Prognathous gears grind
So diligent and serrated they mesh
Toothed cogs churn
So trenchant, against soft flesh
Worked to the bone
Up to the hilt, depredated
Raw materialism
To stoke the furnaces
Toiling, rotting
Life slowly slips away
Consumed, inhumed
In this mechanized corruption line
By mincing machinery industrialized - pulped and pulverized
Enslaved to the grind

Blood, sweat, toil, tears
Arbeit macht frei/fleisch

Grave to the grind

Inimitable gears twist
To churn a living grave
Stainless cogs shredding
Scathing pistons bludgeon and flail
Stripping to the bone
Retund mandrels levigate
Just raw material
Your pound of flesh for the suzerain
Toiling, rotting
Life slowly dissipates
Consumed, inhumed
In a corruption line, mechanized
By mincing machinery, industrialized - crunched and brutalised

A grave to the blind


Lyrics submitted by Seven

Arbeit Macht Fleisch Lyrics as written by William Goeffrey Steer Jeffrey Walker

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Arbeit Macht Fleisch song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    my favorite carcass song along with Blind Bleeding The Blind, This Mortal Coil, and.. most of the songs from Swan Song (GET THAT CD!)... these guys rock. if you're into fast heavy speed metal, check them out for sure!!

    SeasonSon August 19, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    carcass = inspiration for dan of zao. wheeeeeeeee.

    PacoLovesMeon March 11, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    aint Zao some kinda fucking christian outfit? thats what I heard at returntothepit.net.

    Razormasticatoron April 13, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    What language is the title of this song taken from? And what does it mean?

    theothernesson May 11, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    It's in German and it means Work Brings Flesh/meat. Arbeit Macht Frei means Work Brings Freedom, which is written on a sign over the gates of Auschwitz. so the song might be a nzi death camp or comparing modern society/industry/government, etc to a death camp.

    MonkeysLikePeanutson June 08, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    *might be about a nazi death camp

    MonkeysLikePeanutson June 08, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Exactly. And for more Arbeit Macht Frei fun, listen to The Intense Humming Of Evil by Manic Street Preachers, also about the holocaust.

    Songmeaningsuseron April 29, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    lol

    Ad_Nauseamon January 02, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "aint Zao some kinda fucking christian outfit? thats what I heard at returntothepit.net."

    Yeah, Zao is a Christian band.

    samwaltonon July 24, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    its about the devastating effect manual labor has.

    brandonlivingstonon October 11, 2007   Link

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