Hungry Ants
Barry Adamson Lyrics


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[Dwight McClusky:] "I'll tell ya something, Scagnetti, in all of my days in the penal business, and that ain't no small amount of days, right boys?" [Kavanaugh:] "Oh, no." [Wurlitzer:] "Nope." [Dwight McClusky:] "Mickey and Mallory Knox are without a doubt the most twisted, depraved pair of shit fucked that has ever been my displeasure to lay my goddamn eyes on. I'm tellin' you, these two motherfuckers are a walkin' reminder of just how fucked up the system really is." [Jack Scagnetti:] "Don't get me started, okay, warden? Don't get me started." [Dwight McClusky:] "Dwight, you call me Dwight."

[Jack Scagnetti:] "They've killed a shitload of inmates and guards." [Dwight McClusky:] "Three inmates, five guards and one shrink all in one year's time... Open that goddamn gate!" [Prison Guard:] "Yes, sir." [Jack Scagnetti:] "What, a psychiatrist?" [Dwight McClusky:] "Yeah, Mickey's better half, Miss Mallory, strangled his ass when he made the dumb-ass mistake to ask her what her parents were like, and she done it all shut up on tranquilizers too." [Jack Scagnetti:] "Oh..."

[Dwight McClusky:] "Ain't love grand? If that doesn't tell the truth. Listen, I got another dead lie: love makes the world go around." [Black Inmate:] "Hey, I need to talk to you 'bout..." [Dwight McClusky:] "How did a fellow like you get to be a specialist in psychos anyway?" [Jack Scagnetti:] "Well, actually, Dwight, I'd recommend having your mother killed by one. After that happened I developed a rather keen interest in the subject, you know?" [Dwight McClusky:] "What happened?" [Jack Scagnetti:] "When I was born I spend the first part of my life in Texas." [Dwight McClusky:] "Oh, that's funny, you don't
have an accent." [Jack Scagnetti:] "Nah, I don't wanna talk like those assholes." [Dwight McClusky:] "Well, my, my mother was from Texas." [Jack Scagnetti:] "I meant those other assholes, you know, who used to beat the shit out of me. Anyway, one day, when I was 8 years old, my mother... my mother... I wanted to play in the park. And it just so happened to be the same day Charles Whitman had climbed to the top of the University Texas Tower and started shooting strangers." [Dwight McClusky:] "And
you was with her." [Jack Scagnetti:] "Sure was. You see, the thing is, Dwight, I didn't hear any shots. I didn't hear any of 'em. And one minute I'm walking with my mother when all of a sudden... Chest explodes. She hits the ground, right? I'm just lookin' at her, her forearm flies off, her hip explodes and... Now, I'm not hearing any of these shots, right? BOOM! Chest explodes! Right?"
[Jack Scagnetti:] "I spent all goddamn day lying flat on the grass, bein' eat alive by fucking ants. I'm thinking, what happened to my ma, you know? And ever since then I've had a strong opinion about the psychopathic fools that's alive today in America's fast food culture. I tend not to exhibit the self-discipline, you know." [Dwight McClusky:] "You..." [Jack Scagnetti:] "And comin' off a peace officer." [Dwight McClusky:] "You got it right, Jack. You got it right. Say, you don't mind, do ya, if I call you Jack?"





Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Barry Adamson's song "Hungry Ants" come from a dialogue that takes place in the film "Natural Born Killers." The conversation discusses the twisted minds of Mickey and Mallory Knox, two characters who have killed multiple inmates and guards in prison. One of the characters, Jack Scagnetti, shares his personal experience of witnessing his mother's death while walking with her in a park. He walks the listener through his gruesome encounter, where he didn't hear the gunshots, but his mother's body parts exploded in front of him. The experience scarred him for life, and he developed a keen interest in psychopathic people, which he eventually became a specialist in.


The lyrics suggest that the film intends to show the perversion of justice where individuals who have committed heinous crimes get glorified on media and become famous. The dialogue portrays twisted psyches and the corrupt system that, instead of punishing the perpetrator, glorifies them, which leads them to commit even more heinous crimes. The film has a social message that criticizes the society that, despite being aware of the dysfunctional justice system, does not act on it, and instead of condemning it, hypes the perverse narrative for entertainment.


Line by Line Meaning

[Dwight McClusky:] "I'll tell ya something, Scagnetti, in all of my days in the penal business, and that ain't no small amount of days, right boys?"
Dwight tells Scagnetti that he has been in the penal business the largest part of his life.


[Kavanaugh:] "Oh, no."
Kavanaugh affirms Dwight's statement.


[Wurlitzer:] "Nope."
Wurlitzer also affirms Dwight's statement.


[Dwight McClusky:] "Mickey and Mallory Knox are without a doubt the most twisted, depraved pair of shit fucked that has ever been my displeasure to lay my goddamn eyes on. I'm tellin' you, these two motherfuckers are a walkin' reminder of just how fucked up the system really is."
Dwight expresses that Mickey and Mallory Knox are the worst, and the way they are reminded how issues are screwed up is by watching them.


[Jack Scagnetti:] "Don't get me started, okay, warden? Don't get me started."
Jack warns Dwight to not get him started on the subject.


[Dwight McClusky:] "Dwight, you call me Dwight."
Dwight reminds Jack his name is Dwight.


[Jack Scagnetti:] "They've killed a shitload of inmates and guards."
Jack reveals that Mickey and Mallory Knox have killed many inmates and guards.


[Dwight McClusky:] "Three inmates, five guards and one shrink all in one year's time... Open that goddamn gate!"
Dwight tells the prison guard to open the gate; he also discloses that three inmates, five guards, and one psychiatrist have died in one year.


[Prison Guard:] "Yes, sir."
The prison guard replies to Dwight's order.


[Jack Scagnetti:] "What, a psychiatrist?"
Jack questions if one of the deceased was a psychiatrist.


[Dwight McClusky:] "Yeah, Mickey's better half, Miss Mallory, strangled his ass when he made the dumb-ass mistake to ask her what her parents were like, and she done it all shut up on tranquilizers too."
Dwight reveals that it was Miss Mallory who killed the psychiatrist when he asked her about her parents, and she did so while being sedated.


[Jack Scagnetti:] "Oh..."
Jack simply responds with an exclamation.


[Dwight McClusky:] "Ain't love grand? If that doesn't tell the truth. Listen, I got another dead lie: love makes the world go around."
Dwight sarcastically comments on love; he also reveals another dead lie: love makes the world go around.


[Black Inmate:] "Hey, I need to talk to you 'bout..."
An inmate tries to get Dwight's attention.


[Dwight McClusky:] "How did a fellow like you get to be a specialist in psychos anyway?"
Dwight asks Jack how he became a specialist in psychopaths.


[Jack Scagnetti:] "Well, actually, Dwight, I'd recommend having your mother killed by one. After that happened I developed a rather keen interest in the subject, you know?"
Jack recommends to Dwight that he should have his mother killed by a psychopath, revealing that he developed an interest in the subject after his mother was killed.


[Dwight McClusky:] "What happened?"
Dwight asks Jack what happened to his mother.


[Jack Scagnetti:] "When I was born I spend the first part of my life in Texas."
Jack starts to tell Dwight his story by revealing that he was born in Texas.


[Dwight McClusky:] "Oh, that's funny, you don't have an accent."
Dwight finds it strange that Jack doesn't have a Texas accent despite being from Texas.


[Jack Scagnetti:] "Nah, I don't wanna talk like those assholes."
Jack explains that he doesn't want to talk like some people from Texas that he doesn't like.


[Dwight McClusky:] "Well, my, my mother was from Texas."
Dwight reveals that his mother was from Texas.


[Jack Scagnetti:] "I meant those other assholes, you know, who used to beat the shit out of me. Anyway, one day, when I was 8 years old, my mother... my mother... I wanted to play in the park. And it just so happened to be the same day Charles Whitman had climbed to the top of the University Texas Tower and started shooting strangers."
Jack clarifies which Texas people he doesn't like and then tells Dwight the story of the day he was in a park when Charles Whitman climbed the University of Texas Tower and started shooting strangers.


[Dwight McClusky:] "And you was with her."
Dwight confirms that Jack was with his mother at the park that day.


[Jack Scagnetti:] "Sure was. You see, the thing is, Dwight, I didn't hear any shots. I didn't hear any of 'em. And one minute I'm walking with my mother when all of a sudden... Chest explodes. She hits the ground, right? I'm just lookin' at her, her forearm flies off, her hip explodes and... Now, I'm not hearing any of these shots, right? BOOM! Chest explodes! Right?"
Jack explains that he was with his mother when she was shot, and describes not hearing any of the gunshots but watching his mother get hit and parts of her body explode.


[Jack Scagnetti:] "I spent all goddamn day lying flat on the grass, bein' eat alive by fucking ants. I'm thinking, what happened to my ma, you know? And ever since then I've had a strong opinion about the psychopathic fools that's alive today in America's fast food culture. I tend not to exhibit the self-discipline, you know."
Jack reveals that he spent the entire day lying on the grass being eaten by ants after his mother was shot; he also expresses his opinion on the psychopaths in America's fast food culture.


[Dwight McClusky:] "You..."
Dwight starts a sentence to Jack.


[Jack Scagnetti:] "And comin' off a peace officer."
Jack finishes Dwight's sentence by disclosing that he is also a peace officer.


[Dwight McClusky:] "You got it right, Jack. You got it right. Say, you don't mind, do ya, if I call you Jack?"
Dwight refers to Jack as Jack and seeks his permission to do so.




Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

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