The Legendary Pink Dots are a Netherlands-based band formed in August 1980 … Read Full Bio ↴The Legendary Pink Dots are a Netherlands-based band formed in August 1980 in the UK who, although distinctly underground, have been musically influential over the years. The band name was derived from pink dots of nail varnish on the piano in their squat, where founding members Edward and April lived. The band has as its focal point vocalist Edward Ka-Spel, who is, along with Phil "The Silverman" Knight, one of the original remaining members of the band. In the mid eighties the band resettled in the Netherlands, where they still reside today. Apart from Edward and Phil, the line-up has gone through many changes. Members such as Ryan Moore, a Canadian bass player, who joined in 1991 after the recordings of the Last Man to Fly with the Tear Garden (he joined as a session musician), went on to form their own labels and musical projects. See Twilight Circus and M Records. Their music is nothing if not original and it is difficult to categorise, but comparisons may be drawn with bands like Pink Floyd and Can.

Their sound has been described as an amalgamation of psychedelic rock, industrial, synth-pop and avant-garde. They have released over 40 records and continuously tour the world.

Members of the band have also collaborated with Nurse With Wound, The Dresden Dolls, Jarboe, HNAS, Jim O'Rourke, Skinny Puppy's cEvin Key, forming The Tear Garden. Ka Spel accompanied Skinny Puppy for a small part of their 1988 European 'Head Trauma' tour in Sweden. Key also appears on the 1994 album 9 Lives to Wonder.

Our Lady in Darkness
The Legendary Pink Dots Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Our lady in the abbatoir. She's hanging headless, charred. Baby on her
breast - there's nothing left, the milk turned to powder, Twist her, she's
an hour glass - but time has died. The blast was final. Captain's flat down
in the urinal fixing cos he's sick of shooting shadows.

Overall Meaning

The song "Our Lady in Darkness" by The Legendary Pink Dots is a haunting description of a horrific scene at an abbatoir. The lyrics describe a gruesome image of a headless and charred woman, with her baby still on her breast, whom the singer refers to as "Our lady." The baby is already dead, and there is nothing left but powdered milk. The imagery gets more distressing as the singer describes the woman's body twisted into an hourglass shape. However, time has died, and there is no escape from this eternal darkness.

The next lines are about the captain's flat, who is down in the urinal, possibly in a state of despair. He's not fixing anything, but he's sick of shooting shadows, which could indicate that he has lost his motivation and is struggling with a sense of futility. The lyrics evoke a sense of despair and darkness that seems boundless, and there appears to be no way out of it. The song's melody and rhythm come together to create an eerie soundscape that enhances the grim images presented by the lyrics.

Line by Line Meaning

Our lady in the abbatoir. She's hanging headless, charred.
A woman experienced an extremely brutal death and is now hanging without her head, burnt to a crisp.

Baby on her breast - there's nothing left, the milk turned to powder,
The woman was a mother with a baby, but due to her death, her milk has dried up and the baby is starving.

Twist her, she's an hour glass - but time has died.
The woman's body is now twisted like an hourglass, but time has stopped for her and she is deceased.

The blast was final.
The cause of the woman's death was most likely an explosion, and it was a final and fatal one.

Captain's flat down in the urinal fixing cos he's sick of shooting shadows.
The captain is currently in the bathroom trying to fix himself because he has grown tired of fighting imaginary enemies and is struggling with his own mental health.

Contributed by Isaac D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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