LYRICAL LOITERINGS OF A LISTENER Series
Thoughts, ideas and reactions provoked by song lyrics. The series is also featured on Clink Music Magazine.
As I bite into a chocolate zombie head with a red caramel centre, and say a mental thank you to the Celts (even though they couldn’t have known that big corporations would seize hold of The Festival of Samhain and turn it into delectable deliciousness), I wonder what it would be like to be a zombie. A mindless, shambling, decaying corpse with a hunger for human flesh. Not cool. I’d much rather be a zombie Slammer: call me Milla.
Zombie Slam
There’s something coming crawling
‘Round the corner of your mind
Oh… your funeral has just begun
Buried alive, it will be over in no time
The date is set for tonight
VIP at the dead man’s ball
Come and die with the zombies in the moonlight
They become alive when you die, you cannot fool them
You got to slam with the dead and let it go now
See a thousand hallowed eyes stare into the night
The sun goes down and the dead head minds,
They start to resurrect
Under the velvet sky and thirsty for your flesh
Steals your soul and you will lose control
And turns your tears into dust
You’re fool that will never learn
Play with fire and you will get your fingers burned
Come and die with the zombies in the moonlight
They become alive when you die, you cannot fool them
You got to slam with the dead and let it go now
See a thousand hallowed eyes stare into the night
It’s getting dark so prepare to die
They’re coming after you
It’s getting dark and you can’t get away
They’re coming after you
Come and die with the zombies in the moonlight
They become alive when you die, you cannot fool them
You got to slam with the dead and let it go now
See a thousand hallowed eyes stare into the night
Pain’s “Zombie Slam” is a weird mix of electronic horror-metal, and the lyrics seem pretty straight forward: mess with the zombies and you will die. Yet popular culture has assigned a metaphorical attachment to the reanimated corpse that lives in horror films and fiction; it has become nearly impossible to disassociate zombies from the notion of mindlessness. Whether “Zombie Slam” is an oblique reference to a thoughtless, indoctrinated mind-set is debatable but for argument’s sake, I’ll pretend that it is.
The song starts of ominously; “There’s something coming crawling/’Round the corner of your mind” and goes on to say that whatever is about to ‘permeate the brain’ will result in certain death; “Oh… your funeral has just begun/ Buried alive, it will be over in no time.” ‘Zombie’ is a derogatory term for someone who displays the characteristics of a horror-zombie – someone devoid of brain activity, someone incapable of critical, original thought. If “Zombie Slam” is interpreted in this light, mindlessness is equated with death. The mental demise associated with the inability to think for one’s self renders existence primarily pointless. Mindlessness is a metaphorical death.
The song also implies that if you keep company with individuals who do not value the integrity of thought, you too will become thoughtless. The zombies will come after you “Under the velvet sky and they will “thirst for your flesh.” They will steal “your soul and you will lose control” and turn “your tears into dust” – as you succumb to the influence of the mindless you will ultimately cease to exist; your humanity returns to the earth from whence it came. The lyricist places the burden of responsibility with those who are able to think critically; “You’re fool that will never learn/ Play with fire and you will get your fingers burned.”
The Horror genre has always been a great vehicle for social commentary; exposing the weaknesses of humanity and moral corrosion of society, under the guise of excess. There are many (many) theories on the notions of brain-washing, government control, the illuminati and ‘the big brother’ scenario – all of which would include some form of mind control, whether explicitly obvious or implicitly subversive. Whichever theory you subscribe to, it is important to remember that much of what goes on in the world is beyond our control but we can control our reaction to events and ideas – most of the time at least.
