Unknown to most casual listeners, The End of All Things to Come is a concept album. Inside the CD booklet, a symbol of the Zodiac is placed next to each song of the album, with the lyrics for each song matching up to the expected personality of the corresponding Zodiac symbol. The Zodiac signs and their corresponding songs are shown below.
Aries - "The End of All Things to Come"
Taurus - "Trapped in the Wake of a Dream"
Gemini - "Shadow of a Man"
Cancer - "World So Cold"
Leo - "Not Falling"
Virgo - "The Patient Mental"
Libra - "Silenced"
Scorpio - "Skrying"
Sagittarius - "Solve et Coagula"
Capricorn - "(Per)version of a Truth"
Aquarius - "Mercy, Severity"
Pisces - "A Key to Nothing"
The only track that doesn't denote a symbol of the Zodiac is "12:97:24:99." Track 11, consisting of only 11 seconds of silence can be simplified to 11:11. Inside the CD booklet it has the album cover symbol next to it instead of a zodiac symbol. This may represent the concept of non-duality from the Advaita-Vedanta school of thought,in which, it is said that the "truth can only be discovered through silence." All previous tracks can be thought of as comprising everything, or every possible characteristic or manifestation possible within the terms of reality. Thus 12:97:24:99 represents nothing, or that which is beyond all definition or characteristics; the transcendental. The lyrics for this track are written in the Hebrew and translate to:
The sublime destroys the boundaries of finiteness, yet this phenomenon is seen by the self not as an act of destruction, but rather, as a kind of elevation and liberation. For it is on the feeling of infinitude which it now discovers within itself that it may enjoy an experience of its own boundlessness.
The album has many strong influences from Buddhist and Hindu philosophy. Most strongly is the recurring theme of the nature of nothingness, which is similar to the Hindu and Buddhist belief that the material world is an illusion, or Maya. There is a theme on the cyclical nature of time, rebirth, and destruction present throughout as well. The song "Mercy, Severity" in particular has a number of Eastern references: the Yin from the Daoist Yin and Yang, and the line "Mother of destruction wait/With a belt of skulls strap me down" may be referring to the Hindu goddess Kali.
Mudvayne's mystical or the so-called Occult influences can also be heard in "Mercy, Severity". The line "Pain of division is nothing, joy of dissolution is everything" is a quote from Aleister Crowley's The Book of the Law. At one time the band's website also had a link to The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn is a well known occult organization with much wealth.
The track name "Solve et Coagula" are the Latin words that appear on the arms of the mythologic demon Baphomet. The word "Solve" means "dissolve", with "Coagula" meaning "congeal".
Silenced
Mudvayne Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We've got something to say
Police this, condemn this, damn this
We'll be heard anyway
Middle finger is the flag that I wave when I'm silenced
Listen here
Is it a possibility?
That we're all just equal,
Slam the power down
Abusing
Does it pss you off to be beat at your own game
You lead us with false morals and shelter reality
No more, we're not buying your product when
You're selling
The words preaching silence
Insult me in my home,
When you were never invited,
To live life on your curve
Frustrating,
Throw sticks into the spokes,
To relieve insecurities,
Stifle all ascension and sticker our freedom
Of speech
Sticker this, censor this, ban this
We've got something to say
Police this, condemn this, damn this
We'll be heard anyway
Middle finger is the flag that I wave when I'm silenced
Don't tell me what I want
Don't tell me what I need
Don't tell me how I need to feel
I feel, goddamn nothing
Dig the eyes out of my face and I can still see right
Fuckin' through you,
Fuck you and everything you are,
I'm me, we're us and that's all
Closed mind with a forum to criticize,
Keep your policy and I've got mine
Exploit me, fabricate your lies
We empower these cowards just to be left in
Silence
Listen here
Stand on my soapbox,
And speak my own peace,
Whatever you may think,
It's real,
Prevail through what is me,
And step on your beliefs
Thieving spineless sellouts, robbing our integrity
Sticker this, censor this, ban this
We've got something to say
Police this, condemn this, damn this
We'll be heard anyway
Middle finger is the flag that I wave when I'm
silenced
The lyrics to Mudvayne's "Silenced" exude a strong sentiment of defiance against censorship and oppression. The song is a call to action for those who have been silenced and marginalized by those in power. The first few lines of the song make it clear that the band is well aware of the attempts being made to silence them - they are being censored, banned, and policed. But Mudvayne is not going to sit back and allow this to happen without a fight - they are going to speak out and be heard regardless.
The lyrics also touch on issues of equality, calling out those who abuse their power and lead with false morals that shelter reality. Mudvayne is standing up to those who insult them in their own home and throw sticks into their spokes, stifling their ability to ascend and express themselves freely. The middle finger is used as the flag of resistance, a symbol of defiance against those who seek to silence them.
The chorus is a resounding shout of frustration and a call to action. Mudvayne refuses to be silenced and will speak their truth no matter what is thrown their way. They reject the notion that anyone can tell them what they want or need or how they should feel. They will prevail through their own unique identity, regardless of others' criticisms and policies. Mudvayne empowers themselves and refuses to be exploited by spineless sellouts and those who seek to rob them of their integrity.
Line by Line Meaning
Sticker this, censor this, ban this
We won't be silenced and will fight for our freedom of speech.
We've got something to say
We have important messages that need to be heard.
Police this, condemn this, damn this
Even if you try to stop us, we will still speak out.
We'll be heard anyway
Absolutely nothing can stop us from getting our messages out there.
Middle finger is the flag that I wave when I'm silenced
When we're silenced, we use the defiant gesture of raising our middle finger as a way to show that we still have power and refuse to be silenced.
Is it a possibility?
Is there a chance that we are all equal and should be treated as such?
That we're all just equal
We believe that everyone should be treated as equals.
Slam the power down
We need to fight against those who use their power to oppress others.
Abusing
Those in power often abuse it to maintain their position of authority.
Does it piss you off to be beat at your own game?
Do those in power get angry when they are challenged and beaten at their own game?
You lead us with false morals and shelter reality
Those in power often manipulate us by presenting false morals and hiding the true reality from us.
No more, we're not buying your product when you're selling the words preaching silence
We won't be fooled anymore by those in power who try to sell us the idea that we should be silent and follow their rules.
Insult me in my home, When you were never invited, To live life on your curve
We won't allow those in power to insult and oppress us in our own homes when they have no right to dictate how we live.
Frustrating, Throw sticks into the spokes, To relieve insecurities, Stifle all ascension and sticker our freedom Of speech
It's frustrating when those in power try to put obstacles in our way, suppress our advances, and limit our freedom of speech.
Don't tell me what I want
We won't let those in power dictate what we want or need.
Don't tell me what I need
We won't let those in power tell us what we need or how we should feel.
Don't tell me how I need to feel
We won't let those in power control our emotions or tell us how we should feel.
I feel, goddamn nothing
We won't let those in power manipulate our emotions and make us numb to what's happening around us.
Dig the eyes out of my face and I can still see right through you, Fuckin' through you, Fuck you and everything you are, I'm me, we're us and that's all
Even if they try to take everything from us, even our eyes, we will still see through them and their lies. We won't let them make us feel inferior or change who we are.
Closed mind with a forum to criticize, Keep your policy and I've got mine, Exploit me, fabricate your lies, We empower these cowards just to be left in silence
Those in power often have closed minds and criticize us for speaking out, and even if they try to use their policies to exploit us and spread lies, we will still empower ourselves and refuse to be silenced.
Stand on my soapbox, And speak my own peace, Whatever you may think, It's real, Prevail through what is me, And step on your beliefs Thieving spineless sellouts, robbing our integrity
We will stand up on our soapbox and speak our minds, whatever others may think. We will be true to ourselves and stand up for our beliefs, even if it means going against those in power who are spineless sellouts and rob us of our integrity.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHAD L. GRAY, GREG TRIBBETT, MATTHEW MCDONOUGH, RYAN MARTINIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind