“The Place Where He Inserted The Blade” Analysis
A breakdown of my favorite track off of Black Country, New Road’s masterpiece “Ants From Up There”
Album cover for “Ants From Up There”
Black Country, New Road’s Sophomore album is a triumph of music. Few records have given me a feeling of such raw visceral emotion. I found myself tearing up by the third song due to the beautifully poetic lyrics and grandiose progression of melancholic melodies. Being an easy five star album and one of my new favorites, I would love to do a deep dive analysis of the complete album at some point, but for now I will hold myself to my favorite song on the record, “The Place Where He Inserted The Blade”.
The track is positioned between “Mark’s Theme” and “Snow Globes”. “Mark’s Theme” acts as a sort of palette cleanser before the conclusion of the album, which is a three part attack on the heart that solidifies the record as an all time great with its soul shattering lyrics, painful performance from the lead singer, and goosebump inducing backing instruments. Being the first part of this conclusive trilogy, although it ends in a fantastical nature typical for this album, it seems to be the most tame of the three with “Snow Globes” ending in a flurry of drums and explosive instrumentals.
The song itself starts with a slow piano, light strumming from a guitar, and careful blows from wind instruments, all establishing the tone for the track if it wasn’t already obvious by the depressing sound Black Country expertly creates. The slow buildup also serves the purpose of acting as a set up for the kinetic ending, a tool used by the band throughout the album that helps generate a grand feel to the project. The lyrics arrive about one minute into the song, starting with
Verse 1:
You’re scared of a world where you’re needed
So you never made nice with the locals
But you tied me up slow with your vine stuff
It takes a few years, but they break bones
It takes a few months, but our bones heal
We’re stronger, and we tell all our school friends
And they sign our cast in the playground
Darling, the rest of my body, it’s yours, then
The main theme of the album is the lead singer, Issac, struggling with the end of his one-sided relationship where he is extremely codependent on his partner turned stranger. Meaning, this verse has Issac talking to his long lost lover. The first two lines refers to his partners anxious nature, as one pattern displayed by those with social anxiety is to shelter themselves. Despite this apparent distance, they still managed to wrap Issac in their “vine stuff”, what I presume to be a metaphor for their love. I believe it is this form of analogies, ones that so perfectly describe the referent in a way one would never expect, adds to the charm of the album as a whole. Regardless, Issac finds his bones breaking under the crushing weight of this love, a sign of his codependency wreaking havoc on this relationship and causing pain. However, as the next three lines describe, they decide to push through, believing that they have become stronger from their struggles. The final line then solidifies Issac’s desperation for his partner, proclaiming that despite the clear pain he has gone through, that not only his healed bones but the rest of his body belongs to his significant other. They are ready to move on together. It’s also important to note the use of a school playground in these lyrics. Childhood imagery and nostalgia are both running themes throughout the album and again add to the melancholic and ethereal feel of the music.
[Pre-Chorus]
I know you're scared
Well, I’m scared too
Oh, that every time I try to make lunch
For anyone else, in my hеad
I end up dreaming of you
And you come to me
The sound of the music in the last verse was still very much in line with the patient beginning, only adding a steady drum that picks up the slightest bit by the end of the first verse. However, this pre-chorus comes with a change of sound to a more sing songy feel with consistent plucks and piano notes. Add in a bass and we have a beat that acts as a perfect buildup to the chorus where the instruments crescendo and unite in a matter of seconds that are paired with introductions to various horns. The lyrics match this buildup by synching with the beat. I find the lines of the pre chorus conveying that the two are on uneven terms, with Issac trying to convince his lover to stay. The first two lines show this explicitly, with Issac attempting to relate to his partner by saying he’s also afraid, but it seems they’re scared for two different reasons. His partner is afraid to go on, afraid of the pain and healing process that riddles this relationship, while Issac is afraid of them leaving, another example of his codependency. According to Genius, the lines of the chorus are a dramatic description of Issac attempting a cooking tutorial and failing. Assuming we follow this interpretation, the next four lines begin the cooking description. Anytime Issac tries to make lunch for someone else, anytime he even thinks of another person even in a nonsexual manner, his mind still jumps back to his partner. He doesn’t just think of them, he dreams of them, and in the land of Issac’s dream of course they would come back to him.
[Chorus]
Good morning
Show me the place where he inserted the blade
I’ll praise the Lord, burn my house
I get lost, I freak out
You come home and hold me tight
As if it never happened at all
Good morning
The chorus displays the explosiveness that makes this album so emotional. It’s the ultimate release of tension built up by the slow piano of the intro and steady nature of the pre-chorus. String and wind instruments overlay the piano and the drum punctuates every line, especially “I praise the lord, burn my house, I get lost, I freak out”. The first line “Good morning” acts as a payoff to the setup of “I end up dreaming of you” in the pre-chorus. The “Good morning” is a harsh wake up to the reality of Issac’s situation: this relationship is no longer, a wish of his that he’s been dreaming of but is not reality. The line that doubles as the title refers to the cooking tutorial, where Issac asks his partner to show him where “he”, what I assume to be his partners new lover, inserted the blade. In other words, Issac wants to know what the new special person in his ex’s life is doing that he isn’t, why are they capable of loving Issac’s once partner while he is stuck watching. The following two lines depict Issac at the moment of this realization. Once he realizes this relationship is not his, he cannot help but freak out. Without them, he is lost, he freaks out, he prays, he metaphorically burns his house while messing up his cooking tutorial, which acts an analogy for his relationship. The only way to remedy this panic is seen in the next two lines, for his partner to return and tell Issac that none of it happened, that they’re still together and always will be. But, this isn’t the case, as the next line acts as another call to reality for Issac. At the moment he believes that maybe they’ll come back, he wakes up. Good morning.
[Bridge]
Show me the place where he inserted the blade
Good morning
Where is your light?
Am I home?
I will hold to my chest where the wind can exist
I will try
Not to keep you too long
The bridge is both the culmination of minutes of buildup and the beginning of a come down that carries us into the next half of the song. The first line is another plea from Issac to be taught what he’s doing wrong, only to be immediately faced with that same bleak realization. There is nothing he can do, he will never insert the blade correctly, he has to wake up from this fantasy. The next two lines show a desperation in Issac now that his lover is gone. Where is his partner? Without them, he can’t find home. It’s yet another glimpse into his codependency on someone who is no longer his. The next line is where the first half of the song comes to a climax, a moment where Issac tries clinging onto this fragmented relationship. There are references to weather in both “Snow Globe” and “Basketball Shoes”, with one line in the ladder being “I am the convo/you are the weather”. The line refers to small talk that usually focuses on the weather. Issac is the conversation that revolves around the weather, his ex. In relation to this track, the third to last line could be read as Issac holding onto a place where “the wind can exist”. He is trying to make an environment suitable for “weather”, AKA his partner. The way the music matches the following two lines is immaculate. As stated, the music crescendos at this proclamation of love, but immediately comes down when Issac realizes he can’t act as desperate as he has been out of fear of pushing his ex away. He says he’ll try not to keep her too long, a way of convincing them to stay even for a moment.
[Verse 2]
So, clean your soup-maker and breathe in
Your chicken, broccoli, and everything
The tug that’s between us, that long string
Concorde, Bound 2, and my evening
The good hunter’s guide to a bad night
Darlin’, I’ll spoil it myself, thanks, you’re leaving
Well, I tried just to stroke your dreams better
But, darlin’, I see that you’re not really sleeping
A soup maker is an obscure kitchen tool to reference but makes sense in the context of the song and its cooking analogies. Again, I’ll be taking this specific point from an analysis of the opening two lines on Genius. Keeping in line with the cooking analogy, opening a soup maker and smelling the “chicken, broccoli, and everything” is reminiscent of opening a can of worms. The two have cooked together, the soup maker then acts as a representation of their connection, but it is now tainted and Issac asks for his ex to breathe in their troubles. Although this is a sound analysis, I believe there is also a different reading of these lines. Considering the third line speaks of their connection as a long string tied between the two that is constantly tugging, I could see the opening two lines being another form of Issac begging his lover to stay by recognizing all of the good times they’ve had, i.e smelling the broccoli and everything from the soup maker. The obscurity of the soup maker still applies in this reading, as the smells representing positive moments in their relationship are limited to this one tool that is rarely used. In other words, Issac wants his significant other to recognize everything great about their relationship when, in reality, these moments are limited, they are few and far between just like the times when one uses a soup maker. The fourth line includes a few references, one being “Concorde”, a repeating symbol throughout the album for, at some moments their failing relationship, and others Issac’s partner themself. Calling out “Concorde” is essentially calling for his ex, and “Bound 2” being spelled with a number instead of the word seems to be a reference to the Kanye West song of the same name. This reference calls attention to the similar themes between the two songs, such as codependency, broken relationships, and toxic behaviors. The final words in this line act as a set up for the next, where Issac states “and my evening” with the following line being a definition of his evening as a “good hunter’s guide to a bad night”. This means that his evening, one of desperation, loss, and continuing to search for his, for lack of a better word in relation to hunting, “target” acts as a guide to a good hunters guide to a bad night. In the same way Issac continues the search despite his partner being gone, a good hunter would never give up on their target, even on a night when they never appear. The next line has Issac saying he’ll spoil the relationship himself, he’ll take the blame for a crummy end to what he sees as a beautiful connection. This is why the next few words sees him thanking his partner for leaving, it’s a rushed ironic goodbye. The final two lines of the verse have Issac explaining how he tried to be better but couldn’t succeed. He tried to “stroke her dreams better”, but this effort was for naught as they weren’t even in the correct stake to have their dreams be stroked. This is analogous for Issac trying to better their connection past a point of no return, it no longer matters what he does to heal this relationship he spoiled as his partner is not in a state of loving. The music again intensifies which perfectly matches the powerful performance from Issac and the heartbreaking lyrics. It then enters the same sing songy beat for the second pre-chorus that again acts as a build up for the chorus itself.
[Pre-Chorus]
And I know you’re tired
Well, I’m tired too
Oh, that every time I try to make lunch
For anyone else, in my head
I end up dreaming of you
And you come to me
The only notable difference from the last pre-chorus is the change from “scared” to “tired”. It reflects a depressing exhaustion felt through their relationship, but for Issac that’s not enough to let go. Despite the hardships they’ve faced, the destruction Issac’s codependency has brought, the fatigue they both share, Issac still dreams of making lunch for his partner. He still enters this imaginary state of them returning to Issac, which is similarly destroyed with the beginning of the chorus.
[Chorus]
Good morning
Show me the place where he inserted the blade
I’ll praise the Lord, burn my house
I get lost, I freak out
You come home and hold me tight
As if it never happened at all
Good morning
The meaning of the lyrics are essentially the same here in comparison to when the chorus was first introduced, but the instruments and singing both give a heightened level of pain. It’s the beginning of the song taken up to eleven, a perfect display of the bands flawless ability to build up to a grand sound. The added vocals from the other band members add so much to the ending of this song, especially with the “da daaa”’s that play over the end of this verse and the outro.
[Outro]
Show me the fifth or the cadence you want me to play
Good morning
Show me where to tie the other end of this chain
These lines are a bit spread out from each other, which gives the effect that instead of the words guiding the instruments, it’s the other way around. The vast amount of instruments and vocals are simply gorgeous when coming together in these final minutes, and the lyrics give them time to shine. The first line is a meta reference to codependency with Issac speaking to the listener. The relationship between an artist and their fans is a codependent one, the singer cannot survive without the fans and vice versa. We know Issac is addressing the audience by the mention of “the fifth” and “cadence”, both being musical phrases that would determine how a song sounds. Issac asks the audience, essentially, how he should finish this song. It’s another way to show how lost Issac is without his partner. He’s so desperate for connection and guidance that he turns to the listener themselves to satisfy his loneliness. Again, he wakes up, realizes his significant other has left, and as a result the string that previously connected them is now one sided. Issac finishes the song by asking for someone to show him where to tie the other end of this rope, an incredible display of his addiction to connection as he is asking someone else to decide who he should be codependent on next. The song takes a minute to let the music cool down and conclude in a melancholic string of notes that leads beautifully into the next track.