Good afternoon,

What does Nelly mean in his song 'Get Your Eagle On Girl'? My friend says that he is refering to 'feeding the chicken'. I however believe that it means that 'you are a very nice looking lady can I dance with you'. Can you settle this disagreement?

Yours Sincerely,
Edward H.

Dear Edward,

I don't know if I would put it as politely as you did, but I'm going to go with dancing. Let me explain why. The song in which the line “get your eagle on” appears is actually called Flap Your Wings. Eagle, like chicken, can refer to the woman's vagina. However, this is not the most usual definition of the word, so I suspect that any sexual meaning is secondary to the dance instructions. As Nelly says in the song,

...she ain't gon' leave me alone
Makin' plans for us to be at home
Take your pants off, ma, you can leave your panties on
But, first drop down and get your eagle on

It certainly appears that sex is in the plans, but first, he wants her to “get her eagle on.” This dance involves getting low to the ground while spreading the legs. It might be easier to imagine if you think about the origin of the Standard English expression “spread eagle,” meaning “with the legs and arms stretched out.” That phrase comes from the traditional symbol of the eagle that you can find on the dollar bill (among many other places.)

Your pal,

A. C. Kemp
September 29, 2004

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