An enigmatic folk nomad, McCombs is a quintessentially American artist; "he's quietly become one of (the country's) finest chroniclers of fringe characters, a writer of heart-rending love songs and psychedelic odes to the natural world, a teller of tall-tales with a sense of humor dry as desert wood, and that rare folksinger who actually sings about the folk." His vocals range somewhere between the anxious drone of Lou Reed, the hollow croon of Elliott Smith, the lilting melody of Morrissey, and the driving earnestness and complexity of bards such as Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan. His lyrical style is alternately vivid and weary, laconic and yearning, or drifting into the high-spirited and whimsical.
After cutting his first EP, Not the Way in San Francisco in 2001, McCombs relocated to Baltimore, MD. There he released "Not the Way" in 2002 and recorded his first full-length, A, in 2003 on Monitor Records. He spent the next few years touring: playing All Tomorrow's Parties; and opening for bands such as Modest Mouse, The Decemberists, and Belle and Sebastian; before recording his second LP PREfection, which was released on 4AD in 2005.
McCombs' subsequent releases have been on the highly successful British independent label Domino Recording Co. 2007's Dropping the Writ was named one of Amazon's Best Albums of that year. Catacombs was voted one of the 50 greatest albums of 2009 by Pitchfork Media, and features Academy Award-nominated actress and singer Karen Black on the track Dreams-Come-True-Girl. During this period, McCombs toured with the likes of Arcade Fire, Andrew Bird, Band of Horses, José González, Beach House, and The Walkmen.
Catacombs also established McCombs' relationship with engineer/producer Ariel Rechtshaid, member of The Hippos and Foreign Born, who produced Grammy-winning hit Climax for Usher, the Plain White T's Grammy-nominated No.1 platinum-selling single Hey There Delilah, and albums for Vampire Weekend, Sky Ferreira, Snoop Lion, and Haim, among others.
In 2010 McCombs played Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, L.A.'s Culture Collide Festival and Invisible Children Benefit. 2011 offered an extensive headlining tour, an appearance at SXSW, and two albums released by McCombs and produced by Rechtshaid: Wit's End in April and Humor Risk in November. The two albums were made simultaneously. In an interview with Pitchfork, McCombs explains: "Wit's End was started years ago and it slowly made its way to the finish line. Humor Risk was just punched out. They're friends but they're different. Wit's End is like a stew; Humor Risk is the raw food diet."
Big Wheel and Others, McCombs' seventh full-length (and first double album) was released in October 2013. The album is rooted in the Americana mythos of the Wild West, from the San Francisco drug culture to the gunslingers and gold rush of the nineteenth century. The album once again features Karen Black on a version of the track Brighter!, her final recording before passing away due to ampullary cancer in August, 2013. Big Wheel is dedicated to her memory.
http://cassmccombs.com
Buried Alive
Cass McCombs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you cut a worm in two the other half will grow back
If I’m alive or dead I don’t really care as long as my Soul’s intact
Buried alive
Stinking corpse, I smell but cannot see, you hateful neighbor!
Pride, monomania, everything from Earth, topaz vapor
Hi-chloridize polyethylene resin lacquered newspaper
Maybe I’m wrong
Maybe I’m waking for the day
Cass McCombs's song "Buried Alive" is a haunting and poetic exploration of life and death. The opening lines of the song introduce us to a narrator who is waking up to the breath of the ore in the sea of black. These dripping, atmospheric lyrics suggest a world that is both vivid and surreal, a place where the boundaries between life and death are blurred. The next line in the song is a cryptic reference to the regenerative powers of a worm: "If you cut a worm in two, the other half will grow back." This line is a powerful metaphor for the resilience of life, and it suggests that even in the face of death and decay, there is always the possibility of renewal.
The next verse of the song is even more otherworldly, as the singer describes a stinking corpse that he can smell, but not see. This image is one of horror and disgust, and it suggests that death is an ever-present reality in the world of the song. The singer also mentions "hi-chloridize polyethylene resin lacquered newspaper," which is a bizarre, almost nonsensical reference that adds to the dreamlike, unsettling atmosphere of the song. Through these images and lyrics, McCombs creates a world that is eerie and unsettling, yet also somehow beautiful and poetic.
Overall, "Buried Alive" is a powerful and thought-provoking song that explores the themes of life, death, and renewal. The lyrics are haunting and imaginative, and they create a vivid and surreal world for the listener to explore.
Line by Line Meaning
Waking up to the breath of the ore, in the sea of Black
Awakening to the sound of mining in a dark, blue-collar town
If you cut a worm in two the other half will grow back
The resiliency of life and how it adapts to change
If I’m alive or dead I don’t really care as long as my Soul’s intact
The importance of inner strength and personal values over external circumstances
Buried alive
Feeling trapped in one's circumstances and unable to progress
Stinking corpse, I smell but cannot see, you hateful neighbor!
An unpleasant presence that is sensed but not directly observed
Pride, monomania, everything from Earth, topaz vapor
The fleeting nature of material possessions and pursuits in the grand scheme of things
Hi-chloridize polyethylene resin lacquered newspaper
The mundanity and artificiality of modern life
Maybe I’m wrong
Acknowledging the possibility of mistakes or uncertainty
Maybe I’m waking for the day
Hoping for a brighter future of awakening and clarity
Contributed by William N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@frostytoes686
Yup