Annotated Readings, Essays

Dragula, by Rob Zombie [Annotated Readings]

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Hagoth

Superstition, fear and jealousy[1]We now present our most profound, rigorous, and thorough philosophical-theological inquiry since our annotated reading of Bobby “Boris” Picket’s timeless poetic masterpiece “The Monster … Continue reading

Dead, I am the one 
Exterminating son[2]Perhaps an allusion to the Angel of Death, as described in the Book of Exodus, whose slaying of the first born of Egypt save for those who had the blood of the Lamb upon their doorway, prefigured how … Continue reading
Slipping through the trees 
Strangling the breeze[3]It is of course physically impossible to “strangle the breeze,” so we must assume that the rhymes Mr. Zombie has here compared are intended to be treated as pure sound poetry, in the respected … Continue reading

Dead, I am the sky 
Watching angels cry 
While they slowly turn 
Conquering the worm[4]“And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” -Job 19:26

Dig through the ditches[5]Since only those who are humbled can be exalted, it makes sense that one must descend into the ditches in order to be raised up on high. and burn through the witches[6]“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” (Exodus 22:18) Mr. Zombie is here only following proper Biblical exegesis, which has surely never been abused before.
I slam in the back of my Dragula[7]Portmanteau of a drag racing sports-car with the vampire Count Dracula, the primary antagonist of Bram Stoker’s late-Victorian novel of the same name, who in turn was a symbol for how the devil … Continue reading


Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches 
I slam in the back of my Dragula

Dead, I am the pool 
Spreading from the fool[8]“Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.” -1 Corinthians 3:18
Weak[9]Per D&C 35:13, by the weak things of the earth shall the Lord thresh the nations. and what you need 
Nowhere as you bleed

Dead, I am the rat 
Feast upon the cat 
Tender is the fur 
Dying as you purr[10]Cats as we all know were worshipped as divine in ancient Egypt, where Abraham the patriarch taught astronomy, as recorded in the Pearl of Great Price. Egypt is also heavily associated with mummies … Continue reading

Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches[11]Common historical misnomer: most suspected witches in North America were hung, not burned, as among their European counterparts. Really, we expected better historiography from such an illustrious … Continue reading
I slam in the back of my Dragula 
Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches 
I slam in the back of my Dragula

Do it baby, do it baby 
Do it baby, do it baby 
Burn like an animal[12]Which of course only emphasizes that to burn like an animal still signifies that one is not actually an animal, but a child of God.

Dead, I am the life 
Dig into the skin 
Knuckle crack the bone 
21[13]If the world can find out these numbers, So let it be, Amen. to win

Dead, I am the dog 
Hound of hell[14]Clear allusion to “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” the 1902 Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, written after Doyle had attempted to kill off his most popular yet wearisome character … Continue reading you cry 
Devil on your back 
I can never die[15]Foreshadowing the resurrection of the righteous and the just.

Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches 
I slam in the back of my Dragula[16]This track and video’s inherent campiness and central motif of Halloween-themed automotive sports is also arguably a companion piece with Ghost Rider—both the comic book character and the Suicide … Continue reading
Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches 
I slam in the back of my Dragula

Do it baby, do it baby 
Do it baby, do it baby 
Burn like an animal

Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches 
I slam in the back of my Dragula 
Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches 
I slam in the back of my Dragula[17]From Mr. Zombie’s 1998 solo debut Hellbelly Deluxe, which title also puns upon the words “hillbilly” and the belly of hell—which those trapped in such indignant socioeconomic circumstances … Continue reading

Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches 
I slam in the back of my Dragula[18]A completely serious, rigorous, and thorough Annotated Reading. We still mean every jot and tittle.

References

References
1 We now present our most profound, rigorous, and thorough philosophical-theological inquiry since our annotated reading of Bobby “Boris” Picket’s timeless poetic masterpiece “The Monster Mash”—which, as evidence of its clout and respectability, features in a most recent issue of Fearreantum.
2 Perhaps an allusion to the Angel of Death, as described in the Book of Exodus, whose slaying of the first born of Egypt save for those who had the blood of the Lamb upon their doorway, prefigured how God would sacrifice his Only Begotten Son and thus save us by the blood of the Lamb. Or something.
3 It is of course physically impossible to “strangle the breeze,” so we must assume that the rhymes Mr. Zombie has here compared are intended to be treated as pure sound poetry, in the respected tradition of Susan Howe and the mid-century L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets.
4 “And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” -Job 19:26
5 Since only those who are humbled can be exalted, it makes sense that one must descend into the ditches in order to be raised up on high.
6 “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” (Exodus 22:18) Mr. Zombie is here only following proper Biblical exegesis, which has surely never been abused before.
7 Portmanteau of a drag racing sports-car with the vampire Count Dracula, the primary antagonist of Bram Stoker’s late-Victorian novel of the same name, who in turn was a symbol for how the devil will always seek to provide a false burlesque of the Lord’s true promises—in this case, the promise of the resurrection is inverted through the curse of an undead ghoul who is still susceptible to mortal boundaries.

This particular portmanteau is not original to Mr. Zombie, but was featured in the mid-1960s television sitcom “The Munsters” on CBS, which was in turn inspired by and direct competition against “The Addams Family” on ABC, although the latter has inarguably had the much larger pop-cultural impact. There is certainly a sociological monograph to be written about the prevalence of horror-film imagery in family sitcoms in the years immediately preceding the rise of the Hippie movement and the much more sinister Manson family, but we more than digress.

8 “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.” -1 Corinthians 3:18
9 Per D&C 35:13, by the weak things of the earth shall the Lord thresh the nations.
10 Cats as we all know were worshipped as divine in ancient Egypt, where Abraham the patriarch taught astronomy, as recorded in the Pearl of Great Price. Egypt is also heavily associated with mummies due to their obsession with the promise of the resurrection as well.

Of course, as Hugh Nibley once wryly observed, a mummy is more a confession of insecurity than of faith in the promise of the resurrection; you only carefully preserve your corpse if you harbor lingering doubts about whether the Gods will ever revitalize your body at all.

11 Common historical misnomer: most suspected witches in North America were hung, not burned, as among their European counterparts. Really, we expected better historiography from such an illustrious scholar as Mr. Zombie.
12 Which of course only emphasizes that to burn like an animal still signifies that one is not actually an animal, but a child of God.
13 If the world can find out these numbers, So let it be, Amen.
14 Clear allusion to “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” the 1902 Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, written after Doyle had attempted to kill off his most popular yet wearisome character via Professor Moriarty (hence why the narrative is framed as a retrospective), but before he conceded to popular demand and resurrected the famed detective after all. That is, the novel was a test balloon for Sherlock’s return, and hence a prefigurement for the resurrection in general, which Mr. Zombie’s Halloween imagery dimly enacts via hints, types, and shadows.
15 Foreshadowing the resurrection of the righteous and the just.
16 This track and video’s inherent campiness and central motif of Halloween-themed automotive sports is also arguably a companion piece with Ghost Rider—both the comic book character and the Suicide song.
17 From Mr. Zombie’s 1998 solo debut Hellbelly Deluxe, which title also puns upon the words “hillbilly” and the belly of hell—which those trapped in such indignant socioeconomic circumstances feel themselves themselves. The joke is always funnier if one explains it, you see.
18 A completely serious, rigorous, and thorough Annotated Reading. We still mean every jot and tittle.
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