Lying like needles on forest earth
Euphoric rush trees bend to pray for us
I'm sputtering like cold machines?
Late for the birth ritual
Ritual
Ritual
Ritual

You can drive my tail to watch the circus
A birth ritual, a birth of idiots
Now I woke up blessed and good strives for heartache
Marked for the death ritual
Ritual
Ritual

As you start the song and face this garden
I light a cigarette before the execution
Now you see your crime for every miracle
Add another drug at every birth ritual

I took the drug to make me stay
And now everything dies in shyness
The snake retreats admits defeat
And waits for the birth ritual
Ritual
Ritual

As you start the song and face this garden
I light a cigarette before the execution
Now you see your crime for every miracle
Add another drug at every birth ritual

Shining light
Child's highs
Mark his sides
Bright until the newness wears off

As you start the song and face this garden?
I light a cigarette before the execution
Now you see your crime for every miracle
Add another drug at every birth ritual

Ritual
Ritual
Ritual


Lyrics submitted by aldeayeah

Birth Ritual Lyrics as written by Matthew Cameron Chris Cornell

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing, Hipgnosis Songs Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Birth Ritual song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

18 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +3
    General Comment

    I think this is kind of about mortality and how after birth, your whole life is leading towards your death no matter how long you try to make it or whatever you accomplish.

    Kind of like Pink Floyd talks about in the song "Time" or Iron Maiden in "The Clairvoyant"

    No matter what the lyrics mean, this song completely and absolutely rocks \m/

    Alice_in_Soundweezeron January 25, 2016   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I think the overall premise of the song is that despite different, customs, religions and life experiences, the only two true rites of passage for all of humanity are birth and death. That is why nature prays for us. Everything else is the "circus" that Cornell references. Being "driven by the tail" reminds me of circus elephants walking in a circle holding each other's tails. It has no definite beginning or end. and represents what we know of the life cycle.

    The "shining light" is coming from the womb/actual birth and into the world. "Child highs" relate to innocence and newness. "Mark his sides" is referencing being marked for death/exodus....

    I think the "garden" is a cemetery and the "song" the death march. I think the "lighting the cigarette" is coming to grips with dying.("execution") Kind of like how Dennis Hopper asked Walkin for a Chesterfield before getting executed in True Romance. Coincidentally, Soundgarden's Outshined is in that movie. I think the "crimes" are all the things done wrong in life that could determine passage to Heaven.

    The only thing I can associate with "miracle" is the miracle of birth.

    "Serpent" could be Satan trying to steal your soul right up to the eleventh hour and retreating when you take the "drug" or leap of religious faith that you will be granted entrance to Heaven. Serpents and snakes appear often in Cornell's lyrics. I believe he had a lot of personal conflict about whether he was inherently a good or hedonistic human being.

    While the above is a how I interpret the song, there is also a part of me that believes there may be a tie to reincarnation.

    brewlandon June 01, 2017   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I think this song might be about pagans calling on the natural world.

    Trashazonon January 08, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I have just read the lyrincs for the first time even though Ive heard the song many times and man are the lyrics graphic.

    Yeah his voice is really high but it seems like that in most of soundgardens songs. Like he is screaming into the microphone but the actual strength of his voice is masked by the surrounding instruments.

    drew29on March 17, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I promise a reward to anyone who finds a coherent concrete meaning of this song!!! (and no generic interpretations like "sex", "drugs" or "free mind flow")

    aldeayeahon March 30, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song is heavy, nasty, sick, etc...

    dave_rock716on December 08, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    sorry mate but i am not getting much from this i think it may be a personal joke or personal phrase, i think he is talking about sex as a birth ritual and he is describing our culture in a disturbing way. i hate to say it but lines like 'you can drive my tail' and 'Euphoric rush', I'm sputtering it really suggests sex and then saying that we are just tools(Like cold machines) in reproduction when all that is going to happen to us is death 'And good strives for heart ache Marked for the death ritual, ritual, ritual" it seems purposely clear as mud i don't think it is made for an easy or linear interpretation

    ThayilBeGodon December 25, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    quite hard to say what its about but it has some outrageous singing and the lyrics are awesome. cornell's voice is so high on this i knew hardly any of the lyrics until now!

    layne1012on December 30, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I too have wondered what the f**k this song is about. I found this website with a detailed interpretation by another SG fan, and found it rather interesting (see below) geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Pit/2648/ritual.html

    Rocket_Queenon January 01, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "I took the drug To make me stay And now everything Dies in shyness"

    I always thought this verse said:

    "I took the drug, to make me see, now everything is doubt and shadow"

    I kind of like that better

    stogieon July 02, 2007   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve. The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future. Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere" The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Album art
Blue
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Album art
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.