The Bends
Although much of the song's lyrics are limited ("Carry Stress in the Jaw", "Phlegmatics"), are in another language ("Desert Search for Techno Allah", "Violenza Domestica"), or are just gibberish ("Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz"), lyrical content in "Disco Volante" is, like in their eponymous debut album, both dark and comedic. Lyrical themes include disconnection and isolation ("Everyone I Went to High School With Is Dead"), "actual teeth-pulling anxiety nightmares" and bruxism ("Carry Stress in the Jaw"), domestic violence ("Violenza Domestica"), the "gradual decline of the human body due to social interactions", as bassist Trevor Dunn elaborates("Phlegmatics"), masturbation ("Backstrokin'"), and martyrdom ("Merry Go Bye Bye"). "The Bends" is a ten minute, almost entirely instrumental experimental track split into ten different sections, detailing a negligent diver who experiences the bends, as hinted by each sections title, with the only lyrics being "You've got the bends. The bends."