Dead Man's Bones
Dead Man's Bones Lyrics
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in the middle of the street.
Dig it down,
Dig it down,
Six - feet - deep.
You should know,
what's really going down, below.
Dressed in their best clothes,
there are rows & rows & rows,
Of dead man's bones!
I'm talkin' 'bout dead man's bones!
Wherever you go,
take a look at your feet,
& down six feet deep
there's dead man's bones!
Bones! Bones! Bones, bones, bones, bones!
Dig 'em up, (Dig 'em up)
Dig 'em up, (Dig 'em up)
Take 'em home (Take 'em home)
Take 'em home (Take 'em home)
They've been livin' (They've been livin')
Six -feet - deep!
You should know,
for when down you go (Down you go!)
Dressed in their best clothes,
there are rows & rows & rows!
In the basement! (In the basement)
In the schoolhouse!
In the pavement!
In the water!
It's a sound, (underground!)
there's a sound! (underground!)
Six - feet - deep!
You should know,
that the world was built on bones.
Wherever you go,
take a look at your feet
down six feet deep
there's dead man's bones!
Bones! Bones! Bones, bones, bones, bones!
The song "Dead Man's Bones" by the indie rock band Dead Man's Bones appears to be an eerie and haunting tune about death, decay, and the transience of life. As the lyrics suggest, the song is about digging a hole six feet deep in the middle of the street, indicating a grave or a burial ground. The verse "You should know what's really going down below" seems to imply that there's an unspoken reality about death and the dead that lies beneath the surface level of our daily lives. The lines "there are rows & rows & rows, Of dead man's bones!" reiterate this point, emphasizing the sheer volume of dead bodies that exist beneath us.
Moreover, the chorus of the song states "Bones! Bones! Bones, bones, bones, bones!" repeatedly, almost as if emphasizing the futility of fighting death and the inevitability of our certain fate. The bridge of the song reveals the macabre obsession of the singer as they sing about digging up these bones and taking them home. The lines "they've been living (six-feet-deep)!" hint at a bleak and dark sense of humor surrounding death, perhaps suggesting that death could be the only way to escape life's struggles. The final line of the song, "that the world was built on bones," closes the song with a note of finality. It suggests that everything on this planet is temporary, except death itself.
Line by Line Meaning
Dig a hole, in the middle of the street.
Start digging a grave in the center of the road.
Dig it down, Dig it down, Six - feet - deep.
Keep digging the grave until it is six feet deep.
You should know, what's really going down, below.
Be aware of what is happening underground.
Dressed in their best clothes, there are rows & rows & rows, Of dead man's bones!
The corpses are dressed in their finest clothing and arranged in rows.
I'm talkin' 'bout dead man's bones!
The focus of this song is on the remains of deceased people.
Wherever you go, take a look at your feet, & down six feet deep there's dead man's bones!
Remains are buried six feet below the surface nearly anywhere you stand.
Dig 'em up, (Dig 'em up) Dig 'em up, (Dig 'em up) Take 'em home (Take 'em home) Take 'em home (Take 'em home) They've been livin' (They've been livin') Six -feet - deep!
Excavate the corpses from their graves and bring them home, even though they've been buried six feet deep for some time.
You should know, for when down you go (Down you go!) Dressed in their best clothes, there are rows & rows & rows!
When you die and are buried, you will join the other people who are already dressed up and lined up underground.
In the basement! (In the basement) In the schoolhouse! In the pavement! In the water! It's a sound, (underground!) there's a sound! (underground!) Six - feet - deep!
There are buried bodies in various locations, such as basements, schools, pavements, and water bodies; and there is a sound coming from beneath the ground that could be due to the buried corpses.
You should know, that the world was built on bones.
The foundation of the world is constructed upon the remains of the dead.
Bones! Bones! Bones, bones, bones, bones!
The chorus emphasizes how prevalent and ubiquitous bones are, no matter where you go.
Contributed by Kennedy H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.