Basket Of Eggs

I know this song is deeper than my surface level interpretation, but the emotions I feel in it are that of hatred and despair, much like I felt after rejecting Christianity. For me, this is an atheist anthem.

I think OpinionHead was closer to the true meaning of this song than jchvoid. Although I see the despair, I think the drinking and debt are only a symptom and not the cause.

I know my interpretation cannot be correct, as it is contradictory of the religious perspective so many other Clutch songs take; however, I think this might be closer than anything presented so far:

The opening line references 1 Corinthians 13:12 ("For now we see through a glass, darkly"), which attests to the lack of introspective clarity.

Yggdrasil is the name of the Norse "world tree," which supports the Heavens and connects them to the Earth. Yggdrasil is directly linked to Odin, who can be seen as an analogue to the Christian God. There is even a story of Odin hanging from the tree, having been wounded by a spear, as a dedication to himself. I hope I don't have to draw the connection to Jesus and his cross for you.

While in the influence of Yggdrasil, insight is hindered, the world seems grim, and debt and despair grasps the narrator. Until finally the narrator loses faith and awakens to a beautiful new world where the tree does not exist.

I'm not entirely sure about the brown furred hound. In keeping with the Norse motif, it may be a reference to Fenrir, the legendary wolf involved with bringing about Ragnarok. The mandrake root is an interesting addition to the song. It's of course most widely known for its vaguely human shape and shamanistic fertility-inducing properties. Although it's not directly linked to Yggdrasil as far as I know, it does hold significance in modern Odinism. I see the mandrake root as a diminution of Yggdrasil.

The titular eggs, I think, are the deepest symbol in the song and provide a link between Yggdrasil and the mandrake root. The berries of the Mandragora officinarum are called "djinn's eggs" in Arabic culture, and being in the nightshade family, are poisonous. Each time Neil sings "Yggdrasil," it sounds to me as if he's pronouncing it "egg-drasil." In the first verse, the narrator seems unsatisfied with the eggs, as if dependent upon them. In the second verse, the eggs drop from the disappeared tree and lie smashed and unappealing on the ground. I would say the (djinn's) eggs are being used to drug the narrator into complacency under Yghdrasil.

I think the line about carving a face on the mandrake root refers to personifying God. In the above context and especially bearing in mind the mandrake's toxicity, the bit about it being "virtue food" is an ironic statement and may be saying "this is the poison that the 'virtuous' are swallowing."

So there's that. Thoughts? Questions? Emotional outbursts?

I like the part

"I can tell you've been drinking by the scent of your breath. Another little sip, a bit deeper in debt. You can rest your head in your wrinkled hands. But when you awake, you're in another land."

You think you're gaining when you drink because it's taking you out of your misery. But the truth is alcohol is a temporary solution to the complicated problems you're afraid to face in your life. You're just stuffing your feelings down further the more you drink; your emotional debt is growing. I also love the part about waking up in another land. When you drink you feel wonderful until you pass out because you've managed to escape yourself for that moment. Then the next morning you're in another land, reality land.

I'm guessing this song is an allusion to excessive drinking and how it can wile away your money. "I can tell you've been drinking by the scent of your breath. Another little sip, a bit deeper in debt."

it can also allude to how drinking can make you (if you let it control you that is) an empty husk or a shell of your former self. "Though your gut lies filled, only shells remain"

probably take from a perspective of a bartender. "I see it everyday." The odd reference to the yggsdrasil (world tree) i don't really get how it ties in to the song.

Very peculiar imagery!! I think you got it mostly right there, jchvoid.

There are legends of the human-shaped mandrake roots being a murderous plant that grows where the fat and blood of the hanged seep into the ground. It\'s said that if you pull the root from the ground, that the root will let out a scream that will bring death to those that hear it. There is a way to get the root but spare yourself though. If you tie a rope from the root to a dog, and plug your ears with wax, then the dog will pull the root out, with a predictable ending for the dog.