Most of the band's albums, starting with their 2006 debut album Act I: The Lake South, the River North, are concept albums and a part of a common storyline, planned to conclude with a sixth album. The most recent addition is 2016's Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional. Additionally, they have released albums unrelated to the Acts; The Color Spectrum in 2011, Migrant in 2013, and the EP All Is As All Should Be in 2017.
The band began as a side project of Casey Crescenzo when he was a full-time member of The Receiving End of Sirens. The Dear Hunter was originally intended as a vehicle for music Crescenzo had written that didn't fit with the sound of The Receiving End of Sirens. In the winter of 2005 Casey recorded the Dear Ms. Leading demos. He created 10 copies on burned CDs that were circulated amongst his friends and posted online for download. While elements and characters featured on the demos would reappear on the subsequent Acts, Crescenzo has confirmed that there was a transformation in how he represented these themes and persons; while the story had its origins in his personal life, the Acts removed most autobiographical elements in favor of fiction.
Vital Vessle Vindicates
The Dear Hunter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Abandon dispair with thirsty affairs of the heart
But the chances of escaping my heart are inadaquate, and when all is said and done I'm left with my history
Goodbye, my eyes shed heavy tears
One for every soul still sitting on the fence between pain and arrogance
Ebb to the left flow to the right
The boys on the train
The almighty tongue with prose spilled in vain
Goodbye, my eyes shed heavy tears
One for every soul still sitting on the fence between pain and arrogance
We fall beneath the sea of dreams and fail to breathe until we awaken again
Sing softly sing me to the lake
Sing softly bring me to the lake
Through all of this I've felt just the same
The flame is gone the fire remains
The Dear Hunter's song "Vital Vessle Vindicates" speaks of the complexities of human emotions and how they impact our relationships with others. The opening lines of the song, "Salt in the sky in the sweet summer air while mammoths depart, abandon despair with thirsty affairs of the heart," paint a picture of someone experiencing a mixture of emotions. On one hand, the individual is feeling a sense of freedom and liberation as the mammoths depart, but on the other hand they are dealing with a deep sense of despair. The phrase "thirsty affairs of the heart" suggests that the person is seeking out some sort of emotional fulfillment.
The next lines of the song, "But the chances of escaping my heart are inadequate, and when all is said and done I'm left with my history," speak to the idea that it is difficult to truly escape the past. We are tethered to our history, and it is often intertwined with our emotions and relationships with others. The repeated phrase "Goodbye, my eyes shed heavy tears, one for every soul still sitting on the fence between pain and arrogance," suggests a sense of sadness and regret about lost opportunities and broken relationships.
The chorus of the song, "We fall beneath the sea of dreams and fail to breathe until we awaken again," is a powerful metaphor for the way in which emotions can overwhelm us and leave us feeling lost and disconnected from reality. The closing lines, "Sing softly, sing me to the lake, through all of this I've felt just the same, the flame is gone the fire remains," suggest that even in the midst of confusion and emotional turmoil, there is still a sense of passion and strength that endures.
Line by Line Meaning
Salt in the sky in the sweet summer air while mammoths depart
The singer describes a serene summer sky, but laments the fact that mammoths are leaving; perhaps this is analogous to how wondrous things can come to an end.
Abandon despair with thirsty affairs of the heart
The singer advises against hopelessness when it comes to matters of love, and instead suggests pursuing romantic interests relentlessly.
But the chances of escaping my heart are inadequate, and when all is said and done I'm left with my history
The singer acknowledges that finding closure and moving on from past relationships can be difficult, and reflects on how their past experiences have shaped their present mindset.
Goodbye, my eyes shed heavy tears
One for every soul still sitting on the fence between pain and arrogance
The artist bids farewell to someone or something, and sheds tears both for themselves and for those who can't decide between facing their pain or acting arrogantly.
Ebb to the left flow to the right
The exit's unflawed
The boys on the train
The almighty tongue with prose spilled in vain
The artist paints a picture of a smooth passage forward, but notes that communication can sometimes fall short and not be as impactful as intended.
We fall beneath the sea of dreams and fail to breathe until we awaken again
The singer speaks to the idea of getting lost in one's dreams and losing touch with reality, only to eventually come back to reality (when they 'awaken again').
Sing softly sing me to the lake
Sing softly bring me to the lake
Through all of this I've felt just the same
The flame is gone the fire remains
The singer seemingly seeks solace in nature, and professes to remain the same through all their experiences (though what exactly that entails is left up to interpretation). The final line may indicated that they've lost something (perhaps their passion), but still hold onto a flicker of something powerful.
Contributed by Alexis F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Trevor McCune
Ive always felt that the difference between a terrible to average lyric writer and a great lyric writer is whether they write their lyrics around a melody, or write the melody around the lyrics. I may be off base or come off ignorant here, but I feel Casey writes the lyrics first and then works the melody in after. With his lyrics, the story always come first and they never sound forced so as to match what’s going on musically.
Perfect example, he breaks up the phrase
“Goodbye, my
Eyes
Shed heavy tears
One for every
Soul still
Sitting on the fence
Between
Pain and arrogance”
I can’t quite articulate what makes those lyrics so amazing coupled with the way he sings them, along with the melody.
Maybe someone here understands what I’m trying to say and can explain it much better than I can
s w
Salt in the sky in the sweet summer air while mammoths depart
Abandon dispair with thirsty affairs of the heart
But the chances of escaping my heart are inadaquate
And when all is said and done, I'm left with my history
Goodbye, my eyes shed heavy tears
One for every soul still sitting on the fence between pain and arrogance
Ebb to the left flow to the right the exit's unflawed
The boys on the train, the almighty tongue with prose spilled in vain
Goodbye, my eyes shed heavy tears
One for every soul still sitting on the fence between pain and arrogance
We fall beneath the sea of dreams
And fail to breathe, until we resurface
We fall beneath the sea of dreams
And fail to breathe, until we awaken again
Sing softly, sing me to the lake, sing softly, bring me to the lake
(The flame is gone, the fire remains)
Sing softly, sing me to the lake, sing softly, bring me to the lake
(The flame is gone, the fire remains)
Sing softly, sing me to the lake, sing softly, bring me to the lake, sing
(The flame is gone, the fire remains)
Through all of this I've felt just the same
The flame is gone, the fire remains
Trevor McCune
Ive always felt that the difference between a terrible to average lyric writer and a great lyric writer is whether they write their lyrics around a melody, or write the melody around the lyrics. I may be off base or come off ignorant here, but I feel Casey writes the lyrics first and then works the melody in after. With his lyrics, the story always come first and they never sound forced so as to match what’s going on musically.
Perfect example, he breaks up the phrase
“Goodbye, my
Eyes
Shed heavy tears
One for every
Soul still
Sitting on the fence
Between
Pain and arrogance”
I can’t quite articulate what makes those lyrics so amazing coupled with the way he sings them, along with the melody.
Maybe someone here understands what I’m trying to say and can explain it much better than I can
Lord AJ
I think you're onto something. Sometimes lyrics feel forced into the structure of the music and whatever his creation process this doesn't happen with Casey. He clearly values lyrics higher than most songwriters. I'd say however that lyrics that feel forced to the structure of the song is what average writers achieve (instead of terrible to average writers as you said). Bending the lyrics to the song is not great but at least they somewhat fit in the end. With terrible writers the lyrics don't seem to match the song at all. Sometimes I read the lyrics to a song and question whether I'm even thinking of the correct song. In those cases the musical structure separates lyrics that belong to the same verse and entire new sentences are started without any pause.
s w
Salt in the sky in the sweet summer air while mammoths depart
Abandon dispair with thirsty affairs of the heart
But the chances of escaping my heart are inadaquate
And when all is said and done, I'm left with my history
Goodbye, my eyes shed heavy tears
One for every soul still sitting on the fence between pain and arrogance
Ebb to the left flow to the right the exit's unflawed
The boys on the train, the almighty tongue with prose spilled in vain
Goodbye, my eyes shed heavy tears
One for every soul still sitting on the fence between pain and arrogance
We fall beneath the sea of dreams
And fail to breathe, until we resurface
We fall beneath the sea of dreams
And fail to breathe, until we awaken again
Sing softly, sing me to the lake, sing softly, bring me to the lake
(The flame is gone, the fire remains)
Sing softly, sing me to the lake, sing softly, bring me to the lake
(The flame is gone, the fire remains)
Sing softly, sing me to the lake, sing softly, bring me to the lake, sing
(The flame is gone, the fire remains)
Through all of this I've felt just the same
The flame is gone, the fire remains
Virginia M
This song definitely puts me in a wonderful mood
Casual Lectures
An Actual Barrel of Monkeys I'm more concerned on the fact that the guy drafted himself just to run from his problems like a coward
An Actual Barrel of Monkeys
i'm not gonna say that's kinda weird since it's about someone going off to war where he's almost certainly going to die, but
that's kinda weird, since it's about someone going off to war where he's almost certainly going to die
Nicolaas Van de Houten
Ohhh.. the end.. that's the melody "A Beginning" got it's ending from.. very cool!
Ezana Ngwe
@Rory Giambalvo Exactly. We can also hear it in City Escape
Rory Giambalvo
Nicolaas Van de Houten that's actually a much older motif, it was originally in The Lake South from Act I. It''s use in the end of A Beginning I think signals his "going home".
raph
man I love casey's vocals in this song so much