Spilt Needles Lyrics
I have to paint myself a hole and fall inside
And if it's far enough in sight and rhyme
I get to wear another dress and count in time
Oh, won't you do me the favor, man
Of forgiving my
Poly-morphing opinion here
And your vague outline
Find myself another burning gate
A pretty face, a vague idea I can't relate
And this is get what you get for pulling pins
Out of the hole inside the hole you're in
It's like I'm perched on the handlebars
Of a blind man's bike
No straws to grab, just the rushing wind...
On a rolling mind
They'll want you to decide
Eventually, it happens
Some gather on one side
With all their pearlys snapping
They close the basement door
That sets our teeth to chatter
You never saw it before
But now that hardly matters
Too many summers you've enjoyed
So spin the wheel, we'll set you up
With some odd convictions
As you're finally golden, boy
It's like I'm perched on the handlebars
Of a blind man's bike
No straws to grab, just the rushing wind...
On a rolling mind
About
This song was first released in 2006 as part of the album ‘Phantom Limb’, and then again in 2007, reworked into their album ‘Wincing the Night Away’.
According to Paste Magazine, this song may be referenced again in their album ‘Heartworms’,
The song, titled “Painting a Hole,” establishes continuity with Wincing the Night Away and Phantom Limb, two previous albums which featured alternate versions of the song “Spilt Needles,” a song in which singer James Mercer professes that he “had to paint myself a hole and fall inside.”
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Mercer said in an interview with Pitchfork:
There’s a version that’s out as a B-side to the “Phantom Limb” single that sounds like really fast new wave. And that was my original thought about that song, but then it felt kitschy to me. So I changed the drumbeat, and created the one that’s on the record. So there was a lot of change, everything was sort of kept in flux. Which takes time, you know? It means that you might have to be prepared to start from scratch. But I think that it was well worth it."
- 2.Australia
- 3.Pam Berry
- 4.Phantom Limb
- 5.Sea Legs
- 6.Red Rabbits
- 7.Turn on Me
- 8.Black Wave
- 9.Spilt Needles
- 10.Girl Sailor
- 11.A Comet Appears