Bring Me the Horizon has a brand new single off of their upcoming album, and it is unique to say the least. The song, titled “Parasite Eve,” draws a lot of inspiration from the world under lockdown from the Coronavirus COVID-19. However, the song is not about the pandemic itself, but rather a similar effect. Let’s explore the lyrics and meaning further.
“Parasite Eve” releases as the second single from Bring Me the Horizon’s 2020 album ‘Post Human.’ The song follows the first single “Ludens” which was a major hit around the world.
The band had the following to say about the song and it’s relation to the COVID-19 pandemic;
We’ve got to look that face to face. We’ve got to confront it. We’ve got to feel it. We’ve got to breathe it. We’ve got to live it sometimes to get through this. You know, it’s understandable that we want to repress these feelings, and sometimes becoming civilized requires us to repress aspects of ourselves that don’t fit in with the structured ideal of our society.
The song title “Parasite Eve” is borrowed from a 1998 video game also titled the same. The action game follows the story of a New York City police officer, Aya Brea, over a six-day span in 1997 as she attempts to stop the Eve, a woman who plans to destroy the human race through spontaneous human combustion.
Watch “Parasite Eve” Video by Bring Me The Horizon
“Parasite Eve” Lyrics Meaning & Song Review
Intro
An aptly bizarre introduction to this song. Sung in Bulgarian, this is a direct sample from the song “Ergen Deda” by Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares. The lyrics roughly translates to;
He tilted the cap like that
Up and down, like this, like this-//
Verse 1
The lead vocalist of Bring Me the Horizon, Olie Sykes, start off the song with a reference to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the prevention guidelines for COVID-19, people were instructed to maintain social distancing to stop the spread of the virus. The initial signs of the COVID-19 were cough and fever. Sneezing, too, relates to the same set of guidelines. To prevent the spread of the virus through involuntary actions such as sneezing, people were encouraged to wear face masks when in public.
The singer also says that ‘fear’ is the best tool in controlling the masses. Initially, health organizations warned people of the disease and advised on preventive measures. But lack of adherence to such measures resulted in the virus escalating to a global pandemic level. When statistics start flowing in about the spread and death, then start the spread of fear. Now people oblige, in fear of their lives, and this caused people to adhere to COVID-19 prevention guidelines, and eventually assisted to slow down the spread of the virus.
“I know you’re dying to run / I wanna turn you around” lines from the song are quite powerful. These lines refer to the protests around the world in fighting for justice for the murder of George Floyd by Minnesota policemen. Just when the spread of COVID-19 was slowing down, the protests broke out, for all the right reasons too. However, these massive public gatherings might have aided in the USA being not able to control the spread of the virus so far. So, the singer says that he understands people’s urge to fight against injustice, however, we have a bigger threat at hand!
Pre-chorus
These lines, spoken out in the form of a public announcement, takes the tone of an authoritative figure issuing their final statement on the ongoing affairs. The world came to a standstill under the Coronavirus pandemic around the world. At the time of writing this article, COVID-19 has claimed over 495,000 lives and infected over 9.8 million people around the world. The world economy crashed and millions lost their jobs. Millions of businesses closed down, and people were forced to lock themselves inside their homes. This is the closest scenario to a ‘world end’ humanity has faced recently. So it is appropriate that these lines in the song issue a final warning: “Please, remain calm, the end has arrived.” And worse is when these authoritative figures wipe off their hands; “We cannot save you, enjoy the ride.”
Chorus
In the very catchy chorus of “Parasite Eve,” BMTH draws the references to the video game. The verse also encourages the listeners not to forget the lessons out of this worldwide pandemic. If we do forget this, it is more than possible that the same virus or even a more dangerous virus could emerge.
Verse 2
Oli Sykes talked about the second verse in BMTH Season 2’s “Mick Gordon.” He explains;
The second verse, for instance, I’m speaking about conspiracy theories and, you know, all these f*cking crazy sh*t that people make up to try and explain something that’s actually really simple. It’s almost like got this mechanical and paranoid skitzy feeling to it.
Many conspiracy theories have spun up amongst the COVID-19 pandemic claiming that the threat is not real. It really baffles us to think that there are people who chose to deny the truth they see, for the simple pleasure of believing themselves to be correct for once in their lives! These conspiracy theories are true signs of a failed education system and a serious degradation of common sense.
Breakdown
In these lyrics, Bring Me the Horizon, emphasizes on how most authoritative bodies, predominantly the governments around the world, failed to take proper actions to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic. “Washing your hands very frequently” was one of the simplest COVID-19 prevention tips issued by health authorities. But the only hand washing the government did was leave the people undirected and unmonitored. Closing down of air and land borders, closing down of public places such as schools were not prioritized by some governments, which most definitely aided in this pandemic becoming a global threat.
Outro
The outro is as eerie as it could get: “We cannot save you” on repeat.
This song is also a reminder that there are no forces that go beyond the Mother Nature herself. We may have harnessed the power of nuclear weapons, but we still have to walk on this planet Earth. So, we cannot win against the nature. Coronavirus COVID-19 is a perfect example of how powerful Mother Nature is and how weak the humans are. We may be on the verge of beating or even adapting to live with this virus, but a tiny, invisible micro-organism killed half a million people and wreaked havoc in global economy within a span of 6 months. Let that sink in!
Let us hear what you think about “Parasite Eve” by Bring Me the Horizon in the comments below. Check out the full lyrics and further meaning breakdown on Genius.