{"id":19126,"date":"2026-10-02T01:56:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T00:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/roglacup.com\/klaus62\/?p=19126"},"modified":"2026-09-28T07:01:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T06:01:55","slug":"morning-songdaryl-hall-john-oates-maneater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roglacup.com\/klaus62\/2026\/10\/02\/morning-songdaryl-hall-john-oates-maneater\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning song#Daryl Hall & John Oates #Maneater"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Released on the duo\u2019s 1982 record, H<\/em>2<\/sub><\/em>O<\/em><\/a>, \u201cManeater\u201d is certainly one of the most well-known Hall & Oates songs of all time. To date, the track has more than 130 million views on YouTube. While the concept of the song on paper is dark and bleak, the song itself reads as more playful than film noir. The idea of a \u201cmaneater\u201d is, in the end, cartoonish, of course. Nevertheless, the idea of danger runs throughout the track\u2019s lyrics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cManeater\u201d begins with a bouncy bass line that immediately offers energy and joy. It\u2019s a bit of an odd introduction but soft keyboards, a bright guitar and a crooning saxophone melody quickly follow the bass. Next, Daryl Hall\u2019s voice sparks up, beginning the first verse. Hall describes a character worth steering clear of \u2014 the maneater. \u201cWatch out boy, she\u2019ll chew you up,\u201d he tells us. But what, exactly, does he mean? What is a maneater?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We caught up with one half of the duo, John Oates, to ask him about the origin of the song and the meaning behind the song\u2019s subject. We discussed the literal meaning of the chorus, whether he knows any actual maneaters and from where his gift of songwriting might originate.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are lots of rumors, but I have to ask, is \u201cManeater\u201d really about a woman or New York City?<\/strong>
Well, it was about New York City, after the fact. I got the idea for the song because there was a woman who was very \u2014 she was beautiful but had a very foul, you know, vocabulary. It was the juxtaposition of this great beauty with this foul mouth that really kind of sparked an idea to me that she would chew you up and spit you out. But neither Daryl nor I wanted to write a song that was anti-women or negative toward women. So, what we did was we transpose that initial idea and use New York City in the \u201980s as a metaphor. New York City became the maneater, the city that would chew you up and spit you out. And that is really what the song is truly about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When did you and Daryl start writing \u201cManeater\u201d? <\/strong>
Well, I can\u2019t tell you for sure, it was so long ago. One thing I will tell you, though, is that our natural schedule turned out such that we\u2019d always seem to record in the late fall. There was a reason for that. Because we would tour in the spring through the summer and we would write in the late summer and early fall and then we\u2019d record in the late fall. So, my guess is that song was either written in the late summer or early fall of 1982, the year the record came out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there something that\u2019s particularly magical to you about the song \u201cManeater\u201d after all these years?\u00a0<\/strong>
That particular song? Well, all the songs are magical, in a way, because they all came from nothing. That\u2019s what songwriting is all about. That\u2019s why I like American Songwriter<\/em> so much because the magazine can really get deep and delve into the psyche and the motivation that songwriters seem to have and really explain and expose songwriters on their process. And I think that\u2019s interesting. The beauty that songwriters and the skill that songwriters seem to have is that they can take things that are happening in the world, whether they\u2019re emotional or physical or literal, and they can somehow translate that into music and some sort of musical expression that people can relate to. That\u2019s what songwriters do and that\u2019s what makes it so unique.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Posted from:https:\/\/americansongwriter.com\/maneater-by-hall-and-oates-behind-the-song\/<\/a> By Jacob Uitti<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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