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.
exile
Sons of Perdition Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Into endless white light
Screaming and bloodsoaked
Like a murder at night
Born into creation
Like a maggot in meat
I washed up in Sacramento
Where for a while, life was sweet
They say that I broke the law
But I've never done wrong
So I fled like a lover
From a bitter torch song
I struck out toward the wastes
Knowing I'd never return
The cops barred my passage
With the fire of their guns
I was adrift in a sea
Of ancient green pines
Unshaped and unguided
Like ore in a mine
I fell in with a drifter
From up in Alaska
We wandered out east
Through the Sierra Nevadas
The lyrics to Sons of Perdition's "Exile" are haunting and introspective. The first lines describe a traumatic entrance into the world, feeling blameless and lost in the endless white light. The reference to being like a murder at night paints a vivid and disturbing picture of the confusion and pain that the singer is feeling. The line "born into creation like a maggot in meat" suggests a sense of being trapped and unable to escape one's fate. However, there is a brief respite from this chaos when the singer washes up in Sacramento and experiences the sweetness of life.
The next few lines describe the singer's flight from the law, even though they claim to have never done wrong. The reference to fleeing "like a lover from a bitter torch song" adds a romantic and desperate feeling to the singer's flight. The journey that follows takes the singer through the "ancient green pines" and westward toward Alaska before turning back eastward and eventually stumbling through the Sierra Nevadas. The final line, "I was damned and forsaken, a savage uncouth," suggests a sense of hopelessness and despair, as though the singer's journey has left them feeling abandoned by the world.
Overall, this song explores themes of trauma, flight, and isolation. The imagery is bleak and unsettling, like a fever dream that lingers long after waking. Through it all, though, there is a sense of longing for something better, something that the singer can't quite put into words but still feels keenly.
Line by Line Meaning
I was spat cold and blameless
I was born without fault or wrongdoing
Into endless white light
I was born into an unknown, bright and unlimited world
Screaming and bloodsoaked
I came into this world with pain and hurt
Like a murder at night
My arrival was violent and contentious
Born into creation
I was brought into existence
Like a maggot in meat
I felt insignificant and inconsequential in the grand scheme of things
I washed up in Sacramento
I ended up in Sacramento by chance
Where for a while, life was sweet
I found brief happiness in this place
They say that I broke the law
People accuse me of violating a rule or regulation
But I've never done wrong
However, I believe I am innocent
So I fled like a lover
I ran away like someone escaping heartbreak
From a bitter torch song
From something that was once passionate and has now turned sour
I struck out toward the wastes
I headed into the unknown and deserted areas
Knowing I'd never return
Aware I would never see this place again
The cops barred my passage
The authorities blocked me from moving forward
With the fire of their guns
They used force to stop me
I was adrift in a sea
I felt lost and unsure
Of ancient green pines
In the midst of old, evergreen trees
Unshaped and unguided
Without form or direction
Like ore in a mine
Like a raw material that needs refinement to become something valuable
I fell in with a drifter
I became acquainted with someone who wanders aimlessly
From up in Alaska
This person originated from Alaska
We wandered out east
Together, we journeyed east
Through the Sierra Nevadas
We travelled through this mountain range
Contributed by Elijah N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.