The Clincher Lyrics

Lyric discussion by MissMJ 

Cover art for The Clincher lyrics by Chevelle

My boyfriend, he's 31, he has a 73 year old mother who at a young age had three daughters. Her first born, Gretta, was estranged awhile back and they reunited about two years ago, she came to be around her mom and her brother. She was an alcoholic and took anti depressants to top it off and in her 40's was in bad condition. She got very, very sick and my boyfriend predicted her death, he talked about it as if he knew it would happen because of how terrible she was looking. When she did die, the experience was so traumatic, he had to wait in the same room as her for eight hours trying to console his mom mourning over her dead body. From my point of perspective, he expresses how unexpected her death truly seemed after it all. Death is the most horrendous thing in life and to survive we blindside ourselves from the reality of it instead of facing it. So, now that he has been in the room with his dead sister who he scarcely felt close to but due to the circumstance needed more closure than usual that he never got, he sees death in everyone now.

This song, I've always loved it and chevelle, but it stood out to me just now and I had to write it down. It seems as if it is about the claustorphobia one must feel to be in the same room with a dead body for hours on end. The beginning is the mind processing the reality of the situation, something in most cases seems to move by more naturally and quickly, but when put before death, everything seems slow and heavy. Then on a more personal note "her catacomb" "her body" "has got me by the chin" "is sickeningly mesmerizing" Could they have known this was going to happen, they would have payed closer attention and now with nothing to gain out of a situation that can only negate all aspects of any given choice. The clincher could be guilt.

Now saturate and touch" his mom trying to hover over her daughter, in panic, thinking that it may somehow bring her back to life, bodys begin to dry when they die off.

I feel a little sick exploiting this, I'm not trying to, I in a way feel the Gretta would relate alot to this if she were still alive.

My Interpretation

The end is the state its sort of left my boyfriend in.