Queens of the Stone Age – A Song For The Deaf

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  General Comment:I'd add this to my previous comment, but I can't edit, so:
  
  I don't know exactly what this song's about, but it creates some very vivid images... I always thought of it as being about a serial killer (represented by Lanegan's vocals) breaking into the house of a deaf man (the narrator). That doesn't really match up with the lyrics, now that I think of it, but that's just what I picked up from it.

  Flag Crane42on April 12, 2013   Link

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  General Comment:I think it's interesting how this leads into Mosquito Song. It's like this is the big 'finale' of the album, while Mosquito Song is the epilogue. He's come so far across the nation and the radio stations he's listened to for entertainment have become nightmarish and disturbing. This song is the culmination of that. He turns off the radio, gets drunk/high on nicotine/valium/vicodine/marijuana/ecstasy/alcohol, drives off laughing... and then comes the hellish final track.

  Flag Crane42on April 12, 2013   Link

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  General Comment:Just suggesting a lyric change. Are you sure the line is:
  
  "So low round my neck
  Strung out every stitch"
  
  I always thought it was
  
  "This halo 'round my neck
  Has torn out every stitch"

  Flag clearlyfoeon December 11, 2012   Link

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  My Interpretation:in the context of the album, Josh has come to an area where only you can hear religious radios who are constantly referring god and religion as unquestionable. josh is now realizing how difficult it can be to confront issues of this matter with people who are blind believers as is the case with most of the population of joshua tree and surrounding area.

  Flag louweedon December 03, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:Might be a pretty general idea, but I think it's about him not sensing that a relationship with some girl who breaks his heart is coming to its end, and it renders him "senseless". I think some of the lyrics up there might be wrong so it could change my interpretation though.
  
  But the first verse is him all alone and sees "her" in his broken reflection (he's obsessed over it cuz he sees her in his reflection, which I'm guessing is a mirror, since I think he says he's "outta luck" not "had a look"). Both choruses are talking about him "getting" how things really were between them, and he's desperate and wants to take whats left between them, which will not be fixed or saved by any talk from himself or anyone.
  
  The 2nd and 3rd verses are him being left senseless and trapped in his depression, and he feels like just killing the whole world. The verse about being in a ditch could mean something else depending on the real words, but I think that's just him in hate-life mode. And the last verse just pretty much reiterates and provides a little more detail about the whole shebang, what with him getting blindsided and shit on by this "beautiful cancer" (pretty self explanatory metaphor there). So yyyup that's pretty much what I think this is about, but that could just be cuz I've had my own girl problems lately :X haha

  Flag cwzaggeron March 06, 2012   Link

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    Are we talkin' about the same guy/girl? He has always had a girlfriend with the exception of a month or two over the past few years. When s/he didn't, s/he was picking girls up at clubs. S/he's had a friggin' pen pal whom s/he has dangled on a string for all that time, and then told her just today to take a hike because s/he needs space. S/he even had the nerve to leave it in God's hands when s/he's an atheist:) And now s/he's whining? She has no additional blood to give; s/he has intentionally drained her so she will walk away and s/he can boast that once again s/he was left behind (for it's easier than for him/her to catch up to her). THAT would take courage. As for tonight, s/he's heading out to score while the celibate one is baking cookies for others. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Yup, s/he's depressed. So you can stuff your song interpretation!!!

    Flag SweetCheeks2on March 06, 2012  
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  General Comment:I have very little idea what this song is about, but I'll take a stab at it anyway.
  
  I think Homme is trying to say that you have to sometimes let stubborn people be stubborn. You can't waste your time constantly preaching to someone or trying to make them see things your way. In the end, it's like talking to the deaf. I especially sense this message in the chorus. He's speaking as someone who understands himself and the world, and doesn't care about other people's perceptions ("Broken reflection...nobody ever needed it").
  
  I also believe that he's comparing deafness to blindness in the "blind can go get fucked" verse, with the latter being a metaphor for ignorance. It's one thing to acknowledge a circumstance, and not allow it to change your views or ideals. It's another thing to be in denial. Stubborness and ignorance are not one and the same, in his eyes.

  Flag drtre62688on January 16, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:I think it's a song about being stuck in depression and finally deciding to end it all. His mind is shutting down and becoming numb to life. He says "I got what was" meaning he understands how he came to this point. "I want to take what's left, ready now" possibly meaning he'll take the rest of a bottle of pills to end it all. His "beautiful senses are gone, canary in a gilded cage" means that he is apathetic, trapped inside himself but no one is listening because they just see the gilded cage and not his cries for help. "This halo round my neck has torn out every stitch" possibly means that the halo that usually represents a crowning grace to most is a burden to him and has now ended up breaking his resolve and healing. Peoples expectations for him to get better are too much. The beautiful cancer is his depression that he could see coming but couldn't resist. So now he's going to kill himself and this is his last message to the people that never listened or understood him, the deaf.

  Flag ChefGregon April 15, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:so fucking dark. i love it. need moar of this

  Flag Halcyoneon March 15, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:I think it's about the deaf having a grudge against the blind or something... how the deaf have the upper hand. I dunno.

  Flag FaaipDeOaidon October 08, 2008   Link

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    That's an interesting thought- a war between crippled people? So weird and fucked up yet kind of brilliant.

    Flag Crane42on April 12, 2013  
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  General Comment:I love the line "The blind can go get fucked" cos my girlfriend's blind, doncha know. am off to listen to this and 'In the Fade' concurrently as suggested.

  Flag Beekarryon July 18, 2007   Link

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