Terrible Angels by Coco Rosie Lyrics Meaning – An Exploration of Intrigues and Angelic Paradoxes
Lyrics
Then why do you welcome them
If every angel’s terrible
Then why do you welcome them
If every angel’s terrible
Then why do you welcome them
You provide the birdbath
I provide the skin
And bathing in the moonlight
I’m to tremble like a kitten
If blue eyed babes
Raised as hitler’s little brides and sons
They got angelic tendencies
Like some boys tend to act like queens
Oh if every angel’s terrible
Then why do you watch her sleep
You love to hear her sing
And wear purple eyes like rings
Well the flowers have no scent
And the child’s been miscarried
Oh every angel’s terrible
Said freud and rilke all the same
Rimbaud never paid them no mind
But jimmi morrison had his elevators
His elevators
He had his elevator angels
If every angel’s terrible
Why do you hide inside her
Like a child in a skirt
The supermarket’s loud and bright
And boy don’t she feel warm tonight
Boy don’t she feel warm tonight
Boy don’t she feel warm tonight
If every angel’s terrible…
Coco Rosie’s ‘Terrible Angels’ is not your ordinary lyrical affair; it’s a dark horse galloping through the meadows of mystery and paradox, a tune that beckons the eccentric spirit as it dissects the very fabric of inherent contradictions in its subject matter. The track is a subtle quilt, stitching together folkloric wisdom and contemporary symbolism, woven by the artistry of sisters Bianca ‘Coco’ and Sierra ‘Rosie’ Casady.
A haunting melody underscored by introspective phrases, ‘Terrible Angels’ dives into the depths where whimsical meets the grotesque, compelling the listener to question preconceived notions of purity and horror. Embarking on this auditory journey, we attempt to unravel the tangled skein of themes that ‘Terrible Angels’ deftly presents.
Dancing with Paradoxes: Embracing the Terrible Grace
The refrain of ‘every angel’s terrible’ is a paradox that fuels Coco Rosie’s song with a dissonant beauty. It echoes the sentiments of French poet Charles Baudelaire, who mused about the alchemy of good and evil in celestial beings. The song challenges the traditional dichotomy of angels as symbols of unblemished purity, suggesting an underside that is as flawed and fervid as humanity itself.
It’s a poetic acknowledgment that light cannot exist without darkness, and that even the most divine entities harbor shadows. We ‘welcome them’, despite—or perhaps because of—their terrible nature, a sentiment that reverberates with our complex relationship with the concept of moral and spiritual perfection.
The Birdbath Ritual: A Convergence of Innocence and Experience
Coco Rosie places us beside a birdbath, symbolizing a threshold where wildness meets domestication, nature confronts nurture. The act of providing one’s own skin for the ritualistic bath under the moon conjures images of vulnerability and transformation. It’s as if the song whispers a confession: to tremble like a kitten is to be at once at the mercy of more extensive cosmic forces and an active participant in one’s own rebirth.
The birdbath ritual also suggests an intimate exchange between the mortal and the divine, a surrender to the uncanniness that moonlight represents—lunacy, changeability, the hidden sides of ourselves that only come out in the nocturnal hours.
Innocence Lost and the Pursuit of Identity
The lyric referencing ‘blue-eyed babes’ raised in tainted purity alludes to the sinister nurturing of youth, a nod to historical propagandas and their disguised angelic tendencies. Through the dichotomy of ‘boy[s] tending to act like queens,’ Coco Rosie speaks to the ambiguity of gender norms and the subversion of expected behaviors, amplifying the song’s recurring motif of challenging prevailing archetypes.
It’s a reminder that within the construct of innocence, there is often a pressure to conform, and that the supposed sanctity of childhood can be manipulated, leading to identity crises and a feeling of displacement that haunt well into adulthood.
Witnessing the Hidden Meanings: Freud, Rilke, Rimbaud, and Morrison
Coco Rosie name-drops cultural heavyweights—Freud representing psychoanalytical discourse, Rilke with his spiritual poetics, Rimbaud’s revolutionary symbolism, and Jim Morrison with his countercultural mysticism—to weave a rich tapestry of intellectual discourse. Each figure provides a different perspective on the nature of angels, art, and the inner workings of the mind.
By acknowledging these eclectic views, the sisters juxtapose the clinical with the creative, the philosophical with the fantastical. Morrison’s ‘elevator angels’ become an emblem of ascending beyond the mundane, emphasizing the quest for transcendence in the grasp of the profane.
Memorable Phrases that Haunt and Heal
Embarking on Coco Rosie’s lyrical journey, certain phrases leave indelible marks. ‘The flowers have no scent / And the child’s been miscarried’ cuts through the dreamy atmosphere of the song with a piercing reminder of lost potential and the fragility of life.
As the juxtaposition of warmth and fright collide in the concluding line ‘Boy don’t she feel warm tonight,’ it evokes an unsettling mix of comfort and dread, encapsulating the track’s essence. It’s here, in the midst of such conflicting emotional currents, that ‘Terrible Angels’ finds its power—inviting us to find solace in the discomfort of complexity.
