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Virginia State Epileptic Colony Lyrics
They sit around tables rendered dumb
Coloured sticks of chalk are passed around
Today the doctors allow the illusion of choice
Tomorrow the necks split, there is no voice
Piggy
V-S-E-C
Cleaning, cooking and flower arranging
Disoslves a kind of liberation
Draw a perfect circle, sleep foetus-like
Six chalk colours, the very meaning of life
They wake to strobes and half circled light
Confusion lifts with potassium percolate
Piggy
V-S-E-C
Cleaning, cooking and flower arranging
Dissolves a kind of liberation
Pig-pig-piggy
V-S-E-C
Cleaning cooking and flower arranging
Dissolves a kind of liberation
Coloured sticks of chalk are passed around
Today the doctors allow the illusion of choice
Tomorrow the necks split, there is no voice
V-S-E-C
Cleaning, cooking and flower arranging
Disoslves a kind of liberation
Six chalk colours, the very meaning of life
They wake to strobes and half circled light
Confusion lifts with potassium percolate
V-S-E-C
Cleaning, cooking and flower arranging
Dissolves a kind of liberation
Pig-pig-piggy
V-S-E-C
Cleaning cooking and flower arranging
Dissolves a kind of liberation
Song Info
Submitted by
deltasunlight On Apr 29, 2009
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Presumably this is about the Virginia eugenics programme.
To me, I saw it as meaning the way doctors just give us a load of pills and think that everything's ok... meaning we go back home, do the cleaning and cooking and flower arranging and comply to the capitalist society we live in. Hence the way it "dissolves a kind of liberation".
But of course, reading Tomos' reply... I'd guess it is about that. :P
Yeah, I think the "cleaning, cooking flower arranging" bit is about how none of us are really free/liberated, we all conform to society.
This definitely was influenced by Richey’s stay in a mental institution. In institutions they keep the patients sedate so they’re easily controllable (“They sit around tables rendered dumb“), and give them menial activities like arts and crafts, in addition to making them do chores to keep them occupied. (“Cleaning cooking and flower arranging. Dissolves a kind of liberation.”) I believe it’s also drawing a comparison to institution life and working class life, the same way Small Black Flowers drew comparisons to captive zoo animals and humans held captive by oppressive society. Your boss is your doctor, your duties at work keep you too occupied to put up a fight for control, ect. I have absolutely no idea what the “Piggy” chant means.
anyone who is interested should read this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_v._Bell
Never saw translation of the Russian lines in this song on Englsh. But I'm Russian, so here is it if there are someone who's interesred: "Stupidity of the rulers. Fatal disease. The silence of millions of witnesses. Envy of the workshop. Exile. Diligence. There (meaning "that way") in a state prison suit, just ponder upon these words, on eternal settlement."
And I also have a question - does anyone know, if these lines are taken from some book or movie or anything? If no then is it Richey who wrote them, or they were added later by Nicky or someone else from the band?
Thanks for translation. According to Nicky, James is the one who put it in the song, it's from some documentary (apparently about soldiers).
Thanks for translation. According to Nicky, James is the one who put it in the song, it's from some documentary (apparently about soldiers).
https://highschoolbioethics.georgetown.edu/units/cases/unit4_2.html
"... the facility embarked on an ill-advised program of involuntary sterilization, combined with routine appendectomies, of so-called 'mental defectives with cacogenic potentialities' ..." http://www.cvtc.dbhds.virginia.gov/feedback.htm
https://www.uvm.edu/~lkaelber/eugenics/VA/VA.html
Leave it to Richey to write a lyric about this.