[Verse 1]
Undo these chains, my friend, I'll show you the rage I've hidden
Perish the sacrament, swallow but nothing's forgiven
You and I can't decide which of us was taken for granted
Make amends, some of us are destined to be outlived
[Chorus]
Step inside, see the Devil in I
Too many times we've let it come to this
Step inside, see the Devil in I
You'll realize I'm not your Devil anymore
[Verse 2]
Under the words of men, something is tempting the father
Where is your will, my friend? Insatiates never even bother
You and I, wrong or right, traded a lie for the leverage
In between the lens in light, you're not what you seem
[Chorus]
Step inside, see the Devil in I
Too many times we've let it come to this
Step inside, see the Devil in I
You'll realize I'm not your Devil
I'm not your Devil anymore
[Bridge]
Your station is abandoned
Fooled you 'cause I know what you've done
Sensation, deprivation
You should've burned when you turned on everyone
[Chorus]
So step inside, see the Devil in I
Too many times we've let it come to this
Step inside, see the Devil in I
I know you'll find your answers in the end
Step inside, see the Devil in I
You'll realize I'm not your Devil anymore
[Outro]
So step inside
Step inside
See the devil in I
See the devil in I
Photo by Stefano Pollio on Unsplash
A great friend of mine, Will, asked if I could give my point of view on this song. Promptly I've accepted. Maybe it was one of the most difficult songs that were requested to put my perspective.
Some points before going deeper into what the song says, we have to understand what the band's history brings to this context. Recognising, firstly, since the the very beginning the group's lyrics reflects their feelings towards anger, pain and anguish on past traumas and what some of them were living at that time.
I also note the band's return with new material since their last album (All Hope Is Gone, from 2008) and this song (the first single from the album .5: The Gray Chapter, from 2014) making a new season. In the meantime the band have gone through some changes, like Joey Jordison's depart, he was the drummer, which some consider a treason, and the passing away of one of the band's founder and, till then, band's bassist, Paul Gray, in 2010.
We keep on feeding nasty and negative feelings from the past. It may be a lost or grief, some "devil" we'd faced, disgust towards someone who went by your life. Everytime we visit them, we're receding with our lives. Then you ask me: why receding? I answer with two sentences I heard or read somewhere:
"Overflowing past is depression. Overflowing present is stress. Overflowing future is anxiety."
"Who lives in the past is museum."
Though I disagree with the "overflowing" of the first one, I can see truths. If we are too focused in a point which we don't have any control, our life loses its course and we may develop mental disorders, as the already mentioned in the sentence, and even physical ones. We must use the past as tool to be better beings. Not for the futre: for the here and now! We don't have controle about the future or if we even will be alive.
The Bible brings and interesting excerpt regarding the past, and it's on the book of Isaiah 43:18: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past". And this jibes with Shawn Crahah, one of the band's percussionists, pointed being one of the song's inspirations: becoming one with your past and doing away with it.
Doing away with anger. Doing away with grief. Doing away with fears! Talking about fears, it's one of the points the video reinforces. Although visually unpleasant, we see Chris Fehn, the other percussionist, being eaten by crows, because it's exactly one of his fears, and Sid Wilson, the DJ, eating his own arm and fingers, being them fundamental for his "instrument". The fusion with the fear to become better musicians.
Don't live in the past. Don't feed your fears. Use them in favour of being a better person. Know how to forgive and accept forgiveness.
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Sources:
https://genius.com/Slipknot-the-devil-in-i-lyrics
https://slipknot.fandom.com/wiki/The_Devil_in_I
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/slipknot/the-devil-in-i
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