Slipknot, The Dying Song: the lyrics and their meaning

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On July 20, Slipknot released their new single, The Dying Song (Time to Sing), announcing their new album The End, So Far out on September 30, 2022. It will be their 7th album, three years after the last one; therefore, fans are happy about their return: The Dying Song became trending on all streaming platforms, and people immediately wanted to know more about the lyrics and their meaning. In this article, we will provide an interpretation of the song.

You can watch the official video of the song below.

Slipknot - The Dying Song (Time To Sing)

The Dying Song: the lyrics and their meaning

The Dying Song is a pessimistic song about the end of the world, as we are watching it happening right now. Slipknot blame the influential people who run the world. But it’s also our fault because we didn’t pay enough attention to what was happening under our noses. The lyrics hint that now it’s too late: we can only sing this last song and then die helplessly.

Put your hands into the water
Let your mouth go sick and dry
Put your life into your death now
Let them sing until you die
Die, die, die, yeah

The lyrics mention the nuclear winter, which often appeared in the media in 2022 after the Russia-Ukraine war and the fear of World War III. The song has, therefore, a message related to the present. The first verse has a provocatory line mentioning Satan: don’t blame him; today, the responsibility for the world’s end is on the humans who run our world.

Radical rather than rhetorical, babble like an oracle
Why am I always in your debt?
Father and the son and the holy ghost
Communist comatose, show me all the wagers are a bet
The middle of a nuclear winter is a modern achievement of the retro apocalyptic horde
Satan? You must be mistaken, there arе no more satans
Only the bosses on thе board
Forget, deny, ignore, nice try, it’s you
Regret, rely, remorse inside of you
Yeah

However, before the chorus, Slipknot want us to know that we did our part too. Maybe we’ve been watching things too passively, without reacting. We were silent; we stayed down while things were happening. And now that we got to the end of the events, we should feel responsible too.

Maybe you’ve been down too long

Sadness is not an excuse for inactivity. If we don’t do anything while things worsen, we are just flesh and bones. The dignity of being human no longer belongs to us, and that’s why the song’s chorus merely celebrates our identity as a body.

The heart begins to suffer
When the soul has given up
And the flesh is barely more than bone
When no one else is listening
Only when you’ve had enough
Time to sing this dying song alone

There is also a direct attack on who’s responsible for all this. The band demands an answer, or death will be the punishment.

Think hard, you bastards
You’re gonna tell me why
If I don’t get an answer
You’re gonna sing and die

Are they addressing powerful people, or is it a message for all of us? We don’t know it for sure. But the meaning of the lyrics inside The Dying Song is clear: we reached the end of the world (as the album title indicates), and now it’s too late to do anything. We can only die. And feel responsible.

Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave

The complete lyrics

Put your hands into the water
Let your mouth go sick and dry
Put your life into your death now
Let them sing until you die
Die, die, die, yeah

Radical rather than rhetorical, babble like an oracle
Why am I always in your debt?
Father and the son and the holy ghost
Communist comatose, show me all the wagers are a bet
The middle of a nuclear winter is a modern achievement of the retro apocalyptic horde
Satan? You must be mistaken, there arе no more satans
Only the bosses on thе board
Forget, deny, ignore, nice try, it’s you
Regret, rely, remorse inside of you
Yeah

Maybe you’ve been down too long
Maybe you’ve been down too long

The heart begins to suffer
When the soul has given up
And the flesh is barely more than bone
When no one else is listening
Only when you’ve had enough
Time to sing this dying song alone
Put your hands into the water
Let your mouth go sick and dry
Put your life into your death now
Let them sing until you die
Die, die, die, yeah

Maybe you’ve been down too long
Maybe you’ve been down too long

Think hard, you bastards
You’re gonna tell me why
If I don’t get an answer
You’re gonna sing and die
Think hard, you bastards
You’re gonna tell me why
If I don’t get an answer
You’re gonna sing and die

The heart begins to suffer
When the soul has given up
And the flesh is barely more than bone
When no one else is listening
Only when you’ve had enough
Time to sing this dying song alone
Put your hands into the water
Let your mouth go sick and dry
Put your life into your death now
Let them sing until you die
Put your hands into the water
Let your mouth go sick and dry
Put your life into your death now
Let them sing until you die