What does Floyd the Barber mean?

Nirvana: Floyd the Barber Meaning

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Album cover for Floyd the Barber album cover

Floyd the Barber Lyrics

Bell on the door rings come on in
Floyd observes my hairy chin
Sit down in the chair don't be afraid
Steaming hot towel on my face

I was shaved
I was shaved
I was shaved

Barney ties me to the chair
I can't see I'm really scared
Floyd...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Apr 29th 2008 !⃝

    Anyone see the connection here between Floyd the Barber, and Sweeney Todd- Demon Barber of Fleet Street?

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anavrin
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    Jan 10th 2004 !⃝

    A song about a small town that goes bad, the title is taken from a character on The Andy Griffith Show. Everyone turns out to be a mass-murderer. The song also shows Freudian castration fears.

  3. anonymous
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    Aug 24th 2021 !⃝

    about a guy with future...
    Floyd The Barber
    lyod u(+1)ar
    e b er
    Lyodura beer Hbf (Hauptbahnhof)

    thinking about Lyodura, sitting at the railroad station and drinking beer.

    Sit and drink Pennyroyal tea
    sit and drink... Penny royalty

    for your info: Penny is a supermarket discounter in germany. And sick Kurt means Krank Kurt, count it up to Frankfurt(+5), which has the highest rate of HIV deaths and wasted heroine addicts in our entire country. Get to know the little differences, here in our "culture" is basically the same shit going.

  4. anonymous
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    Aug 5th 2020 !⃝

    I always thought it was "I was shamed" which also makes sense...I was "shaved" actually doesn't sound as interesting to me.

  5. anonymous
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    Jun 18th 2020 !⃝

    I read the lyrics and it was plain STUPID! He probably made that up in his head. His interpretation sound like they killed Floyd the barber because he had a stroke after he left the show and the show murder him because he was old. He had a stroke he probably was sick in the first place and maybe he was stress out! I still say it was a stupid song! Ugh!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  6. anonymous
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    Feb 3rd 2020 !⃝

    First id like to address a couple of things that occurred to me about Kurt himself. I understand he was very sensitive, but does the amount of angst and self hate he projected really stem from a divorce? I'm about to go to a place some may find offensive, but I think it may explain a few things. The divorce may have started things but I believe somewhere during that time frame of being shuffled around while his parents were busy in their own lives, some predator may have molested him, something that he duped into, over time. The Andy Griffith show playing on tv somewhere, while it went on. He was a very pretty boy and from what I have read, he was able to roam around town from a pretty young age. This would explain his excessive self hate, his distrust of others, his seeming switch to a withdrawn trouble maker, his depression, his seeking substances to forget. It may be a form of PTSD, (I don't know if you would call it that for an inappropriate sexual encounter.) And of course he would tell no one of this event, as shameful as it is. If you noticed a couple of words that pop up in his lyrics are shame and rape and this is one of his earliest songs.
    Either that or he was just trying to be edgy and I'm putting way to much into this.

  7. anonymous
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    Feb 14th 2013 !⃝

    this song is about rape. "I can't see I'm really scared Floyd breathes hard I hear a zip
    Pee pee pressed against my lips." the barber forced him to give oral. theres others in the room the take turns the cut me up.. ~ r.i.p kurt cobain<3

  8. anonymous
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    Jan 2nd 2009 !⃝

    The song is about the andy griffith show.
    the barber in that show is named floyd, theres people named opie and aunt bee. so thats it. and its a dream cobain had where floyd from the show killed him.

  9. anonymous
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    Oct 21st 2006 !⃝

    I have read countless books about Kurt Cobain and nirvana and I have read that floyd the barber (like many songs such as heart shaped box) is about nothing...Floyd is about a weird dream he had and that's about it.

  10. anonymous
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    Aug 20th 2006 !⃝

    This song has a very heavy riff, and even darker lyrics. One of my favorite nirvana songs becuase its a subject that is completely different from any other songs around at the time. The fear of castration and utter closterphobia and inability yo escape from floyd. An amazing song

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  11. anonymous
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    Jul 4th 2006 !⃝

    Yeah more simple just about being murdered at cut up lol

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  12. anavrin
    click a star to vote
    Jan 10th 2004 !⃝

    A song about a small town that goes bad, the title is taken from a character on The Andy Griffith Show. Everyone turns out to be a mass-murderer. The song also shows Freudian castration fears.


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