“Supermassive Black Hole” Alternative Lyrics
Even if you are a superstar, there’s a
supermassive black hole waiting for you.
“Super Acid Lacks Soul”
Oh, baby, don’t you know: I’m sulfur!
Oh, baby, can’t you hear: I’m chrome!
You caught me on diverging lenses;
How long before you let me foam?
Oh
Oh
Oh
You set my soul aside.
Oh
Oh
Oh
You set my soul…
Helter-skelter, in the dead of night
Every superstar’s sucking on the super acid
Helter-skelter, in the dead of night
Every superstar…
You set my soul…
I thought I wasn’t food for bases…
Oh, baby: am I food for you?
You’re the queen of the super facial;
How long before you’ll wash the glue?
Oh
Oh
Oh
You set my soul aside.
Oh
Oh
Oh
You set my soul aside.
Helter-skelter, in the dead of night
Every superstar’s sucking on the super acid
Helter-skelter, in the dead of night
Every superstar…
You set my soul…
MUSE’s “Supermassive Black Hole” Lyrics Explained
Supermassive Black Hole by MUSE used to be among my favorite songs back when I still respected Matt Bellamy, and there were several reasons for that. For starters, how about one of the most effective base lines, or Matt’s signature falsetto (hit that, baby). But I also really liked the song’s lyrics.
Despite their overall simplicity (Bellamy is only a natural composer and singer, not a poet), the focal image can hardly go unappreciated by any real man. Of course, the supermassive black hole here represents a femme fatale, an unsatisfiable female source, a pure form of egoism whose only essence is to absorb. Naturally, it can be matched only with a superstar: a man (i.e. Creator) whose nature is to bestow.
Both the man and the woman here are no ordinary folks but people with monstrously huge desires, so the whole world wouldn’t be enough for them. An encounter between two forces of such a caliber invariably leads to powerful experiences; in this particular case Bellamy’s relationship with the heroine (most likely an unsuccessful one; in fact, I suspect he never even was in a relationship with her, thus the bitter regret in “How long before you let me go?” implying the imprisonment was solely a matter of his indulging) resulted in a masterpiece; a most worthy outcome justifying anything that actually happened between them.
However, despite all this, I couldn’t help writing a parody on Supermassive Black Hole. Its style is probably more caustic than that of my rendering of Radiohead’s Karma Police, but the purpose behind it is drastically different. This one is not a criticism but a tribute to the original which inspired me on so many occasions. And I also think now Matt is laughing at the exaggerated importance of the song’s sentiments: when the love storm is over, a superstar knows he only dealt with another hole.
That’s when he starts looking for the next one.
2014
The XX – “Crystallized” – “Sterilized”
You have lied, my treasure.
You told me: utilize!
But you’ve got to faint,
Cause I could bring buried ice.
Unforgiving? Forget,
Before I am sterilized.
Do I have to keep up the face
To keep your status prized?
High-yay
Things have gotten closer but to none,
And I’ve done things for osmosis,
But don’t think that I’m letting you astray,
When you’re the one who’s been so modest.
High-yay-yay
High-yay-yay
High-yay-yay
High-yay-yay
You don’t let it go,
Undertaken to perfection.
Did you cause the air to glow?
Does it lessen your inflection?
Foe!
You say I’m ghoulish,
That I should be denied.
But where I roam
I don’t like to hide.
High-yay-yay
Passersby may look, but won’t see.
I wish today I wore a clover.
I have frowned at my niece, –
You fell asleep too late, you poser!
High-yay-yay
High-yay-yay
High-yay-yay
High-yay-yay
Passersby may look, but won’t see.
(Things have gotten closer to the none,)
I wish today I wore a clover.
(And I’ve done things just for osmosis,)
I have frowned at my niece, –
(So don’t think that I’m letting it astray,)
You fell asleep too late, you poser!
When you’re the one who’s been so modest.)
So glow.
So glow.
So glow.
So glow.
So glow.
“Karma Police” by Radiohead – Alternative Lyrics
Karma police, stop shearing our fleece!
It’s so unfair:
You leave us bare
To fill your valise!
Karma police, pull up the coulisse
And show us sense,
Lest our release
Should be an expense!
Karma police, I spent all my time
On this endeavor.
I could weave and sever,
And even made it rhyme!
This is what you get
This is what you get
This is what you get
When you raid your head.
Original lyrics of Radiohead’s Karma Police
I dislike Radiohead and sometimes my mind comes up with sardonic renditions of its songs and lyrics. Karma Police had annoyed me long before I discovered its conceptual premises from an acquaintance of mine, an ardent fan of Tom York’s works. Annoyance eventually resulted in this poem which I like not so much for the deliberate lack of poetic value but for its uninterrupted adhesion to the sentiment of the original.