Annotations for House of Wolves

Lyric: Tell me I’m an angel, take this to my grave
Annotation:
This may be the Patient wanting the people in his life to believe that he is a good person, even though he has done many bad things throughout his life (as seen in the song Mama on this same album). This may also be seen as an internal battle when comparing it with the next line, the Patient wanting people to believe he was a good person but also feeling the guilt of his actions and wanting to be punished properly.

Lyric: Take this to my grave
Annotation:
referring to “taking a secret to the grave” basically meaning the secret dies with you. to explain more: taking something to your grave (often a secret) basically means to never let it out even after death (often because the secret could harm your reputation or would get you in trouble [often legal trouble]). so basically the narrator has a secret that they DO NOT want to get out and will be taking to their grave

Lyric: Well, I think I’m gonna burn in Hell
 Everybody burn the house right down
Annotation:
The Patient realizes he’s done wrong- see the annotation on “tell me  I’m a bad man, kick me like a stray”- enough to go to Hell, he realizes he doesn’t care anymore and embraces it (burn a house right down, Hell is full of flames). He later regrets this decision in “Mama” and starts venturing for the 1,000 souls to redeem himself.

Lyric: Well, I think I’m gonna burn in Hell
 Everybody burn the house right down
Annotation:
The patient knows what he’s got in store. He may be going to Hell, but he’s taking whoever he can down with him. This idea can be seen in the  previous album, in  the line: And well I, I won’t go down by myself But, I’ll go down with my friends

Lyric: S-I-N, I S-I-N
 S-I-N, I S-I-N
 S-I-N, I S-I-N
 S-I-N, I S-I-N
Annotation:
The whispers after the first chorus can be heard as “S-I-N I-S I-N”, or “sin is in.” This could be a twisted form of peer pressure, seducing The Patient to further indulge in his ways. Alternatively, he could be saying “I S-I-N” as in “I sin.” These lines were not included on the album’s lyric sheets, leaving the intended delivery up to the listener’s interpretation.

Lyric: You better hide up in the alley ’cause they’re never gonna find you a home
Annotation:
Relating back to  the line: Tell me I’m a bad man Kick me like a stray It’s reaffirming the idea of him being a ‘stray’. Alternatively, this line could be referring back to the title of the song, where our protagonist is contemplating which way he’s going. He later knows that he’s not going to Heaven- as shown in the lines: I S-I-N, I S-I-N and Tell me I’m a bad, bad, bad, bad, man

Lyric: Tell me I’m a bad man, kick me like a stray
Annotation:
The Patient is coming to terms with  what he’s done. He realizes he’s in the wrong, and that he’s going to Hell. This can also be interpreted as The Patient imagining what would happen if he told his loved ones the truth. He worries that they’ll dismiss him like a ‘stray.’

Lyric: And say what I wanna say
Annotation:
Given The Patient’s history of being emotional and caring for others among other tracks from  The Black Parade, we can assume that he really  does want to tell the truth, but is too afraid because of two things: He doesn’t want to  ‘get what he deserves’. If he admits to his sins, then he’ll go to Hell. He know’s that he’s a  ‘bad man’ for his actions, but that doesn’t make him want to spend the rest of eternity suffering. Alternatively, he is simply embarrassed by what he has done. He feels such great remorse for  his terrible actions that he just doesn’t want to talk about it. Also, in  live-shows around the time of the song’s release, Gerard can be heard singing the line as: She says, yeah, what I wanna say

Lyric: Go, go, go
Annotation:
The Patient is telling the listener to leave. He know’s that he’s going to Hell, so he tells them “get up” out of there- since Hell is down below. This can be seen in the  first track of the  album when The Patient realizes he’s going to die. You can’t! (If you can hear me, just) Save me! (Walk away) It can also be seen in  “I Don’t Love You” when The Patient sings: So take your gloves and get out Better  get outWhile you can

Lyric: And I’ll be granting your permission
Annotation:
The Patient believes that the listener, no matter who they are, is in The Patient’s same situation where they have no chance at repentance. Because of this, The Patient is giving a sort of consent to wallow in this same state. He isn’t letting the other person make the choice, he is granting permission that isn’t his because he feels so strongly about this.

Lyric: I’ve been a bad motherfucker, tell your sister I’m another
Annotation:
The narrator has become the kind of guy big brothers warn their sisters about. He’s certainly not a good influence, and he could have a bad effect on the girl in question. A similar idea is touched upon in the band’s song  “Sleep”: A drink, for the horror that I’m in For the good guys and the bad guys For the monsters that I’ve been

Lyric: So get the choir boys around you
 It’s a compliment, I swear
Annotation:
The song is both a contemplation of The Patient’s sins and a critique on the church. In this line, he tells the priest that’s possibly inducting him into either heaven or hell that he should “get the choir boys around him” a subtle nod to the many accusations of pedophilia that the Catholic church has come under. Essentially, he’s saying “I don’t care about your salvation. Go fuck children like the sick man you are”.

Lyric: You play ring around the ambulance
 Like you never gave a care
Annotation:
A reference to the nursery rhyme ‘Ring Around the Rosie’ which originated in the Middle Ages at the time of the Black Plague. The nursery rhyme goes as follows: Ring-a-round the rosie, A pocket full of posies, Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down.  This nursery rhyme is a playful take on the fatal effects of the plague. In the first line, the ‘rosie’ refers to the rosy rashes that were a symptom of the plague. The ‘ring-a-round’ indicates the oblivion and carelessness of the supposed children playing the game, still unaware of their inevitable fates. In the song, playing ‘ring-a-round the ambulance’ refers to recklessly risking his life, or in this case sinning without any ‘care’ or thoughts of consequences. The nursery rhyme is referenced again later in the verse.

Lyric: Well, I said hey, hallelujah
 I’m gonna, come on, sing the praise
 And let the spirit come on through you
 We got innocence for days
Annotation:
The Patient now begins to make fun of the type of people who believe they have a chance at salvation through masking their sinful nature with “goodness,” hence the sarcastic inclusion of the line: We got innocence for days An interesting analysis on that line is that you would essentially be saying that you have a very short span of innocence before you are aware of the dark, dirty secrets of the world and become subject to temptation and weakness.  Gerard more than likely chose this wording when writing with intentions of having The Patient ridicule not only their fake nature​ but their hypocrisies as well.

Lyric: And I said ashes to ashes, we all fall down
 I wanna hear you sing the praise
 I said ashes to ashes, we all fall down
 We got innocence for days
Annotation:
‘Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down,’ is a line in the popular children’s game  ‘Ring Around the Rosie.’ Including a children’s game in a song about Hell gives the track a sharp contrast. The lyrics are rumored to be associated with death and the  Black Plague. Alternatively, ‘ashes’ and ‘falling down’ could be referring to Hell. Having ‘innocence’ would be satirical in this phrase since we know The Patient in anything but- as revealed in the  first line. It could also be saying that we  all go to Hell, which is the theme of one of the later songs  “Mama” which literally sings: Mama, we all go to Hell And our line goes: Ashes to ashes, we  all fall down

Lyric: Well, I know a thing about contrition
 Because I got enough to spare
Annotation:
“Contrition” is remorse or guilt from your past actions. This could infer that The Patient has done many bad things in his past. It also shows that he has a large amount of remorse for his actions- the ones that most likely sent him to Hell. This can be seen again in the  first track of the album: You’ve got front row seats to the penitence ball Where The Patient invites you to look upon everything he’s done in his life as he dies.

