Hook in Mouth Lyrics
A cockroach in the concrete, courthouse tan and beady eyes
A slouch with fallen arches, purging truths into great lies
A little man with a big eraser, changing history
Procedures that he's programmed to, all he hears and sees
Altering the facts and figures, events and every issue
Make a person disappear, and no one will ever miss you
[Verse 2]
Rewrites every story, every poem that ever was
Eliminates incompetence, and those who break the laws
Follow the instructions of the New Way's Evil Book of Rules
Replacing rights with wrongs, the files and records in the schools
[Bridge]
You said you've got the answers, well who asked you anyway?
Ever think maybe it was meant to be this way?
Don't try to fool us, we know the worst is yet to come
And I believe my kingdom will come
[Guitar Solo: Jeff Young]
[Guitar Solo: Dave Mustaine]
[Chorus]
F is for fighting, R is for red
Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed
E, we elect them, E, we eject them
In the land of the free and the home of the brave
D for your dying, O, your overture
M, they will cover your grave with manure
This spells out 'FREEDOM', it means nothing to me
As long as there's our P.M.R.C
[Guitar Solo: Dave Mustaine]
[Chorus]
F is for fighting, R is for red
Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed
E, we elect them, E, we eject them
In the land of the free and the home of the brave
D for your dying, O, your overture
M is for money, you know what that cures
This spells out 'FREEDOM', it means nothing to me
As long as there's our P.M.R.C
[Chorus]
F is for fighting, R is for red
Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed
E, we elect them, E, we eject them
In the land of the free and the home of the brave
D for your dying, O, your overture
M, they will cover your grave with manure
This spells out 'FREEDOM', it means nothing to me
As long as there's our P.M.R.C
[Bridge]
Put your hand right up my shirt
Pull the strings that make me work
Jaws will part, words fall out
Like a fish with hook in mouth
Rewrites every story, every poem that ever was
Eliminates incompetence, and those who break the laws
Follow the instructions of the New Way's Evil Book of Rules
Replacing rights with wrongs, the files and records in the schools
[Outro]
I'm not a fish, I'm a man
Hook in mouth!
About
So Far, So Good…’s final track, “Hook in Mouth” is about censorship. Mustaine expresses his dislike of the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) who, in Mustaine’s own words, “were fucking around with our constitutional rights and trying to take away our freedom of speech”. The PMRC were responsible for putting ‘Parental Advisory/Explicit Lyrics’ stickers on his and other musicians' records.
The song also contains references to the George Orwell novel 1984, which is about a dystopian world where all freedom is abolished. In the book, there’s a government orginisation called Ministry of Truth. The people in this orginisation are set out to alter every piece of literature in order to make the government look better. History is changed, people are being created and erased, statistics and figures are changed, all to eliminate any negative feelings or opposition towards the government. Mustaine compares the PMRC to the Ministry of Truth.
The title “Hook in Mouth” refers to a fish being caught and having a hook in its mouth. This is a metaphor for the PMRC trying to have the music industry under its control. At the end of the song, Mustaine screams out to the PMRC that he’s not a fish, but a man.
Q&A
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