I’ve gotten alot of questions about this song—with some people not getting the sex references at all—so I decided to break it down. Spoiler alert.
“La Petite Mort (Come Die With Me)”
[PART ONE]
The title is a French euphemism for orgasm. The song follows the unfolding of a sexual experience between two people, from foreplay to (simultaneous) orgasm, through the use of “sex as death” metaphors.
The first thing to keep in mind is that all allusions to death in this song are actually talking about sex. This song is not about death at all.
With that being said…
I am ten toes down
To leave you ten toes up
“Ten toes down” is currently a popular saying in rap that simply means you are “100% on-board” with something.
“Ten toes up” is a crude, old-school way of saying someone is dead and laying on their back—thus, these lines mean “I am completely down to “kill you” (have sex with you)” with the two sayings playing off of one another.
In a hearse with the windows up
Belly up off that cheap wine
This sex act begins in a car, but with the hearse being a traditional “funeral vehicle” it is referenced here instead of a van, sports car or SUV
“Belly-up” is another old-school way of saying “dead”, but in this case the subjects are laying on their backs drunk from sitting in a stationary car drinking—“belly up off that cheap wine”.
Relax
Kick the bucket seats back
Recline while we decline
A “bucket seat” is a style of chair that can be found in some cars. “Kick the bucket” is another reference to death—thus “kick the bucket…seats back”.
Kicking a seat back is to “recline” it, to “decline” is to fall off, or in this case, the decline of life = death.
You have the hand of Antigone
I can see it in your jeans (genes)
You have suicidal tendencies
This one is a little more complicated. Antigone in Greek mythology commits suicide rather than being put to death at the hands of men after being found guilty of a crime. Saying you have the “hand of Antigone” and that “I can see it in your jeans/genes” means the female subject in the song not only reflects suicidal genealogical traits, but that she LITERALLY has her HAND in her jeans—masturbating. To follow the “sex as death” metaphor, if you masturbate you are “committing suicide”.
And this might be the end of me
Cus its a rough route watching you get rubbed out
Til’ the suns out
The male subject is aroused at the sight of the female masturbating and is thinking of masturbating himself [“this might be the end of me”]. Getting “rubbed out”, again, is an old-school way of referencing murder or death—but here also references rubbing one’s genitals/masturbation.
But damnit
If I have a hand in it can it still pass for abstinence?
The female in the song (and the album) has a religious leaning. Here, the male ponders on her vow of abstinence and if he “helps” her sexually [“have a hand in it”] through anything but intercourse if it will break this vow.
Passive masochist, pushin your Faith aside
As I take your thighs on a ride to the Great Divide
Masochism here as “tendency to find pleasure in self-denial, submissiveness”—oddly enough, not really used in an explicit, sexual way but moreso to describe foregoing one’s own pleasure for that of another. Here, performing oral sex. He pushes her religious leaning aside—and panties, but that is neither here nor there LOL—to engage in a sex act [“pushin your Faith aside”]. “The Great Divide” being another reference to death while dividing a woman’s thighs references oral sex.
Face the sky innocent sinner
Another reference to her religion. The female faces the sky, in this instance, to receive oral sex. Facing the sky is the opposite of bowing one’s head for prayer. She is an “innocent sinner” because receiving oral sex can be seen as a passive act.
While I guide your Little Man in the Boat
across the Styx River
The term “Little Man In The Boat” is a reference to the clitoris and labia minora. In Greek mythology (and also appearing from time to time in Christianity, etc.) the Styx River was the boundary between Earth and the underworld and one would cross it when they died.
Your body quivers beautifully
As Jodeci sings the eulogy
Female orgasm via oral sex as Jodeci plays on the car stereo, thereby “singing a eulogy”.
An eye for an eye so we’re bound the same
The candle’s lit and now you’re going down in flames
To rise like a Phoenix…
Another reference to religion as “an eye for an eye” is found in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, etc. as a way to describe inflicting retribution on another that was equal to what you suffered or vice-versa. Here, the woman has received oral sex so she feels the need to return the favor by performing oral sex on the man. “Going down in flames” is another reference to death—here low light/“a candle” is present, so she is “going down”—a term for oral sex—in “flames”. In Greek (and other) mythology the Phoenix is a firebird that rises from it’s own ashes to be born again—after the woman is done pleasing the man orally in this instance, she “rises like a Phoenix” after “going down in flames”.
...the sound remains
And rigor mortis sets in
Now I’m your best friend
Rigor mortis is the stiffness of muscles in corpses. Here, the man becomes “stiff” due to the woman’s oral stimulation—and this “stiff” man is now her “best friend” [lol]
Part Two to come, I’ll finish later (double entendre?) lol
This is fucking amazing. My brother and I both just finished reading Jay-Z’s Decoded and decided QN5 NEEDS to do something similar. This is freaking proof.
Like Cognautic Creix said, while I got most of this after listening a bazillion times, there was a few things that took everything THAT much further.
For example, while I understood the whole Antigone thing, for some reason I never put together suicide with masturbation. Of course in hindsight it seems obvious haha.
Please do some more of these if you have time man, shit is ridiculously interesting!
Kno said:I’ve gotten alot of questions about this song—with some people not getting the sex references at all—so I decided to break it down.
I already knew all of those sexual references, except for rise like a pheonix one, but not all of the death/religion references. lol so backwards /perv
I don’t think this breakdown was necessary. If you didn’t get even half these references, no need to break it down for those who didn’t catch them. They’re just kinda missing the point.
aNiMeMaN14 said:I don’t think this breakdown was necessary. If you didn’t get even half these references, no need to break it down for those who didn’t catch them. They’re just kinda missing the point.
I got a lot of them, but there is a lot there I never even considered even after listening so many times. Allows me to even further appreciate how deep the lyrics are. Nice work Kno, and looking forward to reading part two now!
aNiMeMaN14 said:I don’t think this breakdown was necessary. If you didn’t get even half these references, no need to break it down for those who didn’t catch them. They’re just kinda missing the point.
or they didn’t get all of them, cause their mother language isn’t English.
aNiMeMaN14 said:I don’t think this breakdown was necessary. If you didn’t get even half these references, no need to break it down for those who didn’t catch them. They’re just kinda missing the point.
some people missed some things, sorry we aren’t all geniuses like you
That was an incredible breakdown. I understood a lot of the metaphors in this particular song, but this certainly connects the dots. One of the many reasons this is one of my favourite songs ever.
However, Kno’s verse on ‘Rhythm Of The Rain’, with the metaphors of sex and weather is certainly some of the greatest lyrics of all time!
There’s some lines that some people, like myself, might have not known or heard of before, like the “belly up” and “the little man in the boat” sayings, etc. But for the most part the lines are pretty obvious. This breakdown helped clarify those references that some people might not have understood.
While I guide your Little Man in the Boat
across the Styx River
The term “Little Man In The Boat” is a reference to the clitoris and labia minora. In Greek mythology (and also appearing from time to time in Christianity, etc.) the Styx River was the boundary between Earth and the underworld and one would cross it when they died.
didn’t know the “little man in the boat” one. thought you were referring more to Charon the ferryman and the passengers he would carry across the Styx River.
thought the song was pretty clear, but it was still a fun read.
(maaaaaaaaaaaan, this reading can definitely turn a girl on. Just saying.)
When I was little girl my uncle made me read a really big book, it was so big my little hands could barely hold it. It was about The Greek Mythology. So I can say I was aware of the Greek references.
On the other hand I never found a book about the Old-school manner of expressing , so yea, thank you for opening my eyes on some new stuff.
The girl singin “cooome diiiiie with me” is just one of the most exciting things in the world.
Plus it’s kinda funny that for once French people understood quicker than english-speakers the meaning of an english-speaking song. Very nice breakdown tho.
the breakdown was cool. I got most, but not all, of the references so it definitely puts a perspective on the depth of Kno’s thought process when crafting the lyrics.
I got it when I heard the song but if Kno wants to break it down then by all means, its cool to hear an artist explain their lyrics. I thought the little man in the boat was the clit but I wasn’t sure about the hand of antigone. She killed herself because the king wanted to punish her for giving her rebel brother a proper burial. The king ended up losing everything and the moral of the story is family > laws.
Very inytersting. I tohught about Charon the boatman too, but for the the “ten toes up” bit i was just thinking of this kinda thing, which I guess also fits:
artistKno said on Mar 03, 2011:
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