Meaning of 'Fiend Before the Shrine'

by Robyn Hitchcock

Interpretation

The lyrics of the song 'Fiend Before the Shrine' by Robyn Hitchcock describe the encounter with an evil being in front of a shrine. The singer and his friend go to this shrine, where the fiend, the evil being, calls men of faith to their death. The shrine is surrounded by ferns and adorned with ivy. It is filled with duckweed and snails. The fiend's mouth is filled with nails.

The fiend invites people to see his terrible shrine. He says that God is life and that life is pleasure, and that it will still be when we are dust. The shrine is full of entrails, hair, little tongues, and throats that grow out of cheese and come out from behind the knees. There is even a pumpkin with scaly legs and writhing eels as hair.

The pumpkin winks at the singer and symbolically tells him that he has seen enough and should go. The singer sings about life and death and that he will continue singing until he runs out of breath. The text ends with the singer and his friend going to the shrine and seeing the fiend, who has apparently existed there for years.

Overall, the lyrics describe a surreal and creepy scene observed by the singer and his friend. Images of corruption and eeriness are created to create an unsettling atmosphere.