Sons of Perdition's first album, The Kingdom is On Fire, was released in 2007. The Hank in Chains Review had this to say of it: "Sons have delivered a beautiful brimstone masterpiece with The Kingdom Is On Fire... an absolutely phenomenal album from start to finish."
Kingdom was followed by Psalms for the Spiritually Dead in 2010. James Carlson called it "a musical sermon unlike any other."
Trinity, the third and final album in Sons of Perdition’s Dissolution Trilogy, was released on GraveWax Records on November 12, 2013. At over 72 minutes, Trinity is a long, metaphorical narrative that tells of a man’s hellish pilgrimage through the American Southwest.
Zebulon Whatley was raised outside the rural settlement of Scrougout, Texas on a diet of fanatic religion and weird fiction. He currently resides in Austin, Texas.
I Wanna Go to Heaven
Sons of Perdition Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the end's feeling close
I wanna go to heaven
When I give up the ghost
I'm counting sparrows
And darkening skies
It's swallowed by the clouds in my eyes
Beneath an old cypress
In the Earth we were brought up to lie
When this body grows weary
And the end's feeling close
I wanna go to heaven
When I give up the ghost
The sun shudders softly
Behind a cold moon
My breathe bleeds out slowly
'Till it fills up the room
I'm drawn to my grave
Like a moth to a flame
The temple makes itself a tomb
When this body grows weary
And the end's feeling close
I wanna go to heaven
When I give up the ghost
When this body grows weary
And the end's feeling close
I wanna go to heaven
When I give up the ghost
Sweet Jesus, I fear
When this body is gone
There'll be nothing left
But pile of my bones
Though I sleep in the clay
Don't forget me that day
Don't leave me down there all alone
When this body grows weary
And the end's feeling close
I wanna go to heaven
When I give up the ghost
When this body grows weary
And the end's feeling close
At its core, "I Wanna Go to Heaven" by Sons of Perdition is about the fear of death and the hope for an afterlife. As the song progresses, the singer seems to become more and more anxious about the uncertainty of what happens after we pass away. The imagery of "counting sparrows and darkening skies" and the sun "shuddering softly behind a cold moon" creates a sense of impending doom. The line "in the Earth we were brought up to lie" suggests that perhaps our beliefs about the afterlife are just comforting lies we tell ourselves to avoid the harsh reality of death.
The singer's desperation becomes even more clear in the line "sweet Jesus, I fear when this body is gone there'll be nothing left but a pile of my bones". This fear of simply ceasing to exist is a natural human response, and the desire for an eternal soul seems to intensify as the song goes on. The repetition of "when this body grows weary and the end's feeling close, I wanna go to heaven when I give up the ghost" reinforces this theme of longing for an afterlife.
Line by Line Meaning
When this body grows weary
As I near the end of my life and my physical body weakens
And the end's feeling close
And death seems to be approaching
I wanna go to heaven
I desire to ascend to a place of eternal peace and happiness
When I give up the ghost
When my spirit departs from my body
I'm counting sparrows
I am fixated on small, insignificant details
And darkening skies
As the day fades into night, and my life approaches its end
It's swallowed by the clouds in my eyes
My vision is obscured by tears, reflecting a sense of sadness or guilt
Beneath an old cypress
In the shadow of a large, ancient tree
I wonder why
I am left questioning the purpose or meaning of my life
In the Earth we were brought up to lie
In society, we are taught to deceive or hide our true selves
The sun shudders softly
The end of the day is approaching, and I feel a sense of fear or apprehension
Behind a cold moon
The moon provides a bleak, ominous backdrop to my thoughts
My breathe bleeds out slowly
I feel my life slipping away, as I breathe my last few breaths
'Till it fills up the room
Until the air around me is consumed with my final exhale
I'm drawn to my grave
I am inexorably drawn towards my final resting place
Like a moth to a flame
As if there is something inevitable about my death
The temple makes itself a tomb
My physical body, once my place of worship, is now destined to become my grave
Sweet Jesus, I fear
I feel trepidation and uncertainty about what is to come
When this body is gone
Once I have passed on from this life and my physical form no longer exists
There'll be nothing left
I will have ceased to exist in any tangible way
But pile of my bones
All that will remain of me is a scattered collection of my former physical self
Though I sleep in the clay
Even as my earthly body is buried in the soil
Don't forget me that day
I implore those I leave behind to remember me after I am gone
Don't leave me down there all alone
I fear being forgotten or abandoned, even in death
Contributed by Anna D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.