Liz Phair is in devotion mode, packing more similes into one rock love song than an entire book of Shakespeare sonnets. “Your eyelashes sparkle like gilded grass,” she sings, “and your lips are sweet and slippery like a cherub’s bare, wet ass.” That’s just the first verse. “Supernova” was Phair’s rollicking first single from Whip-Smart, the follow-up to her murky masterpiece Exile in Guyville. With its trampolining guitars and Phair’s heart wide open, it signaled a whole new Liz dimension — her romantic period — where we could pour out our hearts with fists held high, shouting “and you fuck like a volcano, and you’re everything to me.” A declaration that would only occur to an ineffably cool 27-year-old in 1994.
I have looked all over the place
But you have got my favorite face
Your eyelashes sparkle like gilded grass
And your lips are sweet and slippery
Like a cherub's bare wet ass...
'Cause you're a human supernova
A solar superman
You're an angel with wings of fire
A flying, giant friction blast
You walk in clouds of glitter
And the sun reflects your eyes
And every time the wind blows
I can smell you in the sky
Your kisses are as wicked as an M-16
And you fuck like a volcano
And you're everything to me...
'Cause you're a human supernova
A solar superman
You're an angel with wings of fire
A flying, giant friction blast
You're a giant, flying friction blast
'Cause you're a human supernova
A solar superman
You're an angel with wings of fire
A flying, giant friction blast...