Red Sky

My take on the song is that the 'ship' is the personal barrier we construct keeping us afloat in life. The depths of the ocean are the worse parts of life. The red sky in the morning is a sign of foreboding, that there may be dark times ahead. Making our bed at the bottom of the sea would be like your personal ship sinking and life getting worse. Then we'll raise an empire, meaning though its bad now, we'll rise again and make things good for ourselves once more.

In short, this song represents rebirth and hope.

my new lullaby, exept i'd feel really bad if i fell asleep during this masterpiece.

I really like the personification in this song with the wind and the sea. Also I have this theory that this song may be based on (or at least influenced by) "The Voyage of the Dawntreader" which is a book from the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. In the story some people sail out farther that anyone has sailed before and the crew of the ship becomes paranoid about what will happen to them in the uncharted waters. The whole song could be from the point of view of one of the sailors on board the Dawntreader and how he is worried about all of the bad omens that he is seeing. This song is about what that sailor is feeling.

I found this semi-old interivew with Dustin backstage after KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas concert back in December:

"Overall, I think 'Red Sky' is dealing with the issues that [people] suffer, but in the end things are redeemed and there's a resolution," Kensrue said. "It's got this image of a storm that comes and in the end this unexplained supernatural change [happens] and everything kind of comes right through these dark times. It's about hope in general."

There are seven passages in the New Testament which speak of "weeping and gnashing of teeth." Six are found in the gospel of Matthew, one in Luke.

Within the Gospel of Matthew it says, 'When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowring.'

"The storm is comming, can't you see?" obviously refers to foul weather that is sure to come. End time prophesy states that Christ's Second Coming will be accompanied by a red sky, for it will be a day of wrath and judgement.

"There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous."—Acts 24:15.

"The hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs [God's memory] will hear his voice and come out."—John 5:28, 29.

"The sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Hades [the grave] gave up those dead in them."—Revelation 20:13.

After the Great Tribulation, the multitudes of True Believers will reign with Christ on Earth for 1,000 yrs. i.e. "we'll raise an empire for the bottom of the sea."

Is it just me, or does this song remind you of The Odyssey? Every time I listen to it, all I can think about is Odysseus and his men sailing out in the sea with a red sky, wondering if they're ever going to make it back to their families.

I mean if you think about it, it does kinda fit together.

"I know what lies beneath, I've seen the flash of teeth Conspiring with the reef to sink our ship The wind's a cheating wife, her tongue a thirsty knife And she could take your life with one good kiss."

This is basically saying, Poseidon lies beneath the beautiful ocean, he's trying to destroy Odysseus and his men. The red sky and its looks can be deceiving. When they talk about the teeth, they're talking about witnessing Charybdis or Scylla. Etc.

"Know tonight we'll make our bed at the bottom of the sea." This is Odysseus losing faith in his prevail.

"I know the ocean speaks, I've heard her call to me and smiling in my dreams she whispers this: The stars retreat behind their veil The clouds are clinging to your sail The storm is coming, can you see?"

This is about Poseidon again, and how Odysseus even dreams about Poseidon coming to him in his dreams and discouraging him.

"Look and see the sky turn red like blood it covers over me and soon the sea shall give up her dead we'll raise an empire from the bottom of the sea."

This is Odysseus claiming whether they make it back or not, they will never be forgotten, and how they will continue to fight it out to the very end.

I dunno, that's just my opinion. :D

This song is a simple message of hope. Though the lyrics only indicate despair, the end musically indicates an "unexplained miracle" as dustin called it on the vheissu podcast.(which to dustin is probably god)

My gosh i can't even try to explain what this song means to me but I'll try anyway.. I think everything leading up to the last chorus is about being lost and hopeless in sin or whatever you can relate it to in your life and then in the last chorus brings hope back into the picture. Also i can't even begin to say how good of a songwriter Dustin is and how great musicians these guys are

This song is about knowing that things are about to get rough. You could interpret it to mean a big argument is coming in a relationship, or considering Dustin's use of Christian themes, it could mean how things are only gonna get worse for Christians as time passes. The song doesn't really indicate what kind of a storm it is. In whatever case, the final chorus shows that the storm won't kill us, and something much better will come out of it.

I beleive that the song really talks alot about your life and how it is affected.

1.I know what lies beneath, I've seen the flash of teeth 2.Conspiring with the reef to sink our ship 3.The wind's a cheating wife, her tongue a thirsty knife 4.And she could take your life with one good kiss

1.I think here Dustin is singing about the fact that he's breifly seen the terror in life it being what 'lies beneath' (something hidden) and the flash of teeth inspiring fear and terror of this life-changing thing

2. Reefs are places with immense diversities of life on them, and are also things that lie beneath, but are more noticed than "what lies beneath" from the first line. So perhaps here Dustin says that "what lies beneath" has been plotting (as a metaphor) with the reefs (being perhaps the rest of the world, or just a larger group of things) to sink the ship, "the ship" being his self-esteem (esteem, like steem, like steem-boat, like ship)
3. Following up on the boat metaphor, the wind seems to be a cheating wife. I think he's saying that the wind is very nice (like a wife) but is also going behind your back (cheating, following up on the life-changing and plotting against themes). Her tongue a thirsty knife being again something seeming to be soft and beautiful just wanting to hurt you, (again in the plotting aginst theme)
4. Kisses often involve some kind of tongue, so with the wind's kiss (a breeze, perhaps) the wind could potentially cause a storm so big it causes the ship to sink

CHORUS Red sunrises are always associated with death. There is the recurring "loss of life" theme, so basically the chorus says there is a red sunrise because people will die, and the make our beds at the bottom of the sea indicates they'll be at the bottom. pretty self explanatory...

I know the ocean speaks, I've heard her call to me And smiling in my dreams she whispers this: "The stars retreat behind their veil The clouds are clinging to your sail The storm is coming, can you see?"

Well, this stanza is a bit trickier. I beleive The Ocean is a metaphor for something that is serene and deadly at the same time. So this "Ocean" is perhaps haunting his dreams with threats, like an oncoming storm. Everyone has been in a position where they know that 'storm is coming,' and can't do much to stop it.

As far as the last two lines, I beleive he is saying that everyone has gone through this kind of thing, and by everyone, he means he could raise an empire from the number of people who have experienced this sense of being betrayed and 'sinking.' After all, the album Vheissu is all about finding yourself and being one as a group.