The Party
Sons of Perdition Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

I swear it was the Wendigo
That drove me to the axe
But I confess that no hand further
Made me chop and cut and hack

Deep inside my curdled mind
A murky abyss yawned
And at my feet, in endless sleep
My family waited for the dawn

Children, mothers, beasts of burden
Not one life was spared
Gazing on the piles and pyres
I rendered clothes and tore my hair

Deep inside my troubled mind
That gaping hole was filled
With blood and moans and fingerbones
Of all my party I had killed

On ground and clothes and hard packed snow
Just how much blood I cannot tell




What Neptune's oceans could not cleanse
Did grease my footing down to hell

Overall Meaning

The song "The Party" by Sons of Perdition is a haunting story of a man who confesses to having killed his entire family and their guests. He blames the monster known as the Wendigo for driving him to do it, but acknowledges that he alone committed the violent acts. In the first verse, the singer claims it was the Wendigo that made him pick up an axe, but admits that no one else made him "chop and cut and hack." He clearly feels a deep sense of guilt and responsibility for his actions.


The second verse is even more disturbing, as he describes the aftermath of the massacre. He has killed "children, mothers, beasts of burden" and left them "piled in pyres" while he "rendered clothes and tore [his] hair" in anguish. He also reveals that he has "deep inside [his] troubled mind" a "gaping hole" that has been "filled with blood and moans and fingerbones." This is a clear indication of the trauma and guilt he is experiencing after the horrific event.


The final verse takes a surreal turn as he describes the physical evidence of the slaughter, stating that "just how much blood I cannot tell" and that it has left him "greased [his] footing down to hell." The singer's reference to "Neptune's oceans" suggests that the amount of blood is beyond what could conceivably be washed away by a regular human's actions. The final image of him being pulled down to hell leaves the listener wondering if there may be supernatural forces at work beyond the obvious psychological trauma.




Line by Line Meaning

I swear it was the Wendigo
I blame the evil nature spirit, Wendigo, for my actions


That drove me to the axe
It caused me to pick up an axe and potentially harm others


But I confess that no hand further
But I admit that no one else pushed me to commit these acts


Made me chop and cut and hack
Except for my own inner demons that led me to harm my loved ones


Deep inside my curdled mind
In my disturbed inner thoughts


A murky abyss yawned
An obscure, dark area in my mind opened up


And at my feet, in endless sleep
My family lay motionless on the ground


My family waited for the dawn
My loved ones waited for the arrival of morning that they would never see


Children, mothers, beasts of burden
Innocent people, mothers and even animals, were not spared in my violence


Not one life was spared
Everyone I knew was a victim of my brutality


Gazing on the piles and pyres
Looking at the bodies and fires


I rendered clothes and tore my hair
I was full of sorrow and regret for my actions


Deep inside my troubled mind
In my disturbed inner thoughts


That gaping hole was filled
My emptiness was filled


With blood and moans and fingerbones
With the sounds and images of death and destruction


Of all my party I had killed
I had killed all those that had accompanied me


On ground and clothes and hard packed snow
On the earth, clothing and hardened snow


Just how much blood I cannot tell
I do not know how much blood was shed


What Neptune's oceans could not cleanse
Even the god of the oceans could not wash away the blood and horror of my deeds


Did grease my footing down to hell
My actions led me to a spiral of despair and certain doom




Contributed by Cameron W. 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:

catfishking1996

Frickin wendigos i hate em

embrassemoi04

Sounds like Nick Cave, Johnny Cash, and The Black Heart Procession played together at a Jim Jones Sermon.

tehsplunker

"The wendigo ... is a creature appearing in the legends of the Algonquian people. It is thought of variously as a malevolent cannibalistic spirit that could possess humans or a monster that humans could physically transform into." ...yeah, I had to wikipedia it.

Shmuel P

tehsplunker, thank you for sparing me from Wikipedia.

omegaburn

inspiration. I can taste it

Sergio

Anyone knows the tabs?

Mrgone454

Ah, The Donner Party.

More Versions