School Yard Rumours
To Kill a King Lyrics

To Kill a King's song "School Yard Rumours" is a haunting meditation on the damage that can be done by malicious rumors and gossip. The first verse sets the tone, as the singer calls for letting the past stay in the past and moving on. The imagery of wise men stooping and shuddering suggests a loss of dignity, perhaps due to false accusations or the weight of public opinion. The line "And you don't go to church anymore" speaks to a loss of faith, either in a religious sense or in the sense of losing trust in the institutions that are supposed to give us hope and guidance.

The second verse reinforces the theme of unfounded rumors and the damage they can cause. The lack of witnesses implies that the accusations are baseless, yet they still manage to inflict harm. The line "And there is no smoke without fire" is a common refrain used to validate rumors, despite the fact that it's often untrue. The singer then moves on to the theme of paranoia, suggesting that people arm themselves out of fear and mistrust. The witches hunt being an insatiable cunt line and designed to drag men down whole could be considered a reference to Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, which explored the hysteria surrounding the Salem Witch Trials.

Overall, "School Yard Rumours" is a powerful admonishment of the power of gossip and the harm it can cause. The song suggests that to move forward, we need to let go of the past and arm ourselves against the false accusations of others in order to protect ourselves and those we love.