Darkness prevailed everywhere. Beside her igloo, a woman sat in the wind singing softly to herself while beating the snow from her husband's seal fur clothing. Her voice and mind drifted with the soft tones of the nearby kooa player. Her song was about her work, but her unfocused eyes revealed a growing distance. The darkness seemed to confine her, and the singing voice seemed not to be her own.
The realization struck! "I am dead, or at least the others believe I am",she thought. Already she hears the pounding of the tribe's hands packing down the snow on her icy grave as they sing their song of farewell. The rhythm of death sounds in her ears.
She feels cold no more as her worst fears are realized. She has been sent to the "Land of the Crestfallen", where only the spirits of poor hunters and badly tattooed women spent eternity snapping at butterflies. But wait! Even worse! Instead of butterflies, the dreaded Arctic locust swarmed into the evening air devouring all in their path.
The men in the tribe had become aware of the woman's hysterical suffering and joined in a circle to sing a chant of releasement. "Chukaroq, chukaroq, chukaroq, ei", they sang, until finally the woman once again returned to beating the snow mindlessly from her husbands clothing, virtually unaware of what had happened as her song of work faded into the wind.
WOMEN CANNOT GO OUT IN MOONLIGHT. ESKIMOS BELIEVE THE MOON IS MALE AND WILL IMPREGNATE WOMEN.
SOME NEWBORN INFANTS ARE KILLED SECRETLY, DRIED OUT, AND PLACED IN A BAG WHICH IS WORN BY A PERSON OR STUFFED INTO A KAYAK NOSE. THIS IS SAID TO IMPROVE HUNTING.
A MENSTRUATING WOMAN IS NOT ALLOWED TO GO OUTSIDE WITHOUT FIRST BATHING IN THE URINE OF A CHILE.
Arctic Hysteria
The Residents Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Darkness prevailed everywhere. Beside her igloo, a woman sat in the windsinging softly to herself while beating the snow from her husband's seal fur clothing. Her voice and mind drifted with the soft tones of the nearby kooa player. Her song was about her work, but her unfocused eyes revealed a growing distance. The darkness seemed to confine her, and the singing voice seemed not to be her own.
The realization struck! "I am dead, or at least the others believe I am",she thought. Already she hears the pounding of the tribe's hands packing down the snow on her icy grave as they sing their song of farewell. The rhythm of death sounds in her ears.
She feels cold no more as her worst fears are realized. She has been sentto the "Land of the Crestfallen", where only the spirits of poor hunters and badly tatooed women spent eternity snapping at butterflies. But wait! Even worse! Instead of butterflies, the dreaded Arctic locust swarmed into the evening air devouring all in their path.
The men in the tribe had become aware of the woman's hysterical sufferingand joined in a circle to sing a chant of releasement. "Chukaroq, chukaroq, chukaroq, ei", they sang, until finally the woman once again returned to beating the snow mindlessly from her husbands clothing, virtually unaware of what had happened as her song of work faded into the wind.
WOMEN CANNOT GO OUT IN MOONLIGHT. ESKIMOS BELIEVE THE MOON ISMALE AND WILL IMPREGNATE WOMEN.
SOME NEWBORN INFANTS ARE KILLED SECRETLY, DRIED OUT, AND PLACEDIN A BAG WHICH IS WORN BY A PERSON OR STUFFED INTO A KAYAK NOSE. THIS IS SAID TO IMPROVE HUNTING.
The Residents' song "Arctic Hysteria" tells the story of a woman in an Eskimo tribe who experiences a temporary loss of reality due to the extreme darkness and sensory deprivation of the winter months, leading to Arctic hysteria. The woman is sitting outside her igloo, singing softly to herself while beating the snow from her husband's clothing. However, her voice and mind begin to drift, and she starts to feel like she is dead or that the others in her tribe believe she is dead. She hears the pounding of the tribe's hands packing down the snow on her icy grave, and she feels the cold no more as her worst fears are realized. She has been sent to the "Land of the Crestfallen," where only the spirits of poor hunters and badly tattooed women spend eternity snapping at butterflies. However, she's even more terrified when she realizes that instead of butterflies, the dreaded Arctic locusts are swarming into the evening air, devouring all in their path.
The men in the tribe become aware of the woman's hysterical suffering and join in a circle to sing a chant of releasement to help her return to reality. The song ends with the woman beating the snow mindlessly from her husband's clothing, virtually unaware of what has happened as her song of work fades into the wind. The song's lyrics are dark and haunting, painting a picture of the extreme conditions and beliefs of an Eskimo tribe in the dead of winter, where women are not allowed out in moonlight and some newborn infants are killed secretly for the improvement of hunting.
Line by Line Meaning
Arctic hysteria is a phenomenon that occurs in the dead of winter, primarily to women. The weeks of darkness and general sensory deprivation lead to the eventual temporary loss of a firm touch with reality.
During the winter months, women are susceptible to Arctic hysteria due to constant darkness and lack of stimulation, which ultimately leads to a temporary disconnection from reality.
Darkness prevailed everywhere. Beside her igloo, a woman sat in the wind singing softly to herself while beating the snow from her husband's seal fur clothing.
The woman sat outside her igloo in complete darkness, singing to herself and brushing the snow off her husband's clothing.
Her voice and mind drifted with the soft tones of the nearby kooa player. Her song was about her work, but her unfocused eyes revealed a growing distance. The darkness seemed to confine her, and the singing voice seemed not to be her own.
The woman's mind wandered as she listened to the nearby music. Though she sang about her work, her distant eyes revealed a feeling of confinement, and her singing voice felt disconnected from herself.
The realization struck! "I am dead, or at least the others believe I am",she thought. Already she hears the pounding of the tribe's hands packing down the snow on her icy grave as they sing their song of farewell. The rhythm of death sounds in her ears.
The woman suddenly feels as though she is dead or considered as such by others. She hears the tribe preparing her grave and singing their goodbyes and feels a sense of impending doom.
She feels cold no more as her worst fears are realized. She has been sent to the "Land of the Crestfallen", where only the spirits of poor hunters and badly tattooed women spent eternity snapping at butterflies. But wait! Even worse! Instead of butterflies, the dreaded Arctic locust swarmed into the evening air devouring all in their path.
The woman's fears come to fruition as she believes she has been sent to a dreaded place where poor hunters and women with bad tattoos spend eternity chasing butterflies. However, the reality is even worse, as the place is plagued with Arctic locusts that devour everything in their path.
The men in the tribe had become aware of the woman's hysterical suffering and joined in a circle to sing a chant of releasement. "Chukaroq, chukaroq, chukaroq, ei", they sang, until finally the woman once again returned to beating the snow mindlessly from her husband's clothing, virtually unaware of what had happened as her song of work faded into the wind.
The men of the tribe noticed the woman's distress and helped her by chanting a song to release her from her frenzy. As she calms down, she returns to her work and becomes unaware of what happened, as her song fades in the wind.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HARDY WINFRED FOX, HOMER FLYNN, HOMER III FLYNN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
David Lea
This is lumped under Post Punk. Bollox!!!!!
товарищдодо привет
Thank You MrWzzzW !