Hall & Oates - Maneater (1982) bass cover

Original bassist - Tom "T-Bone" Wolk

"Maneater" is a song by American duo Hall & Oates, featured on their eleventh studio album, H2O (1982). It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on December 18, 1982. It remained in the top spot for four weeks, longer than any of the duo's five other number-one hits, including "Kiss on My List", which remained in the top spot for three weeks.

John Oates has explained that while it is natural to assume the lyrics are about a woman, the song actually was originally written "about NYC in the '80s. It's about greed, avarice, and spoiled riches. But we have it in the setting of a girl because it's more relatable. It's something that people can understand. That's what we do all of the time", after describing how they took a similar approach with the earlier song "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)".

Billboard called it a "moody midtempo piece which has the percolating bass line of a mid-60's Supremes record and the atmospheric sweep of a Giorgio Moroder film score." Cash Box said that the opening bassline resembles that of the Supremes' song "You Can't Hurry Love."

Lyrics -
[Verse 1]
She'll only come out at night
The lean and hungry type
Nothing is new
I've seen her here before
Watching and waiting
Ooh, she's sitting with you, but her eyes are on the door
So many have paid to see what you think you're getting for free
The woman is wild, a she-cat tamed by the purr of a Jaguar
Money's the matter
If you're in it for love, you ain't gonna get too far

[Chorus]
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
Watch out, boy, she'll chew you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
She's a maneater
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
Watch out, boy, she'll chew you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
She's a maneater

[Verse 2]
I wouldn't if I were you
I know what she can do
She's deadly, man
She could really rip your world apart
Mind over matter
Ooh, the beauty is there but a beast is in the heart

[Chorus]
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
Watch out, boy, she'll chew you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
She's a maneater
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
Watch out, boy, she'll chew you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
She's a maneater

[Instrumental Bridge]

[Chorus]
Ooh
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
Here she comes, watch out, boy, she'll chew you up
(Whoa-oh, here she comes, watch out)
She's a maneater
(Oh-oh, here she comes, she's a maneater)
Ooh, she'll chew you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
Here she comes, she's a maneater
(Oh-oh, here she comes, watch out)
She'll only come out at night, ooh
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
Here she comes, she's a maneater
(Oh-oh, here she comes, she's a maneater)
The woman is wild, woo
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
Here she comes, watch out, boy, watch out, boy
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
Oh, watch out, watch out, watch out, watch out
(Oh-oh, here she comes, watch out)
Yeah, yeah, she's a maneater
(Oh-oh, here she comes, she's a maneater)
She's watching and waiting, ooh
(Oh-oh, here she comes)
Oh, she's a maneater