Guitarist Phil Demmel told Sonic Excess magazine explained the song's origin and meaning, how "It was a song without lyrics really for a while, without a concept. We kind of came up with an idea to write about addicts and addiction, when talking to each other and watching Breaking Bad episodes to kind of catch up and start again to see it. It's not a song about hope. It's just a song about being in the throes of addiction, in its claws, and a lot of my lyrics are in there. So, there's a lot of descriptive thoughts of addiction. It's not a song of hope for sure. It's not 'Stairway To Heaven.'"
The name "Pearls Before Swine" is a phrase that originates from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (as reported in Matthew 7v6) where he's saying that people of faith should be discerning in what they say and do as valuable things (such as pearls) should not be put in front of people (or swine) who do not appreciate their worth.
In this context, the pearls represent efforts, dreams, and aspirations that have been cast aside and wasted due to addiction, and the swine symbolize the addictive behavior itself, something greedy and unrefined that consumes and corrupts.
Guitarist Phil Demmel told Sonic Excess magazine explained the song's origin and meaning, how "It was a song without lyrics really for a while, without a concept. We kind of came up with an idea to write about addicts and addiction, when talking to each other and watching Breaking Bad episodes to kind of catch up and start again to see it. It's not a song about hope. It's just a song about being in the throes of addiction, in its claws, and a lot of my lyrics are in there. So, there's a lot of descriptive thoughts of addiction. It's not a song of hope for sure. It's not 'Stairway To Heaven.'"
The name "Pearls Before Swine" is a phrase that originates from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (as reported in Matthew 7v6) where he's saying that people of faith should be discerning in what they say and do as valuable things (such as pearls) should not be put in front of people (or swine) who do not appreciate their worth.
In this context, the pearls represent efforts, dreams, and aspirations that have been cast aside and wasted due to addiction, and the swine symbolize the addictive behavior itself, something greedy and unrefined that consumes and corrupts.