H.Ex

***H.Ex*** is a song by Windows. Originally released as part of a specialized EP, it became a closing track on the band's breakthrough album stars.

## Background

The song was written as early as 1996 back when the band went under Dear Loser, but they didn't take it anywhere due to feeling that it wasn't worth using. It was later included on stars as a follow-up track to Tooth. Whereas Tooth represented the band going on a killing spree ending with a suicide, H.Ex centers on the now dead members being free of the confines of the world.

A drive behind the song is personal experiences had by all eight members of the band, each subtly referenced. For example, no more pointless stress is a reference to an experience drummer Daryl Costanzo had prior to joining the band, where his neighbors scolded him for failing to clean up after his dog, and out of anger, Costanzo beat the neighbors with a leash.

H.Ex stands for "Hopeful Extermination"

## Structure

The song contains repetitive verses, with two breaks in between. The lyrics are only heard in the middle of the song. They're sandwiched between a minute of instrumentals, the beginning is a build-up starting with a light hum on Starr's guitar and the end is a repetitive down-tuned affair that concludes with a power-down effect.

## Lyrics

No more conflict

No more happiness

No more paranoia

No more assurance

No more, no less

No hope, no regret

No more need to not forget

No more, self respect

No more, to reject

No more, greasy dicks

No more hypocrites

No more consequence

No more, sweet relief

No more puppet strings

No more burning wings

No more, no less

No hope, no regret

No more need to no forget

No more lives to bet

No more, bitter cries

No more, nasty lies

No more of the outside

No more space inside

No more morphine

No more aspartame

No more questions

No more explanations

No more violence

No more unity

No more thinking

What we had

I hope to keep

In their heads

In this world of shit

No more broken promises

No more bliss

No more unfolding lives

No more mourning death

No more, no less

No more false accomplishment

No more resentment

No more onward to press

No more pointless stress

I'm washing my hands

Of the dirt I had to hold

I'm washing my hands

With the blood I let run cold

I'm washing my hands

Of the dirt I had to hold

I'm washing my hands

With the blood I let run cold.

## Music Video

The song never received a public music video. One was made though, but it was only available on the disc for Stars as a hidden multimedia track. When you insert it into a computer, an executable file appears containing the video.

The video features the band performing the song in a gritty-looking tunnel. Opening shots establish the tunnel is beneath a garden, which is adjacent to a house inhabited by a depressed man (Stuart Charno) who watches television. Additional cuts are made to areas in the man's house, news footage from the Columbine massacre with news articles on the shooting, suicide notes and diary entries, burning communist flags, insects crawling out of cracks on a concrete wall and stop-motion animation of humanoid creatures attacking a spider.