Mr. Bungle – Quote Unquote

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All behold the spectacle
A fleshy limbless rectangle
Sitting on a pedestal
So nasal handicapable

Sniff and remember silver ball
Contortions that he can't recall
The torso on a trampoline
The happiness melts into dream

To talk is an enunciated sneeze
To taste is some foul air to breathe

One thought it lasts a day and at that rate he'll most likely live forever!
He's a bird in flight, a hermaphrodite
And he fucks himself as he fucks the world

His twitching brain can dance within
Gyrating more like gelatin
A secret means of ecstasy
Acute and very olfactory

To see is colors crawling in the nose
To hear is stinking highs and lows

He's got an itch but nothing with which to scratch the itch - so wish it away

With his mouth sewn shut, he still shakes his butt
Cuz he's Hitler & Swayze & Trump & Travolta

Smell, Sweat, Movement.
Everyone's dancing.
Disco.
Dimple.
Fading. Darker.
A subtle fragrance.
Faint.
Everyone's dancing without him.
Where did it go?
Dark.
Odorless.
Nothing.

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Lyrics submitted by Fear_Of_Mole_Rats

Track duration: 06:57


Quote Unquote song meanings
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37 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:"sniff and remember silver ball" - he is recalling a memory where he was happy/not disabled - a prom with a silver disco ball


    last verse, the dancing and everything - he can see himself in the memory again

    before "Odorless." - he loses the scent and hence the memory fades


    "Dimple."- indicates he was with a girl at the prom/ball, maybe it was her scent he was smelling
    Flag Anirshadon November 11, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Still am getting a feel for locked in syndrome remembering when it was like to have full body control in the past. Pretty nightmarish all around...
    Flag Nightmaretonyon July 25, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song really is john travolta. they wer going to name it travolta but were facing legal issues with it. hence "quote unquote"
    Flag FenderPrecisionon February 24, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I also believe that this song is about someone with severe sensory deprivation. During the span of the story within this song, this person desperately tries to create an escapist scenario for himself where all of his missing senses along with his one remaining sense - smell - will be in perfect working order for the first time ever. This basic human need for physical, visual, aural and emotional activity is symbolized by the 'disco' references both in the song and on the actual music video. To make a long story short, he's orchestrating a full-blown sensory explosion within the confines of his own mind and partially achieves this momentarily, but because he cannot perceive these things in actuality and has no basis of comparison from which to judge the lost senses that would be the very pieces that ultimately construct the fantasy in the first place, the plan ends disastrously. In the end, he finds himself alone only now without any senses left, basically left to exist as a physical being and little else.

    A very tragic and appalling story, especially considering that medically speaking, this can and has happened to people before and generally could happen to anyone.
    Flag dean-ialon September 06, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is amazing, just like most of what Mr. Bungle does
    Flag Lateralus518on August 16, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:what's with the indecipherable chaos at the end? the only word you can make out is 'nothing'. the rest of the lyrics just ain't there.
    Flag edselvedderIIIon May 01, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:also whats with the party noises at the end
    Flag bongoon July 17, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Some of this song is obvious...

    He is a limbless guy in extreme sensory depravation. His only remaining sense is smell.

    I can kinda see that he envisions himself as being various famous people the at the end the images fade back to nothing.

    What I don't get is the connection between hitler swayze trump and travolta. I'm sorry but capitalism and fascism aren't passing fads, they have and will be around for a long time, and are not equatable to Disco or dirty dancing, try harder for the connection there, please.
    Flag bongoon July 17, 2008   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • 0
    General Comment:hey, conorm... are you reffering to the first 50 seconds or so or when the song actually starts? anywho fucked up fucking song(not a bad thing of course)
    Flag necrophageon June 22, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:ya i think brian is right. i think its also about egotism as well. he's god in his own little world in his mind, but doesn't tell anybody else this...aka "With his mouth sewn shut, he still shakes his butt
    Cuz he's Hitler & Swayze & Trump & Travolta"... as he "fucks the world" in his thoughts. my 2 cents :)
    Flag shovelshoton March 15, 2008   Link

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