# Uncle Kraker "Follow Me" lyric interpretation **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2002, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010 "2002-04-27T21:27:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/1 "2002-04-27T21:27:06Z")
In this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=111822](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=111822) several posters disagreed regarding the interpretation of Uncle Kracker’s “Follow Me” lyrics (found here:) [http://www.lyricsstyle.com/u/unclekracker/followme.html](http://www.lyricsstyle.com/u/unclekracker/followme.html) What are your thoughts? IMHO, they are about adultry, based on the lines > [@](#): > > And I don’t worry 'bout the ring you wear > ‘Cause as long as no one knows > Then nobody can care > You’re feelin’ guilty > And I’m well aware > But you don’t look ashamed > And baby I’m not scared and > [@](#): > > I’m not the reason that you go astray and > We’ll be all right if you don’t ask me stay The only part that I interpret as remotely drug related is the “swim through your veins like a fish in the sea”, which I interpret as a comparison of love to drugs (both addicting). Thoughts? Zette ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/2 "2002-04-27T22:22:48Z")
I’ve always interpreted it as being about adultery. People have brought up reasons that they think it’s about drugs but IMHO that interpretation is a lot weaker than the other and seems to hinge primarily on that one “swim through your veins” line. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/3 "2002-04-27T22:35:18Z")
Aww! Someone made a thread based on something that I said…I’m flattered. 🙂 🙂 🙂 All right, well…I have to admit, I figured it was just another song about illicit love until I heard somewhere there was a heroin tie in. Which I preferred to believe, since once I listened to it as a drug song, I couldn’t hear it any other way. I would be curious to see if anyone sees it my way. Other than red dragon from the other thread. Any takers? ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/4 "2002-04-27T23:00:21Z")
Adultery here for me. (Song interpretation, not relationship preference.) I can kinda see the heroin interpretation, espcially in reference to the vein line which I always found to be a weird image, but that’s pretty much it. The main problems I have with this song being (solely) about drugs is the verse (chorus?) about the ring the person ostensibly being sung to is wearing. I also have trouble imagining of a mainstream artist anthropomorphizing heroin. ---
**Author:** ![Skwerl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Skwerl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skwerl)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/5 "2002-04-28T02:17:14Z")
I think the veins line is just meant to be a tip-off that it is about heroin. The way I interpret it, it’s like heroin is singing the song to Uncle Kracker. It all works out that way, and the line about the ring could mean either some drug lingo I don’t know about, or maybe something about Uncle’s doing it and his wife doesn’t want him to. The heroin’s not concerned about that detail, though: “I’m not worried bout the ring you wear, cuz as long as no one knows then nobody can care.” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/6 "2002-04-28T03:06:49Z")
Does anyone else get the impression that it’s making a comparision between love and addiction? It seems to be suggesting, to me anyway, that it’s the sort of love/lust that they can’t get out of their system… ---
**Author:** ![Tabeitha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b3f665/32.png) [@Tabeitha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabeitha)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/7 "2002-04-28T03:25:10Z")
I think it is about adultry, and I agree with the love/lust addiction comparison. ---
**Author:** ![popokis5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@popokis5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/popokis5)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/8 "2002-04-28T03:34:41Z")
Adultery vote here-no junk references in my opinion ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/9 "2002-04-28T03:43:47Z")
It’s about an illicit affair. Even the veins reference, as has been noted, can be interpreted as the addictive power of love. After all, where do you keep your love? In your heart. What does the heart do? It pumps blood throughout your body through veins (ok, and arteries, but let’s stick with the veins reference). The love these two have for each other is not infatuation. It is deep, abiding, permeating their very beings. They have found love for each other only after they have married others. But those marriages don’t negate the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/10 "2002-04-28T04:46:34Z")
I think an interpretation that hinges around one line of a work, especially a line that can be taken both ways (as **DAVEW0071** has shown), is very weak. Hence my preference for the adultery interpretation, which can be supported not only through a line-by-line analysis of a significant portion of the work (my post in the abovementioned thread), but also by a general perception of the whole piece. Finally, upon analysis of the genre as a whole (Popular/Rock), we see that songs about love are more common than songs about drugs (especially in the past two decades), and adultery is a common ‘love’ theme. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/11 "2002-04-28T05:16:58Z")
Oh, I don’t know. I may be wrong about this particular song (I mean, I’m no drug expert although I play one on the SDMB), I think drug songs are commoner than you’d think…the whole sex, drugs, and rock n roll. What about “There She Goes” by the LaLas (covered by Sixpence None the Richer)? And wasn’t there some Velvet Underground song that seemed to be about one thing but was really about heroin? ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/12 "2002-04-28T13:01:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoggie \* > \*\*Oh, I don’t know. I may be wrong about this particular song (I mean, I’m no drug expert although I play one on the SDMB), I think drug songs are commoner than you’d think…the whole sex, drugs, and rock n roll. What about “There She Goes” by the LaLas (covered by Sixpence None the Richer)? And wasn’t there some Velvet Underground song that seemed to be about one thing but was really about heroin? \*\* No one is saying that songs referencing drug use don’t exist. The contention, though, is that songs about love, even adulterous love, are more common. You’ve named two songs. Perhaps you could name more. For every two drug songs you name, we could probably name two hundred love songs. That’s the only point we’re trying to make. If you’re going to go with the most likely interpretation, based on precedent (which is probably the best way to approach something like this), then it almost forces you to come down on the side of it being a love song. From what I’ve read of the rationales for “Follow Me” being a drug song, they’re real stretches based on one or two specific references in the song. Taken as a whole, though, the tone of the piece seems to indicate a love song. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/13 "2002-04-28T20:14:08Z")
I hate that song, played way too much on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![Dryga\_Yes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Dryga\_Yes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dryga_Yes)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/14 "2002-04-28T21:05:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoggie \* > \*\*And wasn’t there some Velvet Underground song that seemed to be about one thing but was really about heroin? \*\* Yeah, I remember that one. Wasn’t it called _Heroin_? 😛 _d&r_ _runs back_ Seriously, they’ve pretty much always been out in the open about heroin, amphetamime, s&m, murders, hookers, orgies and other such wholesome family fun. I s’pose you could say that “I’m Waiting for the Man” seems to be about something else. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/15 "2002-04-28T22:25:00Z")
Also see: _Cocaine_ by Eric Clapton. I think the song is about adultery as well, although I resist the urge to projectile vomit every time I hear it and have listened to it all the way through only once. Blech! I’d love to hear what you guys think about _Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds_ and _Hey Jude_. Or, even better, _Gotta Get You Into My Life_ on the “Revolver” album. Every Beatles fan I know swears that song is about drug use (“I was alone, I took a ride, I didn’t know what I would find there”), but I really don’t get that at all. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2002, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/16 "2002-04-29T02:29:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tranquilis \* > \*\*I hate that song, played way too much on the radio. \*\* I really, really, really hate this song, too…I am restraining myself from really, really, really saying how this song angers me… - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/17 "2002-04-30T02:10:44Z")
My own personal opinion is that it is about adultery. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Zoggie \* > \*\* I think drug songs are commoner than you’d think…the whole sex, drugs, and rock n roll. What about “There She Goes” by the LaLas (covered by Sixpence None the Richer)?_\* I may be missing something here, and I have only heard the song by _Sixpence None the Richer_, but how exactly is this a song about drugs? I am pretty sure that Sixpence would be quite surprised to hear this… ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/18 "2002-04-30T03:29:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scotticher \* > \*\*My own personal opinion is that it is about adultery. > > I may be missing something here, and I have only heard the song by _Sixpence None the Richer_, but how exactly is this a song about drugs? I am pretty sure that Sixpence would be quite surprised to hear this… \*\* I thought Sixpence None the Richer were a Christian group. ---
**Author:** ![MamaHen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@MamaHen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MamaHen)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/19 "2002-04-30T05:31:20Z")
I prefer to think he’s singing about adultry. Actually I saw a clip on MTV with Uncle Kracker and Kid Rock and he said the song was actually about nothing. He said he enjoyed people wondering what it meant. Still, you have to love a man with a huge gold fake tooth _possibly_ singing about an affair 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010/20 "2002-04-30T05:44:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > \*\* > > I thought Sixpence None the Richer were a Christian group. \*\* They are. That is why I think they would be so surprised to hear that they were accidentally singing a song about drugs. I have also heard that song a few million times, courtesy of the radio station we use in my office, and I certainly never heard anything in the lyric that would suggest it to me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncle-kraker-follow-me-lyric-interpretation/106010.md?page=2)