What does the line “If man is 5 and the devil is 6; then that must make me seven” in “The roof” by Bloodhound Gang. I understand that he is saying he is worse the the Devil but where do the numbers come in?
In the Bible (specifically the Book of Revelation) the number of the Beast is given as 666. Elsewhere in the bible 777 is given as the “Lord’s number.” He is not saying he’s “worse” than Satan, he’s saying he’s godlike.
I’ve never heard of “man being 5” though. The songwriter probably made it up for lyrical flow.
In the Pixies’ Monkey Gone To Heaven, the recital goes:
If the man is 5, if man is 5 (blah blah)
then the devil is 6 then the devil is 6 (yadda yadda)
and god is 7 and god is 7 (repeat shmapeat)
this monkey’s gone to heaven…
i’ve never looked into it but my humble assumption has been that this is a hierarchical thing.
man below devil below god.
I agree. 7 has long been a “divine” number (numerologically speaking of course). 6 is one short of 7 and may be considered “imperfect” or “less than divine”. (although 6 has also been considered a perfect number in some cases too)
Here’s a past thread about 666.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=38595
I’m not sure how 7 came to be a divine number. My favorite explanation is the one having to do with there being 7 important objects in the night sky for ancient cultures (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn)
And just to clarify the Bloodhound Gang is merely referencing the Pixies, the nest line of the song is: “This honky’s gone to heaven.” Oh, and earlier there’s a line that says: “I’m not black like Barry White, no, I am white like Frank Black is.” Frank Black being the lead singer of the Pixies, of course.
It might have something to do with the levels that 17th-18th century “scientists” ascribed to life. I can’t remember the details, just that Pope commented on the heirarchy. IIRC, woman would be one step below man, then all the animals, then plants, etc.
Does anyone else remember?