The Sea
Dogwood and Dahlia Lyrics

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Oceans of madness darkened,
Alone on hell she rides,
Lichen, undead, and rotten,
Dripping and dignified.
She combs with violence upon the wailing storm,
This spectral ship of doomed purgation barrels on awry.

On stirring seas of salted blood,

Condemned to forge her sails forevermore,
Her hull will never reach the shores,
Damning waters of irony filth.

Neath the stench of crimson winds,
Her sails of flesh betorn.
Red skeletons are oaring,
The plasma stains their bones.
Her rusting cannons fire blindly in the mist,
This haunted vessel lost and damned,
The prisoners of her endless quest.
A burial at ancient sea that cannot rest in fucking peace,
The crew of wraith like revenants merely seek peace
And reverence from purgatorial permanence.
Their cursed bondage has no end,
On they ride through the throes of ceaseless night,
Her will never dies,
The compass pointing straight to hell,
And that is where they’re going.
Beaten by curling waves of red,
The storm,
No signs of slowing now.

On stirring seas of salted blood,
Condemned to forge her sails forevermore,
Her hull will never reach the shores,
Damning waters of irony filth.

Scabbed with the blood of ones they have killed,
The ghosts of war must soldier on.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Dogwood and Dahlia's song "The Sea" paint a vivid picture of a haunted ship sailing on the stormy seas. The opening line, "Oceans of madness darkened," sets the tone for the rest of the song, describing the ship and its crew as cursed and haunted. The ship is personified as a female entity, "Alone on hell she rides," and her appearance is described as "Lichen, undead, and rotten, dripping and dignified."

The violent imagery continued with descriptions of the ship's movements, "She combs with violence upon the wailing storm," and the crew's activities, such as "Her rusting cannons fire blindly in the mist." The ship's cursed existence is emphasized as the lyrics suggest that she is "Condemned to forge her sails forevermore" and will "never reach the shores." The crew is also cursed, with the line "Their cursed bondage has no end, on they ride through the throes of ceaseless night."

The final stanza takes a slightly different direction, with a reference to the "ghosts of war" who must "soldier on." This adds an extra dimension to the song, implying that the cursed ship and crew may be symbolic of the never-ending cycle of warfare and violence. Overall, the lyrics to "The Sea" are a haunting and vivid portrayal of a supernatural ship and her damned crew.

Line by Line Meaning

Oceans of madness darkened,
The sea is an endless expanse of insanity, devoid of hope or light.

Alone on hell she rides,
The ship is a lone vessel, condemned to navigate the depths of hell itself.

Lichen, undead, and rotten,
The crew is made up of undead beings, covered in decay and decrepitude.

Dripping and dignified.
Despite their horrifying appearance, the crew carries themselves with an air of dark grace and dignity.

She combs with violence upon the wailing storm,
The ship plows through the violent, anguished waves with a sense of purposeful aggression.

This spectral ship of doomed purgation barrels on awry.
The ship, a ghostly vessel of punishment, careens forward down an unknown path.

On stirring seas of salted blood,
The ocean is a turbulent maelstrom of bloody chaos.

Condemned to forge her sails forevermore,
The ship is eternally cursed to sail through the bloody seas of the afterlife.

Her hull will never reach the shores,
The ship is forever denied the chance to find rest on the shores of the afterlife.

Damning waters of irony filth.
The cursed waters of the afterlife mock the crew's futile efforts to escape their fate.

Neath the stench of crimson winds,
Amid the stink of bloody winds blowing from every direction,

Her sails of flesh betorn.
The ship's sails are made of human flesh, torn and shredded by the violent winds.

Red skeletons are oaring,
The ship's crew, skeletal and bloodstained, row with a relentless, mechanical rhythm.

The plasma stains their bones.
The crew is permanently stained with the blood and gore of their endless journey.

Her rusting cannons fire blindly in the mist,
The ship's cannons, old and rusted, blast into the fog with every indication of desperation.

This haunted vessel lost and damned,
The ship is cursed to wander aimlessly across the bleak sea, bereft of hope or comfort.

The prisoners of her endless quest.
The crew is trapped by their fate, forever captive to the ship's ceaseless journey.

A burial at ancient sea that cannot rest in fucking peace,
The crew is doomed to an eternal, restless burial in the most ancient and terrifying depths of the sea.

The crew of wraith like revenants merely seek peace
The crew, ghostly and insubstantial, simply wants to find peace and rest at last.

And reverence from purgatorial permanence.
They seek acknowledgement for their eternal plight, and a release from their curse.

Their cursed bondage has no end,
The crew cannot escape their fate, forever bound to the ship and its endless journey.

On they ride through the throes of ceaseless night,
The crew must continue their journey through the torment of endless, unyielding darkness.

Her will never dies,
The ship, and its curse, will never be defeated.

The compass pointing straight to hell,
The ship's compass, if it even works, always points downwards towards a terrible fate.

And that is where they’re going.
The crew is headed towards an inevitable, hellscape destination.

Beaten by curling waves of red,
The ship is constantly battered and assaulted by waves of red, blood-like ocean surf.

The storm,
The violent, inescapable storm that lashes the ship with endless fury.

No signs of slowing now.
The storm shows no signs of abating or giving the ship a break from its unending assault.

Scabbed with the blood of ones they have killed,
The crew is covered with the blood of those they have slain, a mark of their eternal guilt.

The ghosts of war must soldier on.
The crew, made up of spectral war-torn beings, must continue their endless journey without end or hope of rest.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Brian Eschbach, John Kempainen, Ryan Williams, Shannon Lucas, Trevor Strnad

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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