Straight line
Feel it burst liver and lung
Long and strong
'Til she spills her black blood

Center down
Vast the head body and tail
Shatter life
Physeter catodon

Culture vulture
Elephant graveyard

Culture vulture

Engage monster
Wreaking vengeance
Assault with all martial rage

Sail on


Lyrics submitted by shadowwiththeeyes

Iron Tusk Lyrics as written by Brent Hinds Brann Dailor

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Iron Tusk song meanings
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15 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    best drum part of the year. i adore this song

    OneJugOfWineon December 24, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    yeah, the drums on this song are truly class.

    hermanator05on January 16, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    ah, the drums are god damnded incredible on the entire album, this one doesn't stand out particularly next to the others.

    moe2000on March 09, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    as an amature drummer i realy like mastodon's drum work its amazing but so is the rest of the band i like the slightly distorted bass

    insane metal fanon July 20, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Drums are good all through the album, but best on this and Hearts Alive. The song is about whaling, more specifically the messy killing bit.

    Nightgaunt88on February 28, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    'Physeter catodon' is the taxonomic (scientific) name for the sperm whale, which is the type of whale Moby-Dick is said to be.

    handscandyon September 04, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Stooooooooooooooooooooooned

    rebelyison September 13, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This songs about a girl losing her virginity in a very violent fashion..... Jk for some reason i thought this was ivory tusk for a hell of long time, which wouldve talked about ahab's leg. But i guess the title is referring to a harpoon? Does anyone whos read moby dick know if the pequod got a whale on their way to moby dick? cuz this is still the middle of the album and they take on moby in 9 & 10

    poopsmcgee567on December 05, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i also thought it was bout a elephant at first but it made sense when that sperm whale part was explained. maybe hes just referring to 2 very big animals ? like the elephant of the sea or something?

    burnsheepyon February 11, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is about the killing of a whale. I think it is the Pequod's first kill, too: Stubb, one of the ship's mates, yells "long and strong!" during the engagement with the first whale they kill. Reaching the elephant graveyard is a way of saying reaching the end of the line in life, so it's basically a metaphor signaling that the whale is going to die (which it does; their first hunt is successful). After they kill the whale, they take its oil and sail on.

    WhisperingKiwion August 02, 2007   Link

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