The beast may refer to two beasts described in the Book of Revelation. The first beast comes from “out of the sea” and is given authority and power by the dragon, and is described as coming out of the abyss. The second beast comes from “out of the earth” and directs all peoples of the earth to worship the first beast, and is referred to as the false prophet. The two beasts are aligned with the dragon in opposition to God. They persecute Christians and influence the kings of the earth to gather for the battle of Armageddon. The two beasts are defeated by Christ and are thrown into the lake of fire eventually.

The description of the beast is found primarily in Revelation chapters thirteen and seventeen. Chapter thirteen gives the fullest description of the beast. John saw the beast “rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”

A really quick series of rhymes that speaks to R.ichard’s rhyming prowess. Throughout this whole verse his rhymes are sick, but especially here.

They are in a really free form – not no boring AABB or ABAB form. They also rarely if ever fall in the same place in the bar – they are constantly moving and shifting. They don’t come in the same orders either. Sometimes it’s AABCB but then BCBAB, or some such.

Tien Shinhan, commonly just called Tien in the English dub of Dragon Ball Z, is a former antagonist and supporting protagonist in the Dragon Ball manga and the anime series Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, also making a few minor appearances in Dragon Ball GT.

Hieroglpyhs are any small pictures used to represent thoughts and ideas in the languages that use them. Such languages are known as “logographic.” Ancient Egyptian was partially logographic.

Goes along with the whole ancient mythology theme here, along with the mentioning of Osiris and Anu.

Popeye is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and theatrical and television animated cartoons. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929.

He eats spinach when he needs a special boost of strength and energy, and it’s what propels him to super human feats that win the day.

In fact, the popularity of Popeye helped boost spinach sales.

Osiris was an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. Osiris was considered not only a merciful judge of the dead in the afterlife, but also the underworld agency that granted all life, including sprouting vegetation and the fertile flooding of the Nile River. Through the hope of new life after death, Osiris began to be associated with the cycles observed in nature, in particular vegetation and the annual flooding of the Nile.

Consider a very important god in the Egyptian religion.

Historically very rich families who made their money in the banking industries. The Rothschild’s total family value today is estimated to be in the $300-$400 billion range. That’s $400,000,000,000. That is bigger than the economies of a lot of countries.

A play on the homonyms here, that “cells” and “sells” are pronounced the same.

This is a technique Oasis uses a lot through this whole song, although not all are strictly homonyms.

After cells/sells comes shelves/shells

The main character of The Mask, a 1994 movie starring Jim Carrey as well as a comic book series from earlier decades. He wears a mask that turns him into everything he thinks he wants to be, but ultimately lands him in trouble.

In Sumerian mythology, Anu was a sky-god, the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, spirits and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions. It was believed that he had the power to judge those who had committed crimes, and that he had created the stars as soldiers to destroy the wicked.