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The song lyrics are here, with the following:

The black brook calls
It sings a chorus
While the gathering swells
The flames grow tall
Right before us
As drums keep pounding
And the masses now are fusing
Bodies pressed and tangled
As we revel in confusion
Our inhibitions thrown into the fire

Wiktionary lists the following meaning for the noun:

  1. a body of running water smaller than a river; a small stream.
  2. a water meadow.
  3. low, marshy ground.

Does this word really mean the soil, ground in this context?

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  • No, it's the first meaning: a small stream. (The "call", and the "chorus" it "sings", refer to the noise of the water flowing: brooks are often described as "babbling".) I can't say I'm particularly impressed by the lyrics - what a confused mess of mixed metaphors! For instance, how does a gathering swell? (I suppose it could be a bunch of people eating and getting fat together, but...)
    – MT_Head
    Commented Nov 12, 2013 at 21:16
  • @MT_Head Ah, I assumed that the "black brook" could be the black/grey/brown earth. Really, could it? One of their songs also feature talking dirt, so there's that.
    – VariousThings
    Commented Nov 12, 2013 at 21:21
  • @MT_Head Unless you are an old Norfolk boy, where a 'brook' is a 'beck'.
    – WS2
    Commented Nov 12, 2013 at 21:36
  • @VariousThings A brook can appear black if there are black rocks/dirt beneath it or if there just isn't enough light. Also it's a relatively common idiom to describe rivers or streams as "singing" to describe the sound they make.
    – ApproachingDarknessFish
    Commented Nov 12, 2013 at 22:55
  • @ValekHalfHeart That clears it up, I have never encountered this word before and it's hard for me to assign any meaning to it. Thank you!
    – VariousThings
    Commented Nov 13, 2013 at 8:48

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I would think black brook here is a body of running water, just any black=gloomy brook or possibly a particular brook epitomizing doom and gloom

Incidentally there is a black brook Kidron which occurs several times in the Bible.

E.g.1 Kings 15:13 He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron.

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