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Burn My Bones Lyrics
Sleeping deeply in the blood
It turns my memories to mud
And gnaws inside me like a dog
Whose leg is caught beneath a log
It eats itself until it's free
But I'll eat them instead of me
HUNGER! ANGER!
HUNGER! ANGER!
HUNGER! ANGER!
HUNGER! ANGER!
PLEASE SOMEBODY! BURN MY BONES!
PLEASE SOMEBODY! BURN MY BONES!
PLEASE SOMEBODY! BURN MY BONES!
And leave the ashes in the snow
It turns my memories to mud
And gnaws inside me like a dog
Whose leg is caught beneath a log
It eats itself until it's free
But I'll eat them instead of me
HUNGER! ANGER!
HUNGER! ANGER!
HUNGER! ANGER!
PLEASE SOMEBODY! BURN MY BONES!
PLEASE SOMEBODY! BURN MY BONES!
And leave the ashes in the snow
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from the "Animal Lover" insert:
THE WOLF
The wolf was cold and hungry. He had followed the man for hours ...waiting, waiting, for just the right time. Waiting for a moment of weakness. Waiting for an opening. Not that the man presented much of a threat ...or much of a meal. But now something strange was happening. Standing still and staring up at the night sky, the man abruptly began to howl, in a most disturbing way. Maybe this was not a meal to consider.
The wolf had seen the man and smelled his scent around the forest for some time. He knew that the human lived with his two sisters in a small shelter not far away. He also knew that this winter was longer and colder than most, and food was nowhere to be found.
Turning his attention back to the man, the wolf noticed that howling seemed to swell in intensity. Gradually a feeling of discomfort crept up the animal’s legs, slithered across his back and slowly oozed into his chest. The feeling seized his throat and squeezed it tight. Feeling more and more uncomfortable, the animal told itself to run. Flee. Get away from the howling man. The man who now seemed to be glowing a white hot and impossibly bright light. The light of hunger mixed with fear, the light that illuminates the black pit of despair and makes anything possible. Makes anything desirable. Makes anything real.
Suddenly the man began to move. Quickly, silently, purposefully, towards the small shelter just over the hill. Transfixed, the wolf followed. And watched as the man quietly entered his home. Again the man howled, shaking the wolf’s soul as he heard a no longer human wail mixing and blending into the sound of several horrified screams.
No, thought the wolf, this was not a meal to consider.
Within the context of the accompanying story, the first half of the song is easy enough to interpret: the man is driven by hunger and madness to contemplate killing and eating his two sisters.
Within the context of the accompanying story, the first half of the song is easy enough to interpret: the man is driven by hunger and madness to contemplate killing and eating his two sisters.
The ending is a bit more challenging to interpret. Perhaps the titular lines, "please, somebody, burn my bones" are a request made after the man butchers his own kin; maybe he realizes that their deaths will not be enough to prolong his own, or maybe he considers suicide in light of his desperate, ghastly actions.
The ending is a bit more challenging to interpret. Perhaps the titular lines, "please, somebody, burn my bones" are a request made after the man butchers his own kin; maybe he realizes that their deaths will not be enough to prolong his own, or maybe he considers suicide in light of his desperate, ghastly actions.
This man, an animal and a killer in the...
This man, an animal and a killer in the end, wishes nothing more than an anonymous ritual to burn away his remains, the last physical evidence of a grisly tragedy in a cold, uncaring wilderness.
The song could also be about the story of the Wendigo, a spirit which takes over humans who turn to cannibalism to survive. If you look at the artwork in the Animal Lover liner, you can see a monstrous figure possessing the man in the song.
The song could also be about the story of the Wendigo, a spirit which takes over humans who turn to cannibalism to survive. If you look at the artwork in the Animal Lover liner, you can see a monstrous figure possessing the man in the song.
After a cursory Google search, I've found that there is only way to kill a Wendigo; you must burn it.
After a cursory Google search, I've found that there is only way to kill a Wendigo; you must burn it.