"Tangerine" is is a song by the British indie rock band Glass Animals. It is the second song on their third studio album, Dreamland, and was released on August 7th 2020. The song features Dave singing over a very poppy and cheery instrumental mixed in with the enthusiastic “Woahs” of children, in contrast to the content of the song which reflects the experience of a person who loved someone that has now changed for the worse.
Background[]
Meaning[]
The title of the song comes from the properties of the fruit it is named after. According to Dave Bayley:
''The idea of the tangerine is that it’s developed thick bitter skin that tastes like shit. Maybe there’s something nice hidden inside but if you leave it too long the skin just gets harder and more withered and the sweetness inside dries up.''
In this context, a tangerine is compared to the one being talked about in the song. A thick, bitter peel, concealing a juicy fruit- but if it’s left alone for too long, all that niceness inside is going to dry up, and you’re left with just the bitterness.
Lyrics[]
As cold as an old ice cream sandwich as focused as Mr. Miyagi
You poke at your phone, posting aerial photos of you and your smoothie
I can't keep on making you happy 'cause you got issues with your daddy
I miss ramen noodles and laughing at you and your gran in home movies
But I wish I could show you more of yourself
I wish I could make you somebody else
But I left it way too late
Are you stuck in your own ways?
I'm begging, hands, knees, please
Tangerine, come home back to me
Got what I need, tangerine
Do this up for me
Hands, knees, please
Tangerine, sugar, honey, sweet
Got what I need, tangerine
You let the Devil in and all you talk is money, money, money, money, money
It's so funny how it changes how you feel
How you see, how you need, how you sleep
All your freedom, caffeine, how you're looking at me
But I love it when the light sits on you just right
Tiny tangerine speckles painted in your eyes
Hands, knees, please
Tangerine, come home back to me
Got what I need, tangerine
Do this up for me
Hands, knees, please
Tangerine, sugar, honey, sweet
Got what I need, tangerine
You've been dreamlessly sleepin' for years
Super clear since the late 1990s
You only look at me properly now
When you're drunk watching movies
Where are you? What happened?
I want what we had, where you gone? Where you hidin'?
It's 2:23, you got Friends on repeat, on repeat, on repeat, on repeat
On repeat, on re—
I wish I could show you more of yourself
I wish I could make you somebody else
But I left it way too late
Are you stuck in your own ways?
I'm begging (Hands, knees, please)
(Tangerine, come home back to me)
(Got what I need, tangerine)
(Do this up for me)
(Hands, knees, please)
(Tangerine, sugar, honey, sweet)
(Got what I need, tangerine)
(Hands, knees, please)
(Tangerine, come home back to me)
(Got what I need, tangerine)
(Do this up for me)
(Hands, knees, please)
(Tangerine, sugar, honey, sweet)
(Got what I need, tangerine)
I'm begging, hands, knees, please
Tangerine, come home back to me
Got what I need, tangerine
Do this up for me
Hands, knees, please
Tangerine, sugar, honey, sweet
Got what I need, tangerine