Hello everyone and welcome back to this month’s blog! If you remember last month’s blog, THAT’S GREAT because we’re diving right back in with the next song in the chronological story of the songs Killpop, Vermillion, Vermillion Pt. 2, and Snuff. Last month we went over Killpop and Vermillion… so you know what time it is now.
Vermillion Pt. 2: Track 11 from “The Subliminal Verses”
This song is a DEFINITE continuation of the story from Vermillion where (refresher) the man in the story sees visions of his ex-girlfriend who he killed and is currently still obsessed with. That song was angry and aggressive, but this one is a softer and slower song that really emphasizes his grief and sadness. He sings this song in a tone of somber acceptance. It really gives off the guilty and depressive feelings that the man is feeling. This song has a few lines that I want to go through so this blog might be a little longer than last time.
“She seems dressed in all of meStretched across my shameAll the torment and the painLeaked through and covered meI’d do anything to have her to myselfJust to have her for myself”
This stanza further reiterates how he has visions and hallucinations of her. She is dressed in all of him. She is everywhere he goes. He is singing about how these feelings are overwhelming him to the point where he can hardly take it anymore. He would do anything to have her back with him.
“I catch in my throatChokeTorn into piecesI won’t, noI don’t want to be this”
He is talking about the guilt eating him alive from the inside out. He doesn’t want to be a murderer. He doesn’t want to be the person that killed the woman he loved, yet he has to give in and accept the punishment for what he had done. Though, that doesn’t mean he isn’t trying to become better.
Snuff: Track 11 from “All Hope is Gone”
This song is also a very somber and depressing song. This song takes place long after the girl’s death and is on a whole different album. Like I said earlier, he has been trying to become better not only for himself but for the spirit of his past love. Though, in this song, he has fallen in love with a new woman. He loves her all the same, but his past actions are constantly in the back of his mind.
“Come away with innocence and leave me with my sinsThe air around me still feels like a cageAnd love is just a camouflage for what resembles rage again”
This is the man’s warning to the woman because he feels as if he is descending further into insanity again. He sees her as naïve and innocent since she has no knowledge of what he has done. The last line is like a reflection of past actions. He thought he killed his first girlfriend out of love, but it was actually rage and possession that pushed him to go to such lengths to keep her with him.
“Deliver me into my fateIf I’m alone I cannot hateI don’t deserve to have youOoh, my smile was taken long agoIf I can change I hope I never know”
This line also takes place a bit further in the future relationship between those two people. He has let himself become vulnerable with her and now is telling her about what he has done. He asks her to punish him or leave him. He doesn’t believe he deserves her and that since he has tried to change and failed, he asks to never know if he can truly change. He thinks it’s better not to know.
“So break yourself against my stonesAnd spit your pity in my soulYou never needed any helpYou sold me out to save yourself
And I won’t listen to your shame”
These lines are sung with a lot of painful and sad-rage undertones if you know what I mean. So, his new girlfriend is taking pity on him, and he thinks he doesn’t deserve it. He gets angry with her for telling him it wasn’t his fault, as if she was as delusional as he was. Though, she was only pretending because she was afraid of him. After the fight and they had both calmed down she called the police on him. You sold me out to save yourself is the embodiment of her calling the police for her own safety. He will no longer listen to the shame she feels for doing so because on the inside he wanted to be punished.
“Ooh, my love was punished long agoIf you still care don’t ever let me know”
This is the last line of the entire song and the ending of the story. It’s the last thing that the man wishes for the woman who had turned him in. He doesn’t want her to suffer, he just wants to be left alone in his punishment. He believes that he deserves this fate.
Thank you all for reading this month! Keep an eye out for next month’s blog where I’ll be analyzing a Ghost song instead. See you!
i love this, locklyn! these are actually my two favorite slipknot songs lol, and i love your take on both of them! especially “snuff”. excellent job