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The Amazing Kreskin Lyrics
In the raining park the chessmen play,
The faithful atheists refuse to pray,
The steam-works weep, the addicts do not care,
Crowd of cold people stand by and stare
The garbage eaters, their many retainers
Come to collect all the foul remainders
The smoke hangs heavy, the wrecking ball swings
In the clockwork of a collapsing thing
Wasted plastic empire's golden age, chemical wedding
Citizens in their refineries cheer the nuptial bedding
The hourglass is turning
On a shore of iron, cutters, and clippers
Paper, rock, rock, paper, and scissors
On a road of skulls their story moves on
It's a bumpy ride and very, very, very long
In the blue sky the seagulls fly over garbage.
Are we the ocean? Are we the desert?
Are we the garbage? Who's to say?
The faithful atheists refuse to pray,
The steam-works weep, the addicts do not care,
Crowd of cold people stand by and stare
Come to collect all the foul remainders
The smoke hangs heavy, the wrecking ball swings
In the clockwork of a collapsing thing
Citizens in their refineries cheer the nuptial bedding
The hourglass is turning
Paper, rock, rock, paper, and scissors
On a road of skulls their story moves on
It's a bumpy ride and very, very, very long
Are we the ocean? Are we the desert?
Are we the garbage? Who's to say?
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The Amazing Kreskin is a famous mentalist. Had a show in the 1970s. I think there's a few references to mentalism here. Certainly the rock, paper, scissors line, as a popular mentalist feat is to win everytime at the game or to win, lose or draw as the audience dictates. Several other Clutch songs include lyrics about psychics, which mentalists often spend time debunking.
uhm..possibly about the state of the environment.(?) Neil has never really been this straightforward with his lyrics, so maybe there is more underlying meaning, but this is just what i take from it.
it also, to me, seems to have a post-apocalyptic feel to it
Possibly using environmentalism as a metaphor for the human condition?
Possibly using environmentalism as a metaphor for the human condition?
The title, the name of a popular mentalist (basically, an illusionist or magician), could refer to how we willfully deceive ourselves
The title, the name of a popular mentalist (basically, an illusionist or magician), could refer to how we willfully deceive ourselves
"In the raining park the chessmen play" - Chess has been known to symbolize strategically misleading behavior in competition. Think of all the different big companies, political interest groups, and governments vying for power nowadays.
"In the raining park the chessmen play" - Chess has been known to symbolize strategically misleading behavior in competition. Think of all the different big companies, political interest groups, and governments vying for power nowadays.
"The faithful atheists refuse to pray" - Religious zealots come from both ends of the spectrum.
"The faithful atheists refuse to pray" - Religious zealots come from both ends of the spectrum.
"The steam-works weep, the addicts do not care" - May be a reference to...
"The steam-works weep, the addicts do not care" - May be a reference to unemployment rates and the junkies and deadbeats who can't be bothered to get a job and pay for themselves, let alone their families.
"Crowd of cold people stand by and stare" - I don't think it's the weather making these people cold.
"The garbage eaters, their many retainers" - Obviously a fancy way of referring to those in the sanitation industry, but that's probably a metaphor for something else. Possibly the general consumer who gobbles up whatever trash the marketing companies throw at us. I've also heard "sanitation workers" as a code word for the Mafia.
"Come to collect all the foul remainders" - See above.
"The smoke hangs heavy, the wrecking ball swings" - Our vision/judgment is clouded and we're wielding a tool of destruction carelessly.
"In the clockwork of a collapsing thing" - Probably the least encrypted line in the whole song. The clock is ticking on our collapsing society. I'm also reminded of the book/movie "A Clockwork Orange" which is full of metaphor in and of itself. Primarily, both the image of a mechanical man running on a routine like clockwork or the unnatural absurdity of the concept of an actual fruit, an orange, made of clockwork. Really, you should all read the book to know what I'm talking about there.
"Wasted plastic empire's golden age, chemical wedding" - The end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Specifically, ushering in the new age by the merging (wedding) of the fake with the unnatural.
"Citizens in their refineries cheer the nuptial bedding" - See above. "The hourglass is turning" - Time just keeps moving along. Things just keep on changing.
"On a shore of iron, cutters, and clippers" - I have the hardest time not thinking of Emo kids cutting themselves here, but I really don't think that's what the reference was meant to be. Sounds more like a nation founded on military.
"Paper, rock, rock, paper, and scissors" - More competitive games. This time, a game with no strategy; a game of chance. Also, Rock Paper Scissors represents a cycle of change and balance.
"On a road of skulls their story moves on" - The road to victory is paved with the bones of the defeated... or something like that.
"It's a bumpy ride and very, very, very long" - I take back what I said before. This one has to be the most straightforward line in the song.
"In the blue sky the seagulls fly over garbage." - There's always an uninvolved observer.
"Are we the ocean? Are we the desert?" - As a society, are we overabundance (ocean) or desolation (desert)?
"Are we the garbage? Who's to say?" - Or just a waste of resources (garage). We also see another trio which could form another cycle of change and balance.
OK, I think I'm done now.
probably my fav. on the record so far. that's definitely subject to change, tho.
This song really paints a bleak, distopian image; like many of the songs on this album. It gives the album a really cohesive feel.
I think LucesDarkness breaks it down pretty well. The reference to "Chemical Wedding" is key. Chemical Wedding is an alchemist manifesto.
Back in the Middle Ages up through the Renaissance people who played around in the field of alchemy were often persecuted and treated like witches or heretics(trying to manipulate matter was viewed as black magic by much of the clergy). They would often disguise their works as something benign to avoid persecution. "Chemical Wedding" is an example of that.
I think that Neil Fallon tries to continue a tradition of esotericism (just like that of "Chemical Wedding)in the songs of Clutch. How many times have you had to check Google or Wikipedia to figure out what the fuck Neil is referencing? By keeping the meanings of his songs cryptic and enigmatic he ensures that only the people who are really interested in understanding them can do so.