As well as Smith, around 23 musicians were part of the Cardiacs over the years, including Smith's brother, Jim, and multi-instrumentalist, Sarah Cutts, who married Tim Smith in 1983.
Their music combined the excitement and energy of punk with the intricacies and technical cleverness of early British progressive rock, a combination sometimes referred to as pronk, although frontman Smith disavowed this classification.
Cardiacs released eight studio albums plus a number of live albums, compilation albums and singles between 1980 and 2007, and are best known for the 1988 minor hit single "Is This the Life?" They are also noted for attracting strongly diverse responses: they have remained one of Britain's leading cult rock bands during their four-decade-spanning career, but have also attracted virulent critical attack (including a lengthy editorial ban from the British music magazine New Musical Express).
On the 30th June 1990, Cardiacs played at Salisbury Arts Centre (a former church). The show was recorded and initially the video of it was released on VHS tape under the name "All That Glitters Is A Mare's Nest". The video helped Cardiacs achieve a cult following, with pirated copies of the video, being highly sought after. The audio from the show was released on CD in 1995.
The band was on hiatus following the 2008 hospitalisation of Tim Smith after a heart attack and series of strokes which affected his speech and movement.
Commenting on his condition, in 2017, Smith wrote: “Imagine if you were wearing a skintight bodysuit made of fishnet all around you, with electrical pulses going all the time. This is what my body feels like unless I fall asleep.”
In 2018, fundraising was set up for Tim Smith, which included the comment “This condition has affected Tim’s movement, his dexterity, his ability to speak, and it has added painful muscle tone and spasms that are a permanent feature of his life these days.”
On Tuesday 21st July 2020, at around 10.30 pm, Tim Smith passed away at his home, as a result of a heart attack.
Cardiacs final album, "LSD" remained unfinished at the time of Tim Smith's death. At the time of his death, Cardiacs still remained a cult following, their recordings were not, for example, available on Spotify. For many years there were few new copies of Cardiacs albums in circulation. Later on, re-releases became available on CD and then vinyl.
Clean That Evil Mud Out Your Soul
Cardiacs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sweet heaven save me from that candle
Burned it up it burned, it stank so strong
Of hell fire
Heaven can only know what unholy sights and sounds
All we innocent babes has made in them dens
All spawn of my devils own strumpet
Them olden days and them hard times
And merciful heaven only knows
What unholy sights and sounds
All we innocent babes has made in them dens
Weren't you afeared little lambs down there
In all that dark down there
In that deep place made all flesh all blood
For those eyes of mine
What a joy devine
The song Clean That Evil Mud Out Your Soul by Cardiacs talks about the need to cleanse one's soul from the impurities of the world. The opening line "Clean that evil mud out your soul" suggests that there is something dark and unclean that needs to be eliminated. The next line, "Sweet heaven save me from that candle," implies that the singer is seeking divine intervention to rid themselves of this impurity.
The following line, "Burned it up it burned, it stank so strong of hellfire," suggests that whatever has tainted the singer's soul is so powerful that it seems hellish. The next stanza explores the idea that we are all products of our environment and that the sins of the father are visited upon the son. The line "All spawn of my devils own strumpet" suggests that the singer's own mother was somehow complicit in this uncleanliness.
The final stanza asks if the listener was scared as a child in the face of this impurity. But the line "For those eyes of mine, what a joy divine" hints that the singer feels some sort of satisfaction in confronting these dark forces.
Overall, the song seems to be a call to action. It's not enough to recognize that there is evil in the world. We must actively work to rid ourselves of it, even if it feels uncomfortable or painful.
Line by Line Meaning
Clean that evil mud out your soul
Remove the wickedness from within your soul
Sweet heaven save me from that candle
God, please rescue me from the danger of that candle
Burned it up it burned, it stank so strong
The candle burned fiercely and emitted a strong, putrid odor
Of hell fire
Symbolizes the candle's association with Satan or evil
Heaven can only know what unholy sights and sounds
Only God knows the evil things that have taken place
All we innocent babes has made in them dens
Even innocent children may have contributed to the wickedness in the place
All spawn of my own flesh and blood
Referring to children as the singer's own offspring
All spawn of my devils own strumpet
Implies the children's mother engaged in immoral behavior
Them olden days and them hard times
Referring to a difficult period in the past
And merciful heaven only knows
Again, only God knows the utter wickedness and depravity that occurred
Weren't you afeared little lambs down there
Asking if children were afraid in the dark, ominous place
In all that dark down there
The place the artist refers to is dark and ominous
In that deep place made all flesh all blood
Describing the place as a slaughterhouse or place of great evil
For those eyes of mine
For the singer's own eyes to see such evil and horror
What a joy divine
Sarcasm - it was no joy or pleasure to witness such wickedness
Contributed by Ryan L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Sparkey
Clean that evil mud out your soul
Sweet heaven save me from that candle
Burned it up it burned, it stank so strong
Of hell fire
Heaven can only know what unholy sights and sounds
All we innocent babes has made in them dens
All spawn of my own flesh and blood
All spawn of my devils own strumpet
Them olden days and them hard times
And merciful heaven only knows
What unholy sights and sounds
All we innocent babes has made in them dens
Weren't you afeared little lambs down there
In all that dark down there
In that deep place made all flesh all blood
For those eyes of mine
What a joy devine
@HoxVox
One of the 1000 incredible masterpieces by Tim.
@akkepillo
I love this band! : )
@Rhademanthus
oh this band will never get enough attention
@Sparkey
Clean that evil mud out your soul
Sweet heaven save me from that candle
Burned it up it burned, it stank so strong
Of hell fire
Heaven can only know what unholy sights and sounds
All we innocent babes has made in them dens
All spawn of my own flesh and blood
All spawn of my devils own strumpet
Them olden days and them hard times
And merciful heaven only knows
What unholy sights and sounds
All we innocent babes has made in them dens
Weren't you afeared little lambs down there
In all that dark down there
In that deep place made all flesh all blood
For those eyes of mine
What a joy devine
@Quinceps
Fun lines for Jim to chop through 😊
@LambLiesDownOnBroadway
Those keyboards, man... <3
@vannburen
fantastic
@mirandabluff836
It took me a long time to realize these words were from The Night of the Hunter
@gemynd5894
Heaven only knows where the Pope might clean his evil mud. Heaven has kindly eyes.
@derekstokes6285
From "Sing to Dog" ;D