Fish wrote these lyrics after he had to fire Mick Pointer, the band’s drummer and his personal friend.
At the Reading Rock Festival (August 27, 1983) [Early Stages release, disk 4] for the introduction to this song, Fish says, “This is about various members leaving, and about the elegant strategy i...
I am the assassin, with tongue forged from eloquence
I am the assassin, providing your nemesis
On the sacrificial altar to success, my friend
Unleash a stranger from a kiss, my friend
No incantations of remorse, my friend
Unsheathe the blade within the voice, my friend
Who decorates the scarf with the fugi knot
Who camouflaged emotion in a thousand yard stare
Who gouged the notches from the family tree
Who hypnotised the guilt in career rhythm trance
Assassing, assassing, assassing, assassing
Listen as the syllables of slaughter cut with calm precision
Patterned frosty phrases rape your ears and sow the ice incision
Adjectives of annihilation bury the point beyond redemption
Venomous verbs of ruthless candour plagiarise assassins fervour
Apocalyptic alphabet casting spell the creed of tempered diction
A friend in need is a friend that bleeds
Let bitter silence infect the wound
Let bitter silence infect the wound
I am the assassing
You were a sentimental mercenary in a free fire zone
Parading a Hollywood conscience
You were a fashionable objector with a uniform fetish
Pavlovian slaver at the cash till ring of success
A non com observer - I assassin the collector - defector
So you resigned yourself to failure, my friend
And I emerged the chilling stranger, my friend
To eradicate the problem, my friend
Unsheathe the blade within the voice
Within the voice, within the voice...
And what do you call assassins who accuse assassins anyway, my friend?
Assassing was written by Peter Trewavas & Steve Rothery & Mark Kelly & Fish (Rock).
Assassing was produced by Nick Tauber.