[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CljmgSLkEU] I heard the Nick Lowe version first, so I always kind of instinctively hum that, but Mister Cash - who was Lowe's father-in-law - SMASHES it every time. Lowe's version was, if I remember rightly, in the first issue of The Sopranos. I'm not going to go into the meaning of it, everyone's is different. I do particularly like the enjambement in the lyrics - works really well at this pace.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxb0lj-7_0U]

The beast in me Is caged by frail and fragile bars Restless by day And by night rants and rages at the stars God help the beast in me

The beast in me Has had to learn to live with pain And how to shelter from the rain And in the twinkling of an eye Might have to be restrained God help the beast in me

Sometimes it tries to kid me That it's just a teddy bear And even somehow manage to vanish in the air And that is when I must beware Of the beast in me that everybody knows They've seen him out dressed in my clothes Patently unclear It it's New York or New Year God help the beast in me

The beast in me

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BONUS TRACK!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwDQ-PyXAqQ]