This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
I watch the work of my kin, bold and boyful
Toying somewhere between love and abuse
Calling to join them, the wretched and joyful
Shaking the wings of their terrible youths
Freshly disowned in some frozen devotion
No more alone or myself could I be
Lurched like a stray to the arms that were open
No shortage of sordid, no protest from me
With her sweetened breath, and her tongue so mean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
With her straw-blonde hair, her arms hard and lean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
Feeling more human and hooked on her flesh, I
Lay my heart down with the rest at her feet
Fresh from the fields, all fetor and fertile
It's bloody and raw, but I swear it is sweet
With her sweetened breath, and her tongue so mean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
With her straw-blonde hair, her arms hard and lean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
In leash-less confusion, I'll wander the concrete
Wonder if better now having survived
Jarring of judgement and reason's defeat the sweet
Heat of her breath in my mouth, I'm alive
With her sweetened breath, and her tongue so mean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
With her straw-blonde hair, her arms hard and lean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
With her sweetened breath, and her tongue so mean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
With her straw-blonde hair, her arms hard and lean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
Toying somewhere between love and abuse
Calling to join them, the wretched and joyful
Shaking the wings of their terrible youths
Freshly disowned in some frozen devotion
No more alone or myself could I be
Lurched like a stray to the arms that were open
No shortage of sordid, no protest from me
With her sweetened breath, and her tongue so mean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
With her straw-blonde hair, her arms hard and lean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
Feeling more human and hooked on her flesh, I
Lay my heart down with the rest at her feet
Fresh from the fields, all fetor and fertile
It's bloody and raw, but I swear it is sweet
With her sweetened breath, and her tongue so mean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
With her straw-blonde hair, her arms hard and lean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
In leash-less confusion, I'll wander the concrete
Wonder if better now having survived
Jarring of judgement and reason's defeat the sweet
Heat of her breath in my mouth, I'm alive
With her sweetened breath, and her tongue so mean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
With her straw-blonde hair, her arms hard and lean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
With her sweetened breath, and her tongue so mean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
With her straw-blonde hair, her arms hard and lean
She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene
Lyrics submitted by michigansdiction, edited by bearpig77777, randy11242, teaspill, cr0wgrrl, Cjmclm, Maedhbh
Angel of Small Death & the Codeine Scene Lyrics as written by Andrew Hozier Byrne
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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@marycbon I see what you mean now. xD
Yeah, I've always read it as the subject of the song being both the Angel of the Codeine Scene and the Angel of Small Death.
As far as being the Angel of the Codeine scene... that's what the people in the scene go around worshipping, really. Opiates tend to start small and get more intense as they grow, and I feel like that progression is a lot of what's being pointed out. Little by little, they progress to harder and harder iterations. Like practicing rituals to learn to be a better religious person. Tiny steps to be a better person, or in this case a more addicted person.
And the Angel of Small Death feels like wordplay to me. Small death obviously references orgasmic pleasure, but there's something else. There's an Elliott Smith line that talks about heroin that goes, "A little less than a human being, a little less than a happy high, a little less than a suicide," and it just rattles around my head whenever I hear this song. Basically, heroin addiction as being a half-life (which, now that I think about it, Hozier's referenced while talking about Sedated), somewhere between being alive and dead, a small death.
I hope that's coherent?