“Slaughterhouse” by Motionless in White (ft. Bryan Garris)

According to many an analyst, “Slaughterhouse” serves as a criticism of the Trump Administration. Actually Chris Motionless is on record as being less than fond of the Donald, even calling for protests against him while he was holding down the US Presidency. So it wouldn’t be out of the way to speculate that such a stance does serve as a premise to this song.

Is “Slaughterhouse” really about President Trump?

It should be noted that his track was dropped a good two years after Trump had already been voted out of office. Furthermore, there’s nothing directly featured in the lyrics that would indicate they are aimed at the former US prez. But what is obvious is this. The object of the vocalist’s disdain is indeed a rich person. And the further implication is that said individual is akin to a politician, i.e. someone who is influentially in power. The way this leader is presented is as a ‘fascist pig’, milking his people and making them suffer through hardship.

There are a couple of parts of the song though that theoretically may be aimed at Trump. For instance, the subject is presented as a liar with “false… teeth”, who is a “slave” to his own “wealth”. Well, no one’s really sure if Donald Trump’s teeth are fake or not, though it does appear that many believe so. But that said,  the notion of the subject being preoccupied with his wealth is a classification that arguably all rich people fall into.

Also, the word “wall” is present throughout, ultimately pointing to the singer’s belief that the masses will rise up against this leader. And of course, one of the most (in)famous aspects of Donald Trump’s presidency was his resolve to build a wall to block off the US from Mexico.

Takeaway

Conclusively, once again considering Chris Motionless’ past criticisms of the Donald, yes, the latter did likely serve as an inspiration for this piece, if not in whole then at least in part. But if Motionless in White really wanted to attack Trump, they could have used metaphors or what have you that more directly point to his character.

So instead, what this song really reads like is a criticism of all leaders who are more concerned with their own wellbeing than the welfare of their people. Indeed the “slaughterhouse” being referred to is an allegory for said individual’s own repressive governance. And what the singer is predicting is that eventually, the greed of this person will be his own undoing, i.e. the masses eventually rising up, or something like that.

Facts about “Slaughterhouse”

Motionless in White’s entertainingly-titled studio album, “Scoring the End of the World”, is is their sixth album. 

Being released by Roadrunner Records on 13 May 2022, “Slaughterhouse” marks the third single issued from that project thus far.

The featured vocalist on this track, Bryan Garris, is the lead singer of another band known as Knocked Loose. Bryan co-wrote “Slaughterhouse” with Motionless in White’s own frontman, Chris Motionless. Also to note, this is the first time these two acts have teamed up.

This track was produced by Drew Fulk and Justin deBlieck.