Blue Oyster Cult: Occult Symbolism [PT4]

EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIVE

In April of 1982, Blue Oyster Cult released their 3rd live album, "Extraterrestrial Live." Pre B.O.C. projects aside, 1982 would be the band's apparent 10th straight year making albums. ETL was the 3rd live album and 11th full length release since the band's debut in 1972. What these numbers tell us, is that as of 1982 B.O.C. was like a rocket flying full throttle non-stop, with no sign of slowing down!

It would seem appropriate then that a space ship, probably capable of warp-like speed, would grace the cover of their 3rd live album. Emerging ominously from the craft, arms out stretched in a Christ-like manner, is what appears to be one of the hooded "cult members," which appeared on the cover of "Fire of Unknown Origin" - the album for which this recording was the tour in support of.

We noted potential alchemical concepts, pyramids, and other esoteric symbols on the cover of "Fire of Unknown Origin," and this album leans more heavily into that ancient aliens from outer space apsect, which of course feeds into Sandy Pearlman's Imaginos Mythos.

The BOC symbol stamped not so subtly upon the spaceship re-enforces the comparison I made earlier to the band as a sort of high speed vehicle. The hooded figure representing the mind behind the band, while the dogs - who stand level with the equipment tour cases, represent the loyal figures and tools needed to complete the tasks of BOC.

The dogs and the ship are recycled images to a degree, if we recall the cover of "Secret Treaties."

It's a bit hard to see above, but we have a ship with the BOC logo stamped upon the tail wing, a non-human in the cockpit, and 3 German Shepherds (dogs). In the case of S.T., it was more of a covert-war type setting, while on E.T.L. this was set within a mystical ancient aliens style motif.

Anubis is the ancient Egyptian god of funerary rites, protector of graves, and guide to the underworld. The Dobermans depicted on the cover of ETL appear to me a clever knod to the revered canine of ancient Egypt. Anubis appears more literally within artwork on the next album.

This canine thing subtly plays into another aspect of Imaginos mythology, involving the "Les Invisibles" and the Sirius "Dogstar." Curiously, I have found that the latter rears its head in the 90s, via grunge rock, which is something I may explore in the future.

The inner sleeve image features a decidedly psychedelic rendering of an astronaut, who's face-shield shows a flying saucer and some space aliens within its' fish-eyed shape reflection. My guess is that this was partially inspired by the most famous astronaut image from Appollo 11:

And while we're digressing for a moment, let's revisit the "fake moon landing" theory, where we notice a straight line off towards the horizon of many of Nasa's images allegedly taken from the first series of moon landings. As you can see above, I have highlighted an example of this line by drawing a yellow one directly under it. That is where the foreground, which is all lit up, ends. Anything beyond that can simply be a flat 2-D surface, making it appear vast or endless. [you may have to click on the image first, in order to blow it up and see details clearly. There are many better examples of this if you browse more Appollo moon landing images]

This conspiracy is not entirely unrelated to the BOC ETL image though! First off, there is the theory that the ENTIRE UFO/Alien phenomenon has been largely, if not completely manufactured, in order to distract the public from secret technology that would require a "black budget," from which to fund endless secret projects. So from this perspective, CBS may be sponsoring these concepts exploited by BOC in order to promote the "fake alien agenda." Even if it is presented sarcastically or in a mocking fashion, the public is often left with a feeling of "plausible deniability." Maybe it's a big joke, but MAYBE IT ISN'T...

The reflection in the psychedelic astronaut's face shield upon BOC's album artwork could be seen as a direct mockery of the Appollo 11 image. Besides the "front screen projection" observations mentioned already, there are questions regarding lighting and shadow. Does the lighting and shadows cast by the images within the face shield reflection conform to proper physics, or do they expose the fact that these images were created in a film studio? Perhaps inadvertently, the BOC image asks us to wonder if the images in that reflection are real or not. One could take a giant leap and assume the artist knows the answer allready, and is just having fun with the observer.

The back cover art of ETL again echoes formulas used on "Secret Treaties", depicting the band with shit-eating grins, posing under a great ship representing the massive vehicle which is their band. An old school "boom box" sits on the ground, while some small alien creature appears to be either jumping out from the boom-box speakers or just cruising by.

For some reason I get a similar dark, campy, sarcastic humor here as that which Iron Maiden artwork evokes around this same time, which shouldn't be a surprise I guess, since they were contemporaries and shared the same producer at one point [Martin Birch]. Maybe it's just the general early 80s sci-fi/horror sensibility that ran through the movies and bands of the day.

Eric Bloom fools around with what looks like a high technology weapon. Maybe he's trying figure out how to shoot that little flying critter zipping by?

REVOLUTION BY NIGHT

Apparently this album was not very well recieved, especially in comparison to the very well recieved previous studio album, "Fire of Unknown Origin." Criticisms range from "too commercial" to "bad album art." Without dwelling too much upon how it's regarded overall in BOC's history, one very significant fact worth mentioning is that it is the first album without original drummer Albert Bouchard, who would later prove to be deeply invested in The Cult's "Imaginos" mythos [more on that later]. Some have suggested that the drums which ended up on this album were not even performed by a human, but a machine!

Personally, I love the album cover - especially when you become familiar with the lyrics, which I previously covered in a video [link at the bottom of this page]. What we see is a literal crossroads, which recalls the persistent myth of blues legend Robert Johnson, who is thought to have "sold his soul" to the devil at the crossroads in Mississippi, in exchange for extraordinary musical ability. Of course, this myth goes back further in history, but we still have plenty of contemporary examples to point towards. Street lights curve into the driver's view menacingly, bringing no comfort as a thunder storm roars away in the distance.

As lyrics to the song "Shadow of California" indicate, this scene takes place along an Inland Empire freeway, close to where the Hell's Angels first formed. Hollywood is not very far from here, which brings a sort of "2nd rate" quality to the location. Yeah, we're still in "beautiful sunshine California," but we're apparently closer to its' "ass crack" than the "City of Angels." Why BOC chose to focus on this particular location is an interesting thing to ponder. But obviously, they weren't the first [or the last].

The number 12 carved into a wall next to the band's logo brings attention to the time which has passed. R.B.N. is the band's 12th full length release. Time is an attribute of Saturn/Kronos, the planet thought to be depicted in astrological code by the band's hook and cross logo. Saturn's color is lead/black and the reaper/death is also associated with the symbol [if you follow that mumbo jumbo]. Death, time, the band, the road, choices, a deal, the devil. It's all very Rock and Roll isn't it? Heavy Metal, even [Snagglepuss voice].

A "Revolution by Night" sounds pretty heavy, if you think about it for a moment. A revolution involves the changing of an entire political structure. A social-political upheaval, traditionally initiated by the people of a particular country or civilization. Such an event which occurs "by night" indicates to me that it is being done COVERTLY. In secret. And so all the references to Hell's Angels and this darkness in the Shadow of California - actual history, is being tied into the Imaginos concept of space aliens controlling our affairs secretly, using their CULT of followers [the Blue Oyster Cult] to shape society/civilization to their will. Even fomenting potential revolutions. The Hell's Angels drug cartel and some sort of race-war being on the agenda here.

The reverse side of the album dives head first into an Ancient Egypyt theme, laden with Ankhs, serpents, a falcon headed god/mummy, pyramids, heiroglyphs, and of course the BOC symbol! Last but not least, a pyramid etched into the wall on the upper right has the top point circled, while the "all seeing eye" of CBS sits subtly and silently just to the right. You think that CBS logo was just placed randomly and arbitrarily wherever there was room for it? Oh and hey, is that Derek Rigg's signature I see in there somewhere?

[Iron Maiden artist Derek Rigg's signature, usually present somewhere on albums he drew for the group.]

According to Google A.I., the being represented here is in fact, supposed to be Anibus, the revered canine of ancient Egypt mentioned in the previous section on ETL. What this tells us is that even when BOC seems to abandon or ignore the Imaginos world, they often present a very clear symbolic knod to it somewhere, remaining fairly consistent continuity-wise. It's like a story which subtly, but constantly tells itself alongside all of the actual BOC tracks, which may shift in or out of the larger concept at any given time. This way, fans remain confused enough to not be able to figure it all out, but interested enough to keep chasing the clues and proably invented endless conspiracy theories of their own. What great marketing!

If one combines "the ancient alien race" thing with the "ancient Egypt thing," this all comes together rather beautifully. The Mythos seems to propose that the ancient Egyptian Pharoahs, or those they worshipped, were in fact ancient aliens [or Gods]. The same beings covertly guiding humanity today!

It's interesting to notice how little things have changed since 1982, in terms of the public's fascination with ancient Egypt, space aliens, and the Illuminati [referring to the ubiquitous eye of providence, as a symbol within the art]. Here is BOC in 1982, appearing to combine all 3, as-if they just got off the internet Google-ing the topic for weeks. Yet here we are 44 years later [or however many years have passed when you read this] and we are still mesmerized by these concepts and imagery. Yet, we are no closer to "solving" the mysteries presumed to be contained therein.

CLUB NINJA

Historical Japanese shinobi (commonly known as ninjas) were covert agents, spies, and mercenaries active primarily during Japan's Sengoku (Warring States) period from the 15th to 17th centuries. Rather than the all-black-clad assassins depicted in modern pop culture, real shinobi were specialists in espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and guerrilla warfare. - Google A.I.

For some reason Ninjas were popular in the 1980s, moreso in the early-mid era - placing 1985's "Club Ninja" right about at the tail end of the "Ninja Craze". Movies featuring Ninjas were usually pretty campy and performed badly at the box office. This album also, according to Columbia Records, was a "commercial failure." So I guess the first big take-away here is that if you wanna sell something, don't use Ninjas in your marketing!

The album cover rehashes stale imagery, coming off as almost lazy and cookie cutter. The BOC symbol rendered like a space ship formed from a giant bent cigarrette, the band's favorite planet Saturn not so subtly smiling for the camera, and other cartoon-like space ships floating about.

The BOC font used here is supposed to reflect the "Japanese Ninja theme" by adapting a typo of logo you might find on a Sushi Restaurant awning. If they had just put a large tongue pressed into a cheek here on the album cover, that would probably have been cooler, but what do I know?

"Club Ninja" is apparently the place where covert agents meet secretly, to plan their espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and guerrilla warfare. How appropriate...

In 1985 there was a kid in my elementary school class who could draw ninjas and robots really well, and this is exactly the sorta thing he'd do on a regular sheet of binder paper while the teacher rambled on. [I wonder where he is today? Probably making more money than me!] The decidedly metallic armored ninja is throwing a "ninja star" which is cleverly in the shape of the BOC logo. Mr Ninja also looks a little bit like he's flipping us off, which makes you wonder if there's some kinda not so covert "F-U" going on here?

IMAGINOS

Although BOC's 11th studio album "Imaginos" came out in 1988, some of the music dates back to the late 70s, while its' concept actually pre-dates the band. Not exactly sure how we went from Ninjas back to Imaginos so suddenly, but there was obviously motivation for BOC to get back to Sandy Pearlman's conceptual roots, given the monetary decline in sales of the previous couple albums.

[Albert Bouchard, original BOC drummer]

BOC was a non-stop song writing, touring, rocking machine from their debut album up through the 80s, and yet there was even more material being worked on at the same time, covertly. Apparently, Albert Bouchard was the only band member completely on board with creating a concept album based upon Sandy Pearlman's "Soft Doctrines of Imaginos," while the rest of the band prefered to just dabble with it here and there. So while fans enjoyed a constant flow of BOC albums throughout the 1970s, Pearlman and Albert Bouchard were already working on "the big concept album" at the same time. But it wasn't until Albert was fired from BOC, that he and Pearlman really got down to business, and planned to release a trilogy of DOUBLE albums on the topic as a sort of "side project", NOT as an actual Blue Oyster Cult album. These were going to be released as Albert Bouchard solo albums, and Columbia seemed to be behind it, until the finished product was served up in 1984, and rejected because they didn't like Albert's vocals or something?

A few years later, BOC released "Imaginos," their last recording on Columbia Records. Who knows what happened here exactly, but Columbia obviously decided that the Imaginos themed album needed the BOC name on it to make the most impact, and didn't seem to care if Albert Bouchard or anyone else had something to say about it. Albert recieved no credit for the album and tried to sue BOC management and Columbia Records, which resulted in an out of court settlement. According to wikipedia, the band had to pay the record label back, due to poor sales. They also had to pay back Albert Bouchard for the time he spent on material that never even made it to the album. What a mess!

The cover of "Imaginos" features a historical San Francisco landmark, The Cliff House - which survived the 1906 earthquake, but burned down the following year. I believe this is the 2nd version, which was owned by Adolph Sutro. I'm not sure why this was chosen as the cover, but it probably had something to do with Pearlman's newfound San Francisco Bay Area connections. It also looked pretty cool [when it wasn't on fire].

This album seems to represent a summarized version of Brouchard and Pearlman's ambitious project, which features not just a severely truncated running time, but songs which are out of order, making the storyline harder to follow. What was supposed to be BOC's "Tommy" or "Dark Side of the Moon" ended up closer to Spinal Tap's "Shark Sandwich" [aka SHIT sandwich]. That's not to say the album is bad, it was just very poorly marketed to the point where it almost seems intentional.

The above promotional ad included a creepy house on a hill, which I believe is the same image used on the original inner vinyl sleeve. Conceptually, it is similar to the Cliff House image on the cover. I'm sure this plays into the story somehow, but at this point you're probably about as interested as I am in that possibility.

There's a thin line between good and evil. Imaginos erases it.

The above line is included just below the promotional ad image. Kind of a strange marketing strategy here, but I guess it probably made more sense at the time.

Oddly, there are a couple specific things I have noticed that remind me of British Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden here, besides the once common producer [Martin Birch] and general energy I get from some of the artwork. The description of Imaginos being "A Bedtime Story for the Children of the Damned" was apparently coined by Sandy Pearlman far earlier. Before either Iron Maiden or BOC existed even, if I am correct. While "Children of the Damned" is a 1964 horror film title, I nonetheless find it interesting that Iron Maiden chose this same title for a song on their infamous "Number of the Beast" album.

The alchemical concept and this idea of a child being born, who would decide the fate of humanity, even down to the amoral "good vs evil" dichotomy, mirrors concepts used by Iron Maiden the same year [1988] for their [also] concept album "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son".

It's all very Crowleyan and vaguely evocotive of all things mystical and blasphemic. And how appropriate...

The back cover features a ship sailing, which probably wasn't all that allegorical. Clearly, this ship has sailed, and it's time to move on. But believe it or not, it comes roaring back years later...

Related:

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

In the Shadow of California [Video Blog]

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Roky Erickson

Back in November of 2024 I posted a series of blogs on 60s psychedelic group the 13th Floor Elevators, where I got into the various aspects of the band - mostly having to do with associated occult imagery and themes - as well as personalities involved and the larger agenda that may have surrounded them. But I really didn't get into Roky Erickson's life too deeply, because I discovered what seems to be a painfully candid auto-biographical spoken-word poem called "I know the Hole in Baby's Head" [IKTHIBH]. And so rather than try and pick a way to adequitely cover the enigmatic Roky in my own words, I just created a transcript of that poem [read in his own voice on the video version] set to a backdrop of various pictures relating to his past. I was hoping that people would put the 2 together and find a deeper meaning in it all, as I did.

Part of what makes IKTHIBH so hard to shake off is the visual impact of an actual mental facility, Austin State Hospital specifically - where Erikson periodically checked in when his condition became too overbearing during the mid 1980s. We’re told the footage was taken by Douglas Mobley, a friend, and that Roky was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at this point.

Although aspects of "IKTHIBH" sound like they might be metaphorical, the vast majority comes off like a frank, sober confession - as if with a gun to the head. It’s really only the title itself which comes off as potentially allegorical. And yet, it’s suggestive enough to add a very specific and gruesome visual supplement to the lines leading up to it. Here are the lines I am referring to:

Do you think they had killed someone?…successfully together killed someone?…I went and thought they had killed someone…I went and thought that they had killed someone. And then I thought they had killed this someone, then I thought how had they killed this someone? Who was this someone they killed?…Then I reached and thought I snapped that they had killed one of my brothers, or sisters. One of the many, one of the babies. One of the many, one of the babies. One of the many. One of the many. One of the many. I thought they had killed one of the kids. One of the babies. They had…killed…one of the kids. They had uh…killed the kid…They had killed a kid.

[An "art piece" Roky's mom put together. The center mask is supposed to represent her, the others represent the 5 sons.]

Given his loyal following and cult icon status, I was surprised to find little dialogue online attempting to interpret what the above quote from Roky’s poem is trying to convey. Then again, it’s pretty clear isn’t it? I mean, how many different ways does he have to say “they killed a child” before we begin to wonder if he's being literal, and not metaphorical or just having some sort of "episode?"

The images I included in the aforementioned blog were mostly taken from the documentary “You’re Gonna Miss Me”, in order to compliment - and in some cases demonstrate that what Roky says in that "poem" is largely auto-biographical. Let’s take a look at how these images compliment the dark narrative found in IKTKIBH.

[Roger Kynard Erickson, born in July of 1947.]

After stating the decidedly morbid and cryptic title 4 times, Roky starts telling a story by putting himself back into the Erickson family home, as a boy version of himself, and describes what he sees and experiences to us.

Hastily, he matter-of-factly recalls a bunch of kids crawling around like wild, largely neglected animals in a big cage stricken with poverty. He mentions “lots of brothers and sisters,” which is strange since Roky didn’t have any sisters we know of. Perhaps he had a sister we don’t know about or perhaps the words just rolled off his tongue in a stream of consciousness sort of way without total regard for accuracy?

The heartbreaking scene continues to spill out in a steady stream. Angry parents fighting while the kids and mother scream and cry amidst decrepit surroundings, dark and cold, due to an unpaid electrical bill apparently. Again, little details like the latter don't sound very metaphorical...

This image of young Evelyn Elaine Kynard is posted on a wall in what appears to be her living quarters at the time of filming the 2005 documentary on Roky. We quickly come to know the eccentric, aging artist known as Roky’s mother. It would appear that she started creating some kind of visual storyboard outlining what she believes are the important things people should know about her and her eldest son. This was done, I presume, in anticipation of the documentary.

The above confirms a few key things: Evelyn, a musician/performer herself, is the source of Roky’s artistic eccentricities. It also becomes somewhat apparent that she wants to live vicariously through her son's fame - humble as it was at the time the doc was filmed.

"...my mother was always in her own world."

[Roger Laverne Erickson, father of Roky]

Roky’s dad comes off as the epitome of “the silent generation.” The one that dealt with the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and WWII. Stomping around angry all the time, storming out until the wee hours, and when he was home - reminded everyone who’s in charge without words. He seems to symbolize the ticking time bomb that was the Erickson household, and Roky’s world in general within the context of IKTHIBH.

If you grew up poor, or lower-middle class, the above images are probably familiar. Dirty, old, barely maintained EVERYTHING. Exposed pipes, leaky faucets, dirty/beat up clothes, broken toys, empty old pool with green algae growing in it…It would seem the Ericksons dealt with the lower end of this spectrum of poverty. The smells, the darkness, the spider webs...all begin to sound like one of the horror films Roky was so drawn to. Or perhaps more accurately, FAMILIAR with. Comfortable even, upon this unsettling nest that was the Erickson household.

Roky continues, non metaphorically describing the lack of soap, electricity, and money while angry Dad stomps around wordlessly and mom screams and cries in her robe all day, apparently powerless to change anything. The seeming lack of money is odd because we are told Roger Sr was an architect and civil engineer. But perhaps these professions did not pay what they do today back then? Did dad simply not care? Did he just sorta pop into the house to make more babies and remind everyone who’s boss once in a while? It’s hard to imagine a father being this way, whilst also never speaking! Chris Cornell described his own father in a similar manner, so I guess this wasn’t that uncommon back then.

Through Roky’s child eyes, we experience the first-person process he went through in consciously acknowledging that “something just isn’t right here” and that “something needs to be done about this.” These bad feelings just grew and grew, manifesting into total fear, to the point where survival instinct began to kick in, and the inevitable need to take action was approaching fast.

The spectre of incest reveals itself at some point in the documentary "Your Gonna Miss Me", which gives all of the above a more potentially disturbing connotation. Was this the spectre creeping in the darkness that Roky was picking up on? Was it one of MANY terrible things that was never outwardly confronted and dealt with, and that fed into the mounting anxiety in the house? Clearly, there was an elephant in the room, and this poem is about that elephant.

Despite this dismal picture, Roky was talented and quite charismatic, by all accounts. He wasn't considered "crazy" at all until after he took a bunch of acid. The above pictures display his charming child-like vulnerability, accompanied with a seemingly automatic ability to express his emotions through music. This gift seemed to persist through all of the turbulent phases of his life.

Continuing on further into IKTHIBH, the word "stupid" begins popping up, in order to describe what I assume were the terrible actions of his parents. Whatever bad thing(s) happened, they were apparently too stupid to understand what they did, or how to come to terms with it on any level. At least, this is the conclusion Roky came to entertain.

As documented in many interviews with former band mates, associates, and family, Tommy Hall was basically force feeding the Elevators acid and demanding they consume it for every performance. According to John Ike Walton, the Elevators were the first to do this in the 60s. And given that Tommy Hall was attending University studying how drugs affect people, it all begins to sound very familiar. Was the 13th Floor Elevators Tommy Hall's laboratory experiment, sponsored by a secret MK Ultra-type program? If not overtly, that's probably what is was covertly.

Apparently, Roky was eager to take the drugs, though he wasn't always happy when he did. In fact, Walton said the acid "hurt him," but Roky just kept on doing it. This culminated into a Syd-Barrett type breakdown onstage, where he allegedly started singing gibberish into the microphone for an extended period of time. This is reflected in Evelyn's story board above, where on April 20th 1968, she was awoken at 3AM by Roky shouting gibberish out by the pool.

Despite all these drugs being liberally passed around and consumed all over the place, marijuanna was still very illegal in Texas at that time, and somehow Roky got in deep trouble over 1 joint. It's difficult to sort truth from fiction, but apparently Roky's mental troubles AND his troubles with the law seemed to coinside and form a perfect storm.

Rather than get locked up for years over a joint, Roky's attorney chose the "insanity plea" or something to that effect, so that he would not have to face hard jail time, but would instead be sent to Rusk Mental Hospital, where he was subjected to electro shock treatment and god knows what else. Whether Roky's diagnosis as "schizophrenic" had more to due with a legal strategy or actual reality is hard to say, but I suppose both could have been true.

Rusk was apparently the site of a violent inmate riot at one point in time before Roky's stay, as described in the newpaper headline above. Needless to say, it was probably something akin to the mental hospital depicted in "One Flew Over A Cuckoo's Next," which was a book written by a man confirmed to be involved with Mk Ultra at Stanford University.

Roky's poem starts asking, in the mind of his younger self, whether the family could even get along well enough to successfully kill someone, and then just continue on as if nothing happened? The broken toys and flora and fauna constantly referred to seem to represent the dehumanizing experience felt by the kids, amidst a scene too shocking for young minds to process.

The above image was taken after Roky left Rusk and was either visiting or staying with his mom sometime in the 80s. It is a very revealing moment, where we see Evelyn sort of coaching Roky, as he eagerly presents a new song he's been working on. It seems to me that she played a large role in grooming him for a musical career, which never quite reached the level of his famous peers for obvious reasons.

Although Roky dons that old charming musical face while playing, the picture above captures his expression while not playing - where you can really see the toll life has taken on the poor man's soul. And in response, all mom wants to do is suck more life out of him.

The above images come from a home-made film Evelyn decided to do, where she plays a sort of "Queen Mother" to her "5-Kings," which is pretty creepy when you think about it for a minute. Incestuous themes aside, it's just more evidence of her need to claim ownership of, and live vicariously through her son's fame, even as he stares off vacantly, barely seeming to care or be aware of what is happening.

The above hand drawn picture looks very old, and must be some kind of depiction of the old house referred to in IKTHIBH. It appears to have actual blood drops on it if you look closely, which may have been the original inspiration for the drawing to begin with. Why would Evelyn save this morbid drawing and put it prominently on her wall? It looks like a kid drew it, and this kid is depicting lips, blood, and hell in some abstract way. Not sure what to make of it, but a kid who depicts a house this way is clearly not in a healthy place! This comes from a mind of someone who has gone past the fear and anxiety - into morbid imagination, inspired by God knows what.

[A letter Roky wrote to Alfred Hitchcock. Roky was apparently obsessed with mail during his later years and spent a lot of time sifting through it.]

IKTHIBH continues building up the fear and paranoia and starts wondering aloud if "they" killed one of his brothers or sisters.

"One of the many, one of the babies. One of the many. One of the many. One of the many."

Did Rocky have a baby sister that was killed inside the house and who was perhaps buried down where the words "HELL" are spelled out in the "Old House" drawing? We all know Roky had mental issues, but "crazy people" don't just make stuff up out of thin air. Input is required for even a mentally insane person to have content and memories from which to form words and stories - even if they are abstract and hard to follow. Maybe this killing he's refering too is metaphorical, and maybe it isn't. But this story comes from SOMETHING real.

"I thought they had killed one of the kids. One of the babies. They had…killed…one of the kids. They had uh…killed the kid. Like one of their poor, broken little toys. They had killed a kid."

Again, here's a guy that seemed to speak almost in riddles on the regular. I don't hear any riddles here, he's just making statements. Over and over, THEY KILLED A BABY. Maybe he saw something that messed him up, and is just now talking about it for the first time?

[Evelyn's place at the time the documentary was filmed. She's hoisting up a board upon which she pasted some of the images we saw earlier, as-if prepared for another one of her cheap theatre plays which exploits her boys.]

The above is Roky's place at the time of the documentary being filmed. You can see Evelyn at the bottom left of the bottom image, propably pretending to clean up an obviously neglected living space. If I recall, Roky was on his own at that point, but Evelyn came by often. She's clearly carrying guilt over the fact that she'd rather keep her son locked up and catatonic like a stage prop than get him REAL help, which he later recieves from one of his younger brothers.

This is how Roky relaxed. Surrounded by a chaotic mess, TVs all blasting, radios on, just a hellish white noise all throughout the house. We're told this was done because he heard voices in his head and he needed to drown them out so he could relax. Man, what an awful existence!

We see Roky playing with Mr Potato Head alot, which is heartbreaking in context of all this talk about children being sort of caged and neglected like old broken toys. I think the metaphor of the broken toy is why Roky is so fixated on this one. It stirs memories of a childhood spent relating to broken toys laying all over. Although somewhat dissociated from those memories, he still feels a need to try and fix it. But all he can really do is stare at it, as if trying to remember why.

The poem crescendos with a paranoia that someone [or something] is reading his thoughts, and is aware that he knows about the killing of a child/baby in the house. This murder, or whatever it represents, is summarized by the line, "I know the hole in baby's head."

So what is the hole in baby's head and who is the baby? If we take the above literally, it would seem Evelyn [or perhaps a mistress of Roger Sr] gave birth to a baby which was promptly shot/bludgeoned in the head, for reasons we don't know. The title IKTHIBH is Roky's thinly veiled statement that he knows about it.

On a more symbolic level, perhaps the "killing" is a metaphor for the childhood taken from 5 brothers living in squalor and poverty. We know that the Erickson brothers all had a hard time as adults. One even attempted, or seriously contemplated suicide. It's easy to see "the hole in baby's head" as being the collective damage done to the kids in this family. Roky just happened to be the one annointed with the burden of telling the world about it.

Related: Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye