According to a quote attributed to Natalie Merchant, the song’s author, this song is about “a young girl who wants love and gets sex instead, and her whole life is changed.”
In a 1989 Spin magazine article, she says:
‘Eat for Two’ is about a young woman who doesn’t think being pregnant is her best...
[Verse 1]
O, baby blankets and baby shoes
Baby slippers, baby spoons, walls of baby blue
Dream child in my head
Is a nightmare born in a borrowed bed
Now I know lightning strikes again
It struck me once, then struck me dead
My folly grows inside of me
[Chorus]
I eat for two
Walk for two
Breathe for two now
[Verse 2]
Well, the egg man fell down off his shelf
All the good king's men with all their help
Struggled 'til the end
For a shell they couldn't mend
You know where this will lead
To hush and rock in the nursery
For the kicking one inside of me
[Chorus]
I eat for two
Walk for two
Breathe for two now
[Verse 3]
When the boy was a boy, the girl was a girl
They found each other in a wicked world
Strong in some respects
But she couldn't stand for the way he begged and gave in
Pride is for men
Young girls should run and hide instead
Risk the game by taking dares with, "yes"
[Chorus]
I eat for two
Walk for two
Breathe for two now
[Outro]
Walk for two?
I'm stumbling
Breathe for two?
I can't breathe
Five months, how it grows
Five months now, I begin to show
Eat for Two was written by Natalie Merchant.
Eat for Two was produced by Peter Asher.
10,000 Maniacs released Eat for Two on Tue May 16 1989.