I got a hand
So I got a fist
So I got a plan
It's the best that I can do
Now we'll say it's in God's hands
But God doesn't always have the best goddamn plans, does he?

I ain't quite the beauty
Pulls out two guns and shoots at the pretty, pretty pure white--
Gotta keep thinking, things, hunters and kings
To block out the view, I gotta get
New bell to ring
New song to sing
A steady hand to ring
A readiness of things I do
I gotta get a new plan to bring to the people
People I can trick them into thinking anything
Oh rust it just right in the light
It's gold, it's gold

I got
Water and holes in my hands
I'm a digger of holes in the land
It's the easiest way
And you know
It's the easiest way
So I go

Lalalalalala

I got water and I got holes, so
Lalalalalala
Sons and daughters of hungry ghosts
I got water and I got holes, so
Lalalalalala
Sons and daughters of hungry ghosts

Lalalalalala

I got a hand
So I got a fist
So I got a plan
It's the best that I can do
Now we'll say it's in God's hands
But God doesn't always have the best goddamn plans, does he?

I can't believe in the guns
I can't believe in the view

I sing, sing
Lalalalalala

I can't believe in those hunters and kings

I got a new plan to bring
I got a new song to sing
And it goes
Lalalalalala

And you know it's the easiest way



Lyrics submitted by artblot, edited by kalvingr

Track duration: 03:40

"Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts" as written by Spencer Kyle Krug Arlen Thompson

Lyrics © THIRD SIDE MUSIC INC.

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Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts song meanings
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54 Comments

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  • +1
    Song Meaning:Spencer's words on this song...

    CMG: "Like, what’s a 'Hungry Ghost?'"

    Spencer Krug: "It’s – ok I’m going to forget the details now, so I’m going to sound kind of dumb…But in one particular Buddhist religion – and don’t ask me why I referred to something Buddhist – but there are these neat characters in Buddhism that are these tortured characters. They symbolize one of the levels of Hell. I forget the name for it – but there are a bunch of different levels of Hell, and one of them is this level where hypocrites and liars go; not the worst sins, sort of middle-ground punishment. And when they get there, they turn into hungry ghosts, that’s the best translation for it. And hungry ghosts are always thirsty, and always hungry. They’re sort of like that character Tantalus in Greek mythology: he can’t eat or drink, but he’s always hungry or thirsty. And these ghosts, they have really tiny throats, so if they try to eat, it chokes them and they die, because they only have these little straws for throats. I THINK that when they drink water it turns into fire."

    From an interview did. Can find the full version here: cokemachineglow.com/feature/2439/…
    Flag MaxpowerSupremeon July 09, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:So this is totally out of left field. But the phrase "I've got water and I've got holes" makes me think of dowsers, and "sons and daughters of hungry ghosts" makes me think targets of mediums and other folks who pretend they can talk to the dead. Just people who scam folks out of money because it's "the easiest way" and you can "trick them into thinking anything." Rather than sticking out the financial hardship and taking a chance on honest work. It's like taking your future into your own hands rather than leaving them in God's hands, because investing in religious faith is just another con. Just a big "screw you" to the world, because people are so gullible it's like they're asking for someone to take advantage anyway. Which is why "you sing," too. Because you've subscribed to the song and dance that's been sold to you by this con artist.

    Again, this is just what comes to mind for me, and I'm sure the song's about something else entirely. I just thought it was so delightfully cynical so I wanted to share. :)
    Flag nutterbutteron December 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I always thought it was "I've got water, I've got ozone."
    Flag ArtVandoleyon October 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:I think that the song might be about a person who cant commit suicide even though their life is horrible but in the end realizes a way that they can kill themselves.

    In the first stanza i think that he is saying that he needs to start taking action for his life and that ifGOd isnt going to do anything he is going to by killing himself.

    the second stanza i think is talking about how much the person ahtes humanity and how he trys to block himself out from the world by destroying anything that would remind him of the world. " shoot at the pretty pretty pure white" next i think that they try to hide from the world by living in a world of fantasy "Gotta keep thinking, things, hunters and kings,To block out the view". and the rest i think he is talking about how foolish the world is.

    in the next stanza i think refers back to the title of the song with hngry ghosts cause they will die if they drink water because their throats are to small and they would suffocate. so when he says "Ive got water and I've got holes" i think it is saying he was trying to drink the water but it all fell out through the holes. ANd then he is saying that suicide is the easiest way cause they can no longer deal with their life.


    Next he starts to realize that his world of fantasy isnt real and so he just gives up and finally comes up with a way to kill himself " got a new plan to bring"
    Flag purplecow200on July 19, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:There are at least three Modest Mouse references in this song, and I just noticed them all at once today.

    "Pulls out two guns and shoots at the pretty, pretty pure white"
    Cowboy Dan.

    "to block out the view"
    The View.

    "I got water and I got holes,"
    "I'm a digger of holes"
    Ugly Casanova's Diggin' Holes In Water is not on any albums, but was recorded at Dub Narcotic Studios
    Flag BueCadet3on February 20, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment: Ok, I think I read on Pitchfork that Spencer Krug wrote this song as a metaphor for the super materialistic ways of his generation. This would make sense because in Buddhism, the Hungry Ghost realm is a place where materialistic, stingy and selfish people are reborn. I love the part about "if the rust looks just right in the light it's gold." This is so true people are so vulnerable to advertising. Anyway, I hate reading into things...sometimes songs are just songs, but this is an amazing song, and I think it does have a clear meaning.
    Flag seattlerain5468on December 30, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:At the risk of sounding a tad geeky, and perhaps redundant (i.e., if someone else has already posted this -- I'm too lazy to read every post--), the introductory paragraph of the Wiki post on Hungry Ghosts says "A hungry ghost is a ghost that feeds off of human emotions" which to me sounds just like a Dementor from the Harry Potter books. So maybe Spencer was referring to people trying to feed off others' emotions but never being satiated. Or maybe not, since he does point out in that interview that he's talking about hunger and thirst in general.
    Flag El_Loboon November 09, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:personal interpretations are nice, but it's always the best to go back to what the artist originally said, if possible. and, lucky for us, with this song it is. i'm not going to post the link because it has been done quite a few times, but the bottom line is that bagleemo is right. it is about that Buddhist legend story. it's interesting, and in my opinion, spot-on with our current culture today (or, as Spencer says, "my generation"). consumers: always hungry; never able to be satisfied. sad truth.
    Flag clarityofsuchgraceon June 09, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I always thought it was a shot at how chintzy christianity can be.

    mostly the 'i've got water and i've got holes, so' line.

    In the religion spencer is talking about, it doesn't matter if you're really sorry for what you've done. you have to pay for your sins. If you were bad, you're gonna be a hungry ghost.

    Christianity has the whole forgiveness thing. You can be a murderer and a rapist, and as long as you are sorry and accept jesus, who has holes in his hands to save us, you get off scot free. Way easier than being a mostly good person and still being punished.
    Flag wickedslickon May 20, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Hungry ghosts sounds like a direct reference to what Tibetan Buddhists call... Hungry Ghosts. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
    "In Tibetan Buddhism Hungry Ghosts (Sanskrit: pretas) have their own realm depicted on the Bhavacakra and are represented as teardrop or paisley-shaped with bloated stomachs and necks too thin to pass food such that attempting to eat is also incredibly painful. Some are described as having "mouths the size of a needle's eye and a stomach the size of a mountain". This is a metaphor for people futilely attempting to fulfill their illusory physical desires."
    So perhaps the song is, in some sense, sympathetic to those raised by parents who were like hungry ghosts, in that they were always painfully chasing their desires, and incapable of feeling satisfied. Like social climbers, workaholics, drug addicts. Theres some interesting thoughts out there on the interwebs about drug addicts resembling "hungry ghosts," in that they are always chasing that next high, never getting enough.
    Flag bagleemoon December 04, 2008   Link

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