HORSE the band's lyrics are chaotic and colorful metaphors for vocalist Nathan Winneke's life, often with humorous or abstract pop culture reference titles and bases. Winneke has referred to his style on multiple occasions as "lynchian" in reference to his favorite film director David Lynch and his obtuse narrative style.
The band had jokingly labeled themselves "Nintendocore" very early on in their career in reference to the synth sound they had adopted. Some Nintendo characters that are metaphorically referred to include Cut Man from Mega Man, although the song is spelled "Cutsman" because the song was about a childhood friend Winneke grew up with and that was how they had said the character's name in youth; "Birdo", one of the bosses from the NES game Super Mario Bros. 2, in the song "Birdo" which was actually about Winneke's distaste for eggs and traumatic experiences with his stepfather early in his life ; and the rabbit-like nemesis from The Legend of Zelda in the song "Pol's Voice" which is about Winneke's early loathing of the sound of his own voice. Similarly, the song "A Million Exploding Suns" refers to the Marvel Comics character Sentry, a schizophrenic and agoraphobic hero with this abundance of power, pertaining to Winneke's double life as a musician and as a video rental clerk.
2007's A Natural Death featured significant lyrical and musical evolution into the concepts of nature and mortality while moving slightly away from the Nintendo metaphors. The song "Murder" is inspired by the Western novel Lonesome Dove, in which a Native American named Blue Duck stalks and kills white settlers on the plains. "Hyperborea" as a reference to Robert E. Howard's original "Conan" pulp fantasy stories from the 30s, and "The Red Tornado," a DC comics character from the company of which Winneke is such an open enthusiast.
The band's line-up has continuously fluctuated in its 10 year history. In February it was announced that Chris Prophet had been fired and Jon Karel from The Number Twelve Looks Like You would be filling in on drums during Earth Tour. In July, 2008 the band stated that long-time band friend Daniel Pouliot of Bleeding Kansas had joined as the band's full time drummer. On Wednesday, December 3 2008, the band announced that Dash Arkenstone would be leaving the band soon, though he remains on good terms with the other members and has attended local shows.
The band booked its own tours starting the summer of 2002, including a 3-month tour spanning seven countries. With a carefully maintained web presence including their MP3.com and MySpace accounts, they had gained themselves a niche audience. In the summer of 2004, the HORSE the World Tour 2004 included 85 shows in 90 days, spanning 7 countries throughout North America and Europe.
Their latest album, titled Desperate Living, was released on October 6, 2009.
Birdo
HORSE the band Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh!
The geek, with no beak:
He's so weak he cannot speak!
The geek, with no beak:
He's so weak he cannot speak!
And dwarven legs.
A semper fi cranium
That's got automatic eggs.
His gaping maw
Is geared to spew.
He just might be a she
So Birdette will do!!
Go eat your eggs!
Force fed, force fed.
Go eat your eggs!
Out of his mouth
Straight at your head!!
With purple pants,
(They start to tear)
I reach out with all my might to
Poke out an eye.
I poke out an eye!
I poke out an eye!
My seven year old smile:
Vanishing!
Eggs,
Why eggs?!
It's breaking my heart.
It's hurting my nose.
It's turning my skin green!
Why did you have to be so mean?!
In my dreams I despise you
More than you'll ever know.
Even when I speak your name
It makes me fucking choke!
Bird, oh!
Bird
Throw it back!
Throw it back!
Throw it back!
Throw it back!
Throw it back!
Throw it back!
Throw it back!
Throw it back!
The song "Birdo" by HORSE the band is a dark and intense song that depicts a brutal image of a weak and helpless creature, called the bird. The song reveals the story of an unusual, imperfect creature who's appearance is characterized by his vestigial wings, dwarven legs and a gaping maw that is geared to spew. The creature's gender is unclear, and Birdette is suggested as an alternative name. The lyrics suggest that the creature is being force-fed and then spits out eggs that hit the listener's head. The singer attacks Bird's eyes, leaving him/her permanently blind in one or both eyes. The song concludes with the singer expressing his hatred and disgust for the bird, even going as far as saying that speaking his/her name will make him/her choke.
The lyrics to HORSE the band's "Birdo" tell a very graphic story that seems to be inspired by a grotesque character from the Super Mario Brothers video game series. The eccentric and disturbing lyrics of the song feature a strong message that emphasizes the cruelty of society, how people feed on the weakness of others, and the tragic reality of broken dreams. In a broader sense, the song speaks to cultural and societal issues, how they treat those deemed weak, different, or imperfect. The song's words indicate an internal fight that is happening within the singer, a struggle between love and hate, and how the bird character turns out to be victorious in the end.
Line by Line Meaning
Bird
Introduction to the song
Oh!
Expression of surprise
The geek, with no beak:
A person who lacks confidence and is unable to express themselves
He's so weak he cannot speak!
The person is weak and unable to speak up for themselves
Vestigial wings
Small, undeveloped wings implying weakness
And dwarven legs.
Stunted, dwarfish legs again implying weakness
A semper fi cranium
A head that has taken a lot of punishment or is helmet wearing (semper fi is a Marine motto)
That's got automatic eggs.
A twisted creation metaphor, Automatism refers to the involuntary or uncontrollable nature of an action
His gaping maw
His big and wide-open mouth
Is geared to spew.
His mouth is meant for spewing something, in this case, eggs
He just might be a she
The gender of the singer is unsure
So Birdette will do!!
The name for Bird if it was female
Go eat your eggs!
The singer telling Bird to eat its own eggs
Force fed, force fed.
The eggs are being forced down Bird's throat
Out of his mouth
Bird is spitting the eggs out
Straight at your head!!
Bird is intentionally aiming the eggs at the artist's head
With purple pants,
The artist is wearing purple pants
(They start to tear)
The pants are starting to rip
I reach out with all my might to
The singer is trying to poke out one of Bird's eyes
Poke out an eye.
The artist is attempting to hurt Bird
I poke out an eye!
The artist succeeds in poking out one of Bird's eyes
My seven year old smile:
The artist's childhood joy and innocence
Vanishing!
The singer's childhood is disappearing along with their happiness
Eggs,
Referring to Bird's eggs
Why eggs?!
The singer cannot understand why Bird is making the eggs
It's breaking my heart.
The singer is upset and feels as though their heart is breaking
It's hurting my nose.
An out-of-place remark that implies physical pain
It's turning my skin green!
The artist is upset to the point of unwellness
Why did you have to be so mean?!
The artist is in disbelief that Bird or anyone could create something so unpleasant with intent
In my dreams I despise you
The singer hates Bird even in their dreams
More than you'll ever know.
The singer hates Bird more than Bird could ever understand
Even when I speak your name
The mere mention of Bird's name irritates the artist
It makes me fucking choke!
The artist hates Bird so much they are choking on their own words
Throw it back!
The artist tells Bird to return whatever they threw at them
Throw it back!
The singer repeats their demand to Bird
Throw it back!
The artist yet again implores Bird to throw the thing they threw back at them
Throw it back!
A final request of Bird to return the thrown object
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: ARKENSTONE, CALL, ENGSTROM, ISEN, PROPHET, WINNEKE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Travis Lawrence
One of the most underrated bands ever.
Andrew Blake
I think they are rated right where they should be. They are mathematically genius but they knew their crowd and who'd listen.
TKMMA
There Nintendocore
Vaughn Michael
Facts
brightbruce
purevolume days
NTC Bloody
@Andrew Blake Not really. They were in the wrong time. If they came out I'll bet they would be a lot more well known.
Christop
Man hard to believe 16 years ago this was one of my biggest jams ever.
Bob Sacamano
It was all over KROQ
DickWad16
The Death of Innocence.
That's it. The song, the video, the metaphor. These dudes were f*cking geniuses, and I will always have a heart for their music.
ddplz
For the longest time I just thought this was a dumb song about an absurd mario bros 2 miniboss. But when you hear the full story its a pretty interesting take of a kid going through a traumatic experience and paralleling it to a game he would be playing at the time.