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.

This Could Be The End
The Legendary Pink Dots Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

It's over. Complete. And the trapdoor collapsed. And your hair's pretty
neat through your neck snapped in half. And the man in the mask takes a hit
from a flask and he laughs. Yes he laughs ! (Though his face never
changes...)
YOUR PAIN IS FOR YOU ALONE, AS IT IS, AS IT WAS, AS IT WILL BE. FOREVER.
AMEN.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of The Legendary Pink Dots's song This Could Be The End are heavy with metaphorical language that speaks of death and the finality that comes with it. The line "It's over. Complete. And the trapdoor collapsed" is indicative of the finality of the situation, as if the trapdoor collapsing represents the end of life. The image of the hair being "pretty neat" while the "neck snapped in half" creates a jarring contrast between the appearance of the body and the brutality of the situation.

The lines "And the man in the mask takes a hit/from a flask and he laughs. Yes he laughs! (Though his face never changes...)" adds an eerie quality to the song, with the man in the mask either representing death himself, or perhaps someone who is indifferent to the act of death. The final lines "YOUR PAIN IS FOR YOU ALONE, AS IT IS, AS IT WAS, AS IT WILL BE. FOREVER. AMEN." seems to be the singer's way of acknowledging the inevitability of death and the individual nature of pain.

Overall, the song reflects on the finality of death and the idea that it is something that one must face alone.

Line by Line Meaning

It's over. Complete. And the trapdoor collapsed.
Everything has concluded, it is final, and there is no way back.

And your hair's pretty neat through your neck snapped in half.
Despite your gruesome and fatal injury, your physical appearance has remained largely untouched.

And the man in the mask takes a hit from a flask and he laughs. Yes he laughs ! (Though his face never changes...)
Even in the face of death, this unknown figure remains amused and unshaken by the tragedy that has occurred.

YOUR PAIN IS FOR YOU ALONE, AS IT IS, AS IT WAS, AS IT WILL BE. FOREVER. AMEN.
The pain you are feeling is uniquely yours and will remain so for all eternity. It is a permanent and inescapable part of your existence, for which there can be no relief or redemption.

Contributed by Christopher T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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