‘Dionysus against the crucified’ is a line of Nietzsche’s meaning (v.roughly) the id against the superego. So it pertains to the separation of the self. After Nietzsche’s mental breakdown he began to sign letters either as ‘Dionysus’ or ‘the crucified’. In light of that I think you could interpret ‘the scythe’ as a metaphor for the division of the self rather than as a metaphor for self-harm.
The line ‘be your truth’ could therefore refer to Nietzsche who didn’t just preach the idea of the divided self but became it. Nietzsche literally divided himself even though it meant ‘hurting’ himself – mentally - in that his philosophy and constant acknowledgement of ‘the (his) truth’ led (possibly) to his eventual mental breakdown and a decade of incapacity. I think the song is about Nietzsche and also the frequent theme of bible era manics songs – the constant acknowledgement and acceptance of truth no matter what the cost. I don’t think the manics would write a song that was directly or even indirectly about self-harm. They may be guilty of the odd sensationalist allusion but not entire songs. maybe that's just wishful thinking though...
‘Dionysus against the crucified’ is a line of Nietzsche’s meaning (v.roughly) the id against the superego. So it pertains to the separation of the self. After Nietzsche’s mental breakdown he began to sign letters either as ‘Dionysus’ or ‘the crucified’. In light of that I think you could interpret ‘the scythe’ as a metaphor for the division of the self rather than as a metaphor for self-harm.
The line ‘be your truth’ could therefore refer to Nietzsche who didn’t just preach the idea of the divided self but became it. Nietzsche literally divided himself even though it meant ‘hurting’ himself – mentally - in that his philosophy and constant acknowledgement of ‘the (his) truth’ led (possibly) to his eventual mental breakdown and a decade of incapacity. I think the song is about Nietzsche and also the frequent theme of bible era manics songs – the constant acknowledgement and acceptance of truth no matter what the cost. I don’t think the manics would write a song that was directly or even indirectly about self-harm. They may be guilty of the odd sensationalist allusion but not entire songs. maybe that's just wishful thinking though...