Roland Lyrics

[Chorus]
He severed segments and secretly liked that
He always took the time to speak with me and I liked him for that
He severed segments and secretly liked that
(What is this a throwaway? What is this a throwaway?)
He was growing on me
(What is this a throwaway? What is this a throwaway?)
(What is this a throwaway? What is this a throwaway?)
He was growing on me

(What is this a throwaway? What is this a throwaway?)
(What is this a throwaway? What is this a throwaway?)

[Outro]
Alright
Yeah
Ah
Yeah
Yeah, that's the one

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

Genius Annotation

Banks seems to have written the song about a character named Roland, a butcher who killed and severed segments of his victims’ bodies.

Roland did not expect to be apprehended by the authorities, but he soon was as he carried around his knives in public places, which is legal to do in Poland, his country of origin (this lack of knowledge of US laws proved to have a hefty cost since Roland did end up being caught). Since the Album really gives the listener a taste of post 9/11 America (especially New York City), it’s fitting that a song about a butcher who killed people would be in the album’s track list. New York has some rather “colorful” characters and you are bound to encounter 1 or 2 of them due to the sheer amount of people living there.

Take a look at one of the many colorful characters you may meet in NYC:

One of the nice things about the song is that it’s open to interpretation as to whether or not the victims were simply animals or actual humans.

The song was loosely inspired by the case of knife-wielding Polish serial killer Karol Kot (also known as The Vampire of Krakow), whose public attempted murder sprees – two of which were successful – involved him using some of his sixteen knives to stab vulnerable victims.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Credits
Written By
Percussion
Backing Vocals
Lead guitar
Rhythm Guitar
Lead Vocals
Recording Engineer
Mixing Locations
Mastering Location
Mastering Engineer
Recorded At
Tarquin Studios, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Release Date
December 11, 2000
Tags
Comments