Spencer Krug: "It’s — ok I’m going to forget the details now, so I’m going to sound kind of dumb…But in one particular Buddhist religion — and don’t ask me why I referred to something Buddhist — but there are these neat characters in Buddhism that are these tortured characters. They symbolize one of the levels of Hell. I forget the name for it — but there are a bunch of different levels of Hell, and one of them is this level where hypocrites and liars go; not the worst sins, sort of middle-ground punishment. And when they get there, they turn into hungry ghosts, that’s the best translation for it. And hungry ghosts are always thirsty, and always hungry. They’re sort of like that character Tantalus in Greek mythology: he can’t eat or drink, but he’s always hungry or thirsty. And these ghosts, they have really tiny throats, so if they try to eat, it chokes them and they die, because they only have these little straws for throats. I THINK that when they drink water it turns into fire."
Spencer's words on this song...
CMG: "Like, what’s a 'Hungry Ghost?'"
Spencer Krug: "It’s — ok I’m going to forget the details now, so I’m going to sound kind of dumb…But in one particular Buddhist religion — and don’t ask me why I referred to something Buddhist — but there are these neat characters in Buddhism that are these tortured characters. They symbolize one of the levels of Hell. I forget the name for it — but there are a bunch of different levels of Hell, and one of them is this level where hypocrites and liars go; not the worst sins, sort of middle-ground punishment. And when they get there, they turn into hungry ghosts, that’s the best translation for it. And hungry ghosts are always thirsty, and always hungry. They’re sort of like that character Tantalus in Greek mythology: he can’t eat or drink, but he’s always hungry or thirsty. And these ghosts, they have really tiny throats, so if they try to eat, it chokes them and they die, because they only have these little straws for throats. I THINK that when they drink water it turns into fire."
From an interview did. Can find the full version here: http://www.cokemachineglow.com/feature/2439/wolf-parade