They released two albums and 2 12" releases as Skin: Blood, Women, Roses and Shame, Humility, Revenge were the albums and Girl: come out and One Thousand Years were the 12"s. After changing the name to The World of Skin released an album entitled Ten Songs for Another World. Currently, most of the songs from the first two albums have been repackaged as a "best of" album with the remastered version of Swans' Children of God.
24 Hours
The World of Skin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Because you bought one third, you own everything.
Shut off the possibility, and wipe out the imagination.
Now the world stands still.
I'll take it with me to my grave.
Wrap your hands around my neck.
Now choke me slowly, but I won't die.
I know one thing, and one thing only: you are what you learn to need.
I'll take them with me to my grave.
The World of Skin's song "24 Hours" is a bleak examination of consumerist consumption and how it can lead to a feeling of emptiness and hollow isolation. The song opens with the line "24 hours, split three ways. Because you bought one third, you own everything," which sets the tone for the rest of the lyrics. The idea of time being split up and owned by individuals is a metaphor for how people can compartmentalize their lives and their possessions. The point being made is that we can become so focused on acquiring and owning things that we lose sight of what is truly important.
The next lines, "Shut off the possibility, and wipe out the imagination. Now the world stands still," suggest that when we become too focused on our possessions, we lose sight of what is possible in life. Our imaginations become stifled and the world around us seems to come to a halt. This lack of imagination can become suffocating and cause us to become trapped in a cycle of consumption and materialism.
The song's chorus, "I'll take it with me to my grave. Wrap your hands around my neck. Now choke me slowly, but I won't die," speaks to how possession can become all-consuming and exert a powerful hold over us. The imagery of someone choking and not dying suggests that just like possessions, this hold can be suffocating, but also difficult to let go of. The final lines, "I'll surround myself with things that look like me. I'll take them with me to my grave," reinforce the idea that one's identity can become wrapped up in their possessions and that this cycle can be difficult to break.
Line by Line Meaning
24 hours, split three ways.
Time is divided into three equal parts.
Because you bought one third, you own everything.
By owning just a fraction, you gain total control.
Shut off the possibility, and wipe out the imagination.
By limiting oneself, creativity and exploration are stifled.
Now the world stands still.
Without possibility and imagination, the world becomes static.
I'll take it with me to my grave.
The impact of one's actions will follow them even in death.
Wrap your hands around my neck.
Submission and vulnerability to another's control.
Now choke me slowly, but I won't die.
Though being controlled, there is still a sense of willpower.
I know one thing, and one thing only: you are what you learn to need.
Our identity is shaped by our desires and dependencies.
I'll surround myself with things that look like me.
We seek comfort in familiarity and self-resemblance.
I'll take them with me to my grave.
Our possessions and surroundings become a part of our legacy after death.
Contributed by Lucas V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@noobroblox1409
WHY IS JACK IN THE THUMBNAIL
@-RuElla-
Jack shouted you out ๐
@adflyofficial
Legend
@sanchit4721
W
@Jamie.
Big W
@PixelatedPerspective
Your In his video
@JustDanishXD
Congratulations, Jack, you are in a Guinness world record's thumnail, thats a record!
@AwesomeSniper
I reckon over time there will be a lot more comments like this.
@safwanftw1265
Lmao W guinness for adding him in
@kjw79
I love that Guinness played along!