Black Honey

Album: To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • This anthemic tune was one of the first songs that Thrice's members wrote for To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere. Frontman Dustin Kensrue told NPR: "Lyrically, the song spawned from an image that popped into my head: someone continually swatting at a swarm of bees to get their honey, but somehow not understanding why they would sting back in return."
  • Many fans have interpreted the lyrics in different ways to Dustin Kensrue's original meaning. He said in a Reddit AMA: "It was written with the US's narcissistic approach to foreign policy but can easily be seen as applying to any situation where we act in a like manner (and we all do.)"
  • The To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere album title is a quote from the Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca the Younger's Letters From a Stoic. Kensrue told Billboard magazine he considers him and the rest of the band to be introverts. "Personality wise I feel like I am very stoic," he said. "I have people that, after knowing me for a while, are like, 'I thought you hated me when you first met me.' I remember meeting them and I was trying to be really like, 'Hey!' I think, for me, people end up being surprised because I'm very loud and yelling on stage, or I sing loudly, but I'm very soft spoken."
    .
    "We're all pretty different on scales of introvert, but, in general, we're all very low-key and we like hanging with our good friends," Kensrue continued. "We're definitely not the party hosts. But after the show, I've done my thing and I'm like, 'I can go out now and just talk to people until they are done.'"

Comments: 6

  • Ms Paula Kay Johnson**behrens from Spokane,waThis Time I'll Get IT...Right!
  • Gary from KentuckyGreat song, love the lyrics. Only heard Seether cover before, my interpretation is, it's the struggles of life there will always be stings and pain, but it's worth the wait to get to the land of milk and honey.
  • Nope from Yup, NowheresvilleNever really liked this band til i heard this album and was like wow this is good! I remember when they 1st came out and they have definitely changed i think for the better.
  • Joe from Okanagan BcI reflected in my very own and very powerful way. This song hits me on a deep level. and it actually helped me see things differently. Great song
  • AnonymousI thought it was about heroin...
  • Tristian Jackson from Sheridan WyomingI interpreted Black Honey and Hurricane to be songs about trauma from childhood to PTSD a combat veteran struggles with. Love your music and will be a fan for life. Thank you for sharing your expression with me.
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