Brian Eno

Seven Deadly Finns

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Seven Deadly Finns Lyrics

	


Oh, the French girls with the string of pearls
Think it's such a burning shame
That the local boys with their country joys
Never make them daisy chains
They're swapping disappointing incidents
While at the docks another ship pulls in
And suddenly the door breaks down (ooh la la)
It's the Seven Deadly Finns

Oh, oh, oh, soldiers and sailors
Have all been here before
Gigolos and governments
Have stumbled through that door
Because they need all those French girls with all their kiss curls
And powder in their guns
And the seven Finns with their deadly grins
Tend to measure beauty in tuns.

The first is a freak with a masochistic streak
And the second is a kitten up a tree
The third is a flirt with an awful print skirt
And the fourth is pretending to be me
The fifth wears a mac and never turns his back
The sixth never shows his eyes
But the seventh deadly Finn is so tall and slim
He should of never been with those guys.

Although variety's the spice of life
A steady rhythm is the source
Simplicity's the crucial thing
Systemically of course (work it all out like Norbert Wiener)
So if those French girls say to you
'Would you like your ashes raked?'
You'll have to take their word for it
It's the only thing to take

	

Submitted by

foreverdrone On Jan 17, 2011

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by foreverdrone

13y ago

brian never yodels anymore. what a shame.

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by imrazor

5y ago

The song is about sailors visiting a brothel - one whose employees are proud of their ability to cater to every imaginable fetish. There may be some layering of vocals giving us two correct answers - but I never had any doubt that the first line is, as Eno himself transcribed it. "such a burning shame" - relating to the fetish in which the genitals are mildly burned with cigarette lighters or something similar. The whole song is dedicated to ramming in (so to speak) the maximum number of puns relating to sexual practices. Anyone can get the "country joys" joke, and I hope no-one reading this generally needs an explanation of "daisy-chains" or "powder in their guns". Speaking of which, in the final stanza, it actually says "would you like your ashes raked?" (Which rhymes with "a.s.ses r a ped" - and it's likely that both phrases apply).

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