| Soundgarden – Fresh Tendrils Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I think there are several potential meanings to this song which is one of the reasons it's so sick. There might even be an explicit reference to ancient history though. In 53 BC, Crassus (then more powerful than Julius Caesar) led a hopeless campaign into Syria against the Parthians. Not content with being the richest man and largest slaveowner in the Roman Republic, Crassus needed military success to satisfy his ego. The battle was a disaster for him: his son was killed as was most of his army and in anguish he rode into his enemy's camp. According to legend, because Crassus was notorious the world over for his greed, his Parthian captors poured molten gold into his mouth. That night at the Parthian king's son's wedding feast, the Bacchae was performed, which is about a king who refuses to worship the greek god of wine and is thus punished for it. One of the actors in the play paraded around the severed head of Crassus while reciting a line from the play which translates to: "We bring from the mountain/A tendril fresh to the palace/A wonderful prey." According to Roman custom, death, however humiliating, is still preferable to continuing to live under such shame. | |
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