The Promise

This is nothing to do with God or Armenian genocide.

My theory ..... I think it's a letter from Chris to his mother . Chris was brought up with strong Christian Catholic Irish values and though he identified in his heart as agnostic, he was raised that way, be had a deep emotional, non materialistic heart. He was very empathetic and he was also very close with his mother until Icky came along and caught him at his most vulnerable and basically hkneytrspped him in the most literally description of the phrase ever. She screwed all that up for him. She forbade him contact with his own family. No one whomwas close with Chris liked Icky. NO ONE. That's extremely telling.

Chris finally came to realise what was going on and how he was being manipulwted , controlled and used and abused . Chris was a victim of domestic violence , let's be honest. It doesn't have to be physical to be domestic violence. He had taken off the rose tinted spectacles and knew there was no changing Icky and how she treated him. He finally seemed to have woken up. He was finally ready to get out of his horrendous relationship with the Greek hag and her witch mother. He had shared his thoughts with someone else ,someone he was close with . He had possibly reunited with his mom and spoken to her . So my theory is he is speaking these lyrics to his mother who has always been there for him either way, through thick and thin and has instilled these values in him . He is connected to her like no one else.

"And you said (his mother possibly said when he asked for advice after he may have broke and discussed the shitstorm that was his relationship with her) "The poison in a kiss. (The person was referring to Icky the seductress) Is the lie upon the lips". (She never truly loved or cared for him, only pretended for the money and fame and fortune) Truer words were never shared" (spot on, all she cared about was materialistic things, money, Birkin bags, expensive clothes , looks, property, money, fame)

"When I feel Like lies are all I hear. (She lied to the end even when she was fiddling the charity he founded for exploited children, she continued to deny and buy all around her and keep him a workhorse) I pull my memories near The one thing they can't take". (they being the K bitches who had him beaten down psychologically and emotionally)

This part starts to make me really convinced he is singing about memories of his mother. They had been kept apart for a very long time but not long before his death it is rumoured they had made amends, whether Icky knew or not, who knows . I can't imagine he would have poked at the monster she was by letting her in on that secret. She had kept him away from all family and friends and even tried to keep him from his first daughter by orchestrating the sabotage of the parental relationship he and SS had.

"The books still open on the table. (Schoolbooks?) The bells still ringing in the air (church bells?) The dreams still clinging to the pillow The songs still singing in a prayer. (He attended Catholic school as a child. He was raised Catholic (father was Irish)

Now my soul Is stretching through the roots To memories of you Back through time and space To carry home The faces and the names And these photographs of you Rescued from the flames. (He has been thinking back through his childhood memories and he wants his mother part of his life again. To bring her into the lives of his children . How it should be . How it should have always been )

Why do I think this ....well if you read the most recent response on this site to "Nearly Forgot my broken heart" written in 2015 , to which I fully , agree with (could have written it myself only I didn't lol), and then you read the lyrics to another final song he has a hand in, which he added lyrics to by Johnny cash "you never knew my mind". A pretty vivid picture begins to appear .

is a question to GOD

I think the song The Promise is a play on the stories of Romeo & Juliette, The Last of the Mohicans, as well as some complicated personal drama. Star-Crossed Lovers facing impossible odds, negotiating difficult circumstances, ultimately hoping against hope that everything will be fine and they will find each other. The war theme could be applied to any war past, present, or future where people have to search the world to find each other again.

[Edit: no reason]