| Protest the Hero – Caravan Lyrics | 7 months ago |
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This song is incredible, I love it as I do all of their music. This one seems to strike a very personal chord with them. Thirst for something new and struggling as an artists to produce it seem to be the main themes of this song, and maybe this album as a whole. If we look at Pacific Myth, it weaves through it's narrative a question of why. Why do we work until we are unable? Why must the endless cycle of rebirth and death stagnate in the womb? Why when we find a voice amid the listless masses must we accept the fact that it too will one day fade out completely to be heard again in some distant future? Asking why on a spiritual level. The concept of the ocean is representative of humanity as a whole. Listless masses that conglomerate into a single body that constantly shifts perspectives, narratives, wealth, beliefs, values. Born from nothing, climbing or stagnating, and destined to return to nothing. In this amalgamation, there is a rise and fall that all of us experience without exception. Rising to fame, then falling into anonymity. Rising from squalor to one day dive back into it. Starting from immense wealth to be consumed by poverty. Transformation. Birth. Death. To the outliers that disagree with the conglomerate, it may seem futile to question the masses. This is just my interpretation of this, and as the lyrics state, we can interpret things in any way we see fit. But from a band that has always been less popular than I believe they deserve, it wouldn't be a surprise if they see their hard work that they pour their souls into, only reaching so far. Albeit to dedicated fans, but that has to affect their creative process in some way. But it also has themes of resilience. Bolstering themselves through their concerted efforts to craft their art in a way they can be proud of, while understanding the ethereal nature at their core. And to do so while expressing their issues with media consomme as a whole falls perfectly in line with their style. Calling out the disingenuous practices that are permitted by record labels, media moguls, industry as a whole that chokes the lifeblood from artistry until there's nothing fresh and new, leaving the masses satisfied as they gorge themselves on easily consumable products that fill the higher up's pockets, without the risk. The reason I have always loved this band since the early days is because they are that "something new from the womb" for me. I love all types of music, but Protest the Hero hits differently for me. I will support them as long as I am able. Enraptured by their work, but never truly satisfied and always wanting more. |
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| Protest the Hero – Harbinger Lyrics | 7 months ago |
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To me, this song has two meanings: First, the fear of losing relevancy after garnering enough attention to stand out among the masses and feel true in your artistry. A dream of light spilling through stained glass, depicting a violent struggle that's bathed in beautiful colors as you claim your ambitions. You work yourself tirelessly to present your artwork worthy of their recognition, only to slowly realize the countless scores that came before you. The siren's call brought them to the shore from the sea of the listless aggregates as it does the same to you. Where you were convinced that grass is greener on dry earth, but the sands are soaked in blood and littered with corpses of crows who had transformed themselves briefly, able to take flight, but now lay lifeless, having fallen in line with the wicked and corrupt, with their wings having been torn from them. Second, the comfort of acceptance. A return to your original form that comes at the end of all our lives. To accept your return to the sea as a new generation has been recast, climbing onto the sands now to replace the old generation's roles. With fond memories, and your guard dropped, you trace your path backwards, receding into the ocean as it dawns on you. Now YOU are the crow, fallen to the influence of a world that no longer needs you. Ideals of reproach or redemption are meaningless in the everlasting. The new generation takes up the blade and strikes the final blow. The eternal return cycles endlessly as the ones who strike you down, shall one day face the same fate. In that momentary revelation, as you are slowly dragged back into the ocean by the calming push and pull of the waves, the sun setting is a comforting view as you know you can now go back to sleep, and rest your weary head. For now. |
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| Protest the Hero – Drumhead Trial Lyrics | 8 months ago |
| To me, this song is about rebellion (brought to life by a pounding war drum), and about a king drunk with power (wicked beast) executing a band of rebels (sound and revolt) who would overthrow him. The first verse is from the perspective of the rebellion who stands in defiance against that king who, in their eyes, is unfit and whose end is overdue, with the rebel's hands (the figureheads) splintered and gone. The leader of the rebels warns all who attend his execution to pray for a way out of the endless cycle of power corrupting absolute. The second verse, the leader spits vitriol at the corrupt king, likening him to a cowardly animal, whose lacks the strength to wear the crown and shirks all the responsibilities that come with it. The king smokes leisurely on his brier before giving the command to execute the rebel. And as the fire scorches the rebel, the king is unaware that the sounds of the rebel's last words remain, somewhere amongst the crowd of attendees to the execution, the rebel's words have taken root. The king ever pompous revels in the shoddy execution, taunting the dying rebel leader as he shakes from his wounds and whimpers sullenly at his feet, claiming his boisterous speech to be an act as he mockingly jests at his "stance before the heavens screaming 'Bring on the storm!' in an almost singsong manner. To bring on the storm, bring on the rain, bring on the jesters and bring on the pain. The last verses of the song sing a soliloquy of blood spilling into the planted seeds that nourish themselves on the rebel martyr. The roots that lay just beneath the vast foundation of the king's empire. Roots that will grow tall from under the king to reach beyond him one day, and though the autumn brings a fall of leaves as many more will die, they always come anew, to embolden the spirits of a new rebellion. | |
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