Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
The sparks of the tempest rage a hundred years on
The voice of the dreamer screams, the cause of the pawn
The king and the queen are gone, each piece is the same
The difference between us is a part of the game
Darkness is spreading like a spot on the sun
The dead are the living in the age of the gun
While everyone clamors for the justice they seek
The world is corrupted and the strong take the weak
They mold you and shape you, so watch what you do
The sparks of the tempest are burnin' you through
Spreading like wildfire, fallin' like rain
Though they may promise, they only bring pain
Your future is managed and your freedom's a joke
You don't know the difference as you put on the yoke
The less that you know, the more you fall into place
A cog in the wheel, there is no soul in your face
Run for the cover, millennium's here
Bearing the standard of confusion and fear
Spreading like wildfire, fallin' like rain
Though they may promise, they only bring pain
Blood in the sand, a cry in the street
Now the cycle is nearly complete
Ten thousand years, nothing was learned
No turning back, now the wheels have turned
Big brother is watching and he likes what he sees
A world for the taking and he's ready to squeeze
The king and the queen are gone, each piece is the same
The difference between us is a part of the game
Soothsayer saying now tell me no lies
What is the madness that is filling the skies?
Spreading like wildfire, fallin' like rain
Though they may promise, they only bring pain
The voice of the dreamer screams, the cause of the pawn
The king and the queen are gone, each piece is the same
The difference between us is a part of the game
Darkness is spreading like a spot on the sun
The dead are the living in the age of the gun
While everyone clamors for the justice they seek
The world is corrupted and the strong take the weak
They mold you and shape you, so watch what you do
The sparks of the tempest are burnin' you through
Spreading like wildfire, fallin' like rain
Though they may promise, they only bring pain
Your future is managed and your freedom's a joke
You don't know the difference as you put on the yoke
The less that you know, the more you fall into place
A cog in the wheel, there is no soul in your face
Run for the cover, millennium's here
Bearing the standard of confusion and fear
Spreading like wildfire, fallin' like rain
Though they may promise, they only bring pain
Blood in the sand, a cry in the street
Now the cycle is nearly complete
Ten thousand years, nothing was learned
No turning back, now the wheels have turned
Big brother is watching and he likes what he sees
A world for the taking and he's ready to squeeze
The king and the queen are gone, each piece is the same
The difference between us is a part of the game
Soothsayer saying now tell me no lies
What is the madness that is filling the skies?
Spreading like wildfire, fallin' like rain
Though they may promise, they only bring pain
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Step
Ministry
Ministry
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Very Orwellian, if you ask me. "Big Brother is watching and he likes what he sees A world for the taking, when he's ready to squeeze" ooo. Uncle Sam is peeking over your shoulder and getting ready to put the hurt on ya.
Remember the Y2K panic?
Run for the cover, Millennium's here Bearing the standard of confusion and fear
This song was written in 1977 - How did Kerry foresee that!
@Trailmaster before he was saved!
it is about communism, it says they mold you and shape you in a communist government they control you and the less that you know the more you fall into place, the government doesn't want you to think. the darkness is spreading, communism spread after the ussr started it. and also the strong take the weak.I did a research paper on communism like a mounth before i heard this song for the first time and every thing just fit into place.
Lately this song has jumped into my favorite song slot. Kansas has no equal!
Anybody ever read the Graham Hancock books? A comet fragmented about the time of the Younger Dryas and caused the polar caps to melt and a great deluge. It's been part of the mythology of almost all the ancient cultures in some form or manner. It's related to both the precession of the equinox and a theory holds that every 10 to 12 thousand years, the earth is cleansed and purged and after a tumultuous period of destruction then renewal.
The Mayans had a calender that ended a couple of years ago. The Hindus have their Yugas or world ages that correspond. The Christians talk about the end days and "Harvest Time".
Each of these talk about earth changes and HUMAN CULTURE being at an all time selfish and on a self-destructive path. The earth is full of evil and full of people. The food runs out. It needs to be "rebooted". Pain and gnashing of the teeth occur...... then things sort of start over. It's related to the ages... the "dawning of the Age of Aquarius" the ending of the "Ago of Pisces" (the fish representing Christianity)...
A "deluge", a flood, fire in the sky.. comet fragments.. remember our solar system takes a journey around the Milky way... everything is cycles.. the seasons, the Zodiacal Ages.....
We are at the "end" and this song is all about that time. The end of course of the present way of life... not the end period.... if we are lucky.
Compre'???
@jay1057421 The comet returns soon.... the "sparks of the tempest" Spreading like wildfire, falling like rain....
this is the theme song for the new millenium. also, one of my favorite Kansas songs.
love it. My second favorite under Icarus. I actually wrote a song called treacherous storms before i heard this, and It's along the same theory of using storms as a metaphor for troubles.
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!
The song seems to me to be about the futility of protest and resistance; there has always been turmoil in civilization and there always will be.
It's becoming clear to me that the Annunaki (shapeshifting lizardpeople) have been enslaving humanity covertly for thousands of years and these lyrics do support it. Our reality is full of lies and propaganda to mold us into desirable citizens. Look to the reptilian seamonster and robot angel art on the album cover!