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Rhythm Of Cruelty Lyrics
I brought your face down on my head
it was something I rehearsed in a dream
you're too good looking far your own damn good
and you don't know what it could mean
You've got me dying of thirst in the meantime
it even hurts when I scream
you've got me drowning and still in the meantime
you don't know what it could mean
Because in my drunken stupor
I've got to admire your ingenuity
and nod my head so wisely
to the rhythm of your cruelty
You're oh so anguished now
you're oh so anguished now
you've got me dying of thirst in the meantime
it even hurts when I scream
you've got me drowning and still in the meantime
you don't know what it could mean
Because you want to have your price
and something you could hold your faith up to
I don't know how to tell you this
But you've got it coming all the way to you
You don't know what it could mean
you don't know what it could mean
I don't know what it could mean
we don't know what it could mean
it was something I rehearsed in a dream
you're too good looking far your own damn good
and you don't know what it could mean
it even hurts when I scream
you've got me drowning and still in the meantime
you don't know what it could mean
I've got to admire your ingenuity
and nod my head so wisely
to the rhythm of your cruelty
you're oh so anguished now
you've got me dying of thirst in the meantime
it even hurts when I scream
you've got me drowning and still in the meantime
you don't know what it could mean
and something you could hold your faith up to
I don't know how to tell you this
But you've got it coming all the way to you
you don't know what it could mean
I don't know what it could mean
we don't know what it could mean
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To me this song is about a certain kind of controlling person who is self righteous and can't admit to what they feel, and being in relationship with that person. To me there's almost an element of sadomasochism in this-- of the speaker seeming almost to lust after the person even while being treated badly by them.
About a one sided relationship, I've had girls that echo this song
Compare this—or nearly any other “love song” by Magazine—with the lyrics of their song “My Tulpa,” in which the tables are turned on Howard Devoto. The tone of ambiguous sadomasochism is there, as usual: oh yes. But the song’s narrator debases himself, in hopes of gaining an iota of attention from the target of his infatuation. Who (oh yeah) happens to be male, in that particular instance.
In Devoto’s songs about women, though? He expresses condescension, a desire to escape, and an assumption she’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
To be fair, he IS far more intelligent than your average bloke.
Also, it’s difficult to examine this gender dynamic more closely. I’m unaware of any tracks he’s written—other than “My Tulpa”—in which male-to-male attraction is explicitly present.