Hollow Moon popularly known as Bad Wolf is a song by a famous rock band based in America, Awolnation. The leading face of the band is Aaron Bruno, who along with other members created rock songs.
The song is present in their second studio album named Run. With the launch of Hollow Moon on January 26, 2015, Awolnation has brought up another album. The song was first announced as a single track but then the band planned to release it as a part of the album. Further, five other songs were added to the album. Though Aaron Bruno didn’t want to put Hollow Moon, in the first position instead he wanted to put ‘Windows’ in the first position. Also, in the entire song, he is speaking about his journey to make his next song ‘Run’.
What does the title mean?
Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf) is the title of the song which suggests inner fear which scared Aaron Bruno and his band to progress. The failure of his previous album made him feel scared to face the mirror of reality. Bad Wolf or what we know as Hollow Moon is referred to as the fear of failure. Whereas ‘wolf’ is an animal, that preys at night. By using ‘bad wolf’ the title might be suggesting that now he has worked on his fears, and as a wolf he is ferocious. Moon is also representative of night, it might show the darkness or difficult path he has crossed to achieve success.
Through the title, Aaron brings forth the idea of hollowness that he faced at the beginning of the song. There was a mirror in front of the singer with the help of which he can face the reality of fear. The fear also represents his inner-self because of which he was not able to concentrate on good things in life. Ultimately focusing on bad things lead to creating songs like ‘Hollow Moon’.
Source
Verse 1 – What does it mean?
I, I, I’ve been running from it all my lifetime
There’s nothing wrong with you, I’m searching for my right mind
Oh
You should’ve seen it, they were resting on the restless
This happened, literally woke up I was headless
I woke up I was headless
At the beginning of the song, Aaron Bruno brings forth the impact of fear from which he was running away throughout his life. Now, he is not afraid to take up challenges and face this inner fear. Here the fear of losing has been brought up, as his first studio album ‘Sophomore’ was a failure. The failure made the entire band feel demotivated and became the hurdle in making up of the new song.
As the song began, he was facing a mirror of reality and accepting his fears. He mentions, ‘I’m searching for my right mind’ which is indicative of the stress or pressure he has gone through. Now he finally wishes to overcome it by finding the right mind and focusing on good things more instead of failures.
What does the Chorus mean?
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
I’m-a make a, I’m-a make a bad wolf, I’m-a, I’m-a bad wolf
I’m-a make a bad wolf, I’m-a, I’m-a
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
As the title suggests, Aaron is continuously referring to the ‘bad wolf’ which is his fear. He now accepts his fears that is what he might mean by making a deal with the bad wolf, i.e, his fears. The fight within himself is over now as he has accepted his failure and working on his failures to improve. Since he has accepted the flaws and it is not going to affect him anymore. The phrase ‘don’t bite me no more’ means the fear which was faced by him after the failure of his first album.
Verse 2 – What does it mean?
You’re all still here
Motherfucker, I’ll be back from the dead soon
I’ll be watching from the center of the hollow moon
Ohh
Oh my god, I think I might’ve made a mistake
Waiting patiently was waiting taking up space
We are waiting taking up space
In the next lines, the use of ‘back from the dead’ represents his overcoming the fear and working towards something good. Thus, after forgetting the failure of ‘Sophomore’ he is carrying forward with the creation of something new. Verse 2 shows hope and at the same time, regretting that he was letting the fear affect him more. There is a reference to God too in the lyrics revealing his mistake to let his failure control him.
What does the Chorus mean?
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
I’m-a make a- I’m-a make a bad wolf- I’m-a, I’m-a bad wolf
I’m-a make a bad wolf, I’m-a, I’m-a
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
The same chorus is been repeated after verse 2, representing the repetition of the word ‘bad wolf’ with a perfect deal.
Verse 3 – What does it mean?
The earth below is above my feet when the clock is laughing at me
When copy cats and the lazy brats are the last things I want to see
No!
My enemy is a friend of mine in a friendly place to be seen
Hey!
You know I’ll run away for a couple of years just to prove I’ve never been free
Through the third verse, there is a reference to his inner turmoil and which leads to his creation of the new album ‘Run’. The journey to create his new album is highlighted in line ‘away for a couple of years to prove’. The song shows that now he is able to believe in himself and overcome his fear of failure. He will remove these bad things from life and embrace the good things.
In the third of verse three, he has used the phrase ‘enemy is a friend of mine’. This phrase tells us that now he has become friends with his failures which was his enemy before.
What does the Bridge mean?
They will never find me here!
They will never find me here!
They will never find me here!
They will never find me here!
Yeah!
In the bridge, there is a repetition of one line four times. This repetition shows the confidence of the singer in himself. Since the fear has been removed and Aaron is progressing towards making his new album. By stating ‘they will never find me here’, he means the condition of fear in which he was entangled earlier. It might also depict that he must have lost his mind after his first album was a flop.
Ultimately, Aaron meant to show the way he has moved on from the past crisis and fear. The acceptance of truth helped him to overcome the fear and destruction that took place in his mind.
What does the Outro mean?
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
I’m-a make a- I’m-a make a bad wolf- I’m-a, I’m-a bad wolf
I’m-a make a bad wolf, I’m-a, I’m-a
I’m-a make a deal with the bad wolf, so the bad wolf don’t bite no more
Here outro is similar to the previous mentioned chorus, this chorus talks about the ‘Bad Wolf’ which is referred to as fear of failure.
Conclusion
The lyrics of Hollow Moon are easy to understand, and they depict his journey after failure to the creation of the new album. It can be understood from the song that it’s better to overcome all the fear and start the journey again. You should not be afraid of failures instead you should progress and keep up with the work. Aaron tries to say to pass the message to ‘face your mirror’.
