Note: Free use is granted for this document or pieces thereof as long as it is used to benefit The Warning.
This analysis was created through discussion with fans of The Warning, input from Luis Villarreal (the father of the band members), and from interviews and vlogs that the band has done. That means (for the slow ones) this is not an “official” story, as one does not exist. All of the band members have their own interpretations.
Thank you, Daniela, Paulina, and Alejandra Villarreal for everything that you do. Thank you for saving rock music.
~ TimberWolf7.62
Thanks to Robert Krawitz for editing duties!
Queen of the Murder Scene is a concept album which tells the story of a disturbed young woman's inner journey from desire to obsession to murder and madness. The songs are told from the point of view of either the young lady's inner psychopath or her good side, which has a conscience – until it does not.
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In the notes below, the links from the songs’ titles are to the individual songs in the Lunario CDMX initial presentation.
Dust to Dust is a prologue that invites the listener into the story and introduces the main themes - life/death, good/evil, truth/lies, etc. The Spanish section is that of a preacher saying that you can receive salvation but it is something that you must work for. The lyrics have deeply religious undertones - life is short and unpredictable (“How quickly things can unfold”); there is an afterlife (“and we shall start again” and “the truth found in death”); we should distrust false prophets (“where are you going? Don’t trust all that you hear”); and judgment (“I don’t seek right or wrong”).
Crimson Queen introduces the girl’s (the Queen’s) obsession. She loves someone who doesn’t even know she exists. Her feelings are intense, confusing, and conflicting, and are overpowering her. She would do anything for him to love her. Innocent enough, so far.
In Ugh the obsession is clearly growing and is consuming the Queen. She is afraid of what she is becoming. She doesn’t want it to be that way, she wants it to be simple (“I don’t want to understand, I just want to hold your hand”). She asks to be saved and feels that she is sinking down into a trap. She doesn't know it at this point, and doesn't intend it, but there will soon be blood on her hands.
In The One, things begin to turn dangerous. Her control is slipping and the Queen is willing to do anything to make that love happen. She’s willing to kill off the competition: “I want to kill all the love that's for you, So only mine remains”. The lyrics also go from “let me be the one” to “I will be the one”. When in character, Dany will spit out the final “for you to love me back” in furious, frustrated rage. Events are about to occur which cannot be undone.
In Stalker, the Queen has her love trapped and is telling him how much she wants him. And it is not an option: she says “yes or no, whichever, I’ll have you someday”. The band said in their 12/18/2018 Patreon live chat that the murder (Pau says “the first murder”) occurs at the end of this song, in the last verse. Perhaps the object of her affection rejected her and she murdered him in a rage. In the chat, Dany says that “she is singing it to the corpse” when she says “you are mine” in the final verse, since he cannot now get away from her.
In Red Hands Never Fade, the Queen turns remorseful. Here she is asking her love to forgive her about her mistake (killing him). Of course it cannot be undone. Her hands are bloody and that cannot be righted.
The Queen is hearing voices in her head, never realizing that they are only in her head. The evil side is trying to take control here, trying to convince the Queen to give up and not resist her. She offers to take on the pain and guilt. The evil side also predicts that the Queen will go bad. She indicates that the Queen has fantasies that will lead her to evil – the “darkness in your eyes” and “If you let this go much further There'll be no turning back from me”.
In Sinister Smiles, the Queen is having a fight between her good and bad sides. It’s performed as a duet between Pau as the good side and Dany as the bad. The bad side is taunting the good with her power but the Queen is trying to be strong. She even starts to threaten suicide, probably in the tub, hence the “stain the water” lyric. This is a very feminine way to commit suicide, in the tub, maybe a bubble bath, so that the blood from slashed wrists remains in the tub and does not dirty the house. Then the evil side joins her in singing that part – so does the evil side want suicide? By the end of the song, the two warring personalities break apart.
In Dull Knives, the Queen is losing control and seriously considering suicide. In the previous song, Sinister Smiles, she’s already thought of it. I assume dull knives cut “better” because they cause more pain, and at this point she is self-mutilating. She realizes that her evil side is winning. She is losing control.
In Queen of the Murder Scene, the evil side taunts the Queen (“You don’t deserve the throne. The crown is mine”). She is proud of how evil she is and boastful about it. But the Queen may have something to say about that in the next song, P.S.Y.C.H.O.T.I.C. Notice that Paulina, who has been the voice of the Queen (the good side) since Sinister Smiles, chants “Korosu, korosu”, which is Japanese for “kill”. Something seems to have changed with her.
The Queen has admitted what she has become and everything she has done. Per vlog #26, the girls say that the Queen is mocking those that are trying to capture her. In the previous song, the evil side said that she didn’t deserve the throne. Here the girl says that she will sit on her throne. She is claiming the throne and embracing her evil self – joyously embracing it. It seems that she commits other acts of violence here. She says the knife in her hands will not stop.
Per the girls’ vlog #26, in Hunter the Grim Reaper appears and delivers a fatal wound to the Queen at the end of this song. However, since the Queen has multiple personalities and is psychotic, it is easy to see that the Grim Reaper is simply a manifestation of either the evil side or of some other personality inside her, and that she commits suicide. Perhaps one personality believes that it is killing another one of the personalities. This song could be the Queen’s conscience reasserting itself, letting the evil side know that the war within will never end.
The Queen lies dying in The End and these are her last thoughts. She regrets nothing because she still feels that she did it all for love (Sinister Smiles ends with the evil side repeatedly screaming “I have done no wrong”). Interestingly, Paulina sings both the first and this last song, making a cycle where Dust To Dust includes the line “In the end everything just turns back into dust to dust”. The final lines of The End are “start again” and Dust To Dust says “and we shall start again”. They actually didn’t plan it that way from the beginning but liked the way it worked out.
In the Foro Didi show 14 June 2019, the background and pre-recorded audio stated: “Although her intentions were never quite clear, nobody can say if she really wanted to hurt someone. Her life had an ill-fated destiny, when she only sought true love.” This starts at the 1:15:42 mark of the concert posted on Youtube, just before The End.
Everyone notices that the girl’s shadow is a monster of some kind, with fur and sharp claws. But follow the red garment out to the end. It changes from cloth to blood splatter, to gouts with red droplets flying off.
The lyrics start out neatly written and clean and precise, but it “starts to get messier as her mind gets messier” (quote from Pau in her Pau Day May 30th 2020 Vinyl Collection video). As it goes on, the words are all over the place with capitalization and fonts and there is blood on the pages.
Also, the artwork for The End shows a girl floating in water that is turning red with her blood, under what are perhaps clouds and blue sky. This recalls the suicide lyric in Sinister Smiles: “cut through skin and stain the water”.
The girls did a Patron-only live chat December 18, 2018, and at 1:03:38 they state that the murder (Pau says “the first murder”) occurs at the end of Stalker, in the final verse. Dany sings part of the final verse and says that she (the Queen) is singing it to the corpse.
The album has been presented in full twice: