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Death Poem IV: Unknown's Skywide Twin

from Death Poems by Messier 16

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about

In this last death poem, we hear about the heartbreaking story of Virginia Woolf, who in her suicide note depicts, with an intimate language, her decision to disappear in the ocean. As an escape from what was seemingly a suffering from bipolar disorder, the character Unknown describes their life as a prison in the eyes of others, and a cage in their thoughts. Who these others are remains unknown, and it is precisely in this uncertainty her darkness arises. Time stops to a halt in moments of madness, and as time starts again, hours disappear. This leads her to complete breakdowns. These contrasts are shown with extreme dynamic width in the music. The writer’s otherwise very imaginative prose changes to a humble love letter and a naked goodbye letter in the message left for her spouse - where she explains herself and shares her deep gratitude. With a love for the ocean, she then walks in with stones in her dress.

lyrics

Lyrics:

The eyes of others, our prison;
Their thoughts, our cage
If I dive deeper I shall reach the truth
Of the beauty from which the world is so soon to perish

All grown about with weeds, bound with briars
As an experience, madness is triumphant
Spiralling head-space plunged in and out of depth
Strafing the waters, I am not in control of this

“Dearest,
I feel certain I am going mad again
I feel we can’t go through another one of those terrible times
And I shan’t recover this time
The voices are back now,
And I can’t concentrate

So I am doing what seems the best thing to do
You have given me the greatest joy
You have been in every way all that anyone could be
The voices are louder and louder and louder

I can’t fight it any longer
I know that I am spoiling your life
That without me, you could work
And you will, I know
You see, I can’t even write this properly
I can’t read

What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you
You have been entirely patient with me
I wish for you to know this as well -
If anybody could have saved me it would have been you

I don’t think two people could have been happier until this disease came
I can’t go on spoiling your life any longer
I’m certain no other two people could have been happier than us
I feel that I am going mad again
I owe all the happiness of my life to you
The voices are back now, and I can’t concentrate
You have been in every way all that anyone could be
The voices are louder, and I must see the waters”

So much wasted ink
Although processed I think
Did I colour all this?
Another poem unsigned
I have all reason to shake
Two heads on one body
Doesn’t make for length of life

credits

from Death Poems, track released October 11, 2023
Artwork:
Lasse Almqvist Scherven & Liv Irene Almqvist Scherven

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Messier 16 Oslo, Norway

The Oslo based group Messier 16 was founded in 2017 by Jonas. The band now consists of the following quintet: Jonas Ulrik Eide on guitars, Sondre M. Svalastog on vocals, Laszlo Juhos on drums, Aleksander Ilievski on guitars and Nicoló Cavallaro on bass. ... more

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