Introduction
The Procession is the first full length song on the album, coming in at just under five minutes. It carries the torch of ‘big opener that’s not technically the opener’ from City Escape on the last album. We got the introduction with a smaller piece and now we have a full band to debut what the bulk of Act II really is.
Hunter, now an adult, has just found his mother passed away in her sleep. He has spent his whole life with her, and only her. This song explores some of Hunters first decisions he makes when truly alone, as he begins his true journey. A procession is a term for a congregation moving as one, usually at a funeral or parade. In this song we will see Hunter lay his mother to rest, acting as a singular procession.
Into The Lyrics
Lyrics
The blood
How it paints such a scene
Foul routine, pedigree
Mouth agape, stuttered hands
Attempt to flail and finally agreeHer heart ceases it’s rhythm
Somewhere trumpets decay
In the front by the well, wishing wishes
That deny the stale smell in the /hay//Hey/ there, no one cry
Place these over her eyes
We are broken, alone
We are broken, alone(She’s inanimate; bloodless elegance)
Fatal fascination breeds a bloom of misery
(Helpless hiding tongues, bathed in revulsion)
Lies unfinished, beauty wilting premature
You can’t be too sure
No, you can’t be too sureReserved, always playing the part
Of a boy left alone
He proceeds to the road beyond the home
He’d learned to call his own(She’s inanimate; bloodless elegance)
Fatal fascination breeds a bloom of misery
(Helpless hiding tongues, bathed in revulsion)
Lies unfinished, beauty wilting premature
You can’t be too sure
No, you can’t be too sure/One life for another/
/One life or another/
/One lie for another/(She’s inanimate; bloodless elegance)
Fatal fascination breeds a bloom of misery
(Helpless hiding tongues, bathed in revulsion)
Lies unfinished, beauty wilting premature
You can’t be too sure
You can’t be too sure
Analysis
Many people believed Ms. Terri to be murdered by the men working for the Dime, due to this song. ‘The blood, how it paints such a scene’ has pretty good imagery for that, but Casey has come out recently saying that she was not murdered. It even refers to her later in the song as ‘bloodless elegance’, so I’m going to assume the first line here isn’t meant to be taken literally. ‘Foul routine, pedigree’ seems to be talking about how death is a reoccurring part of life, and how it mirrors itself with each generation passing. The next part, ‘Mouth agape, stuttered hands attempt to flail and finally agree’, shows us that her death wasn’t exactly peaceful though. She must have suffered from a health incident similar to that of a heart attack. I’ve seen others suggest that she may have gotten a deadly disease through her line of work, although I’m not educated enough on STI’s to narrow it down further. In the graphic novel, we see her bloody hand print on the window, although done in a way to suggest that there isn’t literally blood on the window, but rather that she was ‘red-handed’, a symbol used throughout the story to show that someone is either guilty, or at least not innocent in the sense that Hunter is.
‘Somewhere trumpets decay’ might be nodding to the opening of The Death And The Berth. Hunter is faced with his loss, and is currently in denial. He’s outside of his home wishing that this hadn’t happened, wanting to continue how things were.
The prechorus here gives us wordplay on hay/hey, although not for story purposes, but simply to have the word be used in both the final line of the verse and the first line here simultaneously. The rest of the lines continue to show us the grief Hunter is going through. In the graphic novel, we see Hunter digging her grave during his reflections. Her grave is located right under the Tree, the towering figure that emulated the father he never knew.
‘She’s inanimate; bloodless elegance’ depicts Ms. Terri prepared for her final rest. The death of Hunters mother has caused misery for him in time to come. ‘Bloom’ is an important use of phrasing here because other references to flowers and budding come up in the future. Ms. Terri’s lies were never explained, and she was not able to give Hunter the closure that he needed. He buries his mother in the grave he made for her. ‘Always playing the part of a boy left alone’. Hunter is naive, and whether intentionally or not, plays victim. He will use these negative events in his life to excuse his actions later, which just puts him into more bad situations.
The next part repeats the line ‘One life for another’, starting it at different times in the measures as a sort of polyrhythm over the rest of the band. I believe this is done intentionally, as I’ve highlighted in the lyrics section. I think this phrase can carry different meanings depending on how the listener hears it. ‘One life for another’ shows us that while Ms. Terri is passed, Hunter can now begin his own life. This goes back to the meaning in the title of The Death and the Berth as well. The flame is gone, but the fire remains. Pass the torch to the next generation. ‘One life or another’ could mean that while it could have been someone else who passed, someone would have died nonetheless. This comes up as a theme more in future acts. ‘One lie for another’ goes back to Ms. Terri’s hidden life. While Hunter may discover new things about his heritage, he will also uncover more lies in new places, and as those are revealed, yet more lies.
Into The Music
I transcribed this song in full here if anyone wants that, both .gp and .pdf versions available.
This song shows the progression musically from Act I to Act II very well. A lot of this song writes like it could have been part of Act I, while also showing some new variation in Caseys vocals. It really feels like a refined version of an Act I song. The only story value this song has hidden in it musically, is the fast rhythmic drumming at the very end. This later comes back in the song ‘Dear Ms. Leading’.
This section has turned into me describing what the song sounds like, which isn’t really necessary if you can just listen to it on your own. I’m going to try and reserve this section for elaborating on story pieces hidden in the music, and for transcriptions when I do them. On occasion if I find something really interesting in the music that isn’t story related I’ll include a section on that, but I don’t want to end up describing that guitars are playing during the chorus and that the verse is just bass and drums. If anyone is interested in the theory of a song feel free to send me a message, as I’ve worked through most of these songs already to some degree to look for recurring themes and progressions.
Personal Thoughts
Hunter truly makes his first steps as an adult here and this is the last point in the story where he is safe at home. The next song is a mammoth compared to this one, but I’ll try to get through it as soon as possible.
If you want to stay updated you can subscribe by email in the footer of the page, and if you enjoyed this and want to support the site you can donate in the footer as well. The transcription in this song was done as a commission for someone who read a previous post, so if there’s a song in the Acts that you want done (or any song really) be sure to let me know!
