Track 5 on The holy Bible and what a track; an indictment of our glorification of serial killers and an open plea for the use of the death penalty.
With a dark bassline and the frenetic naming of killers plus a soundbite from a victim this song is relentless in its fury.
Archives of pain lyrics:
“I wonder who you think you are. You damn well think you’re God or something? God give life, God taketh it away, not you. I think you are the Devil itself.”
Irene MacDonald
If hospitals cure
Then prisons must bring their pain
Don’t be ashamed to slaughter
The centre of humanity is cruelty
There is never redemption
Any fool can regret yesterday
Nail it to the House of Lords
You will be buried in the same box as a killer, as a killer, as a killer
A drained white body hanging from the gallows
Is more righteous than Hindley’s crotchet lectures
Pain not penance, forget martyrs, remember victims
The weak die young and right now we crouch to make them strong
Kill Yeltsin, who’s saying? Zhirinovsky, Le Pen
Hindley and Brady, Ireland, Allit, Sutcliffe
Dahmer, Nielson, Yoshinori Ueda
Blanche and Pickles, Amin, Milosovic
Give them respect they deserve
Give them the respect they deserve
Give them the respect they deserve
Give them the respect they deserve
Execution needed
A bloody vessel for your peace
If man makes death then death makes man
Tear the torso with horses and chains
Killers view themselves like they view the world
They pick at the holes
Not punish less, rise the pain
Sterilise rapists, all I preach is extinction
Kill Yeltsin, who’s saying? Zhirinovsky, Le Pen
Hindley and Brady, Ireland, Allit, Sutcliffe
Dahmer, Nielson, Yoshinori Ueda
Blanche and Pickles, Amin, Milosovic
Give them respect they deserve
Give them the respect they deserve
Give them the respect they deserve
Give them the respect they deserve
The song starts with a quote from one of the victims mothers admonishing the killer of her daughter which is taken from this interview:
The title of the song and much of its contents were inspired by the writings of French structuralist philosopher and historian Michel Foucault. He wrote on the emergence of disciplinary society through devices such as psychiatry and prisons.
https://literariness.org/2017/03/28/key-theories-of-michel-foucault/
Richey claims Foucault advocated for a return to medieval (or “savage”) forms of punishment. His reading is controversial to say the least. Foucault actually compares medieval, classical and modern forms of punishment, criticising the idea that the changes are product of some sort of social evolution or civilising process. Prisons can be as wrong as public executions, even if they are less graphic.
Pain not penance, forget martyrs, remember victims is a lyric that is blunt in its message to kill those that are guilty of murder and heinous crimes and to remember the victims who we often sideline to focus on the killers motives and mindset.
Kill Yeltsin, who’s saying
Zhirinovsky, Le Pen
Hindley and Brady, Ireland, Allitt, Sutcliffe
Dahmer, Nilsen, Yoshinori Ueda
Blanche and Pickles, Amin and Milosevic
Give them respect they deserve
I give them the respect they deserve
Yeltsin – Boris Yeltsin (1931 – 2007), first president of the Russian Federation from 1991 to 1999, at which point he resigned with extremely low popularity ratings. Spearheaded “shock therapy” and the extremely rapid economic liberalisation which led to concentration of wealth in the hands of oligarchs and criminals.
Zhirinovsky – Vladimir Zhirinovsky (1946 -) rightist Russian politician and activist.
Le Pen – Jean-Marie Le Pen (1928 -), French far-right politician and longtime leader of the National Front (now led by his youngest daughter Marine).
Hindley and Brady – Myra Hindley (1942 – 2002) and Ian Brady (1938 -) also known as the “Moors murderers” for the killing of five children in Greater Manchester, UK between 1963 and 1965.
Ireland – Colin Ireland (1954 – 2012), known as the “Gay Slayer” for his murder of five homosexual men in London in 1993. Obsessed with becoming a serial killer and thereby attaining fame, he died in prison.
Allitt – Beverley Allitt (1968 -) murdered four children and attacked several others while working as a student nurse in 1991. Currently imprisoned.
Sutcliffe – Peter Sutcliffe (1946 -) also known as the “Yorkshire Ripper”. Convicted in 1971 of murdering thirteen women and attempting to murder seven others. Currently imprisoned.
Dahmer – Jeffrey Dahmer (1960 – 1994), infamous American serial killer who preyed on young men and practised rape, cannibalism, dismemberment, etc. Was himself murdered in prison in 1994.
Nilsen – Dennis Andrew Nilsen (1945 -) British serial killer who murdered fifteen men between 1978 and 1983. Known as the “Muswell Hill murderer” or the “Kindly Killer”, the latter due to what Nilsen believed was his “humane” methods of killing. Currently imprisoned.
Yoshinori Ueda – (?) Japanese man believed to have killed five people using overdoses of muscle relaxants in the early 1990s. Apparently released after pleading insanity.
Blanche – Eugene Terre’Blanche (1941 – 2010), South African politician and white supremacist. Murdered at his farm in 2010.
Pickles – Judge James Pickles (1925 – 2010), British judge who became famed for his controversial decisions and statements, such as claiming that rape victims were “asking for it”. Subsequently became a writer.
Amin – Idi Amin (mid-1920s – 2003) Ugandan soldier in the British colonial army there and subsequently brutal dictator of that country during the 1970s. Fled to Libya and then Saudi Arabia, where he died, after war with Tanzania forced him from Uganda.
Milosevic – Slobodan Milosevic (1941 – 2006), Serbian and Yugoslav politician charged with war crimes during the Yugoslav Wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia. Died in the UN war crimes detention centre in the Hague, Netherlands.
Allusions
Nail it to the House of Lords – this is probably an allusion to German monk Martin Luther, who in 1517 nailed his Ninety-Five Theses, a document opposing the spectacular wealth of the Catholic church and the sale of indulgences, to the door of the All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg.
Thanks to https://manicsdiscog.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/t68-archives-of-pain/ for this information.
https://nyunews.com/opinion/2019/10/21/stop-glorifying-serial-killers-bundy/
Interesting article about the glorification of killers.
I drew pictures of killers and their family lives posing with wives to illustrate how evil has an everyday face; could be your neighbour, your friend, your husband or wife or even your leaders.
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