10 Hard Rock Song Lyrics That Nobody Understands
7. I Bring An Avalanche Of Toltec Bones, Contaminated Cravings If You Choose
Legendary progressive rockers, The Mars Volta, recorded their live song Idle Tooth and re-titled it as Wax Simulacra for the release of 2008's The Bedlam In Goliath. While The Mars Volta have never been known for clarity in their lyrical content - most of their tracks, and albums, are cryptic at best - Wax Simulacra is enough to send Robert Langdon back to The Louvre.
The song is perhaps not meant to be taken alone, as it fits into a larger mystical narrative throughout the album, about the vengeance and trials of a family of ghosts. However, some individual meaning can be found in the perplexing line, 'I bring an avalanche of Toltec bones, contaminated cravings if you choose'. Singer and lyricist Cedrix Bixler-Zavala has Mexican heritage (which the band has frequently leant into) and Toltec bones refer to the spirit of a wise artist in the mythical ancestry of Mexico and Central America.
It seems he is claiming a cursed talent; a meta-commentary on seizing his lineage and utilising it to produce the 'contaminated cravings' of this piece of Volta's music. Need more evidence? Look no further than the song's title: the singer is the wax simulacra, or the diluted spirit, of what has come before.
This mysterious song went on to win The Mars Volta a Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy in 2009 and, coincidentally, one of the shortest songs they have ever put out, clocking in at a slender two minutes and thirty-nine seconds.