imprint called Brown Punk.

Tear Out My Eyes
Tricky Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I can see you changing me
I can see you changing me
I want to take my clothes off
Tear my mouth and nose off and take out my eyes
Take out my eyes
Want to walk on warm leaves
Hot sand cold breeze
Hot sun, I want my mum

Look mum I'm on top of the world
World wide plaza

I got asthma
I want to demonstrate hate
I want to rattle
I want to blow my head off in Seattle

No way check it
I can see a change in me
I deserve to die because of lies
We have to die because of lies
Want to take my clothes off

Tear my mouth and nose off and take out my eyes
Take out my eyes

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Tricky's song Tear Out My Eyes suggest the singer's desire to undergo an intense transformation, physically and mentally. The repetition of "I can see you changing me" implies that the singer is going through changes, possibly influenced by an external force, which they may be struggling with. The line, "I want to take my clothes off tear my mouth and nose off and take out my eyes" suggests a desire to strip down to a raw, basic state, perhaps as a means of shedding their current self and starting anew. This is further emphasized in the lines "Want to walk on warm leaves/Hot sand cold breeze/Hot sun, I want my mum/Look mum I'm on top of the world/World wide plaza". These lines depict a sense of freedom and liberation, a transformation from a suffocating or even traumatic environment to a place of comfort and control.

The song takes an even darker turn in the lines "I got asthma/I want to demonstrate hate/I want to rattle/I want to blow my head off in Seattle". The singer's physical limitations are juxtaposed with their intense emotions of hatred and a desire to self-destruct. They feel that they deserve to die because of lies, and that "We have to die because of lies". This line suggests a sense of disillusionment with the world and a desire to break free from it entirely. The song ends with a repetition of the earlier line "Want to take my clothes off/ Tear my mouth and nose off and take out my eyes/ Take out my eyes", driving home the theme of transformation and radical self-destruction.

Line by Line Meaning

I can see you changing me
I am aware that your influence is altering me.

I can see you changing me
Your effect on me is causing me to behave and think differently than I did before.

I want to take my clothes off
I desire to strip myself of everything that makes me who I am.

Tear my mouth and nose off and take out my eyes
I want to remove my senses so that I can no longer experience the world around me.

Take out my eyes
I specifically want to blind myself to everything that's happening.

Want to walk on warm leaves
I yearn for the simple and comforting experiences of nature.

Hot sand cold breeze
I appreciate the contrasting sensations of textures and temperatures.

Hot sun, I want my mum
The heat is overwhelming me and I'm feeling vulnerable and in need of comfort.

Look mum I'm on top of the world
I'm attempting to prove something to my mother, perhaps to earn her approval or validation.

World wide plaza
This setting is overwhelming or intimidating to me.

I got asthma
I am physically struggling and feeling hindered in some way.

I want to demonstrate hate
I feel a strong urge to express negative emotions towards someone or something.

I want to rattle
I desire to cause chaos or upset in some way.

I want to blow my head off in Seattle
I am expressing a desire for extreme self-harm or suicide in a specific location.

No way check it
An exclamation of disbelief or surprise.

I can see a change in me
I am increasingly aware of the negative impact this situation is having on me.

I deserve to die because of lies
I feel responsible for the deceit that has impacted me and believe I deserve punishment.

We have to die because of lies
I feel like everyone involved in this situation is suffering and doomed as a result of dishonesty.

Want to take my clothes off
I am consumed by this desire to fully disassociate from who I am and start anew.

Tear my mouth and nose off and take out my eyes
I am desperate to separate myself from the world and any sensory experiences that may further hurt me.

Take out my eyes
This specific action represents the strongest desire to remove myself from reality and the pain it brings.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ADRIAN NICHOLAS MATTHEW THAWS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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