Who Do You Love

The speaker presents himself as fearless, dangerous, and larger than life, using wild, unsettling descriptions to build a tough persona. The repeated question, “Who do you love?”, sounds like a challenge to a partner: he wants an answer, but the song does not explain what he will do with it. The mood is playful and swaggering, though its images also create a dark, threatening edge.

Barbed wire, snakes, and human skulls make the speaker’s world seem harsh and frightening. His house and clothes are supposedly made from dangerous or grim materials, which can be read as comic exaggeration rather than literal truth. “A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind” suggests someone who feels close to death or is unafraid of it. The “goodtime music” and “Bo Diddley beat” bring the focus back to energetic performance and rhythm.

The brief scene with Arlene is unclear: she says he does not understand, and a strange, dramatic event follows, but the lyrics leave its meaning open. This may be part of the song’s surreal storytelling rather than a plot to solve. Overall, the speaker’s confidence may be genuine, theatrical, or both; the contrast between menace and fun is central to the song’s effect.