Tiny, King Of The Jews

Tiny, King of The Jews may not be the best title for this song, but it does hit the major themes. "Tiny" refers to a small man, an impotent man, a man who feels he is of no importance. A drunk with nothing better to do than spend his time drinking and despising. Yet "King of the Jews" implies he sees himself as a martyr. The lyrics suggest nothing that implies dissonance between his understanding of himself, therefore we have a minor disconnect in the song title. The subject of the song seems to have accepted his perspective on life, isn't necessarily content with it, but is probably unwilling to accept other points of view.

This song is a foray into the mind of an alcoholic whose disease has progressed to a point that he is no longer functional. Without help, the alcoholic is confined to repeating a series of negative cognitive and emotional scripts, which lead to a downward behavioral spiral characterized by isolation and self-loathing. Isolation and self-loathing lead to drinking, drinking provides temporary relief from the unpleasance of isolation; withdrawal from alcohol leads to more self-loathing and failure to see one's part in social interactions. Ignorance of one's own part in interactions leads to blaming others for one's troubles and subsequent affective state, which is quickly fixed with more booze and drugs. Of course there is always the withdrawal or DTs; the alcoholic obsessively continues the process until someone or something intervenes. Afterward he may stay sober for a while, but relapse is a part of the disease and the cycle of hating and drinking will usually continue at some point or another.

Tiny, King of The Jews is brilliant. The music delivers an affective theme that matches perfectly with the lyrical theme. It is structured repetitively just as the alcoholic's life repetitively revolves around pain, terror, anxiety, and trying to escape such feelings, only to experience more suffering as a result of the brief escape. As OutdoorMiner mentioned, the muffled vocals give it a menacing feel, but I'd go one step further and say the muffled vocals contribute to the theme of the impotence of an alcoholic; nobody trusts an alcoholic, not even the alcoholic himself, and being untrustworthy leads to powerlessness. Muffled vocals give us a greater sense of the powerlessness the subject of the song feels.

A lot of that isn't right, This is a version I got from The Steve Albini Lyrics Project, which I've fixed up in a few parts; missing lines &c.

Of course this is far from perfect, but maybe a bit closer to the real words. Or not.

I started out drinking It stays that way Was not at all human And I killed another day On the wall is another earth At my neck is another knife Another wrinkle in my skin Another kick that I can't feel

I start out hating myself And when I'm through I've gotta have someone to hate And I guess it's you Man's gotta have someone to hate Guess I'll do And when I'm through with myself I'll start on you

Everything I do Makes me want to die I started out drinking I wonder why I started out drinking And it stays that way Was not at all human And I killed another day On the wall is another earth On my neck is the other knife Another wrinkle in my skin Another trip that I can't make Man's gotta hate someone And I guess I'll do And when I'm through with myself I'll start on you I start out hating myself And when I'm through I'm looking for someone to hate Guess you'll do

The liner notes explain the song with this paragraph: “sometimes, even killing yourself wouldn’t be enough. like when you realize that your entire life has been lived under a presumption of free will, but all you’ve been able to make of it is a sad parody of everything you used to hate. slowly, without trying, everyone becomes what he despises most.”

It's basically the song of a failure full of impotent rage who has nothing left to lose and is ready to go out in a blaze of glory. It's about absolute hatred for everything and everyone after a lifetime of misery and resentment. It's about losing all hope and embracing a violent end.

I love the line:

"I start out hating myself And when I'm through I've gotta have someone to hate And I guess it's you"

And all it's variations. It just goes to show how those with the most hate in their hearts turn out to hate themselves even more.

One of my favourite Big Black songs. The muffled vocals give it this really menacing feel that gets under my skin (in a good way). As for meaning, I'm not quite sure, other than the obvious self-hatred turned outwards.

The title confuses me because I'm not sure what it has to do with Jews. I also wonder if the song is related to a particular event or person.

Holy shit, these lyrics made me almost start crying.