Belgium may not be known for producing great rock and roll bands, but don’t tell that to 22-year-old Jan Paternoster nor his 20-year-old sidekick Dries Van Dijck, who have been playing together for a decade, already releasing two albums, 2007’s Set Your Head on Fire and 2010’s Silver Threats (recorded in London’s legendary Konk Studios) that established the duo as a serious force to be reckoned with. A cross between R&B-inflected garage-band rock that takes its cues from mid-’60s Stones and The Kinks to the most gut-bucket, electric delta blues evocative of Led Zeppelin by way of The White Stripes, The Black Keys and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Black Box Revelation is just that… a musical revelation that can’t be boxed into a single category.
Coming to America to record their stateside debut, My Perception, with producer Alain Johannes [Queens of the Stone Age, Chris Cornell, Them Crooked Vultures] in his L.A. home studio, Jan and Dries felt right at home in the country where so much of the music that inspired them had been made. The result is their most accomplished album to date, with sound and noise now coalescing into real songs like the title track and “Rattle My Heart,” which might have come straight from Out of Our Heads; the spooky acoustic strains of the Beatles-meets-Kinks British Invasion vibe of “Bitter,” the haunting, stark acoustic “New Sun,” the thick ambience of “2 Young Boys,” the percussive beat of “Shadowman” and the psychedelic blues of “White Unicorns.”
While building up a fan base in Europe by touring with Eagles of Death Metal as well as their own headlining shows in France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Holland and Scandanavia, the band has played scattered shows in the States, including two years at SXSW, as well as shows in L.A., New York, Boston, San Diego and San Francisco. Seeing them live, before a packed, sweaty audience of their crowd-surfing, head-banging fans, is yet another revelation…this one how two guys can create a sound that fills the room-and more.
With My Perception their first official U.S. album, Black Box Revelation will be making their assault on America very soon playing every garage, arena, and stadium!
Madhouse
The Black Box Revelation Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To the madhouse
My thoughts will fade away
In the madhouse
Switch my brain off
Washing it all with
Cold water
Less food every day
At the madhouse
The joy pills served to me are
Long gone
Eat my own flesh
Beating myself with my bones
Who made me a skeleton?
Who caused my death?
Pleasing teasing
Holding my own breath
Snakes are leading my way
To the graveyard
My bones will fade away
At the graveyard
Nothing left
Of my dance with death
Who made me a skeleton?
Who caused my death?
Pleasing teasing
Holding my own breath
Who made me a skeleton?
Who caused my death?
Cheering sneering
Dancing with myself
In The Black Box Revelation's song "Madhouse," the lyrics describe a journey towards insanity and death. The metaphorical "snakes" in the first and last stanza represent temptation and the lure of madness, leading the singer towards the "madhouse" and eventually to the "graveyard." The line "switch my brain off, washing it all with cold water" suggests a desire to numb oneself from reality, to escape the pain of existence. The singer feels trapped and hopeless, as their thoughts fade away and their body weakens from lack of sustenance.
The chorus repeats the question "who made me a skeleton? who caused my death?" emphasizing the theme of mortality and the inevitability of death. The lines "pleasing teasing, holding my own breath" and "cheering sneering, dancing with myself" suggest a nihilistic attitude towards life and death - the singer finds pleasure in self-destructive behavior, mocking death in a twisted dance. Overall, the lyrics paint a bleak picture of mental illness and despair, and leave the listener with a haunting sense of finality.
Line by Line Meaning
Snakes are leading my way
I feel like I'm being guided by bad influences
To the madhouse
Leading me towards negative and chaotic situations
My thoughts will fade away
My mind will lose its clarity
In the madhouse
Due to the negative and chaotic atmosphere that surrounds me
Switch my brain off
I want to shut off all thinking
Washing it all with
Trying to cleanse myself of the negativity I feel
Cold water
The cleansing process is sudden and harsh
Less food every day
I'm getting weaker each day
At the madhouse
The negative environment is causing me to deteriorate physically
The joy pills served to me are
The things that once brought me happiness
Long gone
Are no longer present in my life
Eat my own flesh
I'm experiencing self-destruction
Beating myself with my bones
I'm causing myself further pain and discomfort
Who made me a skeleton?
I feel like I've become a shell of myself
Who caused my death?
I'm wondering who is responsible for my current state of being
Pleasing teasing
I'm being toyed with and manipulated
Holding my own breath
I'm suffering and struggling
Snakes are leading my way
I feel like I'm being guided by bad influences
To the graveyard
Leading me towards death
My bones will fade away
I will be gone and forgotten
At the graveyard
The end of my journey
Nothing left
I'm completely depleted
Of my dance with death
Of the struggles and battles that ultimately led to my demise
Who made me a skeleton?
I feel like I've become a shell of myself
Who caused my death?
I'm wondering who is responsible for my current state of being
Cheering sneering
Others are mocking and enjoying my failure
Dancing with myself
I'm alone and isolated in my struggles
Contributed by Brooklyn V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
MuadDib
californication got me here as well. love this tune. just put it on repeat. can't wait to check out the rest of the band's catalogue.
Kit Elektrik
@MamoDad Big respect. Getting it onto that show is like another +10 points on the rock 'n roll scale.
Muriel Schreiber
Au reflektor...puissantJ'en ai pris plein les oreilles et c'était trop bon!
Bob Balm
Californication. That show's got so many good soundtracks it's insane.
Didier Delages
l'album que Les Stooges auraient dû enregistrer en 2013
HauntFreak13
Brought here by The Lizzie Borden Chronicles <3
helzangel696
Californication! Such good music.
Mamo
As heard on Californication.
tom vissenkom
treu that's where I found most of my music
NK7788
Sounds very "Iggy-esque"