ı think everyone here gets that the amazing delivery (and bass lıne) here are what makes this one of the Femmes best songs.
Obvıously, someone has witnessed a horrible act done by someone they are very loyal to. If the song wanted you to know exactly what the horrible act was, ıt would have told you - its deliberately open to interpretatıon. Could be molestatıon or murder. The latter may be slightly more likely.
The sister is an interested party, perhaps the victim - or even the perpetrator. He is either telling or reassurıng her that he will remain silent when people come asking questions - but we don't know if that's what she wants or what she doesn't want.
'Mister' is probably a police officer, asking questions about the event. The speaker doesn't answer at first, then asks the officer to repeat the question, and says he will 'do what he can' - probably not giving the whole story.
'Father' could easily be a priest, maybe in confessional (though Gano is Baptist, not Catholic). Even with the seal of confessional, 'father' doesn't get the truth either. But at least he gets warned that there are some things the speaker will not talk about.
Volatile substance is just a dangerous situation that can explode and hurt people. If the 'gangland' interpretation is used, it could also be a reference to drugs. But its the situation that is explosive.
The next lines (I had so much on my mind . . .) are interesting, because we don't know if the death he is happy about is metaphorical (the death of conscience?) or literal. ıf the second. the speaker is actually speaking from beyond the grave. So, either the narrator changes, or the character does die mid-song without telling the secret - and is literally standing up in the heart of Hell.
The creepy lines about secrets and cutting people up could be a different speaker. Or not - he is willing to kill for this secret. Probably with a knife, putting the body in the river after. Or maybe he dies for the secret instead, and its his body sinking - the whole time assuring his kıller that he won't talk. But the killer needs to make sure - 'I'll have none of that . . .'
The 'sink' part is either a threat to kıll a squealer, or a statement of what happened to one by the murderer .
'Don't you know no one?' is a statement of basic principles. The 'heart of Hell' line (which is written in past tense) could be literal, for a dead speaker who keeps the faith and protects his killer, or figurative, someone living with the guılt.
The whole thing confuses personas deliberately, and conveys desperate life-or-death secrecy without creatıng a coherent narrative. The story isn't important. What is important is that we know how serious the person or persons is or are.
ı think everyone here gets that the amazing delivery (and bass lıne) here are what makes this one of the Femmes best songs.
Obvıously, someone has witnessed a horrible act done by someone they are very loyal to. If the song wanted you to know exactly what the horrible act was, ıt would have told you - its deliberately open to interpretatıon. Could be molestatıon or murder. The latter may be slightly more likely.
The sister is an interested party, perhaps the victim - or even the perpetrator. He is either telling or reassurıng her that he will remain silent when people come asking questions - but we don't know if that's what she wants or what she doesn't want.
'Mister' is probably a police officer, asking questions about the event. The speaker doesn't answer at first, then asks the officer to repeat the question, and says he will 'do what he can' - probably not giving the whole story.
'Father' could easily be a priest, maybe in confessional (though Gano is Baptist, not Catholic). Even with the seal of confessional, 'father' doesn't get the truth either. But at least he gets warned that there are some things the speaker will not talk about.
Volatile substance is just a dangerous situation that can explode and hurt people. If the 'gangland' interpretation is used, it could also be a reference to drugs. But its the situation that is explosive.
The next lines (I had so much on my mind . . .) are interesting, because we don't know if the death he is happy about is metaphorical (the death of conscience?) or literal. ıf the second. the speaker is actually speaking from beyond the grave. So, either the narrator changes, or the character does die mid-song without telling the secret - and is literally standing up in the heart of Hell.
The creepy lines about secrets and cutting people up could be a different speaker. Or not - he is willing to kill for this secret. Probably with a knife, putting the body in the river after. Or maybe he dies for the secret instead, and its his body sinking - the whole time assuring his kıller that he won't talk. But the killer needs to make sure - 'I'll have none of that . . .'
The 'sink' part is either a threat to kıll a squealer, or a statement of what happened to one by the murderer .
'Don't you know no one?' is a statement of basic principles. The 'heart of Hell' line (which is written in past tense) could be literal, for a dead speaker who keeps the faith and protects his killer, or figurative, someone living with the guılt.
The whole thing confuses personas deliberately, and conveys desperate life-or-death secrecy without creatıng a coherent narrative. The story isn't important. What is important is that we know how serious the person or persons is or are.