Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_the_Well_(band)
Studio albums
The Opposite of December... A Season of Separation (1999)
Tear From the Red (2001)
You Come Before You (2003)
Versions (2007)
The Tropic Rot (2009)
Nagaina
Poison the Well Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
this big horrible mess.
I'm covered in mud and bile,
inching towards the ground,
arms outstretched,
releasing my confession:
I am a snake,
De-scale me,
leave me naked on the cutting board floor.
I have a big secret out of a shroud prison,
this big horrible mess.
Hung to try in motherland sun tinted humidity,
releasing my confession:
I am a snake,
I let my children, let my children go to fend for themselves.
(We are the swamps)
Our lives are swamps,
We are the swamp.
Can you take it?
Can't you just get rid of it all?
I am a snake,
I let my children, let them go.
The lyrics of Poison the Well's song Nagaina paint a vivid picture of self-confession, of one admitting to having made a terrible mistake. The opening lines suggest the singer has been confined, either physically or mentally, in a shroud prison. They then reveal the mess they find themselves in: covered in mud and bile, inching towards the ground, with arms outstretched in a gesture of surrender. In all of this chaos, the singer is finally compelled to reveal their secret: that they are a snake who let their children go to fend for themselves. The imagery of descaling and being naked on a cutting board floor is brought in to suggest a sense of vulnerability and exposure, as though the singer has been caught and is now at the mercy of others.
In the second verse, the same confession is repeated, but this time the singer is in a different setting - one that's more dramatic and charged with emotion. Here, they are hung to try in motherland sun-tinted humidity, with the implication being that there will be consequences to pay for the mistake they have made. The final section of the song has a powerful repetition of the phrase "we are the swamps," which seems to speak to the idea that we are all a part of the mess we create, that we cannot escape our own faults and errors without tackling them head-on. This repetition is then layered with the singer's personal confession: that they are a snake who let their children go, an image that encapsulates guilt and regret.
Line by Line Meaning
I have a big secret out of a shroud prison,
I am keeping a significant secret, trapped within myself and concealed from others.
this big horrible mess.
The secret is something that is unpleasant or distressing.
I'm covered in mud and bile,
The secret has caused me to feel dirty and sickened.
inching towards the ground,
Despite my reluctance, I feel compelled to reveal the secret.
arms outstretched,
I am figuratively reaching out to others with this confession.
releasing my confession:
I am finally admitting to the secret and sharing it with others.
I am a snake,
The singer is describing themselves as treacherous or untrustworthy.
I let my children, let my children go to fend for themselves.
The artist has failed to protect those in their care and has abandoned them.
De-scale me,
The artist is requesting to be stripped of their defenses or protection.
leave me naked on the cutting board floor.
The artist wants to be vulnerable and exposed to the truth.
Hung to try in motherland sun tinted humidity,
The singer is feeling punished and exposed to the harsh reality of their situation.
(We are the swamps)
The artist is associating themselves with the undesirable qualities of a swamp.
Our lives are swamps,
The singer sees their existence as something murky and unpleasant.
We are the swamp.
The singer is fully immersed in this unpleasant reality.
Can you take it?
The singer is challenging the listener to accept their unsavory truth.
Can't you just get rid of it all?
The artist is hopeful that someone can remove them from their uncomfortable situation.
I let my children, let them go.
The artist is once again admitting to their parental failure and abandonment.
Contributed by Anna Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Mickey Thomas
-Letter Thing 0:00
-Breathing’s for the Birds 2:29
-Nagaina 6:11
-The Notches That Create Your Headboard 10:20
-Pleading Post 12:48
-Slow Good Morning 16:23
-Prematurito el Baby 21:28
-Composer Meet Corpse 24:23
-You Will Not Be Welcomed 26:54
-Naive Monarch 31:41
-Riverside 34:04
-The First Day of My Second Life 37:07
Mickey Thomas
-Letter Thing 0:00
-Breathing’s for the Birds 2:29
-Nagaina 6:11
-The Notches That Create Your Headboard 10:20
-Pleading Post 12:48
-Slow Good Morning 16:23
-Prematurito el Baby 21:28
-Composer Meet Corpse 24:23
-You Will Not Be Welcomed 26:54
-Naive Monarch 31:41
-Riverside 34:04
-The First Day of My Second Life 37:07
Josh Hawkins
My God....I first heard this album maybe 15 years ago when it came out....still not sick of it, still as epic as day one. PTW for life!!!
Aubrey Pyrat
I've been looking for Nagaina for some days. Couldn't find a version I could listen to.
This is such a great album.
Tabatha Conrad
I bought this album twice
One broke
One got stolen
This day is the perfect disaster of a day to listen to this frustrated master piece
striderwins
hell yes this is good music
paradosso Spazio Temporale
I love this album. My unpopolar opinion: their best since OOD🙃
Smeagle
It’s definitely up there…
andrew27
This is their best album by a mile, I love it
Mark Sheppard
@Mickey Thomas I agree with all of that.
666
It's such a different style. I will always love You Come Before You, but this album is definitely my favorite. It took about 3 plays before I fell in love with the whole thing. But I also love The Tropic Rot, and all of its unique sounds. I read a decade or more ago that the style in Versions was like "spaghetti western", though I'm sure they only meant some of the guitars.