Enjoy Your Slay: The Modern Era's Hotel California [A Song Review + (Hear Me Sing!)]

saiyanide (46)in #music • 7 years ago (edited)

Song Title:

Enjoy Your Slay

Artist:

Ice Nine Kills feat. Sam Kubrick

Lyrics:

Going down, sir?
Indeed
Here you are...

Plagued by the past and down a badly beaten path
Lies a place, one of a kind
Cursed by a blinding light that no one can outshine

A mess of a man, his fate unknown
One drink away from a broken home
He can't give up but can't go on like this
A five year old longs to be free
From visions he can't help but see
And a mother who can't understand

That the writing on my walls will tell you how it's gonna be
Oh can't you see that you're just rats within my halls
To hell with hospitality (and we all scream):

Welcome to your last resort don't overlook the past
If you need help finding piece of mind don't hesitate to axe
They can see the vacancy so say goodbye to sanity
We're here to help you on your way
Thank you very much enjoy your slay

Face down in the lap luxury
Fuck the comforts of reality
Turn the page, disengage and destroy
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
I'm not gonna hurt you
I'm just gonna bash your fucking brains in

Now the fun has just begun
And one by one your wife and son
Hang in the web you've spun as family ties come undone
Redrum!

The writing on my walls will tell you how it's gonna be
So follow me
Cross out the words "do not disturb"
On the doors of depravity (and we all scream):

An identical scream from 217
Slashes to ashes
Dust to dust
Hey Danny... come play with us!

Come drain or shine
I'll hit your whole bloodline
Shall we tell old Jack what he's won?
A chopping spree around the family tree
Where you can hang once all our work is done

The writing on my walls will tell you how it's gonna be
Oh can't you see (that we all scream):

Enjoy your slay!

Enjoy Your Slay is the closing chapter of Ice Nine Kills' fourth and most successful album yet, Every Trick in the Book that was launched in late 2015. In March of that year, Ice Nine Kills asked their fans in a poll which novel should close the book (pun intended), which was loosely based on books and stories that inspired every song in the album. The final song, Enjoy Your Slay, for one, was inspired by Stephen King's novel, The Shining.

In an interview, Ice Nine Kills frontman Spencer Charnas iterated:

“It was a close race, but Stephen King‘s classic tale of the Overlook Hotel’s winter caretaker and his descent into madness emerged as the victor. Being huge fans of not only the novel, but also of Stanley Kubrick‘s brilliant film adaptation, we knew in order for the song to work we would need to capture the unnerving isolation and traumatizing scenes of horror that occurred on those 447 pages and 144 minutes of film." Source

The song opens with an elevator scene, a common setting to most horror films. The first few lines describe the story's main protagonist, a messed-up man of a broken past, haunted by visions and strangers' voices - a sign of mental instability, perhaps a disease akin to schizophrenia. The writing on my wall will tell you how it's gonna be is a literal line simply stating that what is written by him on his walls are what he thinks he sees and hears. The lines at the chorus are the verbatim words spoken to him by the voices, pushing him to commit murder in order to achieve peace of mind, thus, his last resort.

Welcome to your last resort don't overlook the past
If you need help finding peace of mind don't hesitate to axe
They can see the vacancy so say goodbye to sanity
We're here to help you on your way
Thank you very much enjoy your slay

Basically, the song is about the guy, Jack, being told by his monsters to just end everything he's got - his luxurious life, his wife and son. In the second part, after the chorus, he is slowly being pulled away to disengage from reality and gradually succumb to the commands of the monsters of his past. In the latter part of the song, it is implied that the deed must have been done, by the line 'Shall we tell Jack what he's won?', spoken by one of his demons in past tense.

What I like about the song is the way the lines are perfectly rhymed and synthesized into a suspense/horror story. Emotions are also equally laid out through a mix of screaming and singing in a hybrid of hard rock and metalcore with a drop of emo and dash of pop punk.

It's also been inescapable from my notice the song's likeness to Eagle's Hotel California (1977), which is often cited as an example of the 'Hotel of Horror' quintessence, a theme common to films like The Shining, thus explains the connection.

About the Band

Ice Nine Kills is an American metalcore band formed in 2006, popular for its horror-inspired lyrics. Its musical style is a house blend rock complex of pop-punk, emo and post-hardcore which later evolved into a theatrical metalcore hybrid. Ice Nine Kills has released four studio albums, by far: Last Chance to Make Amends, Safe Is Just a Shadow, The Predator Becomes the Prey, and most recent Every Trick in the Book.

One of my favorite songs of their selection is What I Really Learned in Study Hall from 2006 studio-length album Last Chance to Make Amends. And here I share a video clip of my cover (editing constraints cut the video to only 60 seconds, haha!). Enjoy your slay! Also, happy valentine's day!