My girl, my girl, don't lie to me / Tell me where did you sleep last night | A caring friend is asking a woman where she spent the night
In the pines, in the pines / Where the sun don't ever shine / I would shiver the whole night through | She answered by saying she was in a dark, lonely place
My girl, my girl, where will you go / I'm going where the cold wind blows | They ask her where she will go and she replies where she plans to go
In the pines, in the pines / Where the sun don't ever shine / I would shiver the whole night through | She says she will go to a gloomy, isolated place
Her husband, was a hard working man / Just about a mile from here | Her husband worked on a railroad
His head was found in a driving wheel / But his body never was found | The husband was found decapitated but they could not locate his body, meaning a locomotive could have killed him and his body was destroyed on the railroad tracks
My girl, my girl, don't lie to me / Tell me where did you sleep last night | Her friend asks her once again to be honest about where she spent the night
In the pines, in the pines / Where the sun don't ever shine / I would shiver the whole night through | She actually went and stayed the whole night in the cemetery, where she missed the warm feeling of her husband, but since he is now gone, she shivers the whole night
My girl, my girl, where will you go / I'm going where the cold wind blows | The friend asks her where she will go now that she is alone. She says "where the cold wind blows" meaning she is contemplating on committing suicide
In the pines, in the pines / Where the sun don't ever shine / I would shiver the whole night through | First, she will visit her husband's grave where she could kill herself; next to him.
My girl, my girl, don't lie to me / Tell me where did you sleep last night |
In the pines, in the pines / Where the sun don't ever shine / I would shiver the whole night through |
My girl, my girl, where will you go / I'm going where the cold wind blows |
In the pines, in the pines / Where the sun don't ever shine / I would shiver the whole night through |
Nirvana's Where Did You Sleep Last Night is a modern murder ballad. Many fans believe Kurt Cobain wrote this song to call out his partner Courtney Love for being unfaithful. Others believe Kurt wrote this song about himself, hinting at his depression and thoughts about suicide. They believe "in the pines" references to the woods that surround what use to be his home. They also speculate that the shivering he sings is about his drug addiction.
This ballad contains repetition. "My girl, my girl, don't lie to me / Tell me where did you sleep last night" and "In the pines, in the pines / where the sun don't ever shine / I would shiver the whole night through" are two examples of refrains sung throughout the song.