Dendron

There's so much going on this song, in this album, It's beautiful. This song has a very growing pains kind of feel, like he's looking back at everything in that mid twenties thing and just finding himself. He's maybe realizing how much of you're misled as a young man and he's remembering the one who opened his eyes and how he couldn't return the favor. Someone please elaborate on this album

This is an immensely beautiful album. This albums "meaning" is obviously open to interpretation, but after reading into all the lyrics and noticing the cohesiveness of the entire album in both it's sound and songwriting, I feel there is a central theme here. In my opinion, the whole album is about a loved one committing suicide. He talks about what the relationship and person were like. as well as how he is coming to grips with both the actual suicide and the feelings of guilt that come with it. His world has shattered and he doesn't know what to think anymore.

This song in particular hits me the hardest....it's like a culmination of all the emotions he has expressed throughout the entirety of the album. The final lines, "Engraved in the stone by request/in recurse of friends dead, is "tell me again that it's all in my head," are haunting and beautiful. I'm not afraid to admit that I choke up every single time.

I agree with you, eric, this one hits pretty damn hard. The entire album comes crashing down with this one tune. Every high, every low, every feeling culminates in a crescendo that is both life affirming and heartbreaking at the same time.

Wake me up Pictures of you smiling in times when I just couldn't be around Hold me up Count my rings to see how many winters I've been stuck here underground Swore I would not burn out Digging through the memories that made you feel alive when you were young You were right to doubt Broken since foundations in the structures you were building came undone.

We had plans. We were going to be something/go somewhere. We wouldn't be like them.

Part of your charm was the way you would push me from all of the traps that I just couldn't see. Figures the one that was there to have tripped you up Would be the one that was set there by me.

I turned out to be my own worst enemy.

I agree with the previous submissions that this album is incredible and poetic and deep and has so much meaning going on.

Specifically for Dendron, there are some points that seem to point toward a disintegrated father/son relationship. The singer, Christian, has a great interview published on tumblr about his issues with gender confusion. I suggest you search that and read it in full if this song touches you.

Analyzing the lyrics:

First verse - this is about a son watching a father work for his family. The father expects his son to be a man like himself. When his son falls short, it is a disappointment.

Second verse - the writer is thinking about the moments where the relationship feels like it's falling apart. The writer is an artist (unlike his father), so he sees his environment as he feels emotions, hence the lyric "Do you recall the imagery from when I drove you away?" Furthermore "Through others' rose prescription lens..." is a way to describe that from the outside it seemed like a normal father/son relationship. Between them they knew it wasn't sound, due to the writer not feeling like he understands his gender identity. The writer expects a nurturing father regardless of the person his son is, but the father doesn't meet this expectation.

The next part (bridge? post verse?) - The writer is thinking about memories from being a child and having times with his father but he didn't feel like a son. "Count my rings to see how many years I've been stuck here underground" refers to the correlation between age and how many years the writer's been confused.

6/8 time section - The writer remembers that even though their relationship isn't typical father/son, his father has tried to help him get through life. Through all the father's efforts, the writer still doesn't trust that he's a boy. Therefore the line that states "figures the one that was there to have tripped you up would be the one that was set there by me" refers to his own gender confusion being the one thing his father doesn't know how to handle.

The final heart-wrenching lines - The writer feels like his misunderstood gender identity is the thing that causes the figurative death of his father. His father finally departs ("wish I was there to say goodbye when you went away") and the writer regrets his inevitable feelings of confusion. He states that he wishes he was home, but he doesn't feel that he has a sense of home.

"Cut off my arm at the bone in solidarity" expresses that the pain from missing his father is similar to the theoretical pain of missing a limb.

"I felt the noose tighten up on your collar bone and I felt the gun in the small of your back" describes knowing that the relationship is failing and feeling like his gender confusion is a betrayal.

The final line is a depiction of denial. Asking "tell me again that it's all in my head" is a way to detach from the painful reality that something has died.

The album ends with a reprise of the opening guitar riff from the first track. It is brilliant and heartfelt. Sonically it is closure but it feels like a continuation of the journey that began at the beginning of the album.

Also, dendron loosely means "branch". Which neatly fits with the theme of family.