One theory I read about this song is it’s him waking up in a hospital after a suicide attempt and the rest of the album is how it got to that point. Looking forward to hear your take on the rest of this amazing album and the rest of the story that Vessel is telling through his music.
This song reduces me to tears every single bloody time I hear it. His voice is & lyrics 🤦♀️he is unique in my opinion& we so very lucky to have this utterly beautiful talented young man in our lives.WORSHIP❤
Everyone overlooks the most important clue Vessel gave to the meaning of this song… it’s title Atlantic isn’t just the song title because it’s the name of an ocean & the lyrics use references to water, but because of how the Atlantic Ocean got its name… Greek mythology and Plato’s stories of Atlantis: Atlantis is said to be an allegory for the consequences of hubris (excessive pride & overconfidence in one’s self), but the story of Atlantis tells the story of paradise lost to greed, & is where the song makes so much more sense. The origin of Atlantis starts with Poseidon falling deeply in love with a mortal woman, they marry, have demigod children, and the Atlantis was provided for those children & their descendants. They were shown great favor, being given immense knowledge, and the island was given as a utopia, rich with wealth and resources, they built and elaborately decorated their temples, shores and harbors with precious metals and stones. As time went on, the people of Atlantis wanted more & started conquering other nations, being defeated by the Greeks when they tried to conquer all of the Mediterranean. After this, the gods took notice, finding the people of Atlantis had become greedy, unsatisfied with what they had, immoral and unworthy, and as a consequence, the gods sent earthquakes and floods, until Atlantis sank, being lost to the bottom of the ocean.
Here is my take: I don't think his lover was killed in a crash. When he talks about the girl being dead, dying, disappearing, it's 'abandonment', 'leaving the relationship'. And indeed, there is talk of 'hurting the lover' but that's limited to urges I think. Everybody has said at some point 'I could kill you/this or that person' but it's just an expression. So, he is expressing what he is feeling as a result of their toxic relationship. In conclusion, 'it's blue light over murder for me' is pratically saying 'I would rather kill myself (and get taken by an ambulance) than trying to keep you in my life but end up hurting you out of rage' etc.
Hello again, your reactions are among the very best I’ve seen on TH-cam. FWIW, I agree with your interpretation of the narrative story being told. This is generally considered to be the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt. The bandaged trenches are the scars on his arm (referenced in a song later on this album). The blue lights suggest an ambulance and hospital, especially with the reference to the bedside. Many of the visualisers on this album are beautiful and well worth watching but the lyrics are a crucial and integral part of the story and I’m glad you’re paying so much attention to them. The ocean imagery is a metaphor for falling into a deep depression, illustrated by the depth marker for each song on this album. There are also a marine creatures and a specific location reference for each song too. For example, Atlantic is 914m, which is the first bathysphere depth (Nonsuch Island) and the creature is a Black Swallower. The depths of Vessel’s writing / art really is as deep as the Atlantic. There are actual videos for tracks 5, 6 & 7 on this album too and are an essential part of the story too. You are in for such a treat with this album, it is beautiful but dark and depressing so please take care. I am really enjoying sharing this journey with you. W O R S H I P
I also always interpreted that song as a suicide attempt, but along the lines of your interpretation of a lover dying in a car accident, « crumble like a temple built from future daughters » could make sense if the victim of the crash was pregnant. There is another reference in a later song that made me wonder if the narrator had lost a child before birth at some point. If it is the case, then your version actually holds water (no pun intended ^^'') As usual, I love to see you discover the new songs and theorize about it, I am looking forward to the next one! :)
this might be my favorite song sleep token has ever made. it's such a strong opener for an album that's rich with an instantly captivating atmosphere, lyrics that hit really hard when you fully understand what vessel's describing, and that big drop towards the end gives me goosebumps every time. editing this in: i also think it's worth mentioning that the visualizers for every song all have a depth marker that shows (what i believe is) vessel progressively descending further and further into the ocean throughout the album.
The actual sobbing in the studio versions of certain songs - and also Live - has made me question the authenticity of his lyrics. Usually they clearly deal with lost love and unrequited love. But in the case of Atlantic, I was surprised to hear him visibly crying in the videos of the Wembley Arena concert. So it raised questions and I looked up the lyrics for the first time. One thing though : you either believe the lyrics are autobiographical or crafted for cinematic purposes ( The song itself is very cinematic and has lots of added ambient parts ) But, again, seeing the Wembley Arena version I asked myself why would he be so affected by a song that seemed at first listen to deal with yet another break up story. I'm like "get yourself together, mate" and shit... But today reading the lyrics and what people have picked up from it over the internet, it seems much deeper and much darker. The consensus is that he was driving with his girlfriend and had an accident for which he feels responsible and she didn't make it but he did. I think this would be a key moment that changed the course of his life and probably cast a shadow over his subsequent love relationships. It would also partially explain a great deal about the wish for anonymity. The survivor's guilt... and plain old guilt, period. Sleep Token has a lot of darkness at its core, which I always put on the account of Vessel being someone who grew up deeply religious ( countless God and heaven references, cover of Hallelujah... ) and also deeply romantic ( a dangerous mix in itself ) but this now makes much more sense to me and it just might have been the catalytic to a lot of his existential turmoil. EDIT - also the line from Euclid "If my fate is a bad collision..." never did quite compute for me, among the rest of the Euclid lyrics which surely are addressed to his former GF and bandmate from his previous project referenced in the last record. If the "bad collision" refers to Atlantic, it would fit the idea that such a traumatic event would put a sort of "curse" on his subsequent romantic life. I personally have known a GF with survivor's guilt from a friend of hers ODing in front of her and their group of friends. Whenever these individuals get closer to someone new, if they feel safe with you they'll bring it up pretty quickly bc they can't quite take it out of their head. - Also the line " I've got a ghost in the hallway grinning..." I take it he's putting every reference to the past and that specific event out there during the first verse of Euclid. Later in that song he refers to all of his ex GFs in "You were all my symmetry" and by the end of the song he is truly moving on.
Flood me like Atlantic, Bandage up the trenches - he's talking about the nurses bandaging wounds and flooding him with drugs to numb the pain, possibly nourish him, make him sleep. Imagine if he got his Sleep Token mask idea from bandages to the head from the accident...
Your reactions are the best bro, the way you try to decipher the lyrics is cool. Unlike others, who just listen to the song until the end and say "bye, until the next video".
I mean it could be that too. That's what's great about these songs, everyone has their own take. I love it. Also I just realised ambulance lights are blue in the UK as opposed to red or red/blue in other countries. So that checks out either way 🤟
On a less unhinged note, I've always taken this song to be the aftermath of a self die try. Without going into a lot of detail the second verse is pretty spot on for what it's like in the immediate aftermath of one as someone who's been in that place before. Your interpretation is VERY interesting though!
One of my absolute favorite songs from them! Saw them live a few weeks ago and they played this one. The emotions rolled like a freaking wave over the audience Absolutely magical! If you ever have the chance, go see them live!
So this is late but I saw this on the subreddit and thought of your video. Someone mentioned there was a ship S.S. Atlantic that struck rocks and sank in 1873 killing 535 people onboard. When he says flood me like Atlantic he could be talking about the ship flooding as a metaphor. This album is filled with nautical references so a shipwreck makes sense.
My theory of the meaning of Atlantic is that he is hurting so badly from the loss of his lover that he has insomnia. The blue light is night time and the murder is his suffering from the insomnia. I think that he is no doubt a genius and those types often suffer from depression and insomnia. Those around him are trying to intervene but he refuses to sleep because of fear that she will be in the dream world where he has no control. I think he might have become suicidal, for death is the ultimate sleep. Cover me up like the Atlantic ( drowning) bandage up trench’s ( making water rise in order to drown). I’m not sure but that is my opinion on these lyrics. At any rate it is a masterpiece! Worship.
My take on this song has always been the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt. Blue lights are sometimes installed in bathrooms to prevent people from being able to shoot up.
Very insightful analysis!! I really hadn't given enough attention to the car theme that appears in several of their songs. I never really fully understood the meaning of this song. I got the waking up in hospital bit but thought it was from a self-deletion attempt. The bandage up the trenches line, I thought referred to slit wrists, but now I can see that you are probably closer to the meaning than I ever got. It also makes more sense of other songs on this album where being submerged under water keeps cropping up. Also, on the visualiser for each song there are depth measurements getting deeper for each song, until the last depth on the last song which corresponds to Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. On the album cover there are also numbers which turn out to be coordinates for the remotest part on Earth. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this album's reaction. You're in for a real treat!! Stay safe 🤘 ✌️
I feel it’s about self canceling behavior. I always thought the blue light over murder was like a code blue in hospital in the US when the person is leaving this world
I think the lyrics should read “marry in the morning. Earn your bitter father. It’s easier to try not to eat” as in the couple was supposed to get married the next morning and her father doesn’t approve of him. It’s easier to not eat than earn her fathers blessing
The more I listen to ST, the more I’m also convinced that a car accident was involved and a baby was lost. Perhaps the ex-lover also survived the crash and their relationship devolved into a downward spiral. 🌀 as much as I like to play along with the lore, I can’t help but try to decipher what really happened. Amazing music either way and YES to ii going off. Worship.
More of Vessel's (I think intentional) ambiguity. The imagery and poetry can equally describe a loved one lost in a car accident...and a failed suicide attempt. The blue lights are UK ambulance lights, either way...but of course are also the light of day when underwater. Masterful.
But why would he get so emotional ( both in the studio and in concert ) when singing that song if it's only fictional ? Unless his sobbing is a gimmick which I'm sure you don't believe. The words "Blood on my hands" and "Murder" are as explicit as you can get .
Your analysis is so in depth! I think maybe the "blue light over murder" line could be like the light shining through the ocean to reveal the car at the bottom of the ocean. Maybe the "tomb built from future daughters" could allude to his significant other only being able to supply the x chromosome for a child so all their children at the bottom of the ocean could only be daughters? That's a stretch for sure but I like it
If "Bandage" is literal and "Trenches" is metaphorical, then that could mean to bandage up his wounds. Or if "trenches", like in WW1, is a defensive positioning, then by saying "Bandage up the trenches" he is basically saying to steel yourself mentally. Prepare for an attack, mentally.
No ST expert but ‘Blue Light over murder’ is first responders at a murder scene, which Vessel makes me assume he thinks he is responsible for whatever happened.
I think everyone else has already said but I have always thought this is about a self-deletion attempt. There are a lot of references to car crashes but I have always taken these as metaphorical. Shows how rich the lyrics are though that we can get all these different meanings from them! Can't wait to see your take on the rest of this album - it's my favourite of theirs 🩵
![fellow fellow - พรุ่งนี้ไม่มีใครรู้ feat. INK WARUNTORN [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QP6JyjYx_W0/mqdefault.jpg)
This is, objectively, one of Sleep Token's most perfectly composed songs. It is so cinematic and perfect.
Loved this reaction. I've always thought that the blue lights referred to the ambulance lights or emergency vehicle.
One theory I read about this song is it’s him waking up in a hospital after a suicide attempt and the rest of the album is how it got to that point. Looking forward to hear your take on the rest of this amazing album and the rest of the story that Vessel is telling through his music.
omg i love this interpretation. :O so hypnosis is the beginning of the new interpretation of the story up till now from sundowning ?
This song reduces me to tears every single bloody time I hear it. His voice is & lyrics 🤦♀️he is unique in my opinion& we so very lucky to have this utterly beautiful talented young man in our lives.WORSHIP❤
Everyone overlooks the most important clue Vessel gave to the meaning of this song… it’s title
Atlantic isn’t just the song title because it’s the name of an ocean & the lyrics use references to water, but because of how the Atlantic Ocean got its name… Greek mythology and Plato’s stories of Atlantis:
Atlantis is said to be an allegory for the consequences of hubris (excessive pride & overconfidence in one’s self), but the story of Atlantis tells the story of paradise lost to greed, & is where the song makes so much more sense.
The origin of Atlantis starts with Poseidon falling deeply in love with a mortal woman, they marry, have demigod children, and the Atlantis was provided for those children & their descendants. They were shown great favor, being given immense knowledge, and the island was given as a utopia, rich with wealth and resources, they built and elaborately decorated their temples, shores and harbors with precious metals and stones.
As time went on, the people of Atlantis wanted more & started conquering other nations, being defeated by the Greeks when they tried to conquer all of the Mediterranean. After this, the gods took notice, finding the people of Atlantis had become greedy, unsatisfied with what they had, immoral and unworthy, and as a consequence, the gods sent earthquakes and floods, until Atlantis sank, being lost to the bottom of the ocean.
I agree. I think he gives clues with other song titles as well.
Here is my take:
I don't think his lover was killed in a crash. When he talks about the girl being dead, dying, disappearing, it's 'abandonment', 'leaving the relationship'. And indeed, there is talk of 'hurting the lover' but that's limited to urges I think. Everybody has said at some point 'I could kill you/this or that person' but it's just an expression. So, he is expressing what he is feeling as a result of their toxic relationship.
In conclusion, 'it's blue light over murder for me' is pratically saying 'I would rather kill myself (and get taken by an ambulance) than trying to keep you in my life but end up hurting you out of rage' etc.
I have been watching all of your ST videos for the better part of two hours, discovering all of them along with you. So good!
Same… kind of popped up in my sleep token reaction videos. Decided to start from the very beginning of 1. I love these reactions.
One of my favorite songs from them and also they let II loose on this album, it's great.
Hello again, your reactions are among the very best I’ve seen on TH-cam. FWIW, I agree with your interpretation of the narrative story being told.
This is generally considered to be the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt. The bandaged trenches are the scars on his arm (referenced in a song later on this album).
The blue lights suggest an ambulance and hospital, especially with the reference to the bedside.
Many of the visualisers on this album are beautiful and well worth watching but the lyrics are a crucial and integral part of the story and I’m glad you’re paying so much attention to them.
The ocean imagery is a metaphor for falling into a deep depression, illustrated by the depth marker for each song on this album. There are also a marine creatures and a specific location reference for each song too.
For example, Atlantic is 914m, which is the first bathysphere depth (Nonsuch Island) and the creature is a Black Swallower.
The depths of Vessel’s writing / art really is as deep as the Atlantic.
There are actual videos for tracks 5, 6 & 7 on this album too and are an essential part of the story too.
You are in for such a treat with this album, it is beautiful but dark and depressing so please take care. I am really enjoying sharing this journey with you.
W O R S H I P
I also always interpreted that song as a suicide attempt, but along the lines of your interpretation of a lover dying in a car accident, « crumble like a temple built from future daughters » could make sense if the victim of the crash was pregnant. There is another reference in a later song that made me wonder if the narrator had lost a child before birth at some point. If it is the case, then your version actually holds water (no pun intended ^^'')
As usual, I love to see you discover the new songs and theorize about it, I am looking forward to the next one! :)
this might be my favorite song sleep token has ever made. it's such a strong opener for an album that's rich with an instantly captivating atmosphere, lyrics that hit really hard when you fully understand what vessel's describing, and that big drop towards the end gives me goosebumps every time.
editing this in: i also think it's worth mentioning that the visualizers for every song all have a depth marker that shows (what i believe is) vessel progressively descending further and further into the ocean throughout the album.
The actual sobbing in the studio versions of certain songs - and also Live - has made me question the authenticity of his lyrics.
Usually they clearly deal with lost love and unrequited love. But in the case of Atlantic, I was surprised to hear him visibly crying in the videos of the Wembley Arena concert.
So it raised questions and I looked up the lyrics for the first time.
One thing though : you either believe the lyrics are autobiographical or crafted for cinematic purposes
( The song itself is very cinematic and has lots of added ambient parts )
But, again, seeing the Wembley Arena version I asked myself why would he be so affected by a song that seemed at first listen to deal with yet another break up story. I'm like "get yourself together, mate" and shit... But today reading the lyrics and what people have picked up from it over the internet, it seems much deeper and much darker.
The consensus is that he was driving with his girlfriend and had an accident for which he feels responsible and she didn't make it but he did.
I think this would be a key moment that changed the course of his life and probably cast a shadow over his subsequent love relationships.
It would also partially explain a great deal about the wish for anonymity. The survivor's guilt... and plain old guilt, period.
Sleep Token has a lot of darkness at its core, which I always put on the account of Vessel being someone who grew up deeply religious ( countless God and heaven references, cover of Hallelujah... ) and also deeply romantic ( a dangerous mix in itself ) but this now makes much more sense to me and it just might have been the catalytic to a lot of his existential turmoil.
EDIT - also the line from Euclid "If my fate is a bad collision..." never did quite compute for me, among the rest of the Euclid lyrics which surely are addressed to his former GF and bandmate from his previous project referenced in the last record.
If the "bad collision" refers to Atlantic, it would fit the idea that such a traumatic event would put a sort of "curse" on his subsequent romantic life.
I personally have known a GF with survivor's guilt from a friend of hers ODing in front of her and their group of friends. Whenever these individuals get closer to someone new, if they feel safe with you they'll bring it up pretty quickly bc they can't quite take it out of their head.
- Also the line " I've got a ghost in the hallway grinning..."
I take it he's putting every reference to the past and that specific event out there during the first verse of Euclid.
Later in that song he refers to all of his ex GFs in "You were all my symmetry" and by the end of the song he is truly moving on.
One of my fav songs together with Descending and Telomeres.
Flood me like Atlantic, Bandage up the trenches - he's talking about the nurses bandaging wounds and flooding him with drugs to numb the pain, possibly nourish him, make him sleep.
Imagine if he got his Sleep Token mask idea from bandages to the head from the accident...
Oh damn.. mind blown
I told you II is gonna go off on the kit, the whole album!!!!!!
Loving the deep dives man. ❤
This may be my favorite album of theirs, but that’s hard to say for sure. Can’t wait for Distraction, Descending, and Hypnosis!
Your reactions are the best bro, the way you try to decipher the lyrics is cool. Unlike others, who just listen to the song until the end and say "bye, until the next video".
Sorry for the confusing English, I'm from Brazil.
Thank you so much! 🤟
Your reactions and analysis r amazing! Lovin your vidz bro!
Loving the breakdown of this song Jango! I always thought blue light was like police/ambulance lights but your analogy makes more sense to me!
I mean it could be that too. That's what's great about these songs, everyone has their own take. I love it. Also I just realised ambulance lights are blue in the UK as opposed to red or red/blue in other countries. So that checks out either way 🤟
"Built from future daughters" her eggs, her being full of unborn daughters.
Oh fuck yeah, its Tomb Time™. Notifications on, pants off. Lets fucking GOO
On a less unhinged note, I've always taken this song to be the aftermath of a self die try. Without going into a lot of detail the second verse is pretty spot on for what it's like in the immediate aftermath of one as someone who's been in that place before. Your interpretation is VERY interesting though!
Yeah! My favourite song ❤ i appreciate you man! 🎉
So happy you’re here Jango!
Its so very hard to rank ST songs but this is an easy top 5 pick. It’s damn near THE sleep token song IMO.
It's up there for sure and I haven't even gotten through the rest of the album yet! 😄
One of my fave ST songs, just gorgeous.
Also, I have always thought this song was a sewerslide attempt by him after the accident, and he couldn't deal with he guilt.
One of my absolute favorite songs from them!
Saw them live a few weeks ago and they played this one.
The emotions rolled like a freaking wave over the audience
Absolutely magical!
If you ever have the chance, go see them live!
So this is late but I saw this on the subreddit and thought of your video. Someone mentioned there was a ship S.S. Atlantic that struck rocks and sank in 1873 killing 535 people onboard. When he says flood me like Atlantic he could be talking about the ship flooding as a metaphor. This album is filled with nautical references so a shipwreck makes sense.
Awesome video.
Great analysis..
Subbed,👌
My theory of the meaning of Atlantic is that he is hurting so badly from the loss of his lover that he has insomnia. The blue light is night time and the murder is his suffering from the insomnia. I think that he is no doubt a genius and those types often suffer from depression and insomnia. Those around him are trying to intervene but he refuses to sleep because of fear that she will be in the dream world where he has no control. I think he might have become suicidal, for death is the ultimate sleep. Cover me up like the Atlantic ( drowning) bandage up trench’s ( making water rise in order to drown). I’m not sure but that is my opinion on these lyrics. At any rate it is a masterpiece! Worship.
As always, thank you for your take on this😊
Yessssssss!!! Lets goo!!!!
Let’s go!!!!! I’ve been waiting for this!
Omg thank you so much for reaching to this album love your reactions!!!
🤟😀
My take on this song has always been the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt. Blue lights are sometimes installed in bathrooms to prevent people from being able to shoot up.
Interesting!
Very insightful analysis!! I really hadn't given enough attention to the car theme that appears in several of their songs. I never really fully understood the meaning of this song. I got the waking up in hospital bit but thought it was from a self-deletion attempt. The bandage up the trenches line, I thought referred to slit wrists, but now I can see that you are probably closer to the meaning than I ever got. It also makes more sense of other songs on this album where being submerged under water keeps cropping up. Also, on the visualiser for each song there are depth measurements getting deeper for each song, until the last depth on the last song which corresponds to Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. On the album cover there are also numbers which turn out to be coordinates for the remotest part on Earth. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this album's reaction. You're in for a real treat!! Stay safe 🤘 ✌️
Blue lights is what they call an ambulance in the UK. And it's about a suicide attempt
I feel it’s about self canceling behavior. I always thought the blue light over murder was like a code blue in hospital in the US when the person is leaving this world
Also the ambulances in the UK, the lights are blue as well
P.s.
Now thinking about it, the second verse from Granite fits with the car crash theme
I think the lyrics should read “marry in the morning. Earn your bitter father. It’s easier to try not to eat” as in the couple was supposed to get married the next morning and her father doesn’t approve of him. It’s easier to not eat than earn her fathers blessing
Yeah 15:59 these are the right lyrics
The more I listen to ST, the more I’m also convinced that a car accident was involved and a baby was lost. Perhaps the ex-lover also survived the crash and their relationship devolved into a downward spiral. 🌀 as much as I like to play along with the lore, I can’t help but try to decipher what really happened.
Amazing music either way and YES to ii going off. Worship.
More of Vessel's (I think intentional) ambiguity. The imagery and poetry can equally describe a loved one lost in a car accident...and a failed suicide attempt. The blue lights are UK ambulance lights, either way...but of course are also the light of day when underwater.
Masterful.
But why would he get so emotional ( both in the studio and in concert ) when singing that song if it's only fictional ?
Unless his sobbing is a gimmick which I'm sure you don't believe.
The words "Blood on my hands" and "Murder" are as explicit as you can get .
Your analysis is so in depth! I think maybe the "blue light over murder" line could be like the light shining through the ocean to reveal the car at the bottom of the ocean. Maybe the "tomb built from future daughters" could allude to his significant other only being able to supply the x chromosome for a child so all their children at the bottom of the ocean could only be daughters? That's a stretch for sure but I like it
If "Bandage" is literal and "Trenches" is metaphorical, then that could mean to bandage up his wounds.
Or if "trenches", like in WW1, is a defensive positioning, then by saying "Bandage up the trenches" he is basically saying to steel yourself mentally. Prepare for an attack, mentally.
Blue lights maybe police car lights?
The audacity of this band to open this albums tour with this song. Who opens a metal concert with just voice and piano? And a melancholic one at that!
No ST expert but ‘Blue Light over murder’ is first responders at a murder scene, which Vessel makes me assume he thinks he is responsible for whatever happened.
Only daughter, mother ect.... have a womb, maybe she was pregnant or lost her womb.
I think this song intentionally refers to two different events, 1 the car crash, 2 vessel attempting to end himself. I think “trenches” are cuts.
I think she didn’t die but she was pregnant with their daughter and lost the baby
I think everyone else has already said but I have always thought this is about a self-deletion attempt. There are a lot of references to car crashes but I have always taken these as metaphorical. Shows how rich the lyrics are though that we can get all these different meanings from them! Can't wait to see your take on the rest of this album - it's my favourite of theirs 🩵
Is it possible that the one that died in the crash was an unborn daughter and so he feels like a murderer and doesn’t want to wake?