#tpwbyt analysis

[melit0n]

"Let the tides carry you back to me." has always been among one of my favourite lines in Telomeres, and so, having listened to it again recently, a little idea popped into my head. Let me explain:

While ocean tides/currents is a very common metaphor, there's an underlying meaning to it. The ocean is a beautiful, but somewhat cruel place: tides can leave you stranded on a sandbank, or sweap you away before you even know it.

To put it in short, no object or creature that goes into the ocean comes out the same. For the tides to carry something back to you, something you've lost, it will be and always will be changed: eroded.

The cliffside will fall, the cave will crumble, etc etc.

With this in mind, we're yet again greeted with another example of Vessel asking for something he can't truly have. The person he wants will not be the same as they were before; they "collapse" into him, breaking apart, but still, to him, it's "the start of something."

His memory is warped, they are warped, and it'll stay that way.

However, what I would like to add is that, in DYWTYLM, it's theorised that instead of Vessel speaking to a second person, he's instead talking to himself.

Of course, this makes the song itself much more emotional (to me). Finding love for yourself is one of the hardest things you can do, but it has to be done to find love in others.

With that idea (stay with me here), the lyrics "Do you roll with the waves? Or do you duck into deep blue safety?" match up (generally) with Telomeres, which is mostly interpretated as being towards someone else.

So, what if some lines in Telemores are directed to himself as well?

Keep in mind, the tides don't just erode and carry objects (sediment), they also reflect. The Atlantic is one big mirror, and Vessel is staring into it's "deep blue safety" wondering what, or, rather, who, he was before he was Vessel.

Overall, the album name, "This Place Will Become Your Tomb", either being directed at Vessel or Vessel to Sleep (and being a Halo quote lmao), is more metaphorical than literal.

Who he was before Vessel sits in that coffin, not his physical body.

[polteergeistt]

High Water is so cool because it genuinely feels like Vessel is going batshit insane in a very scary way. He's not going insane among others and it doesn't feel like it's because of one someone else it just feels alone. It feels like spiralling down, trying to deny and pretend it's fine but noticing the signs and trying to act fine but. No. I'm not fine. I'm not okay. I'm going insane. And.

I can't hold myself together.

All alone, drowning in the depth of a broken mind lost in the confusions and doubts and incertainty of the torment and what is happening why am I like this why is it happening to me am I going insane am I ill in the brain. My brain is rotting. It's decaying and sinking into the abyss where the creepiest creatures will feast on my remains. All that's left is a last desperate scream of pain and bone chilling terror echoing in unknown hostile territory. Breathing has never been this hard.

And this feeling of raw terrifying insanity is something that I love to death. No more coherent thoughts. Barely any thoughts at all. Constant fight-or-flight mode on. Laborated breaths. Lies to self. Lying to yourself about being okay. Not wanting to worry others. Preferring to crumble down on your own. This vibe feels like home.

I'll smile through the agony for you.

[cr1ms0nesp3ra-ac3]

I'm sorry, but when I relistened to High Waters.. it really sounded like Vessel going so insane because of what the others said in their own analysis.. but also! I think there is something more than that.

This song is a mention of depression swallowing you whole. Like something I like to describe it... Paranoia, Derealization and the album seems like the waters are drowning you in deep sorrows. There was no escape and this will be your tomb of suffering.

Sounds like something I can relate.. i'm not sure if I really have depression, but that sounded like I tried to catch the love I want. But no, instead.. the waters are drowning me whole.

[fivewholeminutes]

i am in fact the same TMBTE anon both times (sorry!! 😭). again, such a cool analysis!!! i'm new to ST and IMMEDIATELY got invested. i haven't seen an artist do something like this before, so it's really amazing trying to connect the dots based on what everyone thinks. and yes, i do think it's the same girl in the music videos, which is interesting because of the whole "he planned everything from the start" theory. then i wonder about what the music videos mean (though i do agree that the vision shifted a little after TLYW)! i loooveee the idea that Sleep is coming from within Vessel, cause he's literally a host as in an empty holding vessel. and the white mask thing omg......so crazy cool......cause then it goes into after being "taken hostage", they change their masks as like some sort of acceptance (which kind of mirrors Vessel's black body paint transformation cause the current masks are black too?). idk, i do think that sometimes we/the fans stretch things, but that's also the fun of it. always love hearing the Think™

and in true sleep token fashion, i think i'll remain anon - 🪼

Hello again, Anon!! Sorry this one took so much time! I am stuck in a car now, so I can finally finish it. The editing on mobile is an absolute fucking nightmare though

Don't be sorry for being the same Anon! I was just listing all possibilities and now, knowing it was you all the time, I hereby pronounce you My Beloved Anon. No take backsies. (Kidding, if you're not comfortable with this title, let me know!)

Alright! Let's make a list:

Immediately getting invested in ST? HIGH FIVE, this is what happens to approx. 98% of us (at least here on tumblr). And everybody agrees that there is Something about them. And nobody knows what that is, only that it works. So we're actually in a cult, sorry everyone!

Ok, no, it's not entirely true that we don't know, people have hinted that their uniqueness might be in a. extreme fucking talent, obviously and b. letting the audience fill in the gaps that lack of the band members' identities provides with whatever suits everyone's needs best.

The videos switch their vibe dramatically, don't they? The early ones feel more... I don't know, based in reality (maybe except for the Fields of Elation), while TPWBYT ones feel more like they are set in those dreamlands Vessel mentions in The Apparition. Okay, TLYW is more dreamland-ish, Alkaline looks like it's set on Earth/waking world, but Vessel gets too much power from Sleep and needs to be stopped by the ancient-gods-slash-eldrich-horror-hunting version of Ghostbusters. So the older videos seem more human to me, you know what I mean? Maybe they wanted to show that with time, Vessel looses more and more of his humanity. But we can't rule out the "they just had more money for the videos, so they went off" possibility. Also, I think they don't make much videos to not let the fans think there is some "canon" here?? Or they just don't like making them lol

EXCELLENT IDEA with that whole hostage mask situation - I've just had a loose thought they looked like sacks, but i haven't connected it to the lore, thank you, Anon!!!!! Now, as usual, it made me Think™. Cause we have interpretations floating around (which i love, btw) with the other Vessels being "drafted" into the band to relieve the first Vessel from the toll Sleep's power has on him, cause after all, his human body cannot manage it by itself when Sleep grows in power from all the worship. BUT what if they didn't join voluntarily? They weren't persuaded to join the cult, but they were kidnapped instead. Carefully chosen, to fulfill the plan of greatness. Hence the hostage-looking-masks. And then stockholm syndrome kicked in (i know, i know, the term is not exactly correct anymore, but for the lack of a better one 🤷‍♀️) and they were like "ye, you know what. That's actually better than a 9-5 job" and the masks changed. They have embraced the dark side. (I am cataloguing this under "unhinged theories", btw. But yeah, it's just a thought, possibility, me fucking around etc. That's a long-ish car trip, I gotta do something with myself, you know.)

Oh and we absolutely DO stretch things (see point 4, for example)! See things that aren't there. Make 2648585 interpretations. It's fun (when we remember not to involve the real people behind the masks in the mix)!

Anon, i respect you deciding to stay on Anon so much. You're making the band proud, probably!

[melit0n]

I wanted to add on to this ask done by an anon on ST confessions, because they are so right and they made something click in my brain. Do go read it before you read this.

First, off, heavy agree that Fall for Me is designed to be a lonely song, both lyrically, and quite smartly, musically. In every single other song Sleep Token has ever done there is music. There is noise, always. Even in times where there should be silence, there never is any. Instead, it's filled by sounds of birds, a taught guitar chord or chewing and biting.

Fall for Me, however, is utter silence. There's no musical reply. No SFX, no subtle drums or bass; no nothing. It's the one of the few songs (along with Missing Limbs, Take Aim and Drag me Under) in which Vessel directly addresses the love he holds for this person. It's not layered in metaphors, prose and an eloquent vernacular, it's straightforward. While his poetry in other songs is used to draw Them in, decorate his love and entice Them, he's done with getting nothing. He wants to be an equal, a lover, but he gets naught.

The reason why, other than the obvious choice of acapella instead of instruments, the song feels so lonely is because it's the only song- overall- that he doesn't get a response to. Sugar is the response to The Offering, Say That You Will is the response to Take Aim etc., but here? Cold, dead silence. No gesture in tongues, no crushing 'affection'; no nothing.

So, to the rhythm of eternity, he will be on that beach, stumbling, crawling and shouting out the same question that he will never get an answer to; won't you fall for me?

However, even though, unlike most songs that get an answer within their album, Vessel gets one in the next. Take Me Back To Eden, therefore, becomes the answer to that question. As well as Vessel's action against it.

@lifemod17 saw you reblog the ask as well, thought you might like this :]

[melit0n]

Adding on to this post (which I do suggest reading before you read this one!) because I've been seeing a bunch of stuff about the TOG graphic novel floating around and another thing popped into my head!

More specifically, about the physical form of Sleep.

In the TMBTE artwork, it's easily seen that, in one way or another, the Moon is alive. At least, to the point it has a whispering mouth full of sharp teeth and tar-like tongues.

In the transcripts for the tier 4 bundle page (thank you to @elkkiel for said transcript!) the first line states, "15 days since the convergence of the lunar anomaly".

Convergence is when two or more things come together to form a new whole, and, in biology, it's the tendency of unrelated animals and plants to evolve similar characteristics under similar environmental conditions. With that in mind, this could be a dying God changing in order to remind people it's still a God, and, that it never left.

What once only appeared in nightmares and wistful dreams now sits high in the night sky as a pale reminder of our fickle lives.

Plus, the presale went out on the day of a super blue moon.

Further, Sundowning's release had a Waning Cresent, with symbolises self care and mental contemplation, TPWBYT's had a Waning Gibbous, which symbolises releasing old habits and attempting to change, and TMBTE's had a new moon, which represents new beginnings. This album just so happens to have the song Euclid (which I've jabbered on about enough), which is about becoming someone new and accepting things can't be the same.

Next, we have "I was frequently beset by certain recurring dreams...I found myself standing on a vast shoreline gazing out at a flat, wide sea." The first thing that comes to mind is the Fall For Me MV, which just so happens to be apart of TPWBYT: the water based album.

Night time is, quite obviously, when the moon is most visable, and is also when most people sleep. Asides from this, the moon also controls ocean tides. The closer a moon is (e.g: a supermoon, or an unspecified lunar anomaly), the higher and more violent a tide can become.

Further, if and when the sun, moon, and or Earth are in alignment (at the time of the new or full moon), the solar tide has an additive effect on the lunar tide, creating extra-high high tides, and very low, low tides.

Sound familiar?

Whether Sleep is the moon, or was birthed from the moon back when they first became a God (one of @tonguetyd's ideas), is up for debate.

With all that, and the previous thoughts on Telomeres already thought out: "I felt that were I to somehow survive...then I would be left in a world that would not recognize me. I would become an element unto myself and myself alone. An echo stuck in the throat of a dead God."

So, I'd like to say that TPWBYT is Sleep's album, if anything. Or, in the least, heavily dictated by them in ways other than directly influencing Vessel.

[melit0n]

Would you guys mind sharing any photos/videos of Missing Limbs? I'm missing my wife

[melit0n]

Part two of my FX Sleep Token post! Again, hope these make sense, and I'm not just spouting nonsense lol.

Part Two includes: Sundowning and This Place Will Become Your Tomb (below the cut, of course)

Part One -> One, Two, Jaws and The Way That You Were

Part Three -> Take Me Back To Eden

+ If I've missed something, feel free to add your own thoughts!

Note- some of these are FX, others are sound mixing and music bits I wanted to mention. Any song you don't see mentioned are songs that I couldn't find anything to pull out of them. Plus, reminder; these are my interpretations, I'm sorry if you can't hear what I hear, or you think something different.

The Night Does Not Belong To God

- At 2:48, an odd, muffled noise emerges. To me, it sounds like an excerpt of a crackled phone call; the type where whoever you're calling is far away, and both of you can barely hear what eachother are saying. It reappears, quietly, at 3:00, 3:12 and 3:55 (loudest and closest to actual words here). A fruitless confession the other will never hear. (I hope that makes sense).

The Offering

- At 3:40, a drum beat starts that sounds like a panicked heartbeat. With the build up of backing vocals, and white noise, it creates a very stressed atmosphere; makes you feel like you want to run. It's primal, almost.

Dark Signs

- Massive use of backing vocals in place of instruments (along with the usual synths and beats) in this one. Lots of general vocalisations and the lyric "I might break and bend to my basic need to be loved and close to somebody" in the background of the chorus. The build up of the backing vocals make the song slighty cluttered, in a good way, and gives off this impression of a bunch of different thoughts overlapping eachother; an uninterpretable inner monologue.

Give

- White noise that raises by two chords at the end of each lyric. It's subtle, but it makes the song feel more full. This is throughout the whole song, minus the chorus.

+ Would just like to mention Vessel's breathing at the end of Gods. Gods itself doesn't have any specific FX notes, but I felt like that alone needed a mention.

Drag Me Under

- Unironically, the opening chords sound like Undertale's Fallen Down

- My favourite thing about this whole song, other than how ethereal and soft it feels, is that the vocals steadily get louder, along with the instruments. Vessel's asking to be dragged under, and, as the listener, it can be interpreted two ways. The person Vessel is looking for is 'under', where you are as the listener, and he is steadily decending towards them until he gets cut off. So close, yet so far, y'know? Or, you are, as the listener, above Vessel. He's asking to descend, but, instead, he's acending towards the listener and away from what he wants. Away from love, and towards Sleep. Hope that makes sense.

+ I just wanted to mention the piano at 1:15 in Blood Sport. I had my friend listen to their albums, and her instant reaction to this part was "Sounds like stars twinkling and atoms colliding. Kind of like the start of Gustav Holst's Jupiter." and I thought that was pretty cool, so I thought I'd mention it.

---------

Album Notes: My favourite album by far. Sleep Token moves away from the minimal instruments and focuses more on more traditional metal aspects with their songs, allowing for the existence of Gods, The Offering and Higher (while also staying in tune with a 'softer' side, creating Drag Me Under, Take Aim and Shelter). The whole album has a sense of endless, almost unreachable longing to it. Almost feels religious, in some aspects. Again, with the five stages of grief, it's bargaining. Wishing for something you had, but you've lost.

Atlantic

- At 2:37, Vessel starts up with some vocalisations that sound like two whales replying to eachother. And then, of course, there's the actual, digital-sounding whale call sound that's used. Having had a bit of a look around, what they're mimicking is closest to a Sperm Whale's greeting chirp or a Blue Whale's typical mourning call, which, considering both are common in the Atlantic Ocean, fits wonderfully.

Like That

- All of the beginning beats are muffled. Also, if you turn your sound up and put headphones on, there's a continuous door knocking from 0:00-0:15. First lyric? "Trapped under the surface of your words". We listen to Vessel from under the surface Their words.

Descending

- Whole song has a muffled, water effect on it. Can especially he heard in the first 15 seconds. Deeper into the song you go, as the listener, the more the water effect can be heard. You, as the listener, are decending further; drowning.

High Water

- In the final breakdown, from 4:40-the end, there's muffled screaming, shouting and sobbing. It can be heard most in the last 20 seconds.

Fall For Me

- Lyrics from Distraction are mirrored in this one

E.g; "'Cause I'm broken into fractions" -> "Through a fractured existence"

---------

Album Notes: This whole album has a water like effect to it; so many instruments are muffled as if being played underwater and there are water motifs in general. It puts equal focus on more heavy songs, no trad metal this time though, in High Water, Hyponsis and Alkaline, while also, for the first time, allowing for soft piano and acoustic songs like Telomeres, Missing Limbs and Fall For Me. The album as a whole is tragically beautiful in its own sense, and full of yearning and longing. If we're still sticking with the five stages of grief thing, then we've finally hit depression, and it definitely feels like. I will admit this is the only album that gets tears and sobs outta me.

Thank you for reading through all my thoughts and feelings, whoever you are. Remember, the night belongs to you; worship <3.

[cr1ms0nesp3ra-ac3]

Wait.... Idk if anyone may or may not notice this but.

I feel like the ST albums are the representation of five stages of grief.. although some songs had those styles, but this I had to ramble em up:

One - Denial

Two - Anger

Sundowning - Bargaining or Depression, it seems look like it.

TPWBYT - Depression(or Bargaining.. idk tho)

TMBTE - Looks like Anger but also Acceptance, but again, idk..

Seems to me that some of the songs had the slow sad theme, yet it had the tone of anger, denial, depression at the same time as its tone of sound.. That's how I think of Euclid.

What I believe that this song, is a song of Acceptance.

Like um- hear this.

At the end of the music, the TNDNBTG tone starts with a calm yet bittersweet sound makes it a sad bittersweet tone. Imagine this text I made:

"i did it, I managed to complete the obstacles.. even though I know the suffer I had is still here, I must keep going and keep living. For everyone. "

Correct me if I feel wrong of my first and ever analysis.

[melit0n]

EUCLID ANALYSIS.

Told you guys it was coming, didn't I? I apologise that this has taken a bit longer than expected, my mental health hit me like a bullet train, but I do hope it's sufficient.

Part one -> You're already here!

Part two -> Line by line analysis part 1

Part three -> Line by line analysis part 2

Part four -> Musical/intrumental notes

Part five -> The Night in Sleep Token

Part six -> Conclusion

Please note this is a general analysis. Although I do go into theories, both my own and others, this is just general thoughts. Also note when I speak of Vessel, I mean Vessel as a character, not the person, unless I specifically state so.

Tagline: @rilllvri @a-s-levynn @fivewholeminutes @euclidsvessel @tonguetyd @moonchild-in-blue @kkarmatic @branches-in-a-flood

+ Some people were worried about spam liking/reblogging the last time I did one of these big analysis posts, and I want to say please don't worry about that! I get happy when I see the same users pop up liking and reblogging my work, because it means you're interested in this enough to go through the whole thing. Feel completely free to add your own thoughts, correct any errors I've made etc. As per usual, my DMs are completely open to anybody wanting to discuss ST <3

Let's start off with the basics. ‘Euclid’ is the anglicised version of the Greek name Eukleídes (Εὐκλείδης), mainly known via the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid of Alexandria, who is seen as the ‘father of geometry’, and most famous for his work on symmetry. Its general definition is something or someone who is renowned and or glorious (A) and the lesser known definition is something that is a copy of the same (B) (taken from Euclid’s ideas on symmetry), which we’ll come back to in a bit.

However, there is another Euclid in history that we’ll be referencing; Euclid of Megara. This Euclid, similar to our mathematician, was an ancient Greek Socratic (having been a pupil of Socrates) philosopher. I’ll be taking part of a text out of his Wikipedia article since his ideas have been explained thoroughly there.

(we'll be coming back to him soon)

First off, this is an incredibly interesting choice of name for a song. Outside of someone's maths and philosophy class, this name doesn't exist to most, so the fact it's been chosen at all is intriguing.

Vessel has shown time and time again he enjoys sometimes elaborate references in his art, an example being chemistry and biology in TPWBYT (most notable would probably be ‘Telomeres’), so, I think it would be easy to say that, whether it be a reference to Euclid the Mathematician or Euclid the philosopher, that said reference is understood and intended by Vessel.

So, let's start with our mathematician, shall we?

What I find interesting about Euclid of Alexandria is that his life and existence outside of his work on geometry is almost completely unknown. There's almost nothing known of him, as a person, other than where he spent half of his career (Alexandria; Egypt, hence his title), where he may have studied (Platonic academy) and a general idea of when he lived (around 300BC). What is known about this insanely famous man who created the foundations of symmetry is incredibly barebones. People take Euclid at face value for his work, just like Vessel (both as an artist, and a character).

Further, we, as listeners, don't have much of an understanding of who Vessel is other than being a mouthpiece of a deity known as Sleep, someone once human now grasping at the threads of humanity and someone sharing some of his struggles in life (both with Sleep and unknown people). Like Euclid, he is barebones, we take him at face value; a vessel. He is both a mouthpiece for Sleep, a mouthpiece for his own emotions (obviously) and a mouthpiece for us. His experiences transcend being just his, due to his anonymity, therefore allowing us to connect and express our own experiences. It's music for the sake of music; expression.

Now, having talked through Euclid as a person, it's time to talk about Euclid and his symmetry. Symmetry in shapes is 'reflections, rotations, translations, and combinations of these basic operations. Under an isometric transformation, a geometric object is said to be symmetric if, after transformation, the object is indistinguishable from the object before the transformation- a copy of the same’. So, of course, this means shapes like squares, rectangles, parallelograms and circles. Circles are a representation of infinity, wholeness, unity and loops. What does Euclid do? Loop itself (starts and ends with B major, which also happens to be the same chord that TNDNBTG starts with), and loops the three albums together, musically and lyrically.

Now, onto Euclid of Megara.

Euclid was born in Megara, Athens and was a follower of Socrates (sneaking into Athens to hear him speak, and he was also present during his death). He is most known for his philosophy that good is the knowledge of simply being and that the opposite of good does not exist, aka evil. The Good is described to be a perfect, eternal, and changeless Form, existing outside space and time. A form of Heaven without a God.

This idea could be linked lore-wise with Sleep Token; Sleep could, in a way, be The Good literally. Bliss. Further, with the idea that there is no actual opposite of good, then how can anything be bad? How can Sleep, as a deity, have bad intentions if there is no actual evil?

So far, with these two notable figures in mind, we can perceive Euclid as one of two ways (and there are more ways to come). Euclid can be seen as quite literally being a form of symmetry; a parallel that Vessel lays his life on because it brings all of the produced albums, all of his stories, together. Or, we can think of Euclid as Vessel. This brings me to @euclidsvessel's post on their theory on Euclid; what if Euclid was Vessel’s name before he became a vessel?

The theory that Euclid could be Vessel’s old name is not only extremely insightful, but very plausible as well. They explained their points very well in their original post, and I don't want to repeat what they’ve already said, so I do implore you to go read that! It's not detrimental to needing to understand this post, but I highly recommend it. Despite this, I am here to both support their argument and bring my own comparison. Take a look at the cover art for Euclid:

Let me repeat the lesser-known definition of Euclid; a copy of the same. A clone. A replacement. Held in the right hand is the decapitated head of Vessel's old (2nd gen.) mask. Specifically, the one that covers his mouth; the version that relinquishes the most amount of humanity. The album art is a representation of change portrayed in a symbolically gory way. Beheading, depending on the era you’re working from, symbolises both vengeance as well as a form of purification. By cutting off the head, you remove any ‘unholy’ thoughts. It's also among one of the most horrific and humiliating ways of killing someone (since it was typically done publicly, and sometimes the heads were placed on spikes of battlements as a warning).

Furthermore, there's a theory that's popped up a couple of times, lore-wise, that Vessel is not the first person to be turned into a vessel of Sleep, and he certainly won't be the last. So, considering the literal album art illustrates a replacement of Vessel, I’d say that theory is pretty much confirmed. In conclusion, the album art can either be interpreted as how Vessel will eventually be discarded and replaced by another vessel, or how Vessel himself will change, for better or for worse; clawing out of his own skin to become “someone new”.

So, to compare the idea of Euclid being Vessel’s old name, and to create the third perception of what or rather, who, Euclid is, what if Euclid will be the eventual replacement for Vessel?

[melit0n]

Sleep Token analysis.

A couple of people were struggling to find some of my older analysis posts, so, here is a masterlist!

Euclid (TMBTE) - whole song analysis

Part one -> Title and meaning

Part two -> Line by line analysis part one

Part three -> Line by line analysis part two

Part four -> Musical/instrumental notes

Part five -> The Night in Sleep Token

Part six -> Conclusion

SFX in Sleep Token - all albums

Part one -> One, Two, TWTYW and Jaws

Part two -> Sundowning and TPWBYT

Part three -> TMBTE

Small lyric analysis

Distraction -> It's too late for me

Calcutta -> Whole again, for just a moment

Blood Sport -> Choke up chunks of my own sin

Jaws -> Show me where the delicate stops

Give -> Give in again

Acensionism -> Lipstick, chemstrails

Jericho -> Enough to make the dead switch graves

Higher -> I look for scarlet and you look for ultraviolet

Higher -> I am a danger

Telomeres -> Let the tides carry you back to me

Miscellaneous

Levitate -> A warm hug

Teeth Of God -> Om nom nom

Vessel in the Metal Hammer mag -> Vessel Christ anyone?

Missing Limbs -> Oddly comforting

Fall for Me -> Lonely and unanswered

TOG graphic novel -> The moon and the tides