Mark Lenover is a singer/songwriter who has been writing and recording musi… Read Full Bio ↴Mark Lenover is a singer/songwriter who has been writing and recording music for over a decade. In that time he has independently released seven full length albums and three EPs. His material covers a wide variety of subjects, such as social reform, gender politics and mental illness and recovery.

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Medusa's Hair
Mark Lenover Lyrics

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We've all learned how to hide
Behind decadent tricks of the mind
We savour the distance we sow
Between us and the rest of our kind
We're all mixed up
Each in noxious, insulating clouds
We're all mixed up,
Decked out in blinders and burial shrouds

I was walking on eggshells
Spitting filth at the sun
Medusa's hair was everywhere at once
So it goes'

A soft, secretive fear,
Settles and stops up my ears
Against the crazed, smouldering cries
Of my brothers and sisters in tears
We're all mixed up
We've set our broken hearts in stone
We're all mixed up
We've made our haunted hovels home

I was walking on egg-shells
Spitting filth at the sun
Medusa's hair was everywhere at once
I hid behind a blindfold
Gulping brimstone and stunned

Medusa's hair was everywhere at once
So it goes'

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Mark Lenover's "Medusa's Hair" suggest that humans have learned to hide behind barriers that separate them from the rest of humanity. The first stanza portrays people as being wrapped up in self-inflicted clouds of ignorance, which blinds them to reality. The second stanza taps into the insecurity and fear that underlies this self-inflicted distance. The singer is walking on egg-shells, spitting filth at the sun, with Medusa’s hair everywhere. The reference to looking at the sun suggests an attempt to avoid reality and truths that hurt, while Medusa's hair could represent fear and confusion that prevent the individual from seeing clearly.

The chorus repeats that everyone is “all mixed up” and living their lives with “broken hearts,” creating a sense of hopelessness and despair. The final lines “So it goes" reinforce the theme of hopelessness by suggesting that the singer is resigned to their fate. They acknowledge that things are bleak and hopeless, and there is no changing it. The singer is engulfed in the chaos and entangled in the mess that is their existence.

Line by Line Meaning

We've all learned how to hide
We've become experts in concealing our true selves

Behind decadent tricks of the mind
By indulging in mental illusions and deceptions

We savour the distance we sow
We enjoy the separation we create between us and others

Between us and the rest of our kind
Which creates a divide between us and humanity

We're all mixed up
We're all confused and disoriented

Each in noxious, insulating clouds
Lost in toxic and isolating thoughts

Decked out in blinders and burial shrouds
Covered up in limitations and self-imposed barriers

I was walking on eggshells
I was being very careful and cautious in my actions

Spitting filth at the sun
Showing contempt for something pure and good

Medusa's hair was everywhere at once
A chaotic and dangerous situation surrounded me

So it goes'
This is just the way things are