Genius | Song Lyrics & Knowledge

Made to make me shine as a testament
To why the ways of the blind will never get
Shit but shanked by my disrespect Death Grips – Beware

Genius Annotation 3 Contributors ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

The protagonist is the very physical manifestation of the proof that the “ways of the blinds” (the lives of those who don’t dear question the world, or God), will never ever get anything but his disrespect, anger and violence.

The act of embracing the unrest makes the protagonist “shine as a testament” to what is required to view the world as he does. “The ways of the blind” refers to the act of living life without the protagonist’s world view, and those who follow that path are blind because they do not see the world as he does. The protagonist disrespects them because they ignore the truth out of weakness, since the path is too difficult. His disrespect “shanks” them because it is sharp, in that it is antithetical to their world view.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

2 years

I think this is a lamentation of the self-centered path he’s chosen. He shines as a testament to why this is the wrong way to live. Other people who start to walk this path are blind are Ride has no respect for them.

Upvote +0 Downvote

541

4 years

In response to JonathanDoetry. Ride is saying that those who refuse or are incapable of seeing the world for what it is will get nothing but his disrespect.

Upvote +2 Downvote

Marked this as a stretch ?

5 years

I close my eyes and sieze it.

Upvote -2 Downvote

Marked this as missing something ?

7 years

Yeah, these lyrics are a bit obvious, but that last line still confuses the hell out of me, and is the only part of this song that still doesn’t make much sense. I see no one else has a better answer for “Shit but shanked by my disrespect”. This might as well do.

Upvote -2 Downvote

Show all improvement suggestions

Fingertips in the fountain fondle liquid gold
Ice on the horizon, the skyline folding in
Nothing is beginning, edges falling off of themselves Preoccupations – Continental Shelf

Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Water really is liquid gold.

The chorus seems almost hallucinatory, in comparison to the extremely tense verses. The fact that its so hallucinatory fits somewhat with the first verse, which spoke in part about drug use.

The narrator seems to focus on the world around him, admiring its beauty, stillness and its easyness of being as he lets his altered conciousness calm him and take hold, aproximating the abyss.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

Undesirable circumstances, I can't feel, no, I can't feel Preoccupations – Continental Shelf

Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

He’s in a bad place.

It seems as though he has driven himself to this situation, so he forces himself not to feel, or tells himself that he can’t feel in order to face the reality in which he is.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

Don't want to face the world, it's suffocating, suffocating Preoccupations – Continental Shelf

Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

He’s fearful and overwhelmed. This could be because of how threatening the world feels to him, and how powerless he feels to do anything about it.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

Marked this as restating the line ?

5 years

Upvote +0 Downvote

Show all improvement suggestions

When all is said and done, you'll be around until you're gone Preoccupations – Continental Shelf

Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

No matter what you do, you’ll always be here ‘til you die. This line fits with the theme of hopelessness, dependence/impotence and decay in the song.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

Marked this as restating the line ?

5 years

Upvote +0 Downvote

Show all improvement suggestions

Crystallized, cancelled eyes, illegitimate merchandise Preoccupations – Continental Shelf

Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

This line seems to be a reference to William Burrough’s magnun opus Naked Lunch. The novel deals heavily with heroin addiction, and the author describes the eyes of junkies as “cancelled”. Furthermore, the “crystallized” and “illegitimate merchandise” are obvious references to smuggling china-white junk.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

Marked this as missing something ?

2 years

This could also refer to modern life in the spectacle, the alienated life where we are all blank-eyed consumers converted into commodities; and yet we as working class are lesser goods, not worthy of even being real, sensate beings.

Upvote +0 Downvote

Show all improvement suggestions

In a burning white ship
In the taste of her lips
In the blood of the swans
As the sun fucks the dawn
In the mud of the lake
In the drunk and the dazed
Are you there? Swans (Ft. Akron/Family & Jarboe) – A Piece of the Sky

Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Here the narrator seems to more or less ground the presence as a physical one. As a lover. He wants her to be with him in these terrenal and banal moments, like when they kiss, or when morning comes about, when they are drunk and careless.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

5,033

12 months

omg swans reference??????

Upvote +1 Downvote

1,823

4 years

Also, the line of the sun and the dawn contrasts the previous verse of the moon. Whereas the moon represents death/decay, the sun represents life/birth. What he’s searching for encompasses both

Upvote +5 Downvote

Alex

5 years

“burning white ship” refers to heroin usage I think

Upvote +2 Downvote

Show all improvement suggestions

In the wind of my lung
In methane and in love
In petroleum plumes
There's a floating slice of moon
In your tooth and your claw
And your unforgiving jaws
Are you there? Swans (Ft. Akron/Family & Jarboe) – A Piece of the Sky

Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Further into the theme of permanence and searching, the narrator questions if the spiritual or physical presence will be with him even when things turn sour.

Are you gonna be there when things end? (at night, representing death as a moon hovering the ocean)

The narrator even seems to humanize the presence, by giving it an aggresive attitude (tooth and claw and unforgiving jaw). His wishes for company and meaning start to become more human. This process continues in the next lines.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

Through a door in the air
On a crumbling stair
In a clear and rushing vein
In a tunnel full of rain
In a piece of yellow light
On the skin of my eye
Are you there? Swans (Ft. Akron/Family & Jarboe) – A Piece of the Sky

Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

The song makes an emphasis on the concept of searching. The narrator searches for what seems to be a presence (if spiritual or physical it is never clarified) that will make him feel meaningful in life. He’s looking for someone or something that will be with him always, in life, and death, and sorrow and joy.