in the context of the album, Josh has come to an area where only you can hear religious radios who are constantly referring god and religion as unquestionable. josh is now realizing how difficult it can be to confront issues of this matter with people who are blind believers as is the case with most of the population of joshua tree and surrounding area.
@unholy platypus man these guys have lived seriously sheltered lives. The song is about drug addiction and overcoming it - redemption even. The whole album is filled with little cues, if read any of the press stuff from homme at the time, His battles and falling out with Olivieri. Man when those guys where young they were serious coke heads and Olivieri had a bad meth/speed anything he could get his hands on addiction. They have a ton of songs about drug abuse. Mark Lanegan is always a co writer on the songs and he himself is an original seattle...
@unholy platypus man these guys have lived seriously sheltered lives. The song is about drug addiction and overcoming it - redemption even. The whole album is filled with little cues, if read any of the press stuff from homme at the time, His battles and falling out with Olivieri. Man when those guys where young they were serious coke heads and Olivieri had a bad meth/speed anything he could get his hands on addiction. They have a ton of songs about drug abuse. Mark Lanegan is always a co writer on the songs and he himself is an original seattle grunge era singer from the screaming trees. He is a hardcore Junk head. Watch him live he always wears a beanie and dark sunnies. When Kurt Cobain died apparently everyone initially thought it was Lanegan or Layne Staley who had died... the other two are now dead and Lanegan would be the longest surviving reccurring addict still living from that original seattle sound era. Listen to "the fade" "monsters in the parasol" "sky is fallin" "leg of lamb" - to a lesser extent "Auto pilot" ( that whole song is about shooting coke with a new friend then not liking seeing that friend doing it )... the list goes on and on and on they have so many references to drug addiction it aint funny.
As far as song for the deaf though.. there are a few clues. a canary in a gilded cage is refferring to being trapped inside addiction - the drugs are great but its a prison - albeit a beautiful prison or gilded cage. Nobody's comin down the hall - is a reference to paranoia just like in ode to clariisa ("you know why they call and just let it ring" - also from ode to clarissa "tastes so good - lo and i knew it would" is a pretty blunt reference to the taste you get in the back of your throat when you shoot hard drugs in your arm) "broken reflection have a look" is refferring to the state he is in. "nobody ever needed it" is stating the obvious that even though addicts say they NEED it - nobody really does. "beautiful senses are gone" is the trade off for drug dependancy - as you experience the heightened feelings of drug use you lose the basic feelings of happiness, surprise and a bunch of other simple and beautiful emotions. the chorus is him realising what he has lost " I got what was" and wanting to move forward and save what is left. Even the name songs for the deaf refers to those who cant see the obvious or wont hear the truth about drugs and their problems with them. "Sweet soft and low I would poison you all - come closer racing to your turn" is the drugs talking to him calling him telling him its about to have its way with him for a time. The whole song is supposed to sound like a gnarly lullaby with beautiful melodies and guitar parts with tortured screams and howling in the background which is the illusion of drugs in itself fun on the surface and agony underneath. "who are you hiding is it safe for the deaf? beautiful cancer infiltrate and forget" is refferring to drugs eroding someone like cancer people hiding their addictions until its far too late. " I saw you coming and I heard not a thing" is reffering to his own blindness with his problems till they are out of control. "My mistake not to listen when i knew where you'd been" is not listening to perhaps the counsel of someone who is a reformed addict warning ofd the dangers who had been there already. the interlude "halo round my neck has torn out every stitch" is meaning that trying to stay sober and the battle for sobriety and continually relapsing is an open wound and the halo rpresents the battle and the stitches are the attempts to get clean, tearing the stitches is falling into old behaviours. " no talk will cure whats lost or save whats left for the deaf" is his own experience as a reformed addict warning someone else who like himself does not heed the council (possibly nick olivieri - which is why homme tossed him out shortly after this - he was quoted as saying that Olivieri's destructive behaviour was fun when they were young but had gotten old recently - what exactly is that destructive behaviour? you don't have to be a genius to figure it out)
in the context of the album, Josh has come to an area where only you can hear religious radios who are constantly referring god and religion as unquestionable. josh is now realizing how difficult it can be to confront issues of this matter with people who are blind believers as is the case with most of the population of joshua tree and surrounding area.
@unholy platypus man these guys have lived seriously sheltered lives. The song is about drug addiction and overcoming it - redemption even. The whole album is filled with little cues, if read any of the press stuff from homme at the time, His battles and falling out with Olivieri. Man when those guys where young they were serious coke heads and Olivieri had a bad meth/speed anything he could get his hands on addiction. They have a ton of songs about drug abuse. Mark Lanegan is always a co writer on the songs and he himself is an original seattle...
@unholy platypus man these guys have lived seriously sheltered lives. The song is about drug addiction and overcoming it - redemption even. The whole album is filled with little cues, if read any of the press stuff from homme at the time, His battles and falling out with Olivieri. Man when those guys where young they were serious coke heads and Olivieri had a bad meth/speed anything he could get his hands on addiction. They have a ton of songs about drug abuse. Mark Lanegan is always a co writer on the songs and he himself is an original seattle grunge era singer from the screaming trees. He is a hardcore Junk head. Watch him live he always wears a beanie and dark sunnies. When Kurt Cobain died apparently everyone initially thought it was Lanegan or Layne Staley who had died... the other two are now dead and Lanegan would be the longest surviving reccurring addict still living from that original seattle sound era. Listen to "the fade" "monsters in the parasol" "sky is fallin" "leg of lamb" - to a lesser extent "Auto pilot" ( that whole song is about shooting coke with a new friend then not liking seeing that friend doing it )... the list goes on and on and on they have so many references to drug addiction it aint funny. As far as song for the deaf though.. there are a few clues. a canary in a gilded cage is refferring to being trapped inside addiction - the drugs are great but its a prison - albeit a beautiful prison or gilded cage. Nobody's comin down the hall - is a reference to paranoia just like in ode to clariisa ("you know why they call and just let it ring" - also from ode to clarissa "tastes so good - lo and i knew it would" is a pretty blunt reference to the taste you get in the back of your throat when you shoot hard drugs in your arm) "broken reflection have a look" is refferring to the state he is in. "nobody ever needed it" is stating the obvious that even though addicts say they NEED it - nobody really does. "beautiful senses are gone" is the trade off for drug dependancy - as you experience the heightened feelings of drug use you lose the basic feelings of happiness, surprise and a bunch of other simple and beautiful emotions. the chorus is him realising what he has lost " I got what was" and wanting to move forward and save what is left. Even the name songs for the deaf refers to those who cant see the obvious or wont hear the truth about drugs and their problems with them. "Sweet soft and low I would poison you all - come closer racing to your turn" is the drugs talking to him calling him telling him its about to have its way with him for a time. The whole song is supposed to sound like a gnarly lullaby with beautiful melodies and guitar parts with tortured screams and howling in the background which is the illusion of drugs in itself fun on the surface and agony underneath. "who are you hiding is it safe for the deaf? beautiful cancer infiltrate and forget" is refferring to drugs eroding someone like cancer people hiding their addictions until its far too late. " I saw you coming and I heard not a thing" is reffering to his own blindness with his problems till they are out of control. "My mistake not to listen when i knew where you'd been" is not listening to perhaps the counsel of someone who is a reformed addict warning ofd the dangers who had been there already. the interlude "halo round my neck has torn out every stitch" is meaning that trying to stay sober and the battle for sobriety and continually relapsing is an open wound and the halo rpresents the battle and the stitches are the attempts to get clean, tearing the stitches is falling into old behaviours. " no talk will cure whats lost or save whats left for the deaf" is his own experience as a reformed addict warning someone else who like himself does not heed the council (possibly nick olivieri - which is why homme tossed him out shortly after this - he was quoted as saying that Olivieri's destructive behaviour was fun when they were young but had gotten old recently - what exactly is that destructive behaviour? you don't have to be a genius to figure it out)