The word "Анабиоз" (Anabiosis) refers to a state of suspended animation or greatly reduced metabolic activity, often in response to adverse environmental conditions. It's a scientific term not commonly found in everyday conversation or song lyrics, making it quite unique and intriguing.
In the context of the song, the artist uses "Анабиоз" metaphorically to describe a desire to escape the harsh realities of life by entering a state of emotional dormancy. It represents a longing to shut down feelings and consciousness to avoid pain, hoping that one day, someone might be able to reawaken those buried emotions.
"Анабиоз" takes its name from the term for suspended animation, the state where a body slows almost to a standstill to survive conditions it could not otherwise live through. Mzlff uses it to describe his own emotional life.
The first verse looks outward and finds nothing worth looking at. Collapse everywhere, and people whose lives run on a loop he can already predict. He imagines a different fate, one where he might suddenly see the world in color, and then admits that even then his instinct would be to climb into a cocoon and sleep through the cold season. Winter or spring, he says, makes no difference to him.
The chorus is where the metaphor lands. In suspended animation the soul cannot get warm, because life has become pure inertia, a process rather than something lived. He locks himself away and nobody can reach his heart, himself included. Every time he wakes up, he is still in the same nightmare.
The second verse turns to his scars. He is tired of pretending everything is fine, and he notices something uncomfortable about his own pain: if he could hand these old wounds back, he would find a way to cut them again. They are what stitch him together and hold him like chainmail. Without them, he thinks, he would still be a ghost.
The song ends on its one warm line. He hides his feelings in anabiosis not to be rid of them, but hoping that one day someone will be able to reach in and touch them.
Did you know?
In addition to reading lyric translations, you can now learn Russian with music and lyrics from your favorite artists.
Yes, including Анабиоз (anabioz) by Mzlff!
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