"Key Entity Extraction II: Holly Wood the Cracked"

Art by Nathan Spoor.

**"Key Entity Extraction II: Holly Wood the Cracked"** is a song by the American rock band Coheed and Cambria. It is the sixth track on their 2012 album *The Afterman: Ascension*. A demo version of the song was released on *The Afterman: Ascension (Big Beige Demos)* album and a live version was released on *The Afterman: Live*.

## Lyrics

**[Verse 1]**

Pick a number

Wait in line

There's no medicine

That can fix that mind

**[Chorus 1]**

Holly Wood, Holly Wood

Oh, watch out! Here she comes

Holly Wood, Holly Wood

Fucking a loaded gun

**[Verse 2]**

Message, panicked

Unrelayed... Naked Waste

There's no help to give this one

To keep her sane

**[Chorus]**

Holly Wood, Holly Wood

Oh, watch out! Here she comes

Holly Wood, Holly Wood

Fucking a loaded gun

Watch out, boy!

**[Bridge 1]**

She's a few cards short of a full deck

A joker in the game, oh

She's got a bullet with your name on it

No doubt she's a mental case, oh

Better keep that girl away

**[Chorus 2]**

Poor Holly Wood

She is cracked goods

Poor Holly Wood

**[Verse 3]**

This may be the last time I say

This may be the last time I say

**[Chorus 2]**

Oh, poor Holly Wood

She is cracked goods

Poor Holly Wood

**[Bridge 2]**

Oh, she's cracked, she's cracked

And where she's gone

There's no coming back

Watch her fingers

She's gonna pull the trigger

Then the party's over

**[Chorus 1]**

Holly Wood, Holly Wood

Oh, watch out! Here she comes

Holly Wood, Holly Wood

Fucking a loaded gun

**[Spoken]**

Vic: "No one out in the world is perfect. You’ve made mistakes. So has everybody. So has everybody. So has everybody. You cannot beat me."

## Story Context

The whole feel of this song reflects the crazy attitude of the Entity the song is about: Holly Wood. She is obsessed with the celebrity Madame Crisis Maroe (MCM), and has even been emulating her.

In verse 1, we are given immediate context for who Holly is: "pick a number / wait in line" is clearly meant to be a clinic, where you sign in, are given a number, and wait to be called. But then the follow up is "there's no medicine / to fix that mind," suggesting she's too far gone to be fixed with any kind of medicine.

Then, in the chorus, we have an alarming call out, with the line "Oh, watch out! Here she comes" being a reference to Holly shooting at MCM (which she does five times)—we get confirmation of this in the fourth line of the chorus: "Fucking a loaded gun."

The rest of the lines in the verses and bridges and such reinforce Holly's brand of crazy. "She's a few cards short of a full deck" gives us the impression that she seems fine, until you look closer, and the line "A joker in the game" references the use of Jokers in some card games as a wild card, which can even replace cards in some situations. We have the call out "She's cracked goods," which is similar to "damaged goods" or "defective goods;" we have the line, "And where she's gone / There's no coming back," letting us know Holly is too far gone, and she can't be fix, and then finally, "She's gonna pull the trigger / Then the party's over," which references Holly showing up unannounced at an event MCM was at, when she shot at her. In the story, we don't know what happens to MCM, but in the song, we get the line, "This may be the last time I say" in Verse 3, which may be MCM trying to give her final words after being shot.

At the end of the song, we hear several BANGS ringing out. This is to signify Vic the Butcher, banging through Holly's possession of Sirius to replace her. The final, distorted spoken lines, are Vic's words. He is speaking to Sirius when he says, "No one out in the world is perfect. You’ve made mistakes. So has everybody. [...] You cannot beat me." Meaning he knows Sirius' mind is not safe from him anymore than anyone else is, and he will possess him (foreshadowing for his song).

## Background

Sanchez wrote that the inspiration for this song had a lot to do with how he felt as a "celebrity" of sorts—the idea that fans have an "open door policy" that the internet gives. He wrote he's always tried to be transparent, and get to know his fans, but there were still a "couple of cases of fans who crossed the line from interest into threatening situations and harassment" and scared him and his family. He also mentioned how he'd seen how people full of "admiration can change to hate overnight" and wanted to write about these sorts of experiences.

## Trivia

* This may be obvious, but Holly gets her name from Hollywood.

## References

1. ↑ Coheed and Cambria. Booklet. *The Afterman: Ascension*, Everything Evil Records, 2012.
2. ↑ https://genius.com/Coheed-and-cambria-key-entity-extraction-ii-holly-wood-the-cracked-lyrics