In a foreign town
In a foreign land
Reaping time had come
In fields of swaying rape

It could not happen here
Pushed to one side with the flick of a wrist
Out of sight
And out of mind

Fallng back in fields of rape
In yellow heads of blossom
Mothers babies bleeding
You stand there laughing

Unquestioning unconfronting
Poetic lines on the art of dying
Falling back in fields of rape
That was the way

Those were the horrors
As daddy went a-reaping
In nodding heads of rape
No mark on your spotless conscience

No blemish on your immaculate body
Untouched by sight or sound of misery
Close the eyes
Shift the responsibility

It was not you
It was not you
Falling back in fields of rape
My children

Falling back in fields of rape
It could not happen here
Pushed to one side with a flick of the wrist
Out of sight

And out of mind
Falling back in fields of rape
Poetic lines on the art of dying
Falling back in fields of rape

That was the way
And those were the horrors
As daddy went a-reaping
In nodding heads of rape

No mark on your spotless conscience
No blemish on your immaculate body
Untouched by sight or sound of misery
Close the eyes

Shift the responsibility
It wasn't you
Falling back in fields of rape
My children

Falling back in fields of rape

Here we go round the mulberry bush
The mulberry bush
The mulberry bush
Here we go round the mulberry bush

On a cold and frosty morning

In a foreign town
In a foreign land
Reaping time had come
Falling back in fields of rape

My love
And that was the way
And those were the horrors
As daddy went a-reaping

Falling back in fields of rape
My children
Crushed, crushed, crushed
In mud and wars

Mother children bleeding
You stand there laughing
Falling back in fields of rape

Never eating
Bags of bones dying quietly
Homeless
Drinking foul water

Sorting garbage
With flies in heat
Raped
Axed

Burned with acid
Locked away for thirty years
Thrown out of a helicopter
Forced to labour endlessly

Castrated
Burned alive
Killed so easily by firing squads

In a foreign town
In a foreign land
Reaping time has come
They're falling back

In fields of rape
In fields of rape
They're falling back
In fields of rape

My love
And this is our way
And these are the horrors
As we go a-reaping

They're falling back
In fields of rape
In fields of rape
They're falling back

In fields of rape
My darling
And crushed, crushed, crushed
In mud and wars

Still you stand there laughing
They're falling back in fields of rape
In fields of rape they're falling back
My lovers

In fields of rape the ravens
Descend. the yellow beak slashes
Corn, the sickles are sharpened
And the cattle bleed, and reaping

Time has come, our voices grow
Shriller, and our eyes glitter, but
In this last summer the Rapture
Descends, and father's mask has

Turned to grey, and mother's
Breasts are leper white, and
Children's laughter cracks, and
Reaping time has come, body and

Blood, body and blood, body and
Blood, body and mud, body and
Blood, body and mud, and
Christ's eyes, I am weary, and

Christ's eyes, I want to melt
Bleeding Jesus, be quick, be quick

(And what would you do, my gentlest
One...?)

Falling back in fields of rape


Lyrics submitted by Cynothoglys

Falling Back in Fields of Rape Lyrics as written by

Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY

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Falling Back in Fields of Rape song meanings
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9 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment

    This song is a play on words juxtaposing rapeseed fields with the field of battle.

    It mixes imagery about how the father of a family goes away to war and wreaks havoc while the family stays at home and washes their hands of it.

    The part about Mulberry bushes is very similar to a similar line in The Wasteland, by TS Eliot.

    emueyeson July 31, 2006   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    rape1 [reyp]
    noun 1. the unlawful compelling of a person through physical force or duress to have sexual intercourse. 2. any act of sexual intercourse that is forced upon a person.

    an act of plunder, violent seizure, or abuse; despoliation; violation: the rape of the countryside. 5. Archaic. the act of seizing and carrying off by force.

    So..These are my thoughts...They could expand a lot broader or vaster let me know what you think:

    I'm thinking a bit larger here then just the war metaphor. Sure it's a war metaphor as well but think about the universe and our desires. We run unconscious of mostly all of these things just to live life comfortably. Life is botched and there is some sort of illness in the discovery of our unconscious meaningless sexual natures. Born to breed, nothing else. It also to me means this force of sexual energy that we all fall hindrance to. It's a song that is talking about the sheer VIOLENCE of all of our primal sexual experiences on a very grand grand bigger picture scale. This is also to me about how we are forced to destroy nature itself at some point in our life, or just fall in line with it. "Falling back in fields of rape" = Falling back in natures violent unconscious wrath, and the sickening feeling you get when you come to a grander realization of this. The war metaphor fits well however.

    LAST NOTE:

    93 is a Thelemic term for "Love and Will" - David Tibet I'm pretty sure is Thelemic or maybe no religion whatsoever. He talks about Christ sarcastically in my opinion and it's all sort of this beautiful joke. I think he admires Christ, sure...Don't we all atleast admire the symbolism of the beautiful Christ? I definitely don't think he's Christian. Lol @ rock for Jesus.

    jaKuLon July 21, 2014   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think it's about how there's rape going on, but nobody cares or pretends not to notice that it's happening until it happens in their town or to them.

    Pogo Popeon April 19, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Note rape also refers to a variety of grain.

    It's about the horrors of war.

    Cynothoglyson July 10, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Oh, yeah, anyone heard the live versions on the Nature Unveiled Cd rerelease. They're entitled "Maldoror Rising" and "Maldoror Falling" and are quite unnerving. I see why George Starostin says that early Current 93 can make you physically ill...

    Cynothoglyson July 10, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I don't listen to Current 93 (I doubt my parents would let me), but I stumbled upon them via this site, and the title made me think of the phrase "fall back". In Shakespearean days, "falling back" was a phrase that meant the same thing as "making love". I guess it might have something to do with the title, as, well, you know what the word rape suggests...I have no idea if this was intentional or not. I don't even listen to Current 93.

    Pippin the Mercuryon June 27, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    David actually is Christian. I just asked him..So sorry I was wrong.

    jaKuLon July 23, 2014   Link
  • -3
    General Comment

    Poor Pippin, deprived from Mr. Bunting poetic rambles. As somebody else stated, "rape" refers rapeseed, just as "gay" shows up throughout C93's discography plenty of times, always with its original meaning. And isn't C93 a Christian folk band after all? Keep rocking 4 Jesus.

    Maldororon May 29, 2010   Link
  • -3
    General Comment

    Poor Pippin, deprived from Mr. Bunting poetic rambles. As somebody else stated, "rape" refers rapeseed, just as "gay" shows up throughout C93's discography plenty of times, always with its original meaning. And isn't C93 a Christian folk band after all? Keep rocking 4 Jesus.

    Maldororon May 29, 2010   Link

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