patti smith lyrics

Geeboz--

Can you give the context of the phrase?

summer cannibals
the lyrics of the song:

i was down in georgia
nothing was as real
as the street beneath my feet
descending into air
the cauldron was a'bubbling
the flesh was lean
and the women moved forward
like piranhas in a stream
they spread themselves before me
an offering so sweet
and they beckoned
and they beckoned
come on darling eat

eat the summer cannibals
eat eat eat
you eat the summer cannibals
eat eat eat

they circled around me
natives in a ring
and i saw their souls a'withering
like snakes in chains
and they wrapped themselves around me
ummm what a treat
and they rattled their tails
hissing come on let's eat

eat the summer cannibals
eat eat eat
you eat the summer cannibals
eat eat eat

i felt a rising in my throat
the girls a'saying grace
and the air, vicious air
pressed against my face
and it all got too damn much for me
it just got too damn rough
and i pushed away my plate
and said boys i've had enough
and i laid upon the table
just another piece of meat
and i opened up my veins to them and said
come on eat

eat the summer cannibals
eat eat eat
you eat the summer cannibals
eat eat eat

'cause i was down in georgia
nothin was as real
as the street beneath my feet
descending into hell

so eat eat eat
eat eat eat...

Geeboz--

My best guess is that the "summer cannibals" are the seductive vampire-like girls who lure young men to destruction--or at least to old age.

I saw her perform this one on David Letterman a while ago.

She's bisexual so I think it may be that the "summer cannibals" were offering themselves to her, not necessarily that they're luring men.

But yeah, the "summer cannibals" seem to be alluring young women who are scantily clad and aggressively sexual -- Smith seems to find them fake and alarming. Could be something about celebrity in there too, the suffocating attention she gets when she's just trying to walk down the street.