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When all is done and turned to dust
And insects nest inside my bones, I see
I stagger in a daze outside my tent
No time for being alone
To bleed
The hopeless singing of a round
That much we know to do
Before we go back underground
No easy action
Sparks fill the air some nights
Crows look for food behind my skin
Beneath
Try our best to dig it in
And keep the cold away, I see
That the sky is a vanishing place
And then there's nothing to miss
No time to get out of the ice
No easy action
Although all else may turn to dust
And insects nest inside my bones, I see
I stagger in a daze to find what you meant
Where it's good to be alone
Bleed
The hopeless singing of a round
Before that vanishing place
Before we're back underground
No easy action
And insects nest inside my bones, I see
I stagger in a daze outside my tent
No time for being alone
To bleed
The hopeless singing of a round
That much we know to do
Before we go back underground
No easy action
Sparks fill the air some nights
Crows look for food behind my skin
Beneath
Try our best to dig it in
And keep the cold away, I see
That the sky is a vanishing place
And then there's nothing to miss
No time to get out of the ice
No easy action
Although all else may turn to dust
And insects nest inside my bones, I see
I stagger in a daze to find what you meant
Where it's good to be alone
Bleed
The hopeless singing of a round
Before that vanishing place
Before we're back underground
No easy action
Song Info
Submitted by
quarantined On Jun 23, 2007
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This may be ridiculous, but I also imagine a military scene in a windy, wintry, godforsaken place. Imagery like the tent, sparks filling the night, no time to be alone, etc led me to that impression. The music and background vocals give it a windy, lonesome, and epic feel.
Maybe it is a dazed, battle-weary officer's thoughts on death and war and the horrible deeds he has done and witnessed. And the uncertainty of his own fate.
Now that you've mentioned all the possible references to war and violence in the song's imagery, I definitely agree with you.
Now that you've mentioned all the possible references to war and violence in the song's imagery, I definitely agree with you.
Marquez---I also think "hopeless singing of a round" is a round of ammunition being fired, and it comes right "before the vanishing place," which I think is death. Mark Lanegan is a hell of a lyricist.
Marquez---I also think "hopeless singing of a round" is a round of ammunition being fired, and it comes right "before the vanishing place," which I think is death. Mark Lanegan is a hell of a lyricist.
Exactly! I suspected as much. I like the fact that he's a written a war-time song without even making it obvious. I'm only puzzled by the beginning of the sixth stanza: "I stagger in a daze to find what you meant/where it's good to be alone". Maybe somebody promised something to him? Maybe that he'd find some sort of sense of purpose in the war?
Exactly! I suspected as much. I like the fact that he's a written a war-time song without even making it obvious. I'm only puzzled by the beginning of the sixth stanza: "I stagger in a daze to find what you meant/where it's good to be alone". Maybe somebody promised something to him? Maybe that he'd find some sort of sense of purpose in the war?
I think clues are in the music. It sounds like a woman's voice in the background wailing like the wind or a banshee. Maybe he was referring to advice to that it's good to be alone and "bleed," which maybe means to be alone long enough to reflect on his experiences and grieve, which try as he might he doesn't see much point in. I also had a thought that to "dig it in/and keep the cold away" was a reference to digging graves to give someone a dignified burial, and the last thing a corpse would...
I think clues are in the music. It sounds like a woman's voice in the background wailing like the wind or a banshee. Maybe he was referring to advice to that it's good to be alone and "bleed," which maybe means to be alone long enough to reflect on his experiences and grieve, which try as he might he doesn't see much point in. I also had a thought that to "dig it in/and keep the cold away" was a reference to digging graves to give someone a dignified burial, and the last thing a corpse would see is the sky, which is a "vanishing place." Try as he might, the speaker realizes that there's no comfort in a decent burial since the whole situation is indecent, and concludes that there's nothing to miss about this place, the world, etc. I think it really is a song about hopelessness.
It is indeed. Very clever explanation, by the way. The narrator seems to be pondering the pointlessness of human life as seen through the lens of war and violence.
It is indeed. Very clever explanation, by the way. The narrator seems to be pondering the pointlessness of human life as seen through the lens of war and violence.
I thought it might have reflected a homeless person's experience, but then read that Mark said this: “I wrote it after reading two stories in the newspaper one morning. The first covered an exhibition of photos from Ernest Shackleton’s failed Antarctic expedition, and the second described the studio apartment of a Seattle man who caused a city bus to go off the side of the Aurora Avenue Bridge when he shot the driver and then himself.”
a winter rebellion
What you said sounds interesting... would you explain that better? I thought Mark was singing about the useless ness of life, about how we can only sing and try to fight the cold and harsh times, before we die. I think there's a biblical allusion here, when he says going back underground (I'm not religious, so I don't really know the real words) to when god says "you came from dust and to dust you'll go back".