Slave Called Shiver Lyrics

Steven Wilson said of Slave Called Shiver: "It's a very perverse love song, yeah. I mean, it's an unrequited love song. It's a love song with somebody who's obsessed with someone else, but none of that affection is returned. It relates very closely to 'Don't Hate Me', which is a song again about someone who's obsessed with someone from afar. 'Don't Hate Me' is an even more extreme version, because here this person actually begins to follow and make phone calls and, you know, it becomes very unhealthy. "Slave Called Shiver" is slightly less extreme. It's about someone who's very much in love and obsessed with somebody else. That love is not returned and so there's a slightly violent perverse undercurrent. 'Pure Narcotic' also is very much the same subject". "Slave Called Shiver" has been performed live at nearly all gigs between 1999 and 2002, and made regular appearances in 2003. Live versions can be found on Warszawa and XM. It is notable that during live performances the chorus of the song was sung an octave higher than on the studio version.