This song is clearly about Jim Morrison, who styled himself “The Lizard King” and mentioned lizards in many places in his songs and poems. Robyn may be comparing himself and his profession to Jim Morrison’s, perhaps warning himself not to overdo it on drugs and/or alcohol the way Morrison did.
The...
[Intro]
You wear the lizard's shoes and afterwards you get confused
You wear the lizard's coat and afterwards you fail to float
You take the lizard's path but look who's lying in the bath
You wear the lizard's skin no man can be a god and win at all
You take the lizard's mask but look who's lying in the cask
And the clocks have stopped you'll find out what the lizard dropped
You know the lizard's won but you can't work out how it's done
The lizard is your friend and will be to the very end of time
You lie beneath the stars the lizard knows how high they are
The stars are out of reach the lizard lingers on a beach
The stars are out of date the lizard had them on a plate
You vomit in the shed the lizard got there first he's dead... now
[Long instrumental fade]
The Lizard was written by Robyn Hitchcock.
Robyn Hitchcock released The Lizard on Fri May 01 1981.