Oh, all the words I should not know
Those doctors wrote on me
Swell up and from their syllable
Won't let me get to sleep

The sun will start late and clock out early

And I'll drive around and wait for it
Follow familiar roads
Emptied of every memory
Under a sheet of silence and unmarked snow

Then idle in some parking lot
Smoke half a smoke and ask
St. Boniface and St. Vital
Preserve me from my past

Repair our potholes, prevent plant closures

And if they remember me at all
Make them remember me
As more than a queer experiment
More than a diagram in their quarterly

Make them remember me


Lyrics submitted by superficies

Hymn of the Medical Oddity Lyrics as written by Jason Tait John K Samson

Lyrics © MOTHERSHIP MUSIC PUBLISHING

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Hymn of the Medical Oddity song meanings
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    General Comment

    I think it's maybe about John's take on David Reimer not wanting to die and be remembered as nothing more than a "queer experiment". He wants to be remembered as something else.

    And, yes, it's not "Saint Fratel", there are two areas in the French Quarter of Winnipeg (I live here in the Murder City, just so you know) called 'St. Boniface' and 'St. Vital' (pronounced vit-ell). They both used to be towns, back in the day, until Winnipeg got bigger and they grew together, and they became a section of the city.

    Still, though, that's an amazing line, and one I'll probably remember forever.

    Then idle in some parking lot, Smoke half a smoke and ask: "St. Boniface and St. Vital, Preserve me from my past."

    Sketchwardon August 25, 2007   Link

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