K-Hole

Ketamine, a dissociative psychedelic drug, puts the user in a dissociated state, meaning that they are less connected to both a sense of self and the reality around them. If a large enough amount is taken the user may go into or through a "K-hole", a state of wildly dissociated experience in which other worlds or dimensions that are difficult to describe with language are said to be perceived, all the while being completely unaware of one's individual identity or the outside world

Forget verbal interpretations. Snort a line of ketamine. All will bekome klear. "What's god's name, I can't remember?'

I have sniffed A LOT of ketamine. The beauty of it is that it attaches a sense of real meaning, importance and clarity to ideas that aren't especially meaningful, important or clear. It allows you to examine them much more closely than you would normally, and with almost divine insight. It also makes you detached from yourself and problems, giving you a sort of unbiased optimism, or at least a lack of fear, doubt and guilt. Of course, there can be some confusion, or lack of precision. Things that I've written on ketamine, and that I've seen other ket-heads write, are sometimes so abstract that no-one reading them, even the ket-head when he sobers up, can understand what they mean.

Tiny spirits in a k-hole Bloated like soggy cereal

She's in the k-hole. She's lost inside her head, just a tiny spirit drifting through imaginary worlds.

God will come and wash away Our tattoos and all the cocaine And all of the aborted babies Will turn into little bambies

Optimism.

Wounded river push along Searching for that desert song And Mozart's requiem will play On tiny speakers made of clay

Well, it's abstract. I get a feeling of her as the river, flowing clear and aimless, or maybe according to a destined course. She's wet and she's surrounded by dry dirt, but might find a song in the splish-splash as she bounces off dead rocks and clay.

Tell my mother that I love her Martin Luther you're an angel

'music meaning' got that one.

Charming monkey saunter swagger Drunken donkey limbs disjointed Your chest is a petting zoo Mexican pony fucked up shoes

Walking with a face full of ketamine is strange. Ketamine reduces you to just a mind, and it's absurd having it controlling this marrionette of a body. There's more in those lines than just that, of course, but I don't get it.

I dreamt one thousand basketball courts Nothing holier than sports

I don't get it. Other than that sports might be holy because they're so morally unambiguous. They're really all fun and games. You can screw things up and you always get a chance to try again. When you hurt someone it's just by scoring a goal against them, and they can always try to make up for it. If you beat them, well, they knew going in that they might not win, and they can always play again later.

I should also say that as ketamine comes on there are auditory hallucinations. Like mechanical crickets, or the sound of fanblades but slowed way down, or nintendo music stripped of all the flashiness and somehow made sad. The noises in the song, and to a lesser extent the music, emulate that.

I think music meaning and Panthrop hit this on the head but I would like to add a little bit of hypothetical clarification:

If I remember correctly, one of the major points of the Protestant Reformation, was questioning the role of the church in religious observance. Not just the role of the church, but the actual aspect of church going was a matter of question put forth (or at least inspired by) Martin Luther. Here I think the lines of "Martin Luther, you're an angel" is less about repentance and more about being able to worship anywhere in any form (in this case, in the form of ketamine intoxication).

Now for the lines: I dreamt one thousand basketball courts Nothing holier than sports

I have my own personal theory on this, Noah's Ark came out in 2005. What the bleep do we know!?, a documentary about philosophy, biology and quantum physics came out in 2004. In this movie, there is a reference to the many-worlds hypothesis which is explained on a basketball court using basketballs. It might be a stretch, but those lyrics could be commentary on the explanation within the movie (which is plausible considering the timing).

Personally, this song resonates deeply. It's beautiful.

A lot of comments focusing pretty much solely on the ketamine aspect. Nobody seems to realize that a lot of CocoRosie's other lyrics have equally abstract and visual images, without being about drugs. Could it be that not every line in this song is about the 'k-hole' experience, event though it's the title of the song? Or that, you know, maybe, it's not literally about a ketamine trip (just like it's not literally about abortion or Bambie)?

gwepoi's statement is very interesting in terms of this song. I can't make much out of this song, but I really enjoy the lyrics and the entire feeling of this song. Theres so many statements that, although are framented from a "plot", hit to the heart. I especially like the statement "God will come and wash away"....pessimistic optimism

I love this song live so much more. There is a good video here http://youtube.com/watch?v=i_XclEglAYU of them performing it at Touch and Go last year.

Just saw them perform it again at Coachella and the bass was amazing and overwhelming at the set. It made my skin crawl. Too bad they had a bunch of sound problems during that set.

The drug information is part of it and explains some of the fragmented thoughts.

I think there is also a meaning beyond the drugs regarding salvation. One line says "Martin Luther, you're an angel." Martin Luther believed that to be saved, your deeds on Earth could be ignored. The speaker is saying that what she has done on Earth will be "washed away" (the sins of drugs, abortions, and other "unholy" acts) and she will go to heaven to be with God.