Valium Knights

Certainly great lyrics. I think the second verse has to be "JFK's SON went down." Makes more sense since JFK Jr. went down in a plane. I don't know though. Does anyone have the liner notes? Are the lyrics printed in the CD?

They are certainly obscure lyrics and hard to pin down. I like the historical references though.

Harvey Oswald is dead and gone (He was shot by Jack Ruby and pronounced dead 48 hours and 7 minutes after JFK.) He took the last train out of town (I think this is just a metaphor for his death.) One Minute man has cocked his load (Could refer to Ruby--who shot Oswald--or LBJ, who took over after JFK. I think LBJ. I think it is meant to have a negative connotation. LBJ was sworn in on the flight to Bethesda with the recently dead JFK in the cargo hold.) Rooster's on parole. (My best guess is a Vietnam reference. After LBJ took over the US high command stepped up the war in Vietnam. Vietnamese people referred to 101st Airborne as chickens or roosters due to the bald eagle patch they wore. So JFK is dead, the one minute man took over and now the unjust war is escalating.) ??

JFK's Son went down (he crashed in a plane) He left the thorns of fallen crown. (This line is heavy. It has a biblical reference--crown of thorns (which suggest he could be a savior or messiah). It also suggests that Jr should/could have been the next king, i.e. president, succeeding his father) Marilyn Monroe’s cum I’ll swallow/She is the guts, the glory, sorrow. (I think this is just a bit of hero worship. Perhaps the speaker in the song things Marilyn Monroe was a stronger character than any of them, JFK, JFK Jr, LBJ, Oswald. She is a greater hero and the speaker in the poem feels she is so worthy she’d even drink her cum).

I also thing the song makes better sense if the line is “Valium Knight’s (i.e. “Knight is”) in my bed.” The Valium Knight is in her bed but he is a vagrant—a wanderer—wandering around in her head. Obviously the love she had for her Valium Knight is waning but they are still holding on to the “Golden Love” they had before, like any couple does, and wondering what went wrong.

Strange too that she seems to worship Marilyn Monroe who overdosed on chloral hydrate and Nembutal while there is Valium (also a barbiturate) wandering aroudn like a vagrant in her head. Like the Valium and the suicide would be her knight in shinning armor and rescue her.

Those are my best guesses. Just rambling really.

I won't go as far as interpreting every single line of the song but the meaning seems pretty clear - it's about (an attempt to commit) suicide. Probably the main reason why the speaker wants to kill herself is her love relationship that apparently has fallen apart. I think the chorus is the key:

Fall into an abyss -- it most likely refers to dying (possibly falling down to hell, that's how I'd read the "abyss" in this context)

Won't you give me just one last kiss -- perhaps a sarcastic remark aimed at the person who I guess she's still in love with - will he kiss her goodbye? Well, he's not there anymore.

Valium knights in my bed -- Valium knights = Valium pills - that's how I see it. They are supposed to help her die.

Only now, he's a vagrant in my head -- it's like she still loves him, he's wandering around in her head, she's thinking of him

Golden love is holding on Holding onto what we had before -- she can't accept the fact that they are no longer together, she can't forget what they used to feel.

I'll take it all, give me more -- she's ready to face it I will be your hero and your whore -- I'd say she realizes that on one hand she'll be seen as really brave but on the other she'll be condemned for doing so.

Loneliness, twilight's gone I don't understand where we went wrong -- she feels lonely and doesn't know why things didn't work out

The two verses sound just like she's trying to find some justification for what she's planning to do - to me it's no more than saying, "Look, all these famous people are already dead and gone, why should I stay alive?" She glorifies Marylin Monroe (who supposedly also killed herself) to the point that she'd even swallow her cum, presumably meaning she wants to follow her example.

But anyway, I think the last line sums up the lyrics perfectly:

I'm on my way -- she's on her way to the Other Side (she's ready to do it right now)

To my mind, this is the only interpretation that makes sense. I would be really surprised if it meant something different.

wow, no comments yet? i thought this would be flooded with distiller fans. anyways this song is so catchy musically and lyrically. Awesome driving song too!

at first i hated the song but now...i love it :D

I love this song! It really grew on me

great lyrics. not too sure what it means :P

In my thoughts the valium knight was like a soldier she was seeing but now she's lonely because he is at war and is now a vagrant? It just seemed probable.

marilyn monroe died from an overdose of barbituates - valium? some say bobby and john kennedy got someone to force some pills down her throat because she was going to talk about her relationship with them. the kennedys have been called american royalty - knights?

I want to preface this by saying I think this song is damn good.

But, I actually think this song is about Tim Armstrong, Brody's first husband before she met her current husband Josh Homme. I think that the tragic story of JFK, Marilyn Monroe, JFK Jr., Oswald, etc. are all metaphors for people in her life. I doubt she would write a song about JFK, so I am guessing this is her lyrical device for a metaphor.

I believe the song is truly about her remembering the wonderful times she had with her ex-husband and, although she is in love and happy with her current husband, she is saddened by having nothing more than memories of her relationship with Tim, seeing as they don't talk anymore.

It's the typical situation of remembering a lost love, and even though you have no connection with them anymore at all, your memories haunt you and comfort you at the same time.

Just my take :)

It's about this news article.

policegazette.us/TodaysNews_8-1-2010_Kennedy.html

Our Internet-Research Editor, who broke the story about the relationship between Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and Captain Edward Smith of the Titanic, has uncovered evidence that President John F. Kennedy actually was not assassinated, but instead committed suicide. The scenario goes like this: Overwhelmingly distraught over the strange death of his mistress Marilyn Monroe 15 months earlier, the Kennedy family's unfortunate ties to the Mafia, his chronic health problems requiring his taking a laundry list of prescription medications, and other stressors, President Kennedy felt he had no choice but to end it all. But how? The nation's chief executive could not be seen taking his own life. The country's image was at stake. It had to have the appearance of an assassination. So casting about for a person who could help, Kennedy settled on Lee Harvey Oswald, a low-level U.S. intelligence operative stuck in a career rut. But this was a big deal. Oswald would risk being caught and accused of killing the president. No small potatoes. So Kennedy promised to arrange his escape and offered to pay him $1.5 million. Oswald agreed and hired an accomplice to help with the plan.