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Do you remember a guy that's been
In such an early song
I've heard a rumor from Ground Control
Oh no, don't say it's true
They got a message from the Action Man
"I'm happy, hope you're happy too
I've loved all I've needed to love
Sordid details following"
The shrieking of nothing is killing
Just pictures of Jap girls in synthesis and I
Ain't got no money and I ain't got no hair
But I'm hoping to kick but the planet it's glowing
Ashes to ashes, funk to funky
We know Major Tom's a junkie
Strung out in heaven's high
Hitting an all-time low
Time and again I tell myself
I'll stay clean tonight
But the little green wheels are following me
Oh no, not again
I'm stuck with a valuable friend
"I'm happy, hope you're happy too"
One flash of light but no smoking pistol
I never done good things I never done bad things
I never did anything out of the blue, woh-o-oh
Want an axe to break the ice
Wanna come down right now
Ashes to ashes, funk to funky
We know Major Tom's a junkie
Strung out in heaven's high
Hitting an all-time low
My mother said to get things done
You'd better not mess with Major Tom
In such an early song
I've heard a rumor from Ground Control
Oh no, don't say it's true
They got a message from the Action Man
"I'm happy, hope you're happy too
I've loved all I've needed to love
Sordid details following"
The shrieking of nothing is killing
Just pictures of Jap girls in synthesis and I
Ain't got no money and I ain't got no hair
But I'm hoping to kick but the planet it's glowing
Ashes to ashes, funk to funky
We know Major Tom's a junkie
Strung out in heaven's high
Hitting an all-time low
Time and again I tell myself
I'll stay clean tonight
But the little green wheels are following me
Oh no, not again
I'm stuck with a valuable friend
"I'm happy, hope you're happy too"
One flash of light but no smoking pistol
I never done good things I never done bad things
I never did anything out of the blue, woh-o-oh
Want an axe to break the ice
Wanna come down right now
Ashes to ashes, funk to funky
We know Major Tom's a junkie
Strung out in heaven's high
Hitting an all-time low
My mother said to get things done
You'd better not mess with Major Tom
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I want them to know it's me
It's on my head
I'll point the finger at me
It's on my head
Give it all to you, then I'll be closer
Smiling with the mouth of the ocean
And I'll wave to you with the arms of the mountain
I'll see you
I will let you shout no more
It's on my head (It's on my head)
I'll pick you up from the floor
It's on my head (It's on my head)
I'll let you even the score
It's on my head (It's on my head)
Give it all to you, then I'll be closer
Smiling with the mouth of the ocean
And I'll wave to you with the arms of the mountain
I'll see you
(Solo)
Give the same to me, then I'll be closer, closer
Give the same to me, then I'll be closer, closer
Smiling with the mouth of the ocean
And I'll wave to you with the arms of the mountain
Give the same to me, then I'll be closer, closer
Give the same to me, then I'll be closer, closer
"point the finger at me, it's on my head" - he willfully turned himself in and confessed.
"give it all to you" - all the information.. maybe "all" meaning his own life...
"Then I'll be closer" - closer to his entire purpose... to expose and punish people for the seven deadly sins.
"shout no more" - Remember how Mills was shouting at the end when he wanted to know what John Doe did?
"Pick you up from the floor" - Finding out his wife died would be Mills bottom-most moment. How could John Doe pick him up from the floor? By letting him have revenge, maybe?
"I'll let you even the score"...
"Give the same to me then I'll be closer" - same? You mean "murder me, then I'll be closer"? John Doe wanted Miller to kill him so he could complete his goal - "Envy" is what Doe was getting killed for, and "Vengeance" would be the last deadly sin.
"smiling with the mouth of the ocean, and I'll wave to you with the arm of the mountain" - Joh Doe won. He is gloating from the grave. "I see you!" In the creepy yell of the deranged psychopath beyond the grave letting Miller know he won.
I think Mike Patton is telling a story inspired from the movie Seven. Simple as that. And beautifully told!
"I want them to know it's me
It's on my head
I'll point the finger at me
It's on my head"
Sure, go ahead and lay the blame on me. I'll be the martyr in this failure. Grrrr!!!
"Give it all to you
Then I'll be closer"
Giving you all the control is his my way of getting closer to having control again.
"Smiling with the mouth of the ocean
And I'll wave to you with the arms of the mountain
I'll see you"
But know this, it won't break me and when I see you (and I will, maybe because there are children involved), I'll be smiling big and I'll be stronger than ever (arms of a mountain = strength!). The aggressiveness with which he sings "I'll see you!" indicates to me that even though he is taking the blame, he really doesn't believe in that position. It's a control thing.
"I will let you shout no more
It's on my head"
Since I've taken the blame, there is no need to shout blame at me any longer. This is just another backward way of still trying to control the other person.
"I'll pick you up from the floor
It's on my head"
Since you are weak, I know you will fail after this breakup, and I'm still willing to help you out even though you dumped me. See how awesome I am? But, for the record, I still acknowledge that I am to blame for this failure. More control stuff.
"I'll let you even the score
It's on my head"
More control. This is good stuff. I think he's saying, "See how I let you even the score by taking blame?" You don't LET anybody even the score. It's not in your control.
"Give it all to you
Then I'll be closer"
Same as above...
"Smiling with the mouth of the ocean
And I'll wave to you with the arms of the mountain
I'll see you"
Same as above...
"Give the same to me then I'll be closer, closer
Give the same to me then I'll be closer, closer"
Okay finally! Um, by the way, I DO NOT really take all the blame and what I'd really like is for you to step up and take some of the blame here. That would be one step closer to real control and maybe freedom and peace. Just please give me back some of what I'm offering you.
"Smiling with the mouth of the ocean
And I'll wave to you with the arms of the mountain"
Same as above...
"Give the same to me then I'll be closer"
Same as above.
That is what it means to me. :)
Before examining the words of Ashes to Ashes line by line it is important to identify some general features about it, which inform the understanding of each line.
First, the title “Ashes to Ashes” comes from the Funeral Ceremony from the Common Book of Prayer. It means that this is a song about one or more funerals following one or more deaths.
Secondly, it is written from the point of view of a single person narrator (“I want”, “I will”, “I’ll”).
Thirdly, it is addressed to “you” and this appears to be a single person (“I’ll pick you up from the floor”; it is probably hard to pick up more than one person or God from a floor).
Fourthly, it is written at a single instant in time and with two exceptions, it is all about what is going to happen in the future (“I’ll”, “I will”). It describes only one present fact (“I want them to know it’s me”, describing the narrator’s current desire, but as to a future matter) and one past fact (“I will let you shout no more”, meaning that the “you” has been shouting).
Taking those four general observations, we have a single narrator in a song about a funeral, talking to one other person about what the narrator wants and what is going to happen.
Now we can start looking through the song verse by verse.
The first verse is solely about blame. The narrator is to blame for something “it’s me”, “it’s on my head” and he wants “them” to know about it. Not only that, but to make sure they know about it, he is going (in the future) to point the finger at himself. While the first verse does not hint what “it” is or what the narrator has done wrong, given that the song is about a death it seems likely that “it” means a funeral or a death.
The chorus starts “Give it all to you”. “It” is not defined but assuming that “it” is the same “it” from the first verse and is also the subject of the song then this line should be read as “Give death to you”, i.e. it means kill “you”. (It seems strained to give someone a funeral). This describes a key event in the narrative of the future that the song offers: the narrator is going to kill someone.
The second half of the first line of the chorus “then I’ll be closer” does not say to what the narrator will be closer but that becomes clear from the next two lines. It is necessary to consider them by reference to the funeral service from which the words “ashes to ashes” come.
Here is one version of the passage from the service:
Having given thanks for the life of our brother N......., we now commit his mortal body to the ground/ to be cremated, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, [in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life] through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died, was buried, and rose again for us. To him be glory for ever.
Note that the “resurrection” passage is optional. The phrase “ashes to ashes” goes hand in hand with “earth to earth”. As has been previously identified in this thread, the phrase “earth to earth” provides a partial explanation for the “mouth of the ocean / arms of the mountain” passages. The narrator of the song expects to die. This is after the narrator has “given it/death” to “you”. The narrator expects to be returned to the earth and very literally to live on in the very fabric of the earth. In the narrator’s mind, after death, he will smile and wave from the physical features of the earth.
So, the narrator will be dead, “you” will be dead, and the narrator after death will be in the earth.
The second verse starts with “I will let you shout no more”. This provides the clue to why the narrator wishes to cause death to “you”. He does not want to let “you shout”. Once the shouting is stopped, the narrator will “pick you up from the floor”. Dead, the victim lies on the floor. But in death, the victim will “even the score” because the result of the narrator “point[ing] the finger at me” is that he will likewise be killed. Note that the victim cannot even the score by herself because she is dead. The narrator must “let” the victim even the score which given that the narrator will be pointing the finger at himself does not leave much for the dead victim to do.
Here is another version of the passage from the service:
Forasmuch as it has pleased Almighty God to take from life on earth N......., we therefore commit his body to the ground/to be cremated, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, trusting in the mercy of Almighty God, to whom we shall all give an account.
The phrase “all give an account” is echoed by “I’ll let you even the score”. All the sins of the narrator will be counted up and made even.
The final repetition of the chorus is slightly varied: “Give the same to me”. Note that it does not say who will give the same to the narrator. It is not “you” but a disembodied society enforcing capital punishment.
So, at this point, that relatively straightforward analysis makes this song look like someone who is angry with a lover, wife, friend, whatever, plans to kill them but will take the consequences afterwards. That is a tragic scenario but put in such prosaic terms is somewhat mundane material for song which has music that is extremely dramatic if not grandiose.
Now let us look at the colour Mike Patton has added to this scenario principally in the chorus. The narrator sees himself after death living on in the earth but not in minor features, not the odd rock or stone, or tree but big features, mountains and oceans. The narrator does not expect the “resurrection to eternal life” that the optional text describes where although his physical body will be mixed with the earth his soul would join God in heaven. The distortion of the single human into massive objects shows that the narrator sees the contemplated murder as transforming him in a magnificent way. He sees the murder as taking him away from a mundane world of shouting and floors to a massively grandiose destiny of eternity and pervasion of all things.
What Mike achieves here is that although the song tells quite a simple little story of domestic violence and hatred leading to murder he imbues the murderer with such strong emotions that it tells a very vivid tale.
I think it's simultaneously looking back at an abusive relationship and now trying to let the other party "get even" because the protagonist feels guilty about it.
"It's on my head" - Yes, it was me who did that bad thing. "Give it all to you, then I'll be closer" - his old way of expressing emotion, the only way he knew how was abuse. "Mouth of the ocean, arms of the mountain" - images of power. "Waving with the arm of a mountain" almost sounds like a threat.
"shout no more, pick up from the floor, even the score" "Give the same to me then I'll be closer, closer" - you can get even with me. Do it back, I feel bad. The guilt is on my head.
Most of what I glean from it is general and doesn't necessarily attach itself to each and every line.
Smiling with the mouth of the ocean
And I'll wave to you with the arms of the mountain
I'll see you
I think the chorus reinforces their desire to see the person happy and to see them once again.
Give the same to me then I'll be closer, closer
Give the same to me then I'll be closer, closer
The hope that if the roles were reversed, they would give the same.
When interviewed about his lyrical content with Faith No More, Patton responded, "I think that too many people think too much about my lyrics. I am more a person who works more with the sound of a word than with its meaning. Often I just choose the words because of the rhythm not because of the meaning"