The brainchild of guitarist, songwriter and producer Sam Vallen, CALIGULA'S HORSE - initially composed of just Vallen and vocalist Jim Grey - released its digital debut “Moments From Ephemeral City” in April 2011, and received instant acclaim from lovers of all strains of progressive music across many continents. Originally intended as a studio-only project, Vallen and Grey put out feelers for a live band soon after the album's release, assembling the current lineup of Geoff Irish on drums, Zac Greensill on guitar and Dave Couper on bass and vocals.
CALIGULA’S HORSE's approach to songwriting is uncompromisingly eclectic, but no less accessible to audiences of all different musical styles. They take influence from such bands and artists as Devin Townsend, Pain Of Salvation, Opeth, Meshuggah, Porcupine Tree, Steve Vai, Frost, Periphery, Karnivool, Muse, Steely Dan, The Beatles, and Frank Zappa amongst many others.
After months of rehearsing the recorded material, and also recording two additional tracks as the “Colossus” EP - released in September of 2011 - the “C-HORSE”, as some devotees like to abbreviate it to kicked off with live shows in October 2011. These are early days for a diverse and enthusiastic bunch of young virtuosos, but 2012 looks to be the breakout year for CALIGULA’S HORSE.
Caligula's Horse is:
Jim Grey - Lead Vocals
Sam Vallen - Guitar, Programming, Production, Mixing
Dale Prinsse - Bass
Josh Griffin - Drums
A Gift to Afterthought
Caligula's Horse Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We don't remember the first crack
But we will all recall the flood
There go the edges son, but just you wait
I never thought that we would go this way
We stand at the edge and watch the whole world crash around our feet
This is more than each of us
This will be the end of us now,
I swear it
Believe me
Just one word
And welcome home was all we heard
Through bars we built ourselves
They'd already won
Just one word
And welcome home the empty herd
She always said "I won't believe it - You've found your voice, now let me hear it!"
We left the tyrant, now undone
Drowning at his river's end
We turned our feet to run
The words had called us, son:
We knew the world could end by just one
Just one word
And welcome home was all we heard
Through bars we built ourselves
They'd already won
Just one word
We should have known
The empty herd
She always said that we would soon forget
But there's one word left in the box yet
As stone turns to dust around us
This gift to afterthought brings her own weaknesses
Opening the prison door comes as no consolation to us standing here at the end
There go the edges, son
We stand at the edge and watch the whole world crash around our feet
This is more than each of us
This will be the end of us now,
I swear it
Believe me
Just one word
And welcome home was all we heard
Through bars we built ourselves
They'd already won
Just one word
And welcome home the empty herd
She always said "I won't believe it - You've found your voice, now let me hear it!"
Hope
you're ready for a deep and thoughtful analysis of Caligula's Horse's song "A Gift to Afterthought." At first glance, the lyrics appear to speak about the end of something, but this ending is not necessarily a physical one. The imagery used to describe the end is not of explosions or fires but of cracks and floods. The lyrics state, "We don't remember the first crack/ But we will all recall the flood." This suggests that the end came not from one catastrophic event but rather from a series of small cracks that were ignored until the flood of consequences overtook them.
The song speaks to the dangers of ignoring the smaller problems that eventually culminate in larger ones. The lyrics also address the idea of oppression and tyranny, stating, "We left the tyrant, now undone/ Drowning at his river's end." This line suggests that the end might have come at the hands of a totalitarian ruler or possibly could be a metaphor for a personal tyrant, such as addiction or mental illness. The line "We turned our feet to run/ The words had called us, son/ We knew the world could end by just one" reinforces the idea that the end came from ignoring warning signs and avoiding the problem.
The song speaks to the power of language and how just one word can bring about both destruction and redemption. The line "Just one word/ And welcome home was all we heard" speaks to the idea that language can bring comfort or despair. The line, "She always said 'I won't believe it - You've found your voice, now let me hear it!'" reinforces the idea that language and speaking up can be a powerful force for change.
Line by Line Meaning
Here and now it ends
We have reached the ultimate finish line, the end of everything.
We don't remember the first crack
We do not know how it all began to fall apart, but it has been a gradual and steady decline.
But we will all recall the flood
The catastrophic event that will sear into our memories and force us to remember the end.
There go the edges son, but just you wait
The chaos and destruction have taken over, and it's only going to get worse from here.
I never thought that we would go this way
None of us ever imagined that this would be the end, but here we are.
We stand at the edge and watch the whole world crash around our feet
We find ourselves at the brink of destruction, witnessing the demise of everything we know.
This is more than each of us
This disaster is too great and too overwhelming for any single person to handle.
This will be the end of us now, I swear it
We are certain that this is the end of us, and there is no way out.
Believe me
I am not exaggerating, this is truly the end.
Just one word
A single utterance has the power to change the course of everything.
And welcome home was all we heard
That one word has brought us home, to a place where everything ends.
Through bars we built ourselves, they'd already won
We are trapped in a prison of our own making, and we have already lost.
We should have known the empty herd
We should have recognized that the masses were blindly following, not realizing the consequences of their actions.
She always said that we would soon forget
Someone told us that we would eventually forget all of this, but they were wrong.
But there's one word left in the box yet
Despite everything that has happened, there is still one unknown factor, one variable that could change the outcome.
As stone turns to dust around us
The very foundation of our world is crumbling and we cannot stop it.
This gift to afterthought brings her own weaknesses
Even though we can reflect on what happened, our hindsight is not enough to prevent the collapse.
Opening the prison door comes as no consolation to us standing here at the end
We are too far gone to be saved, and any gesture towards freedom is pointless.
Hope
Despite everything, we still hold onto a sliver of hope, perhaps in the possibility of that one unknown word.
Contributed by Jeremiah N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Phillip Kocher
This band is criminally under appreciated. Criminal, I tell you.
zero sixsixsix
totally agree phil
Archemedes
It is because they are Australian unfortunately... Just look at Karnivool and Ne Obliviscaris. From Australia. Absolutely amazing... Down side is Australian bands need some large funding to tour anywhere but Asia which like is worthless. If they had more funding for U.S tours for instance I feel like their fan base would spike.
Phillip Kocher
+Jakromha Insert Australian joke here?
Jakromha
+Phillip Kocher Yes, criminals should listen to this more.
Harry Johnson
This is unbelievably slept on. One of my top 10 songs ever. That pre chorus hits so hard.
Tony Bowen
Arguably one of the best bands in Australia. These guys are amazing
Nokturnal Creatura
So far to me, they are the best.
Mirko Fustinoni
Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus, Twelve Foot Ninja, Plini, The Helix Nebula, Caligula's Horse and so on...Aussies definitely know how to make great music!
L.L. Vynterchilld
I know this is 3 years old, but you all forgot Closure in Moscow, a great prog band also hailing from Australia :)