In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Two, three, four
The Shankill butchers ride tonight
You better shut your windows tight
They're sharpening their cleavers and their knives
And taking all their whiskey by the pint
'Cause everybody knows
If you don't mind your mother's words
A wicked wind will blow
Your ribbons from your curls
Everybody moan, everybody shake
The Shankill butchers wanna catch you awake
They used to be just like me and you
They used to be sweet little boys
But something went horribly askew
Now killing is their only source of joy
'Cause everybody knows
If you don't mind your mother's words
A wicked wind will blow
Your ribbons from your curls
Everybody moan, everybody shake
The Shankill butchers wanna catch you awake
The Shankill butchers on the rise
They're waiting until the dead of nights
They're picking at their fingers with their knives
And wiping off their cleavers on their thighs
'Cause everybody knows
If you don't mind your mother's words
A wicked wind will blow
Your ribbons from your curls
Everybody moan, everybody shake
The Shankill butchers wanna catch you
The Shankill butchers wanna cut you
The Shankill butchers wanna catch you, awake
Awake
Awake
Awake
The Shankill butchers ride tonight
You better shut your windows tight
They're sharpening their cleavers and their knives
And taking all their whiskey by the pint
'Cause everybody knows
If you don't mind your mother's words
A wicked wind will blow
Your ribbons from your curls
Everybody moan, everybody shake
The Shankill butchers wanna catch you awake
They used to be just like me and you
They used to be sweet little boys
But something went horribly askew
Now killing is their only source of joy
'Cause everybody knows
If you don't mind your mother's words
A wicked wind will blow
Your ribbons from your curls
Everybody moan, everybody shake
The Shankill butchers wanna catch you awake
The Shankill butchers on the rise
They're waiting until the dead of nights
They're picking at their fingers with their knives
And wiping off their cleavers on their thighs
'Cause everybody knows
If you don't mind your mother's words
A wicked wind will blow
Your ribbons from your curls
Everybody moan, everybody shake
The Shankill butchers wanna catch you
The Shankill butchers wanna cut you
The Shankill butchers wanna catch you, awake
Awake
Awake
Awake
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
The Shankill Butchers were a splinter group of the UVR (Ulster Volunteer Force) in Belfast who'd beat and sometimes kill Catholics (who had little to no connection to the IRA or nationalist movement) who they'd captured at night on the streets. They were at large in the sixties and seventies.
this song is scary...
and frickin awesome.
I love the Decemberists' demented wives' tales and bedtime stories. (For another one, see A Cautionary Tale from Castaways and Cutouts.)
It sounds as if this song was recorded in a similiar fashion to the Death Cab song "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" in that the singing and acoustic guitar part were recorded simultaneously in one take. It's particularly effective in that it makes the songs more sincere and, in this case, a lot more creepy. Mr. Walla seems to like that method.
Mayhaps the team will have some good music to back it...
I'm pretty sure it's "wanna catch you awake" not "cut you away," until the end where he's all like, "wanna catch you, wanna cut you, wanna catch you awake awake awake."
Though it could depend on what version you heard, in which case we're all right!
I heard them do this about a week ago. I really like it. Very... Decemberisty
guys in ireland who used to go around killing catholics, so says colin on npr
pumkinhed, I'm guessing the lyrics are quite dependent on the melody, somewhat like Of Angels and Angles. They're OK lyrics on their own but the combination is what makes the song so good.
the whole thing apparently turned into a bedtime story that Irish Catholic parents would impart to their kids before tucking them in at night, that's still told today. sweet dreams!
Wow - I didn't know the Decmeberists wrote a song about these guys. Random.
Anyway, the Shankill Butchers were a bunch of scumbag murdering c**** from Belfast, most of whom are now burning in hell (or are on their way). Yay!
The movie Resurrection Man is about them