Turpentine
Hole Lyrics

It'll come down and look you in the eye
Death is inevitable, and it will confront you directly.

The way you're gonna go with no place to die
You'll eventually die, but there's no predetermined or set place where you'll meet your end.

My water breaks like turpentine
The singer's bodily fluids are like a poison, indicating the pain and suffering they experience.

I sit dead in the sacrifice
The artist feels lifeless and as if they've been offered up to something greater.

You get to watch, you get to watch / Now you get to watch me die
The artist is aware that others are witnessing their decline and passing away.

Bless my body and bless my soul / Wrap it in turpentine
The singer is requesting some form of purification or salvation in their physical and spiritual state.

I see you standing, whatever for? / All the lads know I like it cold and raw
The singer is questioning the intentions of the person standing before them and asserts a desire for extreme experiences.

Who really knows where the ruby rides? / I see all the sick reflections in your ruby eyes
The artist is commenting on the ambiguity and uncertainty of fate, and they can see the negativity in others' gaze.

And I know all you devils by your Christian names / And I know all you bitches by your Christian names
The artist knows the true personalities of those around them, regardless of how they present themselves.

Acrid, syphilic coteries / Put your head up over your legs
The artist is describing a group of people that is vile and plagued with disease, asking them to contort in a degrading manner.

Count backwards from infinity / Eat the rose and the dirt it grows in / They don't even know what hole that's supposed to go in
The singer is likely referencing a drug-induced state, nonsensical and paradoxical, and general confusion and uncertainty.

And now you're mad and you're slapping me / It stinks up here in the junkie tree
The artist is describing a physical altercation while commenting on the filth and decay present in drug addiction.

I've been walking to your suicide / See the human hometown suicide / I've ceased to exist on the Christmas list / I've ceased to exist in your disease
The singer may be contemplating someone's suicide or describing their own internal struggle and isolation as they are no longer considered significant to others.

I lie right down, baby, give it to me / I lie right down
The singer may be romanticizing or accepting their fate and a possible sexual encounter before passing on.

Nowhere to walk, backwards, forwards / Nowhere to walk, black was gold / Nowhere...
The singer may be expressing the finality of their situation, with no possible escape or way forward, and how life appears bleak.