Big Long Now

Album: Insecticide (1992)
Play Video
  • It's not cold enough
    Please put this side up
    She is moving through
    Can we show our faces now?

    I'm not interesting
    She's not turning green
    Shameful as it seems
    Can we show our faces now?

    Endless climb
    I am blind
    Why can't I hear?
    Color blind
    Speaking a phrase
    Instantly grown
    I am blind
    Waiting in line

    It's not cold enough
    Please put this side up
    She is moving through
    Can we show our faces now?

    I'm not interesting
    She's not turning green
    Shameful as it seems
    Can we show our faces now?

    Endless climb
    I am blind
    Why can't I hear?
    Color blind
    Speak a phrase
    Instantly grown
    I am blind
    Why am I sure? Writer/s: Kurt Cobain
    Publisher: BMG Rights Management
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 18

  • Ton from OzMany of the commentators don't seem to realise that this is a very early song. It was written in 1988, well before fame, and Courtney were in his life. So it's definitely not dealing with those issues....
  • R from CanLooking for things that aren't there; looking too deep.

    It's a song that centres around aliens/UFOs.
  • Sean from Yakima, WaI always felt like the songs about indigo, star seeds and the like.
  • JwadeI think the song could be about being a body, maybe the female that the song puts is the forensic, and how she is not impressed, scared of do what she does..Maybe.
  • Lex from Bay AreaSounds like a shameful recount of group sex.
  • Lou from PortlandThe song makes me think of my years working in healthcare - It's from a patients perspective. Things like "put this side up" is like talking to your nurse asking her to raise the rail on the hospital bed; and things like she's moving through - like a nurse going about her patient care business routinely moving past the patient daily. And "can we show our faces now" could be referring to nurses wearing masks while caring for patients.
  • Thomas from CaIt's about Jang Geum, the first female royal physician in Korea. She was given the title of "Dae" Jang Guem, meaning "Great" Jang Guem. When written in Hanja (Korean word for Chinese writing) the name is written as 大長今 (大 big 長 long 今 now).
  • Zero from Nowhere, NjI don't think it's about the media, Kurt and the band weren't that big when they recorded this song, and Nick, Fresh Meadows, NY, you don't have to actually experience something to write about it.
  • Mart from Lima, PeruMaybe is about sex...
  • Nick from Fresh Meadows, Nyi dunno aliens that look like paparazies? did they have cameras, all i could say that that is one of the most depressing songs next to something in the way, i feel like its the end of the world. but i would strongly suggest that its about him resenting the fact that he was always hassled with media and cameras and questions about drugs and suicide. i dunno i believe in aliens i dont think we are alone, but i dunno it seems a little far fetched, i mean when did he have the time to meet an alien and then be so cool about it and right a song
  • Travis from Lehi, UtI'm with Kane. This song is about being trapped and constantly longing and searching for something you might never have.
  • Gabriel from Laval, QcI think it actually refers to Cobain's popularity. he couldnt go out because of fans and paparazies "Can we show our faces now?"

    "Endless climb" might refers to his non-stoping growing popularity, and "Why am I shown?" to medias giving him front pages.
  • Bronte from Sydney, Australiai think it is about, kurt and courtney.
    getting bad media.
    eg. "can we show our faces now"
    i dunno, that is what comes to mind.
  • Kane from Vancouver, WaI think it is acually about Kurt feeling like he's imprisoned in himself or it's about hus childhood and how other people didn't seem to listen to him at times. I think I'm right.
  • Felix from Chandler, AzI believe this song is actually in reference to the book of Genesis in the bible. Namely the story of Adam and Eve.
  • Carlito from Cameron Park, CaThis song is really creepy. It gets inside of your head and won't come out. It makes you feel really wierd.
  • Eloise from London, EnglandI think it's the "green with envy" thing, too. I haven't heard the Extra Terrestrial meaning before, Matt. Interesting though....
  • Me from Somewhere, Ar"She's not turning green" simply means she's not getting envious. Ever heard of the phrase "Green with envy"?

see more comments

Editor's Picks

Is That Song Public Domain?

Is That Song Public Domain?Fact or Fiction

Are classic songs like "Over The Rainbow" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in the public domain?

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song Spoofs

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song SpoofsSong Writing

When singers started spoofing their own songs on Sesame Street, the results were both educational and hilarious - here are the best of them.

Amanda Palmer

Amanda PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.

Jello Biafra

Jello BiafraSongwriter Interviews

The former Dead Kennedys frontman on the past, present and future of the band, what music makes us "pliant and stupid," and what he learned from Alice Cooper.

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17Songwriter Interviews

Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go'sSongwriter Interviews

Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.