After reading through the lyrics once, I think the song is about a swamp monster who feels lust towards a human and a human who reciprocates those feelings. Unlike the usual story where the monster lures the human in with sex appeal and then kills the human, in this song the monster is just as mezmerized by the human and it's unclear if it wants to kill the human.
All of this could be literal - it's a Halloweenie song after all - but it could also be symbolic. Lets go through the song, portion by portion:
You’re the one
I hope you didn’t see me see me unhinging my jaw
Don’t be scared, do not run
I need you to be patient with me, I’m no angel dove
I need you to be patient with me, I’m no angel dove
The monster is mezmerized by the human and it's jaw drops because the human is so gorgeous.
Vs.
The monster unhinges it's jaw because it wants to eat the human.
The monster pleads the human not to be scared, not to run away from them, to be patient. It's aware that it's a monster, it's "no angel".
It's calling the human "dove", which is a pretty common word of endearment, but as a bird it's also a symbol of hope. The human represents hope for the monster. Perhaps the monster felt like it was unloveable because it's so scary and not an angel. Maybe this human is different, maybe this one will love it?
Possess me
Lightweight Lexapro affect me
Exorcism sexy
Wet leaves and fresh meat
Connecting
Wet swamp sex sounds to set scene
Hex me
Dissect me
Swords out protect thee
Possess me
Possess me
Possess me
Possess me
Possess me
Lexapro is a brand name of escitalopram, the most commonly used depression/anxiety medication there is.
The monster is comparing the interaction to how an antidepressant makes one feel.
An exorcism also makes sense, since it is making an evil force do as you want it to, usually taking over a human body or letting go of a human body - the human is exorcising the monster, controlling it, but the monster is also exorcising the human, taking control of their body.
The monster doesn't necessarily have a human-like body. It can be made of wet leaves, partially or entirely. So, the wet leaves and fresh meat connecting could be the monster itself describing how it looks like, or it could be the wet leaves of the swamp monster and the fresh meat of the human connecting, because they're having sex.
I think the human is a little scared about it, though, or confused as to what is going on, because sex with a swamp monster might not be like sex is between two people. The human has a sword (you can interpret it as a phallic object if you will, I think the monster is) to protect themselves, and is "dissecting" the monster with it.
The dissecting can be more figurative as well (I think it's either just literal or it's both literal and figurative), like the human is trying to understand the monster and is figuratively dissecting it, trying to make sense of it.
Lick it lock it
Diva demonic I might
Scheme and plot it
The veil is thinning tonight
Hedonic
Okay gossip
I want it
Mmm you’re the creature I like
Possess me
"Lick it lock it" just reminds of me of that childish thing kids do, where they take a treat they like, like candy or a cupcake, and then they lick it and say "I licked it, so it's mine!" 😂 The human is doing the same, it's licking the monster, "locking" it to be theirs from now on (or the other way around). I didn't come up with this connection on my own, though, the online wlw (= women loving women = lesbians, bi & pan women, etc) have been making this joke for forever - if they lick a girl (sexually), the girl is now theirs (their girlfriend). I think that's what Ash is going for here, and expressing it this way because now there's an internal rhyme.
"Diva demonic, I might scheme and plot it" is quite self-explanatory. The monster is the demonic diva and it's going to scheme and plot to get the human.
"The veil is thinning" is a new age religion thing, but I think it originates from some other religion. The veil is the boundary between our world and the supernatural world and it can become thinner or thicker. It is said that it is at it's thinnest on Halloween. In this song, the human is able to see and feel the monster because the veil is thinning.
The veil can also be thought as sheer, sensual clothing. More is exposed tonight, literally and figuratively.
Hedonism is a life philosophy, where the most important thing for a person are earthly pleasures, such as sex. (It doesn't have to rule their entire life - an act can be hedonic just as well, without the person usually being that way.)
I heard there's a rumor going around that a certain swamp monster has a thing for a certain human (jk). But that's what the "gossip" bar is about.
Interesting that the monster calls the human a creature. I guess their species is not an important factor to it, it'd want them even if they were not a human.
Labyrinthine libido
Find me peep show
Teach me how to love like people
Pierce my ego
Suck me like mosquito
All black like neo
Is it magick or placebo?
Fill me up with it anyways
Possess me
Labyrinthine can mean
1) something labyrinth-like, intricate, involved
2) something that originates in the internal ear
3) a video game called Labyrinthine (it's co-operative horror game)
Libido is a person's sex drive, how much sex they want.
The libido of the monster or the human is complex - it's not as black and white as yes they want sex or no they don't want sex, there's more to it. It's more inside the ear, and inside the brain than in the body... That's how sexuality often works for women (which I'm assuming the monster and the human identify more as) - how the other person looks like or earn or what their job is or what kind of car they drive are almost completely insignificant. What matters is if the woman likes the person and if the mood is right. If the person does or says something wrong or something else breaks the mood, they don't want the sex anymore.
I think the "inside the ear" part could also mean both of them are drawn to sounds. You know how they say "men are visual creatures", meaning that men want sex with people they're visually attracted to? This monster and this human might be sonically into each other the same way - they want sex with each other, because they like how the other one sounds.
"Find me peep show" has the sexual layer to it, but it's also the monster telling the person to come find them, since they do exist in different realm and the human might not see them if they're not really looking.
"Teach me how to love like people / Pierce my ego" is something even a human being might say to another human being. Because of their past mistakes, they don't see themselves as human anymore. They have a very low self esteem, but they put up a front, they pretend like they're very confident.
- Or it could be a monster, who has seen people loving each other and is fascinated by it, and earns to know how it feels like and how to make it work, and pleads the human to teach it how to do it.
The music video also has a similar atmosphere than the game does (based on the screenshots I saw of it, I haven't played it). Also, Labyrinthine was made a by an independent gaming company of 15 people, and the music video for Possess Me - although, been published by Ash's label, WMG, one of the biggest labels out there - had only seven people working on it. A big budget video with a gazillion people working on it would not feel the same. I prefer this feeling. I love that she's going smaller, the big budget mainstream pop trap videos felt less like her than this.
Neo is the main character from the movie Matrix, and all he wears is black. This could mean that the swamp monster is black, or that it's blood is black (the blood the mosquito is sucking) or it could be more metaphorical - that they're dark and moody. Neo wasn't too happy in the movie either, learning that the "reality" we live in is not real, but a simulation. Also, the next bar has the word "magick", so the magick could also be black.
Magick is the alternate spelling of the word magic and it's used by the modern Western new age religion kind of witches, to separate it from the kind of magic a magician does on stage for entertainment. For witches, it's not entertainment, it's a religious practice.
Placebo is a thing used in medical research. One group is given the actual medication they're testing for an illness they have and the other group of sick people is given a placebo medication (=they're told they're given the medication, but it's not actually medication) and sometimes a third group is given nothing. Then we see who gets better and how fast. Sometimes just the placebo is enough, that's how strong the human mind is - it thinks it's getting medication for something and heals the body despite not getting the medication. And if that is the case, it begs to question if the medication did anything, or if convincing the person they're getting better is enough. No need to put a burden on the liver for nothing, you know.
The monster is unsure if this is real magick or a placebo effect, if they just think this is magick.
But in the end, they don't care. Whether or not the magick is real, they want it anyways. They want the blue pill (Matrix reference). They want to stay in this reality, in this belief, even if it's not real and just their imagination.
In this sleepy town
They speak of me in whispers
Say my name out loud
I dare you free me now
I need you to see me now
I call you draw you out
Possess me
Possess me
Possess me
Possess me
The monster is feared and ostracized by the townsfolk. It's lonely, living at the swamp alone, feeling like no one understands it and sees it for what it really is. It may be a monster, but that doesn't mean it's evil.
Just imagine how a human would feel like in a similar situation. If everyone spoke about them behind their back, but never to their face. How lonely they'd feel. That's how the monster feels.
I want it, I get it. I want it, I get it. I want it, I get it. I want
it, I get it.
I want it, I get it. I want it, I get it. I want it, I get it. I want
it, I get it.
The monster seems very determined to get the human.
I am a shadow in the shape of a girl
I’m a bad omen with malevolent urges
They warned you
You want me
Together we could bring ruin to the kingdom
Possess me
Possess you
Possess me
Possess you
Possess you
Possess you
"I am a shadow in the shape of a girl" is such a sad line. It reminds me of the Moomin story The Invisible Child, a Finnish children's story from 1962 (written in Swedish, the author Tove Jansson is a Swedish-speaking Finn). It is about a girl named Ninny, who literally turns invisible, because her caretaker was such a horrible person to them. The caretaker gave her to Too-Ticky, who gave her to Moominmamma to make her visible again. With secret family recipes and lots of love, Moominmamma succeeds. Here's the entire story in English, read out loud: Moomin storytime with Sophia Jansson: The Invisible Child - YouTube. I've read it in Finnish, but I originally saw it as an episode in the 90s anime made of the books, which in Finland is known as Muumilaakson tarinoita. Moomin (1990 TV series) - Wikipedia
There's that expression, how someone is "a shadow of their former self", how they're not as strong or lively as they used to be. I guess that's why it made me think of the Moomin story.
Similarly, in this bar, the swamp monster is all black like Neo or a shadow - dark, literally and figuratively. No one sees it, not really. It's been bullied so much it's nearly invisible now.
The monster is asking the human to see them, to hear them, to feel them, and then with the human's love, it could become strong enough to ruin those that wronged it.
In the end, with the "possess me, possess you" it is made clear that the monster and the human are both possessed, but in the end, maybe the human is a bit more so... Maybe because the human agreed to the deal, and now the monster is stronger than ever. It doesn't need the human as much as it did before. They were equals, but now it's stronger than them.
Ps. I kind of hope and kind of don't hope that if she really likes this swamp idea, that she'll film a music video at an actual swamp. I do hope it because that'd be cool and also, Finland has a huge amount of natural swamps and if she wanted to film at a swamp, she could. But then again I don't wish that, because then they (the music video crew) might do something they're not supposed to the swamp, or the tourists that want to see the swamp she filmed at might do something... Swamps are very delicate ecosystems and I don't want a bunch of stupid tourists interfering with the balance. I think Ash knows this, though, I can see how that's another layer in the lyrics - the swamp monster being delicate and easily thrown off balance.
Pps. I love these internal rhymes and her flow on this song! Very impressive!
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