Music: Wolf Moon (Including Zoanthropic Paranoia) by Type O Negative

Wolf Moon (Including Zoanthropic Paranoia) by the American gothic/doom metal band Type O Negative from their 1996 album October Rust is – and at the same time – is not a werewolf song. Nevertheless, I thought it would be good to include it here, since the underlying meaning of the piece isn’t obvious at first glance. Just for your information, if you’re underage, or sensitive to visions of unorthodox ways of making love, then you might want to skip this article, just in case. There, that’s my mature content warning ;P

The 28th day

She'll be bleeding again

And in lupine ways

We'll alleviate the pain

Unholy water

Sanguine addiction

Those silver bullets

A last blood benediction

It is her moon time

When there's iron in the air

A rusted essence

Woman may I know you're there

Unholy water

Sanguine addiction

Those silver bullets

A last blood benediction

Hey wolf moon

Come cast your spell on me

Hey wolf moon

Come cast your spell on me

Don't spill a drop dear

Let me kiss the curse away

Yourself in my mouth

Will you leave me with your taste?

Hey wolf moon

Come cast your spell on me

Hey wolf moon

Come cast your spell on me

Beware

The woods at night

Beware

The lunar light

So in this gray haze

We'll be meating again, and again

And on that great day

I will tease you all the same

Unholy water

Sanguine addiction

Those silver bullets

A last blood benediction

Hey wolf moon

Come cast your spell on me

Hey wolf moon

Come cast your spell on me

Beware

The woods at night

Beware

The lunar light

Like I’ve mentioned before, Wolf Moon is a werewolf song only superficially. I’ve owned the album October Rust for a few good years now and I myself had been unaware of the real meaning of this song until I did a little research for the article for Werewolf Theory. Most of the songs included on the above mentioned album are deeply erotic, they speak of love mainly in its physical aspect. Wolf Moon is no different, if a little bit more controversial because it tells of a man giving his lover cunnilingus while she is on her period. The monthly cycle of menstruation has been associated with lycanthropy before, for example in the 2000 movie Ginger Snaps, where the titular Ginger’s becoming a werewolf coincides with her first period. In a way, the cramps that accompany a woman’s period can be compared to the pain of a werewolf transformation, while the effects of PMS that culminate in the start of menstruation can be compared to the agitation that werewolves experience close to the night of the full moon.

In Wolf Moon, the sexual encounter is presented as having bestial characteristics – the act of cunnilingus that the man performs reminds one of a (were)wolf devouring its prey, since it’s equally bloody. The titular “zoanthropic paranoia” gives the listener an idea about the theme of the song as a whole. Just to clarify, zoanthropy is a psychiatric term for “a mental disorder in which one believes oneself to be an animal”, while paranoia is psychiatrically defined as “a mental disorder characterized by systematized delusions and the projection of personal conflicts, which are ascribed to the supposed hostility of others, sometimes progressing to disturbances of consciousness and aggressive acts believed to be performed in self-defense or as a mission.” (according to www.dictionary.com) From this, we can gather that the speaker in the song not only compares the sexual act to a werewolf devouring his prey, but, in a way, believes himself in part a wolf.

There are numerous references to blood in the song – blood is referred to as “unholy water” (since it may evoke associations with impurity, menstrual blood being basically waste removed from the body), and the metallic smell of iron/rust is a characteristic trait of blood reacting with the air around it. The “sanguine addiction” of the male lover reminds one of a werewolf’s “addiction” to killing. The woman’s period is called a “curse”, similarly to what werewolfism is often described as. The words of the chorus bring to mind a plea for the moon to magically transform the speaker into a wolf because of the trope that many werewolves undergo a transformation after looking up at the full moon. The words of warning that appear during the bridge may be a reference to scenes such as the one in An American Werewolf in London where the main characters are warned to stay away from the moors, only here the moors are exchanged for the woods, which are the more usual domain of wild animals, including werewolves. I’ve been wondering about the significance of the “silver bullets” in both contexts, but the only idea I had was that they may actually mean tears (of pleasure, I guess), apart from the obvious reference to what is traditionally considered the only feasible weapon against werewolves. One more thing I wanted to mention here is the word “meating”, which I've seen many people get confused by or omit entirely, mistaking it for a typo. According to www.urbandictionary.com the verb “to meat” can be interpreted erotically and signify a sexual encounter. It is an example of a clever use of a slang verb to evoke the imagery of meat that fits the whole premise of a werewolf hunting and devouring his victim.

So this is all that comes to my mind for the time being; I can’t believe I analysed a song about... well, you already know what, that had a werewolf tint to it, but there you have it. Enjoy? (And if any of you thought that this was a purely werewolf song, I am deeply sorry for blowing your mind, but mine was equally blown when I started researching this song for the above article...)

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Until next time!

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