Potion Approaching

Album: Humbug (2009)
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  • I was biting the time zone
    And we embellished the banks of our bloodstreams
    And threw caution to the colorful
    Then we fell asleep in the car
    Until the bumps woke me up in your grip
    And the tide took me to your mouth
    And then swept me back down to your palms

    It's them that put me inside the reminder
    That yours is the only ocean (yours is the only ocean)
    That I wanna swing from
    Yours is the only ocean
    That I wanna hang on

    I've got this ego mechanic
    She's always trying to give me vitamins
    Ah, she'd be frightened of your reflection
    I preferred her as a cartoon

    If I could be someone else for a week
    I'd spend it chasing after you
    'Cause she's not shattering my attitude
    No matter how she folds the potion

    Yours is the only ocean (yours is the only ocean)
    That I wanna swing from
    Yours is the only ocean
    That I want to hang on to

    (I'm swinging on)

    Yours is the only ocean
    Yours is the only ocean
    Yours is the only ocean
    Yours is the only ocean

    Potion approaching, shield your eyes
    Potion approaching, visualize
    Holding a token, swollen in size
    Potion approaching, shield your eyes

    Oh, but if we're gonna escape though
    We really ought to think it through
    Would you like me to build you a go-kart? Writer/s: Alex Turner
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 2

  • Bobby from Nj, UsaI think this song is about drugs, not his car as Alex says.

    The lyrics seem to allude to marijuana.

    "And we embellish the banks of our bloodstreams,"
    polluting your blood with THC or whatever drug you've taken when it enters your system.

    "...And the tide took me to your mouth, And then swept me back down to your palms,"
    the "mouth" of a joint when you go to hit from it and how when you're stoned you're not really in control.

    "She's always trying to give me vitamins Oh she'd be frightened of your reflection,"
    Sounds like a dig at everyone saying pot is good for you. the narrator seems to be
    trying to convince himself that no matter how much pot he smokes, it good for him.
    The next line is how when you are under the influence, your reflection appears distorted
    or warped.

    "If I could be someone else for a week, I'd spend it chasing after you,
    Cos she's not shattering my attitude, No matter how she folds the potion,"
    The most obvious allegation towards drugs and even addiction.
    The narrator says that even if he was under the influence for an entire week,
    he'd spend that week still trying to get higher.
    The narrator than goes to say that the drug use isn't affecting his personality
    or life no matter how much he's done.

    "Potion approaching, shield your eyes,
    Potion approaching, visualize,
    Holding a token, swollen in size,
    Potion approaching, shield your eyes,"
    Cover your eyes cause they're red or glossy and give away the fact that your on something.
    Hallucinations. Dilated pupils. Cover your eyes.
    This bridge of the song is also slower and more free-form, almost representing the effect of drugs.

    The lines and title "Potion Approaching" is just Alex's fancy way of saying the drugs are kicking in.
    One of my favourite Monkeys song and the drug topic isn't something far-off considering the more
    psychedelic rock nature of the Humbug album.



  • Aaron from Dallas, TxThis song has a striking resemblence to Very Ape by Nirvana.
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