Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: punk-rock
Song Meaning of “You Give Me Worms” by Turbonegro
In the song ‘You Give Me Worms’ by Turbonegro, the narrator is expressing his extreme frustration and disappointment in his love interest who ought to be making him feel supported and cherished, but instead is doing the opposite. He paints a vivid picture of his feeling of despair and betrayal as he shouts ‘You send me down, deeper and deeper’, signifying a hopelessness of sinking into a pit of darkness and abandonment. The ‘worms in my eyes’ suggests a feeling of disgust, betrayal, and hurt as he internalizes her behaviour and rejects her further by continuing to look away and refusing to accept her apology and advances.
At the chorus, ‘you give me worms and my insides burn’, there is a double meaning of getting ill from the physical worms, as well as the emotional churning he feels from her actions which has left him sick. He further expresses his feelings of the mismatch between what he expected from her and what she actually gave him when he sings ‘Thought I knew your kind, what’s your game have I been dumb’, expressing his dismay and shock that after expecting her to behave authentically and lovingly, he instead got caught up in her manipulation of him.
In conclusion, the song expresses the narrator’s feelings of betrayal and frustration as his love interest has not fulfilled her promises or acted in an authentic way.