When That Head Splits
Esben and the Witch Lyrics

The lyrics to Esben and the Witch's song, "When That Head Splits In Two" evoke vivid and surreal imagery, leaving the listener with a sense of an otherworldly experience. The song describes a woman or a being who is mesmerizing, and the singer seems to be fixated on her beauty or presence, which they describe as "mesmerized by her visage." The first verse, "Poured away into a shallow pool of oils, spilling colors" evokes a sense of melting, dissolving, or becoming fluid, which could be interpreted as losing oneself or losing grip on one's identity or emotions. The line "Appearances emulsified" reinforces this idea; emulsification involves two substances mixing together thoroughly, becoming indistinguishable from each other. Therefore, the singer's fixation on the woman's appearance is already eroding or morphing into something else.

The second verse is more enigmatic, describing the image of a fisherman waiting to catch a prize that lies beneath a screen of gold, blues, and tangerines. The description is both abstract and concrete; we can imagine the colors and the sense of expectation, but we don't quite know what the prize or the screen signifies. It may be a metaphor for the woman's mind or soul, or it may be a metaphor for something else entirely. The third and final verse contains some of the most striking images in the song, depicting a woman kneeling naked at an altar while ants crawl over the petrified hand of her neighbor. The line "There is a bulb inside her head where once there was a brain in place" implies that the woman has undergone some kind of transformation, perhaps at the hands of the ants or as a result of her fixation on the fisherman-like figure in the second verse. The final line, "That's full of love and lycorine," is ambiguous; lycorine is a poisonous alkaloid found in some plants, but it is also used as a treatment for addiction. The implication is that the bulb may be both dangerous and healing, and that the line between pleasure and pain is a blurry one.

Overall, "When That Head Splits In Two" is a song that defies easy interpretation, but its vivid imagery and surreal atmosphere make it a haunting and unforgettable listening experience.