Hype-THE BEST NEW NAMES, FIRST

Upset-DORK'S HOME FOR ALL THINGS LOUD

Festival Guides-YOUR ESSENTIAL FESTIVAL COMPANION

Hype-THE BEST NEW NAMES, FIRST

Mixtape-DORK'S BEST NEW TRACKS

Play-DORK'S NEW MUSIC FRIDAY EDIT

Upset-DORK'S HOME FOR ALL THINGS LOUD

Playlist Covers

Playlist Directory

Before Doors-LIVE SESSIONS

Music Video Directory

Down With Boring-THE DORK PODCAST

Chart Attack-UK NUMBER ONES, DISSECTED

Dork Radio

Live

Live 24/7

Dork Radio

Down With Boring

Join thousands of music lovers getting the best new tracks, exclusive interviews, and breaking news delivered straight to your inbox every week.

In print now

June 2026

Latest issue variants

Dork, June 2026 (Bleachers cover)

Bleachers

Dork, June 2026 (Myles Smith cover)

Myles Smith

Dork, June 2026 (Towa Bird cover)

Towa Bird

|

Privacy Policy|

Cookie settings

© 2026 The Bunker Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advertise on this site.

Destroyer – The Terror Serves a Purpose (1997) | Track profile | Dork

Tracks
Destroyer
Ideas for Songs
The Terror Serves a Purpose

TRACK

The Terror Serves a Purpose

Release date: 1997

From Ideas for Songs

Track 10

2:42

Rock Music Alternative Indie Rock

Spotify Apple Music More on Destroyer

About This Track

"The Terror Serves a Purpose" is a track by Destroyer, from the album Ideas for Songs, released 1997. The track is 2:42 long. It's filed under Rock. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 1 article about Destroyer.

About the Artist

Destroyer

Destroyer

Lyrics

The Terror Serves a Purpose

That's one
Precipice we refuse to fall from
Straddling
Two famous worlds isn't real
We're creating a third one
That is

You invented a death
Wish for us
To people how we saw fit
Destroyed by the dust of itself

Struck dumb by lesser things
I have been a lesser thing
I have been dumb
I have been

Oh, how it used to be
Inevitable that two feet
At a table might touch
I never thought I'd miss
Your triumphs
That much

From wife to midwife
From wife to midwife
From house to halfway house

So let it be known
The scalps shall be displayed
Flayed and branded
I hear you've the stomach
I hear you can stand it all

See, the terror, it serves a purpose
And we serve a purpose
And we serve a purpose
And we serve it

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

From Ideas for Songs

2:421997

Listen

Album

Ideas for Songs

Track number

10

Release year

1997

1A Month In the Country
2:04
2Song About Disappointment
1:58
3Spring Cleaning
2:24
4No One Needs to Know

More from Destroyer

Albums & EPs

Dan's Boogie

Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World

Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World

Bologna

Labyrinthitis

Have We Met

Optimum D.S.I. - EP

Optimum D.S.I. - EP

Poison Season

Dark City Hunter

Dark City Hunter

Riot EP

Wrong Answer EP

Wrong Answer EP

Explore

More tracks by Destroyer

Bologna (feat. Fiver)Dan's Boogie

The Ignoramus of LoveDan's Boogie

Dan's BoogieDan's Boogie

Cataract TimeDan's Boogie

I MaterializeDan's Boogie

Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the WorldDan's Boogie

Sun Meet SnowDan's Boogie

The Same Thing as Nothing at AllDan's Boogie

Travel LightDan's Boogie

Somnambulist Blues

Seahorse Tranquilizer

Tintoretto, It's For YouLabyrinthitis

It's In Your Heart NowLabyrinthitis

LabyrinthitisLabyrinthitis

All My Pretty DressesLabyrinthitis

Eat the Wine, Drink the BreadLabyrinthitis

It’s in Your Heart NowLabyrinthitis

It Takes a ThiefLabyrinthitis

The StatesLabyrinthitis

SufferLabyrinthitis

The Last SongLabyrinthitis

JuneLabyrinthitis

Tintoretto, It’s for YouLabyrinthitis

Have We MetHave We Met

It Just Doesn't HappenHave We Met

Cue SynthesizerHave We Met

The RavenHave We Met

FoolssongHave We Met

Kinda DarkHave We Met

The Man in Black's BluesHave We Met

University HillHave We Met

The Television Music SupervisorHave We Met

Crimson TideHave We Met

Foam Hands (live)

A Light Travels Down the Catwalk (Acoustic)

Stay Lost (Acoustic)

La Regle du Jeu

Saw You at the Hospital

Cover from the Sun

A Light Travels Down the Catwalk

Sometimes in the World

Tinseltown Swimming in Blood

Can We TryOptimum D.S.I. - EP

View all tracks by Destroyer →

All My Pretty DressesLabyrinthitis
4:40
Eat the Wine, Drink the BreadLabyrinthitis
3:37
It Takes a ThiefLabyrinthitis
2:41
It's In Your Heart NowLabyrinthitis
6:56
JuneLabyrinthitis
6:33
LabyrinthitisLabyrinthitis
3:19
SufferLabyrinthitis
3:30
The Last SongLabyrinthitis
2:34
The StatesLabyrinthitis
6:56
Tintoretto, It's For YouLabyrinthitis
3:06

Showing 10 of 50

If you like Destroyer

The New Pornographers

The New Pornographers

Bill Callahan

Bill Callahan

The Weather Station

The Weather Station

Swan Lake

Swan Lake

Yo La Tengo

Yo La Tengo

Hamilton Leithauser

Hamilton Leithauser

Stephen Malkmus

Stephen Malkmus

Cass McCombs

Cass McCombs

Wolf Parade

Wolf Parade

Spoon

Spoon

READ MORE ABOUT DESTROYER

READ MORE ABOUT DESTROYER

READ MORE ABOUT DESTROYER

READ MORE ABOUT DESTROYER

READ MORE ABOUT DESTROYER

READ MORE ABOUT DESTROYER

READ MORE ABOUT DESTROYER

READ MORE ABOUT DESTROYER

Destroyer has confirmed new album 'Dan's Boogie' and shared an early single featuring Fiver

Destroyer has confirmed new album 'Dan's Boogie' and shared an early single featuring Fiver

Destroyer reveals upcoming album 'Dan's Boogie' and releases new single 'Bologna' featuring Fiver.

9 Jan 2025 • 9:58 am

3:20

5Death to the Northern Man

7Marrying the Hammer

8Nothing Against You Bored Spectre

9Song About a Girl Up to a Point

10The Terror Serves a Purpose

2:42

11Leaving London

13Forget America

14Stuffed and Sick

15The Leg We Stand On

16Why Banacek Doesn't Love

—You Can't Go Home Again