Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
The day that civil glory dismembered my civility
I could have parted ribs and flesh like a different kind of Red Sea
Drowned the ancient east in western progress
Custom and the least of all our pride and sentiments
Which turned out to be the closest thing to a fashion trend
That's ever been bulletproof
Which turned out to be the closest thing to a fashion trend
That's ever been put on trial
The rest was cast off as denial of statehood and mastery
The ultimate form of treason is the treacherous use of reason (the treacherous use)
Employed by the bastard sons of American fore-fathers who keep this fire burning
With the flesh of their would-be American daughters
Daughters
Daughters
Daughters
What will happen to our children when the least of us pass on?
Us who fought the monsters of our country's crowded closet
Us who dropped the bombs on goodness when we saw it wasn't flawless
Us whose youthful life was hostage to what harm did
Who fought the hardest to be swept under the carpet
And I'm still a cigarette softly smoking on the edge of a metal ashtray
I begged this place to let me burn, and it whispered, "burn away"
I could have parted ribs and flesh like a different kind of Red Sea
Drowned the ancient east in western progress
Custom and the least of all our pride and sentiments
Which turned out to be the closest thing to a fashion trend
That's ever been bulletproof
Which turned out to be the closest thing to a fashion trend
That's ever been put on trial
The rest was cast off as denial of statehood and mastery
The ultimate form of treason is the treacherous use of reason (the treacherous use)
Employed by the bastard sons of American fore-fathers who keep this fire burning
With the flesh of their would-be American daughters
Daughters
Daughters
Daughters
What will happen to our children when the least of us pass on?
Us who fought the monsters of our country's crowded closet
Us who dropped the bombs on goodness when we saw it wasn't flawless
Us whose youthful life was hostage to what harm did
Who fought the hardest to be swept under the carpet
And I'm still a cigarette softly smoking on the edge of a metal ashtray
I begged this place to let me burn, and it whispered, "burn away"
Lyrics submitted by guitarhero, edited by sokorny
Nautical Lyrics as written by Lucas Hoskin Arif Mirabodlbaghi
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
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Ok so, it helps to know what the prison guard represents in this album. He represents society's devotion to logic, reason, and intelligence which, in turn, leads to death of god (because after all, through " treacherous reason", one can determine that its not the actions of a person that makes them divine, it is their mere existence, "Your flesh means more than you". Religion and morality are exposed as fairy tales that try to give meaning to a meaningless universe and god is killed.) As for the song: The day that civil glory dismembered my civility I could have parted ribs and flesh like a different kind of Red Sea Drowned the ancient east in western progress Custom and the least of all our pride and sentiments
The day that society killed a contradictory morality, the guard could have gone killing people in the name of nihilism (kinda like how moses parted the Red Sea in the name of god) and he could have drowned the former, ancient religion founded in the eastern part of the world with the reason and dehumanization founded in the west.
Which turned out to be the closest thing to a fashion trend That's ever been put on trial
Pretty awesome line, what is religion, but another way to conform (as one would conform to a fashion trend)? And now it's being questioned and perhaps put to death(kinda like Kezia, hmmmm).
The rest was cast off as denial of statehood and mastery; The ultimate form of treason is the treacherous use of reason Employed by the bastard sons of American fore-fathers who keep this fire burning With the flesh of their would-be American daughters, daughters, daughters, daughters!!
Now this society is hailing their establishment of reason and intelligence founded and fueled by the devaluization of humans, specifically women.
Us who fought the monsters of our country's crowded closet Us who dropped the bombs on goodness when we saw it wasn't flawless
The pawns (soldiers/prison guards) of this civilization have fought their enemies (which i'm assuming are those who try to keep the faith, like Kezia) and in turn killed a morality that may have been contradictory like all moralities, but was still "good". They dropped the bomb on the only thing preventing them from going nihilistic just because it had contradictory logic.
Us whose youthful life was hostage to what harm did Us who fought the hardest to be swept under the carpet
Us whose small, youthful minds were trapped by the truth and society's of a both infinite and infinitesimally divine existence Us who now wish to be swept under carpet as the mere pieces of dirt we are
And I'm still a cigarette softly smoking on the edge of a metal ashtray I begged this place to let me burn, and it whispered, "burn away"
Why would one want to live when one have committed the most foul act of all, killing God? "Burn away" said society after selling their soul for cigarettes....