Dry Bone Valley

Head down running from the beast Break neck speed taking all my breath Black feet scraped and scarred and dripping blood Rain come down, take me with your flood

I came to and I was running from you I feel your breath on the back of my neck Where have I come to be? Is this all that's left for me?

I wish that I was still there I wanna keep on breathing Bulls roar loud, snakes move past my feet No teeth, no hands set me free Bones start rattling 'round inside my head I don't know if I'm alive or dead

I came to and I was running from you I feel your breath on the back of my neck Where have I come to be? Is this all that's left for me?

I wish that I was still there I wanna keep on breathing Dig deep, kicking up rocks and dirt and sand Out of this life, this valley, bones in hand Over these mountains to the seas of life Leave this desert for the sick and damned.

I think this song is about the feeling of danger, speed and risk and how it's supposed to be avoided...

I hear "Break neck speed, taking all my breath" "When I came to, I was running from you" "No teeth, no hands set me free"

While it may not be a popular opinion, to me it sounds like this may have been a rejected ending to Blood Mountain. Bear with me here.

"Head down running from the beast Break neck speed taking all my breath Black feet scraped and scarred and dripping blood Rain come down, take me with your flood."

After putting the Crystal Skull at the top of Blood Mountain, the beast (shown on the album art) comes to life to free him of the curse, but instead of him staying to receive it, he becomes terrified and begins to run down. At this point, it's a full moon out, and he has turned into his werewolf form (Black feet are not a human trait; perhaps fur and paws would fit better.) It's been mentioned that Blood Mountain contained a large river in Capillarian Crest.

"I came to and I was running from you I feel your breath on the back of my neck Where have I come to be? Is this all that's left for me?"

He has come back to human form, and he feels the breath of the beast against his neck. He is lost, having no memory of how he got where he is. Hopeless, he begins to ask whatever sent him on his mission (possibly a god, hinted at in The Wolf Is Loose) is this all that is left for him; running and escaping death on this horrible mountain.

"I wish that I was still there I wanna keep on breathing Bulls roar loud, snakes move past my feet No teeth, no hands set me free Bones start rattling 'round inside my head I don't know if I'm alive or dead."

Starting to get chased again by the beast (at this point, it is angered with him for returning the skull, but running away in fear, a test perhaps to prove his courage or what not), he wishes he was back where he started, at the top of the mountain, as he wants to stay alive instead of the horrible life he's leading now. Running back through the forest of Birchmen, he sees the white faces again, as well as the beast in the trees, and the beast is shown to a have a bull-like face, and the white faces may have taken the form of snakes or vines which he is confusing for snakes in his panic.

"Dig deep, kicking up rocks and dirt and sand Out of this life, this valley, bones in hand Over these mountains to the seas of life Leave this desert for the sick and damned."

Finally escaping from the monster hunting (hey look, the Hunter, hehe.) him through Blood Mountain, he kicks up rocks, dirt, and sand to blind it, then running out of the area he has been trapped in by the beast. Traveling over the massive sand dunes and hills of the beach (it was hinted that Blood Mountain may be on an island), he escapes, whether that be swimming or the boat he came on, leaving the mountain behind as well as the horrible thing coming to hunt him, leaving behind the "damned."

I believe it’s a reference to scripture. Valley of the Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14 with a typical Mastodon perspective on it.

I think this song is about death, and the fight for survival, to avoid death. Now, after seeing the video for the song i think this even more. The video is so simple, but it's stuck on my mind.