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.
She was his
She would take his children
Black and white
Right to her own breast
There were times
When he could mix
With ordinary white company
Though the subject never came up
No one would notice
He had what they call passing complexion
He had what they call passing complexion
He had what they call passing complexion
He had what they call passing complexion
He'd been white, he'd been black
They asked him, black like that?
Yeah!
She would take his children
Black and white
Right to her own breast
There were times
When he could mix
With ordinary white company
Though the subject never came up
No one would notice
He had what they call passing complexion
He had what they call passing complexion
He had what they call passing complexion
He had what they call passing complexion
He'd been white, he'd been black
They asked him, black like that?
Yeah!
Lyrics submitted by infotainment_lad
Passing Complexion Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © SC PUBLISHING DBA SECRETLY CANADIAN PUB.
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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Great version of a great song,
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About a black person who can pass as a white person due to his pale complexion as far as I understand.
Its pretty sad thinking about this concept. Even modern artists talk about this shit. Chance The Rapper (also from Chicago) talks about how he would always tell people he was "mixed" despite being 100% black... and looking back, he says hes really ashamed of that.
You look on TV and half the black celebrities are "whited up" unless they're in a role society is used to them in (rapper, athlete, etc).
There is a Negativland song that touches on this subject titled "Why Is This Commercial?". Musically its not that great of a song, but its part of a concept album. That whole album is great, and I recommend giving it a listen purely for its "lyrical" content and message.
When I was in high school and 'Atomizer' lived in the cassette deck in my car, I thought that this was a piece of speculative fiction about somebody whose complexion was not stable—whose racial identity was "passing," i.e., shifting back and forth between black and white in such a way that he could be said to be neither. That kind of abject experience of race—not white, not black, fleetingly both, but ultimately neither—felt very Big Black to me. Of course, I later learned what passing really meant, but I still kind of like my youthful misapprehension of the lyrics.