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in: Getting Into Knives songs, Video, The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2 songs

Getting Into Knives (song)

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Getting Into Knives
Getting Into Knives

Album

Getting Into Knives

Released

October 23, 2020

Length

5:14

Previous Track

"Harbor Me"

Getting Into Knives is the 13th song on the album Getting Into Knives. It also appears as the 14th song on the 2020 live album The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2. A video of the song from the studio recording session was released on YouTube on November 19, 2020.

Lyrics[]

I hit the cul-de-sac on the spiritual path 
Retraced my steps back home 
But the house burned down before I got there 
And I found myself alone 

I tried to keep things in perspective 
As I hunted down the perpetrator 
Loaded up my toolkit with every hateful instrument 
Now here we are thirty years later 

I'm getting into knives 
I'm getting into knives 
I've been up and down the buffet several different times 
I'm adjusting my focus, I'm getting into knives 

I sought wisdom from the sages 
Consulted with master tacticians 
Met up with some guys who wouldn't tell me their last names 
They specialized in non-conventional munitions 

Stayed on the scent like a bloodhound 
Followed the clues where they led 
Taste of hot ashes on my tongue all day
I took my rifle with me to bed 

But I'm getting into knives 
I'm getting into knives 
It's a gift to be simple, it's a gift to be free 
I'm adjusting my focus, I'm getting into knives 

Held to my vision all these days 
While stray signals kept flooding the switchboard 
Came all this way for hunger 
May I be worthy of my reward 

I stood at the door, and I listened 
Rustled through my rucksack as quiet as I could 
You can't give me back what you've taken 
But you can give me something that's almost as good 

I'm getting into knives 
I am getting into knives 
Behold, I stand at the door, and I knock, and then I knock twice 
I've adjusted my focus, I'm getting into knives

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

  • "I like this one because it's a true story about what I'm doing these days, and people say to me 'John, do you have a hobby? We know you play Magic, and have been mythic five times!... we know you read books and stuff, what else do you do? Hobbies?'. Yes, I'm getting into knives." - 2020-12-31 - Instagram Live Stream - Durham, NC
  • "I might ask you, what is your political ideology? You might say: well, I'm essentially a democratic socialist with some, you know, some more radical leanings, but you know, I'd be satisfied with democratic socialism. And I might say: Cool. I'm getting into knives." -- 2021-09-17 - Tower Theatre - Oklahoma City, OK
  • "So this is a revenge fantasy, right, uh, and, uh, and it's a song, um -- you know, I mean, revenge obviously is bad, right. I mean, this is obvious, this is clear, right [inaudible audience yelling] No, it's bad! It's not valuable. Justice is good and revenge is bad, it's, it's just -- and this is just obvious and true. Right now, on my side politically, we kind of got blood in our eyes and we're like, no, revenge is fucking good. No, it's not. Because -- the whole, if you read Greek tragedy, right, the whole theme of Greek tragedy is that when you take revenge, you're gonna overdo it. And then the other person you've been taking revenge on is gonna have a legitimate gripe, uh, that you overdid it, right, that you killed one too many when you, when you came to their town, so now they have to come back and get one. But they don't get one. They get five, right. And then you're mad, right. And that's how revenge works, and that's the nature of revenge, that you always take too much and so you never get enough, right, that's the nature of revenge. Uh, which also makes it a great thing to inhabit if you have issues, right. If you have -- if you have things you need to work out. I may talk a good game about revenge being bad, but what I mean is that revenge is wonderful. It feels fantastic. It fills you with delusions of power, right, you sit there, you sit there dreaming of your revenge fantasy and you see the person upon whom you are going to enact this revenge cowering, begging you for mercy, and you understand that you, you alone possess that precious gift of mercy which you're not going to impart, and that's, and that's all delusion, and, uh, uh, but it's a pretty potent one, and this is -- and so what happens while you're in the grip of it is that you're not just thinking that you're going to take revenge, but how. And that's what this song is about. It's called 'Getting Into Knives'." -- 2021-09-23 - The Queen - Wilmington, DE
  • "This is a song that I feel everyone can relate to.... One of those relatable narrators... trouble in his life... But to find peace, he has to rid himself of the things that don't bring him peace, that interfere with his peace, that threaten his peace, either in truth or just in his imagination. Peter? Can we get into knives?" -- 2021-12-16 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
  • John explained that the song was inspired by a particularly eloquent spam email which he had received from a purported purveyor of high-quality knives, at 2022-05-18 - Thalia Hall - Chicago, IL

Things Referenced in this Song[]

  • "It's a gift to be simple, it's a gift to be free" is a reference to the hymn "Simple Gifts".
  • "Behold, I stand at the door and I knock" is a reference to Revelation 3:20.

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]

Videos of this Song[]



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