Sebastiane
Sex Gang Children Lyrics
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She soon died a suicide, kissed the table in god's name
It's the code of the cowboy men to defile all that is pure
Too much hate, too much hate and your ignorance is your strength
Don't sell us Brittanica, with it's oozing pipeline dream
Eat your children baked in a pie, i will blind you to improve
Your visions of I
Sebastiane
Sebastiane
Sebastiane
Sebastiane
Bite the face of piety, kiss your mother's broken spirit
There is nothing not even shame
Just the stench from the room full of social animals
Caught again jezebel, with your 'friend' and his beauty bible
He once walked through sacred lands
Now he waves his nazi dagger
Sebastiane
Sebastiane
Sebastiane
Wish you well sebastiane
With your smiling puritan youth
And you feel, feel no pain
As they cut through your bluey green vein
The song "Sebastiane" by Sex Gang Children is a complex and bleak commentary on the corrupting influence of power, religion, and social norms. The lyrics portray a world in which even the purest of intentions are met with violence and destruction. The opening lines depict a sister praying for the dead young men on the shore. However, she soon commits suicide and even in her final moments, she is defiled by kissing the table in God's name. The lyrics suggest that this is the code of the cowboy men- to defile all that is pure. The idea of defiling purity is a recurring theme throughout the song and is presented as a way of gaining power and control. The lines 'too much hate and your ignorance is your strength' suggest that ignorance and hate are linked to power.
The next line 'Don't sell us Britannica, with its oozing pipeline dream' suggests that education and knowledge are being sold as a dream, rather than a reality. The line 'eat your children baked in a pie, I will blind you to improve your visions of I' implies that people are willing to sacrifice their own children to achieve their visions of themselves. The song then takes on a religious tone with lines such as 'bite the face of piety' and 'kiss your mother's broken spirit'. The lyrics suggest that religion is used as a tool of power and control, rather than a means of comfort or salvation. The line 'there is nothing, not even shame' suggests that this corruption has gone so deep that there is no hope left. The final lines of the song depict the character Sebastiane, who feels 'no pain' as he is cut open. The implication is that he has become so numb to the violence and destruction around him that he no longer feels anything.
Line by Line Meaning
Sister tell wishing well to the young men dead on the shore
A woman speaks to the symbolic wishing well about the dead young men on the shore
She soon died a suicide, kissed the table in god's name
The woman later died by suicide, perhaps as a religious sacrifice, kissing a table in the name of God
It's the code of the cowboy men to defile all that is pure
Men who identify as cowboys have a code to defile anything that is seen as pure or innocent
Too much hate, too much hate and your ignorance is your strength
Too much hate can make someone's ignorance appear to be strength
Don't sell us Brittanica, with it's oozing pipeline dream
The artist rejects the idea of being sold on an idealized version of Britain and its 'oozing pipeline dream'
Eat your children baked in a pie, i will blind you to improve
The singer expresses a desire to both shock and blind someone who is advocating for disturbing actions, such as baking children into pies
Your visions of I
Your self-centered visions
Bite the face of piety, kiss your mother's broken spirit
A call to rebel against piety and tradition, and to embrace a broken spirit
There is nothing not even shame
There is nothing, not even shame, to hold someone back from doing what they want
Just the stench from the room full of social animals
The only thing present is the stench of people behaving like animals in a social setting
Caught again jezebel, with your 'friend' and his beauty bible
A reference to someone being caught in an affair or scandal, and the involvement of a beauty bible (perhaps a reference to a cosmetics or beauty product advertisement)
He once walked through sacred lands
This man had once walked through sacred lands, perhaps as a pilgrim or explorer
Now he waves his nazi dagger
This man now shows his allegiance to Nazi ideology by waving a dagger associated with that group
Wish you well sebastiane
A farewell message directed towards Sebastiane
With your smiling puritan youth
Sebastiane is characterized as having a youthful, puritanical demeanor
And you feel, feel no pain
Sebastiane is described as being numb to pain
As they cut through your bluey green vein
Sebastiane's death is depicted as a physical act of cutting through veins that are colored blue-green
Contributed by Ava P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.