This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Their voices search for me through the darkness,
yet I feel desire's cold grip upon my heart no more.
My solitude.
My shield.
My armour.
My solitude.
My shield.
My armour.
Tested with full force.
I have seen the face of death and I,
I choose choose not to accept its form.
I have seen the face of death.
An army of demons summoned forth, upon this endless night they swam.
The fire in their eyes, like new Suns shire through the abyss.
I taste the fear.
I see the weakness in their eyes.
They cannot hide as I devour all.
As the mountains crack and the oceans boil,
a fury-tempered heart is forged.
Within the flames, this current of corruption will cease.
As the mountains crack and the oceans boil,
a fury-tempered heart is forged.
Within the flames, this current of corruption will cease.
I taste the fear.
I see the weakness in their eyes.
They cannot hide as I devour all.
An army of demons summoned forth.
Upon this endless night they swarm.
The fire in their eyes, like new Suns shine trough the abyss.
For I have seen, I have seen the face of death.
I have seen the face of death and I choose not to accept its form.
My solitude.
My shield.
My armour.
My solitude.
My shield.
My armour.
Tested with full force.
Their voices search for me through the darkness,
yet I feel desire's cold grip upon my heart no more.
yet I feel desire's cold grip upon my heart no more.
My solitude.
My shield.
My armour.
My solitude.
My shield.
My armour.
Tested with full force.
I have seen the face of death and I,
I choose choose not to accept its form.
I have seen the face of death.
An army of demons summoned forth, upon this endless night they swam.
The fire in their eyes, like new Suns shire through the abyss.
I taste the fear.
I see the weakness in their eyes.
They cannot hide as I devour all.
As the mountains crack and the oceans boil,
a fury-tempered heart is forged.
Within the flames, this current of corruption will cease.
As the mountains crack and the oceans boil,
a fury-tempered heart is forged.
Within the flames, this current of corruption will cease.
I taste the fear.
I see the weakness in their eyes.
They cannot hide as I devour all.
An army of demons summoned forth.
Upon this endless night they swarm.
The fire in their eyes, like new Suns shine trough the abyss.
For I have seen, I have seen the face of death.
I have seen the face of death and I choose not to accept its form.
My solitude.
My shield.
My armour.
My solitude.
My shield.
My armour.
Tested with full force.
Their voices search for me through the darkness,
yet I feel desire's cold grip upon my heart no more.
Lyrics submitted by alien13, edited by BlueDiamondx3
Pressures Lyrics as written by Billy Joel
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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If you look at the structure in which the song was written (it starts and ends the same way) it seems as if the character of the album was transformed by the pressures of the ocean. The idea that he's seen the face of death and chosen not to accept it's form simply means he will not die yet. Instead he sees demons and sees the weakness in their eyes. So demons fear him in his contempt of death.
"As the mountains crack and the oceans boil, a fury-tempered heart is forged. Within the flames, this current of corruption will cease."
This is the moment of transformation. Where he turns into something else entirely and realizes it's time to strike back.
Parkway made a great concept album.
THIS is his transformation into something much greater than he once was. asmodia255 said it perfect.
Such a fantastic song. I love the line 'As the mountains crack and the oceans boil, a fury-tempered heart is forged.' However, I have no idea what the song means.
Such a fantastic song. I love the line 'As the mountains crack and the oceans boil, a fury-tempered heart is forged.' However, I have no idea what the song means.
there's no "not" in the line "I have seen the face of death and I have chosen to accept its form" aside from "not" not being audible in the vocals, it doesn't make sense with the rest of the song...
which, the rest of the song is all about the inevitability of death and being strong enough to face it head on while the rest of the world is in fear.
In the booklet it's written as 'I have seen the face of death and I choose not to accept its form.'. I can hear the words 'choose not', but I could see it being heard as 'chosen'.
I think that the "not" is quite audible in the song. And "not" does make sense with your interpretation [which I agree with], like when you say being strong enough to face it, he is choosing to not accept its form.
Im pretty sure that judging by the lyrics and the fact that Winston has been straight edge for the past few years, id say this song is about being straight edge. "I have seen the face of death and chose not to accept" is probably about his struggles with alcohol when he was younger. "I feel desire's cold grip on my heart no more" ..........straight edge.
So someone brushed on this a little but I just wanted to point this out in more detail for everyone. This is the transformation song, thats already been said. The song at 1:41(which is exactly half of the song) completely flips if you didn't notice. "This current of corruption will cease" He's done with the bullshit and hes a new man. Than it does that trippy flip sound and the lyrics and structure of the song go completely backwards. Also this is song 7 out of 13. Therefore the exact middle of this album is where the song flips and he transforms. So the conclusion is parkway drive literally made it so he transforms exactly halfway through the album and wrote a song that gets halfway through and goes backwards. Just wanted to shed some light on the genius that is this band and the creativiy that went into the entire masterpiece that is deep blue.
I don't know why, but when he screams "the face of death" the first time I swear it sounds EXACTLY like "the face of God"
ive posted on the song sleepwalker already and can say my idea behind this song "i have seen the face of death" the microchip(aka the mark of the beast)(death to his freedom, soul and will)he will not accept this..
"As the mountains crack and the oceans boil, a fury-tempered heart is forged" basically referring that the world is in chaos and he plans to rebel against the new world order
"An army of demons summoned forth, upon this endless night they swam." when the united states becomes the homefront of ww3
"The fire in their eyes, like new Suns shine through the abyss" the anticrist and his followers the illuminati(the sun is their symbol and the symbol of lucifer( the bringer of light)and fire is also their symbol
"Their voices search for me through the darkness, yet I feel desire's cold grip upon my heart no more" he is basically saying the new world orders promises sound so tempting but he now realizes the truth and will no longer listen to their temptation