Lyrics for Song of the Sad Assassin as interpreted by oh ok

Song of the Sad Assassin Lyrics
we lifted the body from the water like a gown
you took off your bra to wrap the wound
though the man was dead, and there was no need
then your face turned red, when you said to me

i'll suck the marrow out
and rape your hollow bones yoni

alone putting three coins into a washing machine
next to a caulked cracked wall
in the basement on fairmount street
putting three quarters into a washing machine
next to a caulked cracked wall
in the basement, i feel
like a loop of the last eight frames of film
before a slow motion lee harvey oswald
gets shot in the gut and killed,
alone putting three coins into a washing machine
next to a caulked cracked wall
in the basement on fairmount street

billy the kid did what he did and he died

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Benladen
01-27-2008

Rated 0 
I know this song is pretty obvious but I'll add my two cents anyway.

This is clearly Yoni coming to terms with the death of cLOUDDEAD; the resentment that was evident at the end of their run is the second stanza, the futile attempt at revivification (the bra-tourniquet bit) is Ten, and Billy the Kid is an allegorical representation of the group.

"Three coins"? Obviously the three members Yoni, Adam, and David. The solitude is obviously due to the fat that the group is over. This song is about making sense of a personal tragedy, obviously, not the group itself. The reference to Fairmount Street is clearly reminiscent of the last line of Apt. A; "33 E. McMillan St. Apt." An apartment on McMillan St with a laundromat on fairmount. Sound familiar to anyone?

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fetuslord
02-09-2008

Rated 0 
way to lay it down. it's really not that obvious, but that's definitely what this is. im glad to see this realistic why? interpretation, because his songs are obviously not "its about him being sad about his girlfriend" or some shit.

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ronpaul2008
02-20-2008

Rated 0 
"Three coins"? This is a clear reference to the documentary Loose Change as well as a reference to WTC1, WTC2 and WTC7. "Why did the third coin fall into the washing machine with the rest?" Yoni is asking us.

The dead body is simply an abstraction of Ground Zero (the site of these controlled demolitions); the tourniquet is the United States' so-called "War on Terror." Here, Why? is reminding us that such retaliatory action won't bring back the loved ones we lost in these tragic controlled demolitions.

Billy the Kid was an outlaw in the Wild West. He was killed because of the crimes he committed. George W. Bush is also considered by many, including Why?, to be an ignorant criminal and self-styled cowboy. In this refrain, Why? is pointing out that, if Billy the Kid deserved death for his relatively minor crimes, shouldn't George W. Bush and his administration face the same justice?

The line about Lee Harvey Oswald being murdered is Why? drawing a parallel between 9/11 conspiracy and JFK conspiracy. It's frightening, the lengths the government and Illuminati are willing to go in order to keep the truth from us.

www.911Truth.com
www.RonPaul2008.com
www.LooseChangeTheFinalCut.com

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Frontsideflip4
02-26-2008

Rated 0 
You're fucking stupid for believing that bullshit.

And voting for Ron Paul

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autarchicflux
03-21-2008

Rated 0 
ronpaul2008's post = worst, most nonsensical, non-sequitur interpretation of any song ever. Who would expect any less from someone who was fooled by Loose Change?

I'm not sure about the idea that this song is about the breakup of Clouddead, either. I mean, Elephant Eyelash DID deal a lot with the death of a relationship, and there IS in fact a line about a "she" looking at him and threatening to suck out his marrow.

Why would this song NOT be about a girl, or the emotions she provoked? For what reason could the "body" not be a metaphor for what's left over after the death of their relationship? I don't know for sure, but I'm also confused by the degree of certitude some of you other guys are displaying.

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bohemiandonut
03-29-2008

Rated 0 
I'm sure he's latched on to Obama by now, don't worry.


Oh ya um why is Ten raping Why's bones again?

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Frontsideflip4
04-03-2008

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I don't know much about cLOUDDEAD's disbandment, but maybe he felt that he was creative force behind the band and that the others were riding him to try to continue putting out music, ie Ten.

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Frontsideflip4
04-03-2008

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I don't know much about cLOUDDEAD's disbandment, but maybe he felt that he was creative force behind the band and that the others were riding him to try to continue putting out music, ie Ten.

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onechad
05-01-2008

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An apartment building I used to live in had a laundry room for the tenants. It was seventy-five cents a load to use the machines. You put three quarters in the slots, push the sliding bar in, and the machine starts.

I think he's just bored, doing laundry, imagining various, more exciting things, like maybe a woman seducing him then and there, or an assassin coming by and killing him. I could, of course, be way off...

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Benladen
05-31-2008

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@onechad: that is clearly the concrete basis for the song, but what makes it more is the implicit meanings, of which the metaphor of losing cLOUDDEAD is, to my mind, the most important.

"the futile attempt at revivification (the bra-tourniquet bit) is Ten"

"Oh ya um why is Ten raping Why's bones again?"

I think you misunderstood: the "rape your hollow bones" is how he felt, not what the album was doing to him.

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onechad
06-10-2008

Rated 0 
I'm not sure why such a parallel needs to be drawn with the demise of cLOUDDEAD and all that. How many times have you been doing something horribly boring and imagined yourself living a more exciting life to pass the time? Maybe he's a "sad assassin" because he's stuck in the basement on Fairmount Street washing his clothes and he wishes he could be out in the world murdering folks and gettin' it on with the ladies.

It's a very visual song, starting with a scene of action-movie tension and unexpected sensual allure, and then flipping to an ugly laundry room where he sits alone, perhaps waiting for the spin cycle to finish. I think these lines:

in the basement, i feel
like a loop of the last eight frames of film
before a slow motion lee harvey oswald
gets shot in the gut and killed

point to his longing for adventure and excitement (and on another level, for the release of death), even after coming back to his rather uneventful reality. Before Oswald was killed, he was, after all, just going about his daily activities, without any indication that his life was about to end, and then... BAM. If it could happen to Oswald, why couldn't it happen to Yoni, sitting there in that basement?

There's just so much in the song that's right there in front of your face that I don't feel the need to take it beyond that to a metaphorical level. It's a wonderful snapshot of someone's -- really, anyone's -- state of mind in a moment of boredom.

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kellyelephant
09-07-2008

Rated 0 
I feel it's important--although a small change--to note that at least one of the times, he says "Billy the Kid did what he did, THEN he died"--this puts across more the idea of serving a purpose of some kind, or at least the order of things.

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Mysticool
09-18-2008

Rated 0 
You know, I hate people like benladen who use the words "obviously" and "clearly" as if their interpretation is the definitive interpretation. Pipe down, son.

"The reference to Fairmount Street is clearly reminiscent of the last line of Apt. A; "33 E. McMillan St. Apt." An apartment on McMillan St with a laundromat on fairmount. Sound familiar to anyone?"

What convoluted bullshit. Irritating person.

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goyamamotto
09-30-2008

Rated 0 
@kellyelephant:
I don't thtink that's true, seeing as "Billy the kid did what he did and he died," is a direct quote from Marilyn Hacker.

I always envisioned the first verse as a representative acid trip that dose and why?, or maybe all three of them shared together.
The big thing that makes me think this is the line "Your face turned red when you said to me," because on acid your face retains a bit of a constant flush or redness. Plus, I can just really see Dose turning to Yoni on acid and telling him that he's going to suck the marrow out and rape his hollow bones.

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elf4life420
10-17-2008

Rated 0 
i think i'm probably pretty biased with my interpretation of this song, because i always imagine that people in bands get laid a whole lot more than us common folk. i always have an ear out for references to or lyrics that could be inspired by groupies.

that being said, to me this song is about yoni dealing with some sort of guilt for sleeping with fans. the first verse is just an elaborate metaphor for doing the dirty deed.

just for other examples of this sort of conclusion, fall of mr. fifths - "maybe with one less lady -- is that a threat? oh i've stayed scarce this last year, yes. but be assured in unrest, i'm unavoidable like death" when the opportunity's there, he's going to occasionally indulge.

fatalist palmistry "there's a moth flock in my gut growing (same prinicple, in unrest)
a tug at my groin like tides trying to
pull moon towards them, i can't ignore them"

i can't put a finger on that billy the kid line. is he saying billy the kid is only remembered for a few things, like we're all gonna end up footnotes in history books? orr does he mean he did what he did with no regret or remorse or guilt, just did it and moved on?

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annnna
01-04-2009

Rated 0 
It's just a dreeeaaaammmm it's all just a dream. Or at least, the first part is.
To me, the washing machine bit is like one of those moments doing a mundane task when you remember things like recent dreams. They come back at you and in the quietness of putting three coins in a washing machine you think about what it all means.

Fairmount street shows up in "Darla" too.

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