I used to be a rock junkie. My playlist four to five years ago were dominated by primarily rock songs from various popular and some smaller rock bands all the way from Shinedown to one of all time favorites Avenged Sevenfold. I have always had a very diverse palate for different types of music even within on genre such as rock. However, as much music as I have listened to in my lifetime and even though I used to be such a rock addict I had never really heard a whole lot of Slipknot.For those Slipknot fans out there, I apologize now for my ignorance and inaccuracy with their music because I am still rather new to their music. Once again the wonderful world of YouTube recommend one of their songs to me. You guessed it: It was 'Snuff'. Immediately after listening to it I fell in love with the sorrow saturated lyrics and the pain infused vocals. Part of the reason I loved the song was how raw the words were. Nothing feels sugar coated about this song. it is pure emotion and honesty poured into music. When listening to this song one is not only reminded of their own relationships but also can physically feel the heart break of the vocalist. Even the instrumental elements of this song bring tears to my eyes. After listening to this song I have gone on the listen to more Slipknot and fallen in love with more of their music and intense lyrics. However, today I want to concentrate on this song so let us take a look at the lyrics.

The song is from their  2009 album 'All hope is gone'.

"Snuff"   ( From A to Z lyrics Click here to access their page)

Bury all your secrets in my skin
Come away with innocence, and leave me with my sins
The air around me still feels like a cage
And love is just a camouflage for what resembles rage again…

I am probably way off with how I interpret this first stanza but here it goes…

I think we all just want to love and be loved and as cliche as this may sound I think we all want to be needed in one way or another.As much as an introvert like me makes it seem like we are meant to live isolated and alone, humans are still naturally social beings who seek companionship. The first lyrics of this song seem to be pulling on this idea of wanting to be needed, of opening oneself up and asking that somebody bury their secrets within us.  Yet this is not as easy as allowing somebody to dump their deepest fears and secrets on us and think that it is easy. It takes vulnerability, honesty, loyalty and commitment for both the confessor and the awaiting ear. Telling somebody your darkest secrets is not easy but carrying the weight of somebody's around is no picnic as well. We thirst to know those we love, to be their for them but then we are left with their secrets and the weight of our own as well. They may walk away feeling lighter and sometimes we walk away feeling like we have fallen into a murky pit and it can begin to feel stifling. We may even grow to hate or feel rage towards the person who revealed themselves to us. Maybe resentment or anger because they were honest with us and we can't be honest with them. Maybe rage because they were honest with us and we can't do anything to make it better or we thought we were helping them and that them sharing their hearts with us meant something but then they disappear and we are left with merely echoes of that person, the ghosts of their secrets haunting us with our failure to ease their pain. We all want to love and be loved and to be there for those that we love but are left burdened and haunted by the shadows of their secrets. We are left with their words crawling beneath  our skin yet somehow despite all the resentment we may still love them all the same.

So if you love me, let me go.
And run away before I know.
My heart is just too dark to care.
I can't destroy what isn't there.
Deliver me into my fate –
If I'm alone I cannot hate
I don't deserve to have you…

My smile was taken long ago
If I can change I hope I never know

This resentment that I mentioned in my previous paragraph can lead to wanting that person that you loved to just disappear. If that person really loved you they would just let you go. Shrouded in darkness one's heart can begin to decay and turn into dust.  He is afraid he will destroy the person that they song is about. Just let me go the artists is pleading. Let me go and leave me to my fate which is a reflection of the first verse where he asks her to leave him with his sins. Leave me alone. When you are not here it is hard for me to hate you because it is easier to focus on the good times and I do not deserve you anyway ( angel versus sinner.) The vocalist does not feel worthy or have a very high self worth of himself in comparison to this person who gave there all but still faded away. Is it to late for change? He does not know and is on the verge of not caring anymore. Almost chilled to the bone by the weight of everything at this point.

I still press your letters to my lips
And cherish them in parts of me that savor every kiss
I couldn't face a life without your lights
But all of that was ripped apart when you refused to fight

I am not sure what to make of this verse all together. He clearly cherishes her words and the memories in his heart, a special safe haven for what once was. He loved her deeply and she was like a guiding light to him. With her gone he can't live the same ( shrouded in darkness/ the murk of his own soul and depravity.) Yet the last line throws me off. I can't decide what I make of her refusal to fight. Fight for what? Him? Their relationship? Life? What needed to be fought for?

So save your breath, I will not hear.
I think I made it very clear.
You couldn't hate enough to love.
Is that supposed to be enough?
I only wish you weren't my friend.
Then I could hurt you in the end.
I never claimed to be a saint…

Ooh, my own was banished long ago
It took the death of hope to let you go

 This next grouping of lyrics has on my favorite lines from a song ever. " You could not hate enough to love." While I wish I could put into words why this makes perfect sense to me and how I interpret them I simply can not. I hope that you can find your own meaning in those words and feel the weight of them. I am mesmerized by how accurate they are for me in my own life. The next lyrics, however, are just as relate-able and easier for me to talk about. ' I wish you were not my friend, then I could hurt you in the end, I never claimed to be a saint…'  I can't tell you how bad I am sometimes at even being mad at my friends when they have upset me. I want to show them how furious I am and stay mad at them to sate some feeling within myself but I struggle to stay mad at them and express it because we are so close. Sometimes it would be easier to hurt somebody ( feelings or otherwise) if you were not close to them. I think a lyrics like that showcases the rawness and honest of this song that I mentioned in my introduction. It takes a certain vulnerability and boldness to say something like that upfront in a song though I feel we can all relate to it. Lastly from this section is another one of my favorite lyrics, "It took the death of hope to let you go." Sometimes we have to admit, dismal though it may be, that there is no hope and then and only then can we truly let go.

So break yourself against my stones
And spit your pity in my soul
You never needed any help
You sold me out to save yourself
And I won't listen to your shame
You ran away – you're all the same
Angels lie to keep control…

Ooh, my love was punished long ago
If you still care, don't ever let me know
If you still care, don't ever let me know…

' Break yourself against my stones', are hauntingly beautiful lyrics as well. Sometimes we are there for somebody but it feels like they are just tearing u apart not matter what they do or don't do. You are an angel, he acknowledges that he was never a saint, but you lied to keep control. You used me. You used me to bury your secrets and now they are like gangrene eating away at me and you left me yo save yourself and now I am left with my sins and this burden and my light has been snuffed out and I am finally letting go of hope… of everything. For loving you I was punished long ago. If you car don't waltz back in and pretend like you care or cared all alone and were there for me. Just go away and don't ever let me know because that might strip me bare of any remnant of me that is still left. I think that is the gist of those last lyrics and a good wrap up of this intense song.

– Eva M.M

Thanks for stopping by and reading my thoughts on this band, their music and this song. Note I do not own any of the rights to these lyrics or this song. I have linked you to the A to Z lyrics page where I got the lyrics from and a link to a YouTube lyrics video as well so you can have the audio to listen to as well as you read this page. I would love to hear your own take on these lyrics or experience with the song in the comments by. Also let me know if there are any songs or music you would recommend for me to listen to or just want my input on.

Eva Monhaut is a sophomore at IUSB, majoring in English, and double minoring in French and Sustainability Studies with a concentration in Creative Writing. She is a member of the French and Sustainability Clubs as well as the IUSB Honor's Program. She is also President of the English Club. She is an avid reader who also enjoys writing poetry, short stories, and experimenting with different forms of art. She loves cats, coffee, and sparkling water. In her time at IUSB, she hopes to share with others the joys of reading and writing, as well as continue to work on her own writing. After she graduates, she hopes to spend a few years abroad in France then settle down in her tiny house. She has worked with the Pub Hub since its infancy in January of 2018. View All Posts