Effigy
Numb Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

You - look at me yes, I hold you tight
How much do you love me, will you die for me to night

Tonight I burn, tonight you die
Tonight my sins go with you in loneliness, and spite

Climb a burning ladder precious naive rung
Cling to me as I to you the truth is done

This amputation, my ghost, my soul, my light
You have no reflection, your'e my suicide





Tonight I burn, tonight you die
Tonight my sins go with you in loneliness, and spite

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Numb's song Effigy paint a dark picture of a relationship that is in its twilight. The song starts with a rhetorical question that the singer asks his lover - how much do you love me, will you die for me tonight? These questions are followed by a declaration of sorts - tonight I burn, tonight you die. It is evident that the singer is contemplating harming himself and his lover. He goes on to speak of his sins and how they will go with his lover in loneliness and spite.


The next stanza speaks of a burning ladder and the singer asks his lover to climb it with him. Despite the truth being done, he wants his lover to cling to him as he does to her. The metaphor of amputation is used to portray the singer's feelings of being incomplete and he sees his lover as his ghost, soul, and light. He tells her that she has no reflection and that she is his suicide.


The lyrics of Effigy evoke powerful emotions of love, despair, and death. The singer is clearly in a disturbed state of mind and the lyrics capture the complexity of his feelings. The depiction of the relationship as a ladder that both the singer and his lover are climbing is a poignant metaphor for the struggles that they face. The lyrics also allude to a sense of loneliness and desperation that the singer is feeling.


Line by Line Meaning

You - look at me yes, I hold you tight
Addressing the listener, expressing physical closeness and a desire for emotional connection.


How much do you love me, will you die for me tonight
Asking for an extreme demonstration of love, suggesting a potential willingness to harm oneself or the listener.


Tonight I burn, tonight you die
Foretelling the deaths of both the singer and listener, likely through a destructive act.


Tonight my sins go with you in loneliness, and spite
The artist's misdeeds will be taken with the listener in death, accompanied by negative feelings of isolation and anger.


Climb a burning ladder precious naive rung
Metaphorically urging the listener to come closer to death, using the imagery of climbing a fiery ladder and labeling them innocent.


Cling to me as I to you the truth is done
Asserting the mutual collaboration in ending their lives, and perhaps finding peace in that shared honesty.


This amputation, my ghost, my soul, my light
Describing the fatal act as a form of separation or removal, and associating the singer's identity with ghostly, spiritual ideas.


You have no reflection, your'e my suicide
Implying the listener lacks self-awareness or a sense of self, and framing their death as a way for the artist to die as well.




Contributed by Cooper R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Song not found
Comments from YouTube:

MagnitudePerson

Really good.

nde

Respect.

EWIGE FINSTERNIS