Difference between revisions of "Memory Death"

Latest revision as of 06:39, 30 September 2026

"Memory Death" is the ninth track on Boards of Canada's fifth studio album, Inferno.

A noise that strongly resembles a heart rate monitor beeping can be heard throughout the track.

Sounds strongly reminiscent of the breathing sounds in Geogaddi's "Opening The Mouth" can be heard in this track. On Geogaddi this was a reference to ancient Egyptian mummification practises - here it also seems to be related to the act of dying. Perhaps the 'memory' referred to by the title is the listener's memory of that track on Geogaddi, or the loss of memory during terminal illness or loss of life.

"Memory death" could also refer to the idea of a person dying twice; first when they are buried, and then when they are forgotten. As summarized in a quote by Ernest Hemingway:

“Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name. In some ways men can be immortal.” ^[1]

The placement of this song after "Naraka" (Hell) and immediately before "The Word Becomes Flesh" (describing embryo development), could hint that "memory death" refers to the forgetting of a past life prior to being reborn. For example, in Greek mythology, shades could only be reincarnated after drinking from the river Lethe, which would wash away their memories.

Beginning at 1:13, a heavily time stretched sample of what sounds like a woman gasping "please" repeatedly can be heard.

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 <blockquote>“Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name. In some ways men can be immortal.” <ref>[https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9556005-every-man-has-two-deaths-when-he-is-buried-in Quote by Ernest Hemingway], Goodreads</ref></blockquote>
-* The placement of this song after "[[Naraka]]" (Hell) and immediately before "[[The World Becomes Flesh]]" (describing embryo development), could hint that "memory death" refers to the forgetting of a past life prior to being reborn. For example, in Greek mythology, shades could only be reincarnated after drinking from the river [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethe Lethe], which would wash away their memories.
+* The placement of this song after "[[Naraka]]" (Hell) and immediately before "[[The Word Becomes Flesh]]" (describing embryo development), could hint that "memory death" refers to the forgetting of a past life prior to being reborn. For example, in Greek mythology, shades could only be reincarnated after drinking from the river [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethe Lethe], which would wash away their memories.
 == Samples / Lyrics ==