[Track Info] [The Lyrics] [Explanation]
1. Single version (17:16)
2. Fair Deal Studios version (19:08)
3. Live (London, England - "Hammersmith Odeon", April 18th '83) (18:00)
Notes: Live version follows
studio version.
Lyrics by Derek William Dick (Fish)
Performed Live for the first Time: 14-Mar-81
Published by Marillion Music
I. Heorot's plea and Grendel's awakening.Midnight suns bid
moors farewell, retreats from charging dusk, |
 |
|
Earth rim
walker seeks his meals Wooden figures, pagan
gods, stare blindly cross the sea Earth rim walker seeks his meals As Grendel leaves his
mossy home beneath the stagnant mere As Grendel leaves his mossy home
beneath the stagnant mere Earth rim walker seeks his meals |
 |
|
 |
-=o=-=o=- II. Grendel's Journey.Silken membranes span
his path, fingerprints in dew -=o=-=o=- |
|
III. Lurker at the Threshold.Hounds freeze in
silence bewitched by the
reptile spell Screams
are his music, lightning his guide Chants rise in
terror, free round the oaken beams Heroes
delusion, with feet in the grave -=o=-=o=- |
|
|
So you thought
that your bolts and your locks would keep me out So you say
you believe in all of Mother Nature's laws Then you
try to place the killer's blade in my hand |
 |
Copyright © 1997 Fraser Marshall, Matthew
Anderson & Bert ter Steege.
Torch said: Actually a pretty heavy plagurism of a book called "Grendel" by John Gardner, a very good book that is listed as one of the top 100 horror novels of all time in the so-named guide. Gardner disliked such genre labels mind you.
The character of Grendel comes from the medieval epic poem "Beowulf"; sorry for stating the bleeding obvious to those who know this; he is a beastie who everyone hates and who marches of to kill Hrothgar the good guy and gets slaughtered for his pains. That section occurs quite early in the story. "Beowulf" is a wonderful bit of fun for anyone who hasn't read it, by the way! Anyway Gardner changes things around a bit quite ingeniously...he makes Grendel the hero of the novel, commenting that the story draws parallels with modern hypocrisy in society; the way we cast out the ugly and disturbed so righteously when we are in the wrong. The old idea of the humane monster and the inhuman human etc. The novel is filled with gorgeously colourful language which the song borrows heavily.
Fish said:"At the time of joining the band I was asked to provide lyrics for a long track the band had written with bits that had originally been in a song called "The Tower" etc. I was obsessed with a book called "Grendel" by John Gardner and the way that it points out that anything ugly is instantly scorned upon and seen as wrong." Hence a classic was born! The lovely thing about the piece is the way the music conjures up exactly the right mood; "ocean fogs" with its echoey vocals and yawning guitars, and forest quagmires with its bubbling keyboards(especially when it was done live). So the lyrics...(reprinted because someone said they didn't have them)!
"Midnight
sun bids... Signal ending tasks"
The midnight sun occurs on the
longest day of course, especially in the part of Scotland I write
from, when it can be seen on the Banffshire coast setting and
then visibly rising again, so keeping the world lit all
night...hence the belief that the midnight sun keeps away evil.
However in the song the sun is setting, saying goodbye to the
moors and dusk charges; it retreats as the oncoming night is so
scary. People get frightened in the dark!" Mountains perhaps
echo as Grendel awakes and bays, or just because weird noises
occur at night. Curfews bell, ie the bell tolling to tell
everyone to get indoors to safety. As the bell tolls, the days
work ends immediately and people lock themselves up in their
homes, placing faith in oaken doors.
"They place
their faith... As Grendel stalks the night."
At this point in the book, Grendel
hasn't infiltrated anyone's homes tonight, so the line about
bloodstained floors could refer to earlier deaths, or to the
cowering hypocritical people with"bloodstained
hands".Grendel is on the move.
"Earth rim
walker... fear within their eyes"
He is a subterranean monster hence
"earth rim walker",a concept the book develops more. As
it is a foregone conclusion that there will be murder done,
"prepare the funeral pyres",ie for the dead. A
"shaper" was a medieval storyteller who would sing to
the villagers at night to make them feel easier in their beds and
not scared. The practice still exists in South America to keep
people happy and not disruptive or frightened. But the shaper is
lying as we find out, and the villagers really are in danger, as
they are coming to realise, so he can no longer heal their fear.
"Wooden
figures, pagan... saviours born of dreams."
The old idols stare blindly...they
are no help and can save no-one from Grendel. The saviours are
wishful thinking...there is no hope. The ocean fogs like the
charging dusk certainly will not help.
"They know
their lives... flinch in Grendel's name"
They are exposed of all their
hypocrisy by Grendel and bow in shame. They are too ashamed to
face their people who are begging for help. Things are not good
for the humans...
"As Grendel
leaves his mossy home... moonbeams haunt the sky."
He heads from his subterranean home
to meet his foe, Hrothgar, the goody goody ruler. He is far
stronger than him and out for vengeance. The night helps him as
moonbeams haunt the sky and dusk charges; we always view night as
hostile when we are scared. Then comes the creepy, sly section as
Gendel crawls the forest.
"Silken
membranes span his path Fingerprints in dew"
He must be crawling if his
fingerprints are in the dew...silken membranes...cobwebs???
Nick Jackson: I'd offer an alternative explanation, more poetic than descriptive. Have you ever seen spiders webs on bushes on an early morning, when the dew is still there? To me, their spirals and circles look like fingerprints, when the dew clings to them, shining in the moonlight or early dawn. It really is a mystical "time between times" :-).
"Denizens of
twilight lands Humbly beg him through"
The dwellers(denizens) are so scared
they beg him through; alternatively "denizens of twilight
lands" could be night creatures, other beasts, of which he
is the greatest, so they beg him through...this makes more sense
as he hasn't encountered any people yet.
"Mother
Nature's bastard child... solace within dreams"
Ill treated and despised by all that
is pleasant, a natural perversity, he has brooded alone for too
long, the shapers stories deriding him.
"The
Shaper's lies, his poison tongue Maligned with mocking harp"
The Shaper fools them all with his
sweet music and a harp mocking by its silvery tongue spreading
lies floating on its notes.
"Beguiling
queen, her innocence Offends his icy heart"
He is a base beast who is offended
by the assumed "purity" of the ideal epitomised by the
queen, who is beguiling because it is a false tirade her tiara
crowns(sorry!), just as our royals are not nearly as fairy tale
and reverent as we pretend. It offends him to anger. The organ
sounds his arrival at the entrance to the hall. Brilliant music
over the next section-so powerful!!!Time for him to work some
natural magic...
"Hounds freeze
in silence...the grassy dell"
Smokes appears around him(his eye
was on the potential this had live it seems!) and the dogs at the
door freeze in fear. Sorry Fish but smoke can't pervade ROUND,
only through something!
"Hero awaits him
like lamb... children's cries"
There is a guard ready to slay this
intruder who is a lamb to the slaughter, as Grendel will kill him
eaasily.
"Screams
are his music, lightening his guide Raping the darkness, death by
his side"
Children scream and cry but the
heavenms and pagan gods are helpless, as are the shapers words of
comfort. He rapes the darkness(great image!) as he forces into it
and defiles all with his progress. Death rides with him.
"Chants
rise in terror...HEARTS MUST KNOW!"
Already the slaughter has begun and
the fire illuminates the bloody bodies scattered everywhere. The
guards move in bravely but their inevitable deaths are futile;
their efforts to srtop him are mere sacrifices for no cause, and
they must be aware of this.
"Heroes
delusions... cares not for the brave!"
The guards are deluded and are
already dead men, hence feet in the grave. Grendel is the lurker
at the doors of the Hall, and it is time to dispose of the
brave...he kills the guards as the music flares up. A quiet
interlude as he dwells over the bodies, and all in the Hall await
with baited breath. Then thedoors burst open and there he stands,
his furious speech ringing out.
"So you thought
that your bolts...putrid blue eyes!"
The slanders being the shapers
songs. Things don't look too hopeful for Hrothgar and his
cronies!
"Why
should I feel pity... gonna take no blame!"
So we find out that they are far
more evil than he,killing and then washing the blood off there
hands, even blaming him as we now learn...
"So
you say you believe... sharpened knives"
An unnatural, greedy act!
"When
your hoards... the feet of your pagan gods!"
The victors after a war.???Mmm,
social comment!
"Then
you try to place...distort the truth"
So he is made the scapegoat and thus
hated.
"Well I've
had enough... let the blood flow!!!"
The parallels with politicians and
social attitudes to crime are there for all to see, my job is
done. Live, Fish would often pluck a fan out and have him up
dancing with him, or even for the orgasmic guitar solo at the end
pull out an audience member and mime ripping him apart and
tasting his blood while Fish wore a medieval battle helmet. See
the video EP of the song live. Of course the big bastard looks so
right to carry it off live.
By the way, the Helm that Fish wears in the video is a
replica of the one found at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, which is the
burial ground of one of the first Christian Kings of England.
‘Heorot’
Literally, the ‘Hall of the Stag’, named because
of the Antlers that adorned the door. It forms the root of the
English word for a male red deer ‘hart’, the
traditional prey of Royalty whilst hunting.
‘Shaper'
The Shaper is a sort of tribal mystic/ bard who would sing
to conjure his spells.
‘his
charm will testify’ & ‘reptile spell’
Grendel is given a spell by a dragon that will keep him
hidden as he approaches the hall, and which makes him immune to
normal weapons. (In fact Grendel is eventually slain by a special
sword supposedly made by the father of a character who appears in
a Brave-era song! (Cp.’ THE GREAT
ESCAPE’))
‘Lurker
at the Threshold’
‘Lurker at the Threshold’ is also the name of a
novel by HP Lovecraft and August Derleth. Lovecraft commenced the
book but died before its completion. Derleth completed (and many
would say, ruined) the book. Lovecraftian Horror stories were
concerned with a panoply of monsters and gods whose main purpose
in life seemed to be to demonstrate the insignificance of
mankind.
Sources
Last Modified: 27 Jul 2000
