The Word Becomes Flesh
Running time	5:20
Appears on	Inferno
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"The Word Becomes Flesh" is the tenth track on Boards of Canada's fifth studio album, Inferno.

Comments

• The track title is a direct biblical reference to verse 1:14 of the book of John; "The Word became Flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the on and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Samples / Lyrics

The source of the speech is sampled from Introduction to Development, a 1983 educational film by Vuke, George J. Using time-lapse, close-up photography, and illustrations, this work documents the developmental processes of an amphibian and a bird, covering stages from the fertilized egg to the formation of critical anatomical structures like the nervous system, gut, circulatory system, and heart.

The head of the embryo grows forward and the gut elongates rearward
The neural folds meet in the brain region, but do fuse
At this stage, four pairs of somites, blocks of mesodermal tissue, have formed
As the head of the embryo grows forward
The head fold further undercuts its anterior end
The neural folds fuse to form new sets
Anterior end develops into a three-part brain
(These rope-like strands, called the chalazae, help to hold the yolk in position)
Early structures of the eye are now prominent
Meanwhile
(The egg passes down the oviduct)
The embryo develops in an equally exciting manner
In this later stage, a small embryo is already visible
(These rope-like strands, called the chalazae)
As a light-colored disk
(Called the blastoderm, the blastoderm, the central part of—)
Soon, blood vessels appear outside the embryo
The heart develops and begins to beat
(Called the chalazae)
The pattern of blood vessels over the egg expands
Supplying the embryo with food and oxygen and removing waste
(Cell division continues and is restricted to the blastoderm)
As the embryo grows, brain, eyes, and other structures develop
Soon, a vigorously beating heart is pumping blood throughout the complex embryo
Which is rapidly developing into a mature organism
(The cells move from both sides of the midline, a long thickened area called the primitive streak)
Part of the blastoderm, the area pellucida, is translucent because it is over a liquid
And the white of the egg
Vessels over the yolk expands
Some of the albumen becomes thickened and twisted as the egg passes down the oviduct
(The central part of—)
These rope-like strands, called the chalazae, help to hold the cells in position
The blastoderm at this stage consists of many cells produced by repeated cell divisions
While the egg was still within the organism
(The blastoderm, the area pellucida)
(The head of the embryo grows forward and the gut elongates)
(The neural folds meet)
(The cells move from both sides of the midline, a long thickened area called the primitive streak)

Trivia

• The track was used in the end credits of Backrooms by Kane Parsons, a film based on the web series and creepypasta of the same name.
  • Notably, Inferno and the film were released on the same day, May 29th, 2026. How A24 received advanced access to the track is unknown.

Videos

A video breaking down roughly the parts with the sample: