Autoclave[1]
Lyrics
Hand me your hand, let me look in your eyes
As my last chance to feel human begins to vaporize
Maybe it’s the heat in here, maybe it’s the pressure[2]
You ought to head for the exits, the sooner the better
I am this great, unstable mass of blood and foam
And no one in her right mind would make my home her home
My heart’s an autoclave
My heart’s an autoclave
When I try to open up to you I get completely lost
Houses swallowed by the earth, windows thick with frost
And I reach deep down within, but the pathways twist and turn
And there’s no light anywhere, and nothing left to burn
And I am this great, unstable mass of blood and foam
And no emotion that’s worth having could call my heart its home
My heart’s an autoclave
My heart’s an autoclave
I dreamt that I was perched atop a throne of human skulls
On a cliff above the ocean, howling wind and shrieking seagulls
And the dream went on forever, one single static frame
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name[3]
And I am this great, unstable mass of blood and foam
And no one in her right mind would make her home my home
My heart’s an autoclave
My heart’s an autoclave
Banter
- This is a song about how sometimes you feel that the people who love you will surely be destroyed by your inherent evil nature and you think that you probably ought to warn them. And yet at the same time, it's nice to be loved by them and they might stop if you told them how toxic you are. So, perhaps you'll just keep that information to yourself for the time being and tell them when it's more convenient. When it's more appropriate. (2008-11-03)
Live Performances
Footnotes
1. "I was in Alaska when I read about the discovery of a life-form that can not only survive an autoclave (the instrument used for sterilizing surgical instruments; it's supposed to kill any and all bacteria on the tools), but which seems to really enjoy the whole autoclave scene: at temperatures fatal to all other life forms, this bacteria would begin to breed. Naturally, this got me to thinking aobut people whose hearts involuntarily pulverize any good feelings that come within a city block of them." — Heretic Pride press kit
The organism that John refers to could be any of a variety of hyperthermophiles, but I would guess either Methanopyrus kandleri or Geogemma barossii. (Annotated TMG)↩
2. Autoclaves sterilize equipment using high temperature, high pressure steam. (Annotated TMG)↩
3. This is a line from Where Everybody Knows Your Name, the theme song to the 1980s sitcom Cheers, featuring a group of friends in a Boston bar:
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You wanna be where you can see our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows your name
It was written by Gary Portnoy in 1982. (Annotated TMG)↩