Tongues

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a visceral picture of internal torment, personified by "tongues" that invade and corrupt the narrator's being. These aren't literal tongues, but rather insidious forces that "glide 'neath my skin" and "storm through my nerves." The initial imagery is one of violation, suggesting a loss of control and a deep-seated, almost physical pain that cannot be easily purged, even after years of trying to bury past traumas. The narrator feels utterly consumed by these "searing, pecking tongues." The central conflict arises from the narrator's struggle against these invasive "tongues," which are described as the "slayer of the word and stealer of wisdom." This suggests a profound silencing and a corruption of thought and expression. The lyrics evoke a sense of being hunted and consumed by internal "trauma" and "stress," likening the narrator to "food for the hounds" and "prey to the crows." There's a desperate plea for a lost language, a sense of being unable to articulate or reclaim oneself from this internal onslaught. The writing masterfully employs disturbing natural imagery to convey psychological distress. The "viper in our eyes" and the "flies" that "let sickness be poured" from "bedlam" create a sense of pervasive decay and contagion. Later, the "whipping black tongues" are paradoxically described as "aching to lick me back to life redefined," suggesting a complex, almost masochistic relationship with the very forces that cause pain. This shift hints at a potential, albeit painful, transformation or integration of these destructive elements. Ultimately, these lyrics resonate because they articulate a raw, almost primal experience of internal violation and the struggle for selfhood. The relentless, invasive imagery and the personification of abstract pain as a physical, corrupting force make the narrator's suffering palpable. The tension between being destroyed by these "tongues" and the strange, painful pull towards being "redefined" by them creates a powerful, unsettling emotional landscape.