Helena

Album: Famous Monsters (1999)
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Songfacts®:

  • Based on the critically panned 1993 film Boxing Helena, the song "Helena" tells the tale of a woman held captive and having her arms and legs amputated. In the movie, the captor is a surgeon obsessed with the title character after a brief romantic encounter. He kidnaps Helena after she's involved in a car accident near his home, and the amputations begin as "treatment" for her badly broken leg.

    The song is sung in first person from the perspective of the kidnapper, and makes no reference to the circumstances around the kidnapping. Instead, it focuses solely on the amputations themselves, interspersed with the plea, "Why don't you love me anyway?" Gruesome and descriptive, "Helena" takes the spurned-lover ballad to a whole other level, typical of the camp and gore the Misfits have become known for.
  • The Misfits broke up in 1983 but bass player Jerry Only got the band back together in 1995 with a new lineup, with Michale Graves replacing their famous founder, Glenn Danzig, as lead singer. "Helena" is part of their Famous Monsters album, their third after the band re-formed.

Comments: 5

  • Julian from DenverSounds like Clean my Wounds by Corrosion of Conformity, but still one of my all time favourites.
  • Jlicano from DenverThe middle section also is a partial homage to Metallica's Welcome Home Sanitarium
  • N from A PlaceLove this song, but never knew where the lyrics came from. Great Album!
  • Johnn from Tijuana, Mexicothis song whas write by michale graves & doyle wolfgang von frankenstein!!!
  • Anna from Aberdeen, NcThis song is absolutely brilliant.
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