Oh Yeah (song)

"**Oh Yeah**" is the fourth track on Bat For Lashes' third studio album, *The Haunted Man*. An early version was debuted live on a two-night residency shows at Sydney Opera House in 2011.

## Background

"Oh Yeah" was premiered live on Bat for Lashes' two night shows at Sydney Opera House as part of the Vivid LIVE festival in June 2011. At the time, the lyrics weren't ready.

> ‘Oh Yeah’ for me is like a very heady, sensual, sexual track. I struggled with the lyrics for a long time for this one and they kind of came very late. I'd already played it live in Sydney. We did two nights at the Sydney Opera House, which was really fun. We put that song out there and I remember singing it. I didn’t even have the lyrics, I was sort of making them up on stage. Just like, ‘oh, I’m gonna do Liz Fraser, this is cool.’ I just rambled along, so that’s quite funny that it already came out halfway through being finished.
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> I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. For me it's like being in a giant tropical, beautifully smelling jungle. Looks like really representative of feeling like ripe, blooming and feminine.
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Natasha's description of the song:

> I wrote this one quite early too. I thought the syncopated hip-hop beat in it was really sexy and then I found a sample of the gospel, choral part. It took a long time to develop the lyrics. Eventually, I visualised a big Henri Rousseau painting, or those big jungle paintings with all the naked ladies in it. It's about blossoming into womanhood. It's quite a sexy song, trawling through this jungle-y flora and fauna, a hot and sweaty landscape where nectarine dripping. It's basically my biological clock ticking, loudly!
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This song, along with "Marilyn", was worked on with Beck, though he is not credited on the album's liner notes.

## Lyrics

* Album version
* 2011 early version

I am whole, hot is the night

The grass is so tall and slow

The air is wet and I feel alive

Let the perfume drip

Let it rise

I am whole and I walk the night

Luscious and lost, so alone

Touch the rocks and lick the light

Let the hot winds howl

So slow

Here am I

Looking for a lover to climb inside

Waiting like a flower to open wide

I'm in bloom!

I lie low, I'm ready to try

The tapestries turn and grow

Creepers crawl and kiss my thighs

And the headiness howls

Rise and rise!

Here am I

Looking for a lover to climb inside

Waiting like a flower to open wide

I'm in bloom!

Here I lie

Lying like a flower with no more time

Waiting for another to come inside

I'm in bloom!

Oh yeah, oh yeah!

Oh yeah, oh yeah!

Oh yeah, oh yeah!

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah!

(Oh yeah, oh yeah)

(Oh yeah, oh yeah)

I am whole

And I’m coming to fight

Keep looking away

Oh!

I am whole

And I'm ready to fight

Keep running away

Nobody knows what’s right

I am whole

And I show the knife

Keep looking away

Oh!

I am whole

And I hold the knife

Keep shaking away

Oh, oh, oh

Here am I!

Looking for a lover to go the night

Looking for a lover to breathe to life

I am in bloom

I am whole

And I’m ready to fight

Keep shaking away

Nobody knows what’s right

I am whole

And I hold the knife

Keep looking away

Oh, oh, oh

Here am I!

Looking for a lover to go the night

Looking for a lover to breathe to life

I am in bloom

Here I lie!

Looking for a lover to go the night

Looking for a lover to breathe to life

I am in bloom

Yeah!

## References

1. ↑ Barbato, Lauren (6 June 2011). "Bat For Lashes Perform New Song, Cover Radiohead". *Under the Radar*.
2. ↑ "Bat for Lashes - Oh yeah (?)". 1 July 2011. *Soundcloud*.
3. ↑ "Bat For Lashes: 'The Haunted Man' - Track by Track". *YouTube*.
4. ↑ "Bat For Lashes - Natasha Khan's Guide To New Album The Haunted Man". 2012. *Q Magazine*.
5. ↑ "Bat For Lashes’ Natasha Khan Discusses The Haunted Man, The Carpenters, And Her Naked Album Cover". 19 September 2012. *Stereogum*.