Tongue

R.E.M.

Produced by

“Tongue” was written from a female perspective, according to Michael Stipe. In the book Reveal: The Story of R.E.M. , Stipe is quoted as saying the song is “all about… Read More

Sep. 27, 19941 viewer11.2K views

Tongue Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Call my name, here I come
Ninety to nothing, watch me run
You call
I am ashamed to say
Ugly girls know their fate
Anybody can get laid
You want a room with a fire escape
I want to tell you how much I hate this
Don't leave that stuff all over me

[Chorus]
It pains me
Please just leave it

[Verse 2]
I should toss that vanity license plate
Toss that make-up painted face
Box those poems, chocolate cake
Scratch that name on the record player
Please just leave me be
Don't lay that stuff all over me
It crawls all over
All over me

[Bridge]
Call my name, here I come
Your last ditch lay, will I never learn?
Caramel turn on a dusty apology
It crawls all over me
You turn all over

[Chorus]
It pains me
Please just leave it

About

“Tongue” was written from a female perspective, according to Michael Stipe. In the book Reveal: The Story of R.E.M. , Stipe is quoted as saying the song is “all about cunnilingus.”

However, in a 2014 interview with Newsweek, Stipe stated otherwise:

It’s not “all about” anything, someone probably cornered me with that question. There are definite sexual overtures in the lyric, but it’s also, in my mind, written from a female perspective, and in falsetto. Not altogether easy for me!