- 5/30/2025
Listen here: https://youtu.be/0NDqYZVbpho?si=oicWPTwcchwUFxis
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DISCLAIMER:
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MusicTranscript
00:00Hello! This is eSoup, aka Specific Soup, and right now I am reacting to the new Sleep Token song.
00:09They just keep releasing songs back to back, and now here's another new one. This came out a few
00:16days ago, and I just now got a chance to sit down and react to it. This is Damocles. I've heard this
00:22one is kind of, like, emotional, because I've been seeing video suggestions pop up of people's
00:28reactions. So maybe this one will be a little bit slower too, more emotional, maybe even like a
00:35ballad from them. I don't know what the vibe is going to be, but I'm just going to jump right in
00:39and find out. And after I react to this, I'll be looking at the lyrics. But without further ado,
00:47here is Damocles by Sleep Token.
00:58Wow, okay.
01:12So this, like, this really is like a ballad, maybe. I mean, who knows where it's going to
01:18go, because it's Sleep Token. But this is like a slower song.
01:21I still carvings of faces on a farthing wood, prevent my head from fading to black.
01:32And it feels like falling into the sea,
01:36from outer space in seconds to me. And I'll play this chord in days on repeat.
01:51Is there, um, like, I can't tell if there's some kind of, like, processing on Vessel's voice,
01:58or it's just, like, the frequency that he's singing at. It's something in the production.
02:04It might just be the way that he's singing this. It's like,
02:07got this warbliness to it that almost sounds like it's something in the production.
02:12But I know that he's a talented singer, and there are, like,
02:16things he can do with his voice that it might be, like, the way that he's singing. I can't tell.
02:21No, I think there's maybe like, oh, he just said,
02:35look until they look like harmony. And I think right at that point, there was another recording
02:40of his vocals, like, over it in harmony with it. So there might just be, like, multiple vocal tracks.
02:47And that's what I'm hearing.
03:06I like that.
03:06So I know the last song, Caramel, was super meta and, like, personal. It wasn't like the typical,
03:25um, you know, Sleep Token song where it's about, like, the narrative and the lore. It was, like,
03:30really personal about the band itself and, like, experiences that they've had. And so talking about
03:37who will I be when the empire falls, it kind of sounds like, who am I without the band? Or who will
03:42I be if, like, if the band breaks up and I'm, like, doing things under my own name or I'm just,
03:48like, doing something different? Like, who am I without that?
03:51You know, and I'm sure that the flag burning has to do with that in some way. Because it's, like,
04:05all of these little video visualizer things have been, like, there's a flag burning. So maybe that's
04:13the empire falling.
04:29That's really interesting that he says, like, I know these chords are boring in this song, which is
04:36really like a ballad, like, more standard kind of slower pop song. You know, for Sleep Token to do
04:46a song like this. Caramel was a little bit like that, too. But even that song sounded more like
04:51a standard Sleep Token song than this one, in a way. So it's like he's pointing out, like,
04:57I know that some fans are gonna think this is boring because this is not the metal thing or the
05:03usual thing that we would do.
05:07No golden grand pianos or voices from the shadows will do anything but feel the same
05:19And it feels like falling into the deep
05:25from somewhere way up over the peaks.
05:31And I play distorted days on the green until the tape runs out of me.
05:43Ooh! Oh, the sound of the tape!
05:47You know, behind this, this ballady sound, there's still, you hear that, like, more intense guitar
06:05playing. Like, you hear hints of, you know, what they can do and what they usually do. It's a really
06:11interesting sound. It definitely makes sense for them to do, like, a more personal, emotional song
06:17and to kind of slow down and to take on the sound that they don't usually do. But yeah, like, the,
06:24the instruments are starting to intensify and I'm hearing more. Like, let me just go back. I think
06:30there was some sort of crazy thing with the drumming, but I'm not sure.
06:38Yeah.
06:41Yeah, behind this, like, seemingly slower sound, there's just some crazy drumming happening now.
06:47I can't get up with Sento. What if they're gonna play to hold on and you'll love me with me and for
06:55your foals. Wake up alone and I'll be forgotten.
06:59Wake up alone. Wake up alone and I'll be forgotten.
07:03See, and I think if, if Sleep Token as a band does break up, I'm sure that people will find Vessel's
07:10next project and definitely listen to it. But if you've been part of a band and had, like, this
07:16identity for, you know, so long, then you'd definitely, I mean, it's, it's hard to imagine
07:26what you would be without that and, like, what you'll do next and what your life is going to look like.
07:45Ooh!
07:46Here we go.
07:48Here we go.
07:54Oh.
07:56Ooh!
08:00Ooh!
08:02Ooh!
08:06Ooh!
08:08Ooh!
08:10Ooh!
08:12Ooh!
08:14Ooh!
08:15Ooh!
08:21Ooh!
08:23Ooh!
08:25Ooh!
08:26Ooh!
08:27Ooh!
08:28Ooh!
08:29Ooh!
08:30Ooh!
08:31Ooh!
08:32Ooh!
08:33Ooh!
08:34Ooh!
08:35Ooh!
08:36Ooh!
08:37Ooh!
08:38Ooh!
08:39Ooh!
08:40Ooh!
08:41if I am all over the place in this video like I I feel like with sleep token
08:47songs sometimes I don't know how to move to them because you have like the
08:50melody but then you have like okay the drum is doing something crazy and then
08:54the guitar is doing something crazy and so I'm like what am I even doing here
09:05like what
09:11oh oh that's nice and at this point in the video the flag is like completely
09:27burnt out there's just like a post like the thing that had the flag on it okay
09:40and in this one the video glitch is like really similar it's like when the video
09:45is glitched out you just see this these weird kind of Cthulhu-esque things over
09:51the palace yeah I that was that was really beautiful I really like the way it
09:57ended with like the other instruments dropping out and just having this like
10:01really sweet quiet emotional piano playing and then just ending on that note I'm
10:08gonna go back just a little bit just to hear the ending again one more time like
10:12without interruptions
10:13very like this kind of song
10:36yeah
10:38so
11:09And that's it.
11:13Oh my god.
11:14Well, I've been waking up under blades.
11:17Blue blossom days.
11:19If only Damocles would hit me back.
11:21Waking up under blades.
11:23I mean, it kind of sounds either like cutting or just waking up immediately feeling attacked or feeling in pain.
11:31And then blue blossom days.
11:33Like, being blue sad days.
11:36In the myth of Damocles, Damocles himself was a courtier of a king who longed for the experience of living as royalty and the lavish things therein.
11:46Dionysus, his patron god, decided to humor Damocles' request with a twist.
11:52Damocles indeed lived as a king.
11:54But above his head, Dionysus placed an ever-present sword hanging by a single thread.
12:00This was meant to represent the constant danger and threats a king deals with.
12:04Damocles begged for release after only a day or so as he couldn't sleep or bear the anxiety that the sword.
12:10And now, the sword of Damocles is a metaphor for constant danger and anxiety.
12:14Okay, so we're literally talking about, like, waking up under blades, meaning, like, you are always anxious, you always feel like you're about to get cut.
12:24No alabaster carvings or- oh, come back.
12:28No alabaster carvings or faces on a farthing, like a coin, would prevent my head from fading to black.
12:36Alabaster is a soft stone used for carvings.
12:40Okay, okay, so no, like, no- these are both portrayals, like, a king could be portrayed in a carving or, like, face on a coin.
12:49But none of those things, like, none of those signs of wealth and power would, like, prevent him from, you know, dying.
12:58Or, I think, like, more, like, metaphorically, like, none of those things would prevent him from experiencing pain.
13:06Or prevent him from all of this, like, anxiety of, like, the sword hanging over his head.
13:11And it feels like falling into the sea from outer space in seconds to me.
13:16And I play discordant days on repeat until they look like harmony.
13:21Yeah, I mean, feeling like falling into the sea.
13:24That just sounds like a generally unpleasant feeling.
13:27Like, maybe falling all the way from outer space.
13:31I play discordant days on repeat until they look like harmony.
13:34This line seems to suggest that when he is on stage, it seems to offer him a reprieve from his personal struggles.
13:42But when he gets home and returns to his normal life, he begins to struggle again.
13:47When the river runs dry and the curtain is called, how'll I know if I can't see the bottom?
13:53Come up for air and choke on it all.
13:56No one else knows that I've got a problem.
13:58All sounds like when he's done being part of Sleep Token or when he's done performing, he's just, you know, struggling for air.
14:07Like, struggling with that anxiety.
14:09What if I can't get up and stand tall?
14:11What if the diamond days are all gone?
14:14And who will I be when the empire falls?
14:16Wake up alone and I'll be forgotten.
14:18Like I was saying when I was listening to the song, that sounds like this feeling of, if the band breaks up, who am I without that?
14:26Like, who am I without Sleep Token?
14:27And, like, who am I, will I be forgotten without that?
14:31It's like, his identity right now maybe feels so entwined with Sleep Token and with Vessel, like, as a, you know, a character or, like, the figure in the band.
14:44But then it's like, who will he be without that, just as himself, as a regular person?
14:49Well, I know I should be touring.
14:51I know these chords are boring, but I can't always be killing the game.
14:55No golden grand pianos or voices from the shadows will do anything but feel the same.
15:00Vessel could be saying, even if he finds the perfect music, it won't change how he feels or the situation he's in.
15:07Right.
15:08Yeah.
15:09That makes sense.
15:09It's like, even if he finds the perfect song, he still has this, like, darkness and anxiety.
15:16And I said before, I think, that line about the, I know these chords are boring, I think it's sort of a meta about this being a slower song by them.
15:24That some fans won't like because it's not the sound that they came to expect from Sleep Token.
15:31Okay, and again, it feels like falling into the deep from somewhere way up over the peaks.
15:36I play discordant days on repeat until the tape runs out on me.
15:48And I thought the tape running out was another thing about, like, until the band is done and they're not doing their thing anymore.
15:56But it could be about, like, your life, the tape of your life running out, like, you dying or just not having anything else left to give.
16:06Vessel captures the feeling of being stuck in a cycle of emotional unraveling while holding onto the fading memory of something pure and high above, like, the peaks you fell from.
16:16Okay, so when he fell from where he was, like, in a good place, high up, achieving things, but he's, you know, fallen from that point.
16:25Yeah, I really like the line,
16:27I play discordant days on repeat until the tape runs out on me.
16:31And that's true, a tape is something you can turn over and repeat and it, you know, loops.
16:37So it is kind of like a cycle so that it carries this, like, looping sort of metaphor, but then at the same time also this symbol of things ending because the tape ends and you have to turn it over.
16:52It's not just going to keep going.
16:53It's like both of those things.
16:55So then the chorus,
16:56Ooh, like, like, being anxious, even when someone thinks, like, oh, you know, why should you be anxious?
17:16Why should you be scared?
17:17Like, nothing's happening.
17:18But you're like, no, it's not silent.
17:20It's, it's screaming.
17:21Well, nobody told me I'd get tired of myself when it all looks like heaven, but it feels like hell.
17:26It just sounds like dealing with depression and anxiety or some kind of mental illness or just burnout from working so hard and doing the same thing for so long.
17:37Feeling tired of yourself and when it all looks like heaven, but it feels like hell.
17:41To me, that reads like, oh, the band is doing so well.
17:44So it looks like my life should be so great, but it's not.
17:47And then it goes back into the chorus.
17:49So the song ends on,
17:52Who will I be when the empire falls?
17:54Wake up alone and I'll be forgotten.
17:56I mean, that is just like a really, a personal and a really dark song.
18:05And it's also really beautiful.
18:07I know it must be really alienating to be in a band that is famous and have so many fans and supporters and so many people who know you, but obviously they don't know the real you.
18:19And this is add on to the fact that Sleep Token is like an anonymous band.
18:25So they're masked and they don't like reveal their identities.
18:28And the previous song Caramel was about people like trying to, you know, call out their names at a concert and like identify them, which is not what they wanted.
18:37But whether you're in like a faceless anonymous band or whether you're completely unmasked and you totally show yourself and reveal your name and everything to your fans.
18:48I think either way, you could still get this similar feeling of like being famous, being a star, being in the spotlight and everything looks great.
18:58But you feel alone because I think being kind of elevated like that, like people putting you on a pedestal and just, I don't know, it just seems like really alienating.
19:12Like Caramel went into that too, I think.
19:14Like, so this progression of songs from Sleep Token has been like, each song is like informing the next one for me as far as like what I take going into it and what I take to sort of help me interpret the lyrics.
19:27So this song, it makes perfect sense as a follow up to Caramel.
19:32And I, I enjoyed this song.
19:34I think a lot of Sleep Token fans probably will find it boring if this is not what they, you know, got into the band for.
19:42And that makes sense.
19:44And it's okay if like you don't like the sound of the song.
19:47Like that doesn't mean you're bad because you expected one thing of the band and you got another thing.
19:52But I, I like a lot of different genres.
19:55So I have a lot of fun seeing like what Sleep Token is going to do next because they really do just dabble in so many genres.
20:05So for me, it's fun to be surprised and it's fun to be surprised with something that at least initially sounds a lot more mainstream.
20:13But, you know, as it went along, it still developed and it went into that like more intense, harder sound a little bit towards the end.
20:21While still having like this beautiful melody, there was like really intense like drumming building up under it.
20:26And I really loved that part and I loved the way everything drops out and it ends on like just this really quiet, like really small, like high-pitched piano.
20:39Yeah, I, I really enjoyed this.
20:42It does just have me like, well, like vessel, dude, I hope you're okay.
20:47Um, cause that's intense.
20:50Yeah, basically just, I hope that everybody in the band can catch a break and I hope that vessel is able to find some peace and find himself again, so to speak.
21:04Because it is, I can only imagine, a really weird place to be where people are like looking up at you, putting you on a pedestal.
21:11But you're surrounded by people, but you would feel alone just because of the position that people are like putting you into.
21:21Anyway, all that is to say, I absolutely loved the song, but like I'm concerned.
21:27I hope vessel is okay.
21:29In general, if you're like a creative person, you need to like take time for yourself and take care of yourself.
21:37And just remember who you are as a person, even without the things that you create.
21:44You're more than just the things that you make.
21:46You know, I think that's important for everybody to remember.
21:50And so with that, this is eSoup signing out.
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