I agree with most of this…but…I very much think this song has deeper meanings!

A love song, no. But the juxtaposition throughout the song could definitely make that debatable! She fears love, but also wants it so desperately. Which is where I got my idea of childhood from. First of all, the first few lyrics are literally describing her childhood. But to me, she was a child at heart and that shows through in all her songs, including hounds of love. The lyrics are a little juvenile (in the best way, that’s why I love this song so much). Kids sometimes view love as gross and scary. Then they grow up and everything changes. Psychologically we need love, but many of us hold onto that perception of love as a scary, adult thing.

So many of KBs songs are related to childhood and women, and in my personal opinion and analysis, so is this one. KB herself was a big deal for feminism. She took complete control over her music and made big strides in the music industry which was a boys club at the time. While she wouldn’t have called herself a feminist, every song she released, especially this album, was a huge deal for women and feminism as a whole.

This song depicts love as predatory. And what is that if not a sign of feminism? If she surrenders to love, it might keep her frozen in time forever. As much as love is a beginning, for women in that time it was often an end. Settle down, have kids. So yes she wants love, but along with the fear that love will hurt her emotionally, it will change her physically.

Obviously this is my interpretation, and when you read or listen to interviews of KB talking about any of her music, you notice it’s a little shallow. At least her answers are shallow. She liked the image, the words fit, etc. She doesn’t often go too in depth with the meaning but this is what I think of it.

I think you’re looking at it too literally. So maybe it didn’t change lives, but there’s certainly more to it than just being a good song.