| The Blood Brothers – Rats and Rats and Rats for Candy Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| i think candy is a very sexually active young lady. this stems from her insecurity. she doesn't see herself as beautiful, so she has sex with lots of men, because it makes her feel loved. unfortunately for her "pity's got an ugly price tag." due to all of the casual sex that she's been having she's accumulated a number of STDs (the rats) it's important to note that the lyrics for this song that are posted on this site are not the official lyrics. if you read the song in the actual CD booklet you'll find that the brothers wrote in an extra lyric that is never sung, but is written in parenthesis after the verse "oh candy (yea) i have to go. (yea yea yea)." this extra lyric reads "you turn on the lights and look a bit closer... there's shutters on her eyes, there's a door on her thigh." the "door on her thigh" implies that the rats entered her body through her vagina, like an STD. also the rat's are said to be sick, which implies that they are some type of illness. the rats inside her scream "our fur feels like it's on fire! there's thorns growing in our bones!" and later scream "our muscles have turned to cement! we're coughing up needles and nails! our veins are flowing with barbed wire!" these screams are the symptoms of the diseases that candy has contracted. later in the story candy invites mr. howell inside, she takes off her clothes and pushes into him "but the rat's have chewed a hole straight through. her navel (yea) her nipple (yea yea yea)" these holes are where her diseases have flared up. when mr. howell notices this she reassures him and herself that "these rat's are not living in my hotel-face. they are just sick and need a bed lined with lace." in the end mr. howell wakes up to find that candy has died due to her infection. she's paid for the ugly price of pity with her life. days later he finds that he contracted the infection when the rat's find him screaming "we need a vacancy!" | |
| The Blood Brothers – Live at the Apocalypse Cabaret Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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The scarecrow is clearly a reference symbolically to christ for two reasons. the first being that a scarecrow is a lifeless figure held up usually by two perpendicular planks of wood, so it's physical appearance is similar to that of jesus' lifeless corpse hanging on the cross. the second, and more significant reason can be seen when you consider the purpose of a scarecrow. scarecrows are used as a decoy for a farmer, in an effort to scare crows away from crops. it creates a false since of danger, similar to the concepts of christianity. christianity is one of the few religions that believe in the concept of heaven and hell. the fear of hell serves as a motivation for christians to live moral lives. the writers (jonny and jordan) are dismissing the concept of heaven and hell. the first line of the song "scarecrow you ruined me. now i've caught my hands in the death machine" could be interpreted as saying "jesus, you lied to me. i've done what you've asked of me and my only reward is suffering and death. i agree with the previous interpretation of the "black bird wives" symbolizing the clergy specifically nuns, since they dress in black penguin like robes. "i was promised you'd come and save my life" is another reference to salvation. however, i don't think that the scarecrow symbolizes jesus the actual person, but rather the modern accepted christian interpretation of who jesus was, and his teachings. which are often miss-interpreted. for instance the belief that jesus condemns all homosexuals to eternal damnation, a belief shared by many christians. the scarecrow represents this widespread misconception of jesus. this can be seen in the line "they chased me down with the farmer's son, bashed our brains out with an oil drum," the significant part to note is that the protagonist in the song runs off with the farmer's son. "they" (society) hunts them both down and kills them. the farmer's son is the true jesus. the farmer symbolizes god, which would make his son jesus. the statement that the writer is trying to make here is that it's human nature to be hateful, and since the real jesus only preached love, society prosecutes him and his followers. i also agree that the "cross-eyed map of the afterlife" symbolizes the bible. the bible attempts to explain the afterlife, and how to reach salvation, similar to how a map shows you the way to where you want to go. it's cross-eyed because jonny and jordan are saying that the bible is inaccurate and distorted. i like the idea above that the "tiny neck-ties" are suppose to be nooses, but i don't think that that's exactly what they meant to convey. neck ties are worn as formal wear, in a way they symbolize social superiority. people wear ties to church, because it makes them feel like they're showing respect to god, but the idea that god cares about the clothing that you're wearing is a very narrow view of the nature of god. in actuality people wear formal wear to church, and in general, because they want to show other people that they are superior. what they're saying by "knitting tiny neckties" is that the bible in today's world is breeding social norms that are irrelevant in the eyes of god. as far as the idea that the song is about the medias perverted presentation of other people's suffering, and the public's lack of empathy, kind of misses the mark. it is a reoccurring theme in the song, but it's not what the song is about. the reason the blood brothers have all this "feeding children to lions, and dragging daughters out of the basement to the audience" business in the song is because 1. almost all of the blood brothers' songs focus on the ills of society, and 2. because the protagonist in the song is angry at the scarecrow (jesus) for letting all of these things happen to him, and the world, even though he's done everything he's asked of him. anyway, that's my interpretation. |
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