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Swollen and Halo Lyrics
the steel that sleeps the eye
needs nor tax nor toll
that kings with men might lie
swollen and halo'd
her sweetest skin burns
now i've buried all the gold beneath my hide
now i'll swallow breath with blood
of pole and anchor
of stone and mitre
of god and beast and
wine and piss and
bread and fish and man
the virgin ground stains
now we've wandered through the polestar's dusty floe
and my crown is breath and blood
needs nor tax nor toll
that kings with men might lie
swollen and halo'd
now i'll swallow breath with blood
of stone and mitre
of god and beast and
wine and piss and
bread and fish and man
now we've wandered through the polestar's dusty floe
and my crown is breath and blood
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my guess a song about war continues from steel that sleeps the eye
"the steel that sleeps the eye needs nor tax nor toll that kings with men might lie swollen and halo'd"
grenade fragments answer to no one and even a general might lie dead just the same as a private first class
"her sweetest skin burns"
rpg fragment in the eye burns. the grenade is a she and the metal steel shrapnel fragments is her skin.
"now i've buried all the gold beneath my hide now i'll swallow breath with blood"
not sure of the gold beneath hide, maybe becomeing hardened to war, swallow breath with blood. internal blood from eye wound going down windpipe (see sober taste of the eye)
"of pole and anchor of stone and mitre of god and beast and wine and piss and bread and fish and man"
humans, earth, and war - not fully developed
"the virgin ground stains"
blood spilled grounds of war
"now we've wandered through the polestar's dusty floe and my crown is breath and blood"
made it through the desert with wounds to take back home. a crown is an achievement gained by living through a war
But i could be way off ; )
This could be a stretch, but I get the feeling that the "now I've buried all the gold beneath my hide" line could be an oblique reference to The Outsiders, more specifically the line "stay gold, Ponyboy" which has become synonymous with youthful naivite. Maybe the song is about losing one's youthful innocence through the horror of a war injury?