Known to tour the US in a converted city bus with Rathbun as the driver/mechanic, with the windshield destination banner of HELL. Besides their wild performances which embodied a "rock against rock" ethos, they were also known to defy classification with marching band routines, performing puppet shows, and playing household items as instruments (in tune). After finding few financial rewards for their increasingly complex stage show, Idiot Flesh disbanded in 1998.
Core Members:
- Captain Dragon (Gene Jun; Guitar, Percussion, Violin, Vocals, Arranger)
- Hyena Boy (Wes Anderson; 1994-1998: Percussion, Drums, Marimba, Multi Instruments, Talking, Vocals, Bassoon, Trash Cans)
- The Improver (Dan Rathbun; Bass, Multi Instruments, Saw, "Talking", Horn, Vocals, Trombone, Cello, Megaphone; Engineer)
- Pin (Nils Frykdahl; Flute, Saxophone, Percussion, Castanets, Vocals, Guitar; Cover Design/Graphics)
- Chuck Squier (1985 through 1994: Drums, Cover art)
Discography:
- (1990) Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death
- (1994) The Nothing Show
- (1995) Teen Devil/Twitch (4 Song EP)
- (1997) Fancy (Nov. 11)
The Straw
Idiot Flesh Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We're the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. (Alas!)
Our dried voices (when we whisper together)
Are quiet (and meaningless) as wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass (in our dry cellar)
Shape without form (shade without colour, paralysed force, gesture without motion)
Let me wear disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin
Behaving as the wind behaves
This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here they receive the supplication of a dead man's hand
Waking alone
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone
The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw
In this last of meeting places
We grope together and avoid speech
Here we go round the prickly pear,
Prickly pear, prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear,
At five o'clock in the morning
Between the idea and the reality
Between the motion and the act falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception and the creation
Between the emotion and the response falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire and the spasm
Between the potency and the existence
Between the essence and the descent falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is, life is, for Thine is the...
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper, thank you very much, good night.
The Straw by Idiot Flesh is a song that portrays the emptiness and hollowness of life. The opening lines of the song, “we are the hollow men” and “we’re the stuffed men” signify the emptiness humans feel even when they are physically full or satiated. The “headpiece filled with straw” further emphasizes this point as it hints at the lack of substance in our minds. The reference to “dried voices” being as “quiet (and meaningless) as wind in dry grass” or “rats’ feet over broken glass” emphasizes the insignificance of our voices and thoughts.
The chorus initially appears to communicate the singer's desire to hide his true self. The line “let me wear disguises,” in particular, highlights that the singer wants to adopt different personalities to avoid being their true selves. However, this ultimately culminates with the realization that “life is very long,” implying that any façades we put up are eventually going to be exposed.
The song also touches on how the world is slowly dying; “this is the dead land” and “this is cactus land” refers to the barrenness of the earth. It’s as if life itself is fading away, and people are struggling to keep up. Also, the line “the eyes are not here, there are no eyes here” refers to the lack of true emotion and sight.
In the final verse, the line “Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act falls Shadow” suggests an uncertainty in life that we all face. The shadow represents a lack of control and the inevitability of loss. The poem’s final line affirms the singer’s acceptance of this reality, as they state that the world will end with “a whimper” as opposed to a “bang.”
Line by Line Meaning
We are the hollow men
We are mere shells of human beings.
We're the stuffed men
We are fake, superficial, and insincere.
Leaning together
We share a collective insincerity.
Headpiece filled with straw. (Alas!)
Our minds are empty, leaving us with no purpose or conviction.
Our dried voices (when we whisper together)
When we speak, we have nothing substantial to say.
Are quiet (and meaningless) as wind in dry grass
Our voices are just as unimportant and insignificant as the wind rustling through a patch of dry weeds.
Or rats' feet over broken glass (in our dry cellar)
Our whispers are so insignificant that they could be compared to the sound of rats walking over broken glass in a quiet cellar.
Shape without form (shade without colour, paralysed force, gesture without motion)
We are incomplete, having no direction or meaning in our lives.
Let me wear disguises
We embrace pretending to be something we're not.
Rat's coat, crowskin
We're happy to wear clothing that doesn't reflect who we are on the inside.
Behaving as the wind behaves
We blend in with others around us, and our existence is just as unimportant as wind.
This is the dead land
We live in a barren, lifeless world.
This is cactus land
Our environment is harsh and unforgiving.
Here they receive the supplication of a dead man's hand
The hopeless submit in our world.
Waking alone
We're all alone in our emptiness.
Lips that would kiss
Our desires are unfulfilled.
Form prayers to broken stone
We're left with nothing but broken relics of the past to cling to.
The eyes are not here
There is nothing to see in our world.
There are no eyes here
We are blind to the world around us.
In this hollow valley
Our world is a depressing, hopeless place.
This broken jaw
Our communication is shattered and pointless.
In this last of meeting places
Our world is the last place anyone wants to come together.
We grope together and avoid speech
We're afraid to speak about our situation, and instead fumble through it together.
Here we go round the prickly pear,
We're stuck in a pointless, dangerous loop.
Prickly pear, prickly pear
Our world is full of hazard and danger.
Here we go round the prickly pear,
We're stuck in a monotonous, redundant rut.
At five o'clock in the morning
Our situation never changes, no matter how much time passes.
Between the idea and the reality
We don't know how to turn ideas into reality.
Between the motion and the act falls the Shadow
Our world is overshadowed by disappointment and regret.
For Thine is the Kingdom
We're left with nothing to believe in except for God's inherent dominion.
Between the conception and the creation
Our inability to create wilts our imagination and inspiration.
Between the emotion and the response falls the Shadow
We're held back by our fears and doubts, which stifle our personal growth.
Life is very long
Our lives feel like an eternal burden.
Between the desire and the spasm
We're overcome by instant, fleeting desires without lasting pleasure.
Between the potency and the existence
We're stuck between living a life of potential and actually having a meaningful existence.
Between the essence and the descent falls the Shadow
We flail around without direction, leaving us facing our own irrelevance.
For Thine is the Kingdom
Our only way forward is to have faith in God.
For Thine is, life is, for Thine is the...
The only thing left to hold on to is our faith in the divine.
This is the way the world ends
Our world is headed for destruction and despair.
Not with a bang but a whimper, thank you very much, good night.
Our inevitable downfall might not be cataclysmic, but it will still be a depressing end to a bleak existence.
Contributed by Harper V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.