In this album, Julio is called Cerpin Taxt. The whole album is a fictional account of how Julio/Cerpin spent his last days in a coma. Most of the tracks contain dreamlike images, but in “Televators” we’re pulled back to reality, and the fictional narrative matches real life.
Venegas was a visual artist himself, and was a big influence on the imagery of the album.
Julio is the subject matter of other two songs: “Concertina”, from Mars Volta’s first EP and “Embroglio”, from At the Drive-in’s first album.
Televators
The Mars Volta Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They lowered a tow that
Stuck in his neck to the gills
Fragments of sobiquets
Riddle me this
Three half-eaten corneas
Who hit the aureole
Stalk the ground
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stained walks crutch in hobbled sway
Auto-da-fe
A capillary hint of red
Only this manupod
Crescent in shape has escaped
The house half the way
Fell empty with teeth
That split both his lips mark these words
One day this chalk outline will circle this city
Was he robbed of the asphalt
That cushioned his face?
A room-colored charlatan
Hid in a safe
Stalk the ground
Stalk the ground
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stain walks crutch in hobbled sway
Auto-da-fe
A capillary hint of red
Only this manupod
Crescent in shape has escaped
Pull the pins (pull the pins)
Save your grace (save your grace)
Mark these words (mark these words)
On his grave (on his grave)
Pull the pins (pull the pins)
Save your grace (save your grace)
Mark these words (mark these words)
On his grave (on his grave)
Pull the pins (pull the pins)
Save your grace (save your grace)
Mark these words (mark these words)
On his grave (on his grave)
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stain walks crutch in hobbled sway
Auto-da-fe
A capillary hint of red
Everyone knows the last toes are
Always the coldest to go
The lyrics to The Mars Volta's song Televators are complex and open to interpretation. The song appears to be about the fragility of life and the inevitability of death. The first verse describes a man who falls to the ground and is impaled by a metal tow that sticks in his neck. The line "fragments of sobiquets, riddle me this" is a reference to the victim's broken and shattered identity. The line "flinch stitching aureole stalk the ground" suggests that the victim's soul or aura is trying to escape his body.
The second verse shifts perspective to a bystander who witnesses the man's death. The "curse" that flies by the bystander could be a metaphor for death or a reminder of the fragility of life. The "page of concrete, stained walks, crutch in hobbled sway" could be a description of the city or the structure of society. The "autodafe, a capillary hint of red" is a reference to a public burning or execution.
The chorus repeats the second half of the second verse, emphasizing the idea of the curse that flies by the listener. The third verse shifts again, describing a half-empty house with split-lipped teeth. The line "one day this chalk outline will circle this city" suggests that death is an inherent part of life and will come for us all eventually. The final lines "pull the pins, save your grace, mark these words on his grave" suggest that life is fragile and should be lived to the fullest.
Line by Line Meaning
Just as he hit
Right as he fell to the ground
The ground
The surface on which he landed
They lowered a tow that
A device was lowered down to him
Stuck in his neck to the gills
The device impaled him in the neck
Fragments of sobiquets
Small pieces of objects or memories
Riddle me this
Challenge me with a question or puzzle
Flinch stitching
Reacting with a twitch while sewing
Aureole
A circle of light surrounding a figure
Stalk the ground
Move stealthily along the surface
You should have seen
You would have been amazed
The curse that flew right by you
The malicious thing that passed near you
Page of concrete
The flat surface of the sidewalk
Stained walks crutch in hobbled sway
The walker with a limp and cane dragged his feet
Autodafe
The burning of heretics in public
A capulary hint of red
A slight trickle of blood
Only this manupod
The only pod-shaped machine
Crescent in shape has escaped
It formed a crescent and got away
The house half the way
The building halfway down the street
Fell empty with teeth
Collapsed without any inhabitants
That split both his lips
Resulted in his lips being separated
Mark these words
Remember what I'm saying
One day this chalk outline will circle this city
One day a crime scene outline will be around this area
Was he robbed of the asphalt that cushioned his face
Did he lose the pavement that protected him
A room colored charlatan
A deceptive con artist that blends in
Hid in a safe
Protected and concealed itself
Pull the pins
Remove the safety pins
Save your grace
Preserve your dignity
On his grave
Written on his burial site
Everyone knows the last toes are
It's common knowledge that the toes furthest away
Always the coldest to go
Are the first to experience the extremities of coldness
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION
Written by: Cedric Bixler, Omar Rodriguez
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@iZurdoh
Just as he hit the ground
They lowered a tow that
Stuck in his neck to the gills,
Fragments of sobriquets,
Riddle me this:
Three half-eaten corneas
Who hit the aureole,
Stalk the ground
Stalk the ground...
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you,
Page of concrete
Stained walks crutch in hobbled sway
Auto-da-fe
A capillary hint of red,
Only this manupod
Crescent in shape has escaped.
The house half the way
Fell empty with teeth
That split both his lips
Mark these words,
One day this chalk outline will circle this city
Was he robbed from the asphalt
That cushioned his face?
A room colored charlatan
Hid in a safe..
Stalk the ground
Stalk the ground
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you........
Pull the pins
Save your grace
Mark these words
On his grave
(3x)
You should have seen.........
@em-ks3lf
Just as he hit
The ground
They lowered a tow that
Stuck in his neck to the gills
Fragments of sobiquets
Riddle me this
Three half eaten corneas
Who hit the area
Stalk the ground
Stalk the ground
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stained walks crutch in hobbled sway
Autodafe
A capulary hint of red
Only this manupod
Crescent in shape has escaped
The house half the way
Fell empty with teeth
That split both his lips
Mark these words
One day this chalk outline will circle this city
Was he robbed of the asphalt that cushioned his face
A room colored charlatan
Hid in a safe
Stalk the ground
Stalk the ground
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stain walks crutch in hobbled sway
Autodafe
A capulary hint of red
Only this manupod
Crescent in shape
Has escaped
Pull the pins
Save your grace
Mark these words
On his grave
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stain walks crutch in hobbled sway
Autodafe
A capulary hint of red
Everyone knows the last toes are
Always the coldest to go
@victoriaperez749
Just as he hit
The ground
They lowered a tow that
Stuck in his neck to the gills
Fragments of sobiquets
Riddle me this
Three half eaten corneas
Who hit the area
Stalk the ground
Stalk the ground
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stained walks crutch in hobbled sway
Autodafe
A capulary hint of red
Only this manupod
Crescent in shape has escaped
The house half the way
Fell empty with teeth
That split both his lips
Mark these words
One day this chalk outline will circle this city
Was he robbed of the asphalt that cushioned his face
A room colored charlatan
Hid in a safe
Stalk the ground
Stalk the ground
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stain walks crutch in hobbled sway
Autodafe
A capulary hint of red
Only this manupod
Crescent in shape
Has escaped
Pull the pins
Save your grace
Mark these words
On his grave
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stain walks crutch in hobbled sway
Autodafe
A capulary hint of red
Everyone knows the last toes are
Always the coldest to go
@DovahSheep
"One day this chalk outline will circle this city
Was he robbed of the asphalt that cushioned his face?"
Probably my favorite lyrics of any song I've ever heard. The amount of passion he sings them with makes me feel his pain at the loss of his dear friend.
@marchfucker1
One of my good friends passed away yesterday. Our favorite band was The Mars Volta. This was one of our favorite songs. Shit hurts. Thank you The Mars Volta for giving me a memory that'll never fade.
@nicholasreynolds5916
It's a wonderful song and I hope you have wonderful memories to match.
@MissMichSan
my condolences
@DarkMoonDroid
<3
@erikmiles3713
I know loss all too well. So sorry.
@hughlarious956
pull the plug
save your breath
if that isn't his epitaph you have done wrong.
@ronsampaio
I always use this song for processing repressed emotions regarding any hard situation I'm facing. It's so powerful.
@historyoflol5611
I always loved how I could fall asleep to the Mars Volta while also getting an intellectual hit from how deep their concepts are. It takes years to associate the songs with their titles.
@HeyChicagoWhattaSay
I used to get like lizard brain drunk. All I could do is sit sometimes and breathe and listen I was that drunk. I used to always get that way with TMV