“The Dying Song (Time to Sing)” by Slipknot

Perhaps the simplest way of describing the sentiment behind “The Dying Song (Time to Sing)”, even though this may be an unorthodox way of putting it, is as Slipknot asserting that you’re a sellout if you give in to the angry, conflictual mood of the times.

As Shawn Crahan has put it, it’s like everybody is spazzing, but still, nothing is changing. Instead, this type of anger is just propagating more anger. And to reiterate, he sees all of this as being a sign of the times. In other words, while we’re facing the advent of, say World War III, the masses are rather being caught up in more-personalized, shall we say relatively-petty squabbles.

And there’s a whole lot more going on in the lyrics because again, this is a pretty judgmental piece. We could probably go on theorizing about what specific lines may mean for days. But most comprehensively put, the type of person who is being chastised is the one who’s always beefing about something. They’re more enraptured with ‘babbling’ than the fact that, in a manner of speaking, the world is being led to hell.

So what “the dying song” is ultimately meant to represent is the vocalist more or less prophesying that such individuals will meet an untimely end. Or let’s say that given the current state of the world, Shawn wouldn’t be surprised if for instance two opposing parties at a tumultuous protest actually proceeded to start offing each other. Or the way he sees it, such would be a proper end to them all, as he’s grown weary of seeing people being incensed by what are, in the grand scheme of things, trivial matters.

Slipknot

Slipknot is a group of heavy metal musicians from Des Moines, the capital of Iowa. The band has been around since the 1990s. For the most part the band’s membership has remained consistent throughout the years. As of the release of “The Dying Song (Time to Sing)”, this band is actually nine members’ deep.

Credits for “The Dying Song (Time to Sing)”

Each crewmate of Slipknot is individually credited with writing this song. They are:

• Michael Pfaff
• Alessandro Venturella
• Sid Wilson
• Mick Thomas
• Jay Weinberg
• Craig Jones
• Jim Root
• Corey Taylor
• Shawn Crahan (the band’s frontman)

To note, Shawn also served as the director of this track’s music video and the co-producer of the audio, with the other producer being Joe Barresi.

Date of Release

Roadrunner Records made this track public on 19 July 2022, also using the occasion to announce the album it will be featured on, which is titled “The End, So Far”.