Two Face!

Lyrics

Two-face (1)
That's what they call me
They call me a two-face
Two-face
That's what they call me
They call me a two-face
Two-face, boat-race disgraced
His face displaced again
Into two dimensions 
Into two directions
Two-face, boat-race displaced 
My face disgraced again
Into the dimensions
Into two directions

Nowhere for him to go

That's what they call me
They call me a two-face
Two-face
That's what they call me
They call me a two-face
Two-face, boat-race
Disgraced hisface
Displaced again
Into two dimensions
Into two directions
Two-face, boat-race
Displaced his face
Disgraced
Into two dimensions 
Origin horrible
Two-face, boat race
Disgraced
His face Displaced again
Into two dimensions 
Into two directions
For all
For all to see

He thinks at dawn
He acts at noon
He stays alone
And in the evening (2)

Two-face, both ways
Disgraced
His face displaced again
Into two directions 
Into two dimensions

Left side, horrible (1)

Two-face, boat race
Disgraced
His face displaced again
Into two directions
Into two dimensions

Two-face
That's what they call me
They call me a two-face
Two-face
That's what they call me
They call me a two-face

Two-face, both ways disgraced
His face displaced again
Into two directions

Notes

1. Two-Face is a villain in the Batman stories. Batman's ally, the Gotham D.A. Harvey Dent, gets crazy and sinister after a mobster throws acid in his face, disfiguring the left side of his countenance. Two-Face habitually flips a coin in order to decide whether to do good or evil (see also "Dice Man").  

^ ("Two-Face")          ^ ("Left side, horrible")

2. A "proverb of Hell" from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: "Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night."  See More Information below.

^

More Information

Two Face!: Fall Tracks A-Z

 

Dan points out that MES has quoted, or alluded to, the "Proverbs of Hell" from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell numerous times:
 

"The selfish smiling fool and the sullen frowning fool shall both be thought wise" (quoted in "So-Called Dangerous," also on Code: Selfish; also, in "Mere Pseud Mag. Ed.": "Beware the sullen smiling fool/And the shallow frowning fool/Both will be thought wise")

"He thinks at dawn / He acts at noon / He stays alone / And in the evening.." (paraphrased version of "Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.", "Two Face!," from Code: Selfish)

"Folly is the cloak of knavery", ("Ed's Babe," 1992, the Code: Selfish era)

"The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom" (adapted for "Lost in Music," which is on the next album, The Infotainment Scan)

Also there are a bunch of references to Blake, including a reference to "Heaven and Hell" in "W.B.."

See also "That Man" and "A Figure Walks" for lines that appear to be nods at this source.

Anyway, it is interesting that so many lines emerged c1992.

 

Comments (4)

Martin
  • 1. Martin | 16/02/2014
In England, the Boat Race is most often taken to refer to the annual match-up between crews from Oxford and Cambridge universities:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boat_Race#Full_results_by_year
Mark
  • 2. Mark | 21/05/2014
"Boat race" is also Cockney rhyming slang for "face", I think.
Brendan O'Leary
  • 3. Brendan O'Leary | 18/04/2022
Re: Mark I. Yeah boat-race as cockney rhyming slang for face works beautifully lyrically and as part of those cascading rhymes.
dannyno
  • 4. dannyno | 31/07/2022
Comment #2: "Boat race" is rhyming slang for face, but its not specifically, or only, "Cockney" rhyming slang - I mean it's used much more widely than just in the East End of London.

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