The more you take, the more you need
The more you suck, the more you bleed
The dead know better, so listen to the letter
The more you suck, the more you bleed

Echoes and spectres and ghosts of none the wiser
Apparitions each, bad decisions brush on by
Envious in the ever after
Electric fuzzy haze of regrets and dreams denied

The paramount and pompous disregard the cipher
Ignorant the gluttons, and the media rush on by these
Messages from the ever after
Dead letter authors' deliverance denied
The more you take the more you need
The more you suck the more you bleed
The dead know better so listen to the letter
The more you suck the more you bleed

Echoes and spectres and ghosts of none the wiser
Apparitions each and bad decisions brush on by
Envious in the ever after
Electric fuzzy haze of regrets and dreams denied

The more you take, the more you need
The more you suck, the more you bleed
The dead know better, so listen to the letter
The more you suck, the more you bleed

The more you take, the more you need
The more you suck, the more you bleed
The dead know better, so listen to the letter
The more you suck, the more you bleed


Lyrics submitted by DAMtastychicken

Telling Ghosts Lyrics as written by Joshua Eustis Jeff Friedl

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Telling Ghosts song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • +4
    My Interpretation

    Alright, I'm taking a major chance here. So I've never been a true fan of Puscifer. But I'm a fan of Maynard. I've been listening to this album a LOT more recently. It certainly doesn't rank as one of his best albums IMPO. But there is something about it that I kept going back to listen. Personally, after numerous times listening to this album. It has dawned on me that this is an album about the personal experience of wine-making. Finding the plot of land. Proving to the Earth that you're adaptable to the surrounding environment. Praying to the skies for rain and suddenly have your prayers answered to be deluged with a flood. But let me give you my personal opinion of what this certain song is about.

    This is about how his mother (Judith) is still haunting him in his mind. Even after she passed away. The past coming back to haunt him. His emotions welling up once again. Anger, rage, pain, fury. That's what this song is about. Telling his mother's specter to leave him alone and move on. Horizons (the song after this on the album) is when he finally lets go of her ghost by spreading her ashes on the vineyard. "Dust devil swept you away." Letting go all that anger, rage, pain. Also, it acts as a quiet supplication in a sense for rain. That's what Man Overboard is. The storm coming to flood the land so grapes can grow.

    Just my opinion. Let me know what you think.

    mwanteroon May 04, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    "The more you take, the more you need The more you suck, the more you bleed The dead know better so listen to the letter The more you suck, the more you bleed."

    This is describing karma.

    "Envious in the ever after Electric fuzzy haze of regrets and dreams denied."

    The ghosts of the unhappy dead haunt us in their half light world of "electric fuzzy haze"

    Their former lives should speak to us, to be a warning...but fools don't listen or pay attention and soon enough they will join them.

    Reptile_brainon March 06, 2016   Link
  • 0
    Lyric Correction

    Echoes and specters and ghosts of none the wiser. Apparitions each of bad decisions brush on by. Envious in the ever after. Electric fuzzy haze of regrets and dreams denied.

    More you take the more you need. The more you suck the more you bleed. The dead know better, So listen to the letter. The more you suck the more you bleed.

    Paramount to pompous, disregard the cipher. Ignorant, the Gluttons and the Needy rush on by these Messages from the ever after. Dead letter office. Deliverance denied.

    ThoR294on November 10, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    the "ghosts" make up the greedy, ignorant populace. describing the shallowness of the electric fuzzy haze (tv stars, those seeking wealth, people plugged into the entertainment system)

    HatsOff2TheBullon March 03, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Get your read on! Try reading some letters from the dead. You might learn a few things. One of my favorites is Posterity: Letters of Great Americans to Their Children.

    namaquaon April 13, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    To me, this song is about all the stupid reasons that people start wars and all the lives wasted because of that. The "telling ghosts" are people who gave their lives to war but realized that it was all pointless when they died. All those greedy, ignorant, gluttonous people are the leaders of countries who seek to take the resources of others. I think the phrase "there's no money in peace" rings true here.

    Rylexanderon June 12, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    This is a song about vampirism as a spiritual state or practice. Showing how it locks you into the prison of karma and greed. The spirits of the dead will tgry to communicate to you that your vampiristic ways are wrong but the gluttonous and ignorqant just ignore and keep sucking,

    TheSpeakeron June 30, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    It's a sad song about how death sees the living and the dead. Telling the living that the more they fight the more it's going to be messy and to learn from the mistakes the dead have left for us, like living to the fullest but also cautioning us to be careful and think things through. The dead telling us that they're envious of our life, that bad decisions were brushed by, regretting what they had done day by day unable to let it go. The electric fuzzy haze is not being able to think clearly and dwelling on the past.

    kimikitty420on January 24, 2014   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    If you ask me...this song is pretty straightforward.

    It works on several levels...especially on the addiction front, which many fans of Maynard know how he's had his own struggles in the past. Struggles that he's written about through his various projects. The more you take, the more you need...that's a lyric I can particularly identify with as a recovering drug addict. But it also works in a general sense as well...we should be taking and giving in equal parts. People who made mistakes, paid for them with their lives, and now...now what they've learned from their lessons, their messages, their wisdom are lost forever. Learn from the mistakes of others. Don't ignore the writing on the wall. Life is fleeting. Enjoy it while it's here. Don't let earth's temptations lead you astray...or you might end up like one of these telling ghosts.

    autumndreamson July 31, 2015   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    @Doughboyjoe, you've OBVIOUSLY either NEVER listened to anything maynard has ever fucking written, or you hate him so enjoy trolling everything he does, because FUCKING NEVER is ANYTHING he has EVER FUCKING WRITTEN EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER "straightforward", man. Did I happen to mention "Ever"?

    Yourearealfuckingcunton January 11, 2020   Link

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