Well, this song runs for 8:11 and it's a roller coaster just about the whole way through. In classic Mars Volta style, the song goes up and down, left and right, then comes full circle with a chorus... wait, a chorus?
As I listen to this album and think back to Amputechture, I'm beginning to notice that a lot of their songs are becoming less progressive, and more structured. This upsets me. Don't get me wrong, the band still builds their songs up with many awesome sections, but adding the chorus sometimes kills the buzz for me, I already know what it's going to sound like, and I don't need to hear it three times in a row - i get it. Next bar.
Enough on that rant - I really love cranking this song - it's so loud and it reminds me a lot of ATDI (but on speedballs). The lyrics in this song confuse the shit out of me but after listening a lot, you begin to find that the words are being spoken by one character - to another. Goliath speaks through the haunted Ouija Board to the band, telling them of his haunted past while demanding forgiveness to rest his soul.
It seems the spirit of Goliath had a wife and daughter, both of which he did terrible abusive and sexual acts with against their will. The beginning of the song mentions her nervous hands and how he demands to touch them. Goliath "blames the shrouding of a lesser man" that he has deceived his family into becoming a pedophile incest rapist. Ew.
The tone of the song then changes, the Ouija Board (Goliath's spirit) begin's warning the band that they should not tell more people about his terrible past.
"Suffocate the inkwell, while I am legion said the pen"The Mars Volta's pen (lyrics) will become a haunted instrument for Goliath.
Quick note from the bible, when Jesus casts the devil from man, the devil calls himself legion.
Anyways, there is a whole shit tonne of hidden messages in all their music, so I'm going to jump ahead.
Goliath continues to warn the band that if they decide to spread his terrible story, there will be problems for your future. He states:
"Folding wormholes, my time is riding in the alphabet"His warning that he is moving through the time space continuum, but only via letters on a Ouija board. Whilst being whimiscle and scary, Goliath knows that while the band has posention of the Ouija board, he is their slave and must answer any question asked. Later in the song, he begs them not to tell his filthiest secrets, he's actually a pedophile incest rapist murderer! Double Ew.
After finding out he murdered his own daughter, we learn the it's the reason he's trapped in the Ouija board in the first place, his sins. Unfortunatly he does not remember how he came to this eternal fate, and tells the band:
"You'd better ask Metatron"Metatron is the name of a God's angel. In other words, only God knows Goliaths full story and his fate. Neat!