Song of the Day Redux, Day 67: The Homecoming

The Homecoming

Hey, sorry about my hiatus. It’s time to finish this. I’m not going to do the more of the recent covers unless people want me to, but we’ve got three more songs we absolutely must cover before I can return to my slumber.

Here’s the first unreleased song from the Afterman demos, and the only one from Afterman: Ascension.

The Content: A somber introspective song with some beautiful existential lyrics, and a few baffling ones. It looks like the song is about Sirius looking back and thinking about his wife, or perhaps after his return, reflecting on his broken relationship. The chorus is carpe diem in its finest, most beautiful form; fear of void and death. I don’t know what significance the kitchen floor has, of course.

The title may be a clue in several different ways. Claudio traditionally uses “going home” as a metaphor for dying, and that certainly fits with the themes in this song (“this void is coming after you.”) In the story, there is a literal homecoming, when Sirius returns to Valencine after his journey. There’s also another mention of “homecoming” in Sentry the Defiant, a song that I think is about more than just Sentry himself, but is also in many ways about Sirius’ imminent return after he was assumed to be dead: “Don’t close the coffin yet, I’m alive, and it’s homecoming.” Those three things taken together, along with the tone of the song, suggests to me that if it had a place in the story, it would be where Dark Side of Me is: part of Sirius’ reflection on Meri’s death. Perhaps Claudio felt that it was redundant to have three songs about that, and wanted to put it on Ascension as sort of a thematic taste of things to come.

Personally, I think this song is much more powerful than Dark Side of Me and Iron Fist. I wouldn’t mind if one of those had been swapped. I’d love the band to play this live at some point, but historically their chances of playing demos is pretty low; Elf Tower was only played on the Neverender SSTB, not even at regular Neverender, while the YOBR demos have still never been played.

The Music: Is this a baritone guitar? It’s the kind of sad acoustic ballad we’re not unfamiliar with as far as Claudio goes, but it’s a lot lower and darker than usual. Claudio also sings lower than usual to match the tone of the song. There’s also a lead guitar, usually pretty subtle with riffs like those at 0:46 and 1:13. There’s a simple solo, perhaps a little weak, but more likely just underdeveloped as it is still in demo stages. Structurally, the song is as simple as it gets. I don't think that's a bad thing.

The Part: The way Claudio’s voice sort of weakly gives in at the last line of the song, “Just don’t kill the messenger.”

We are a living absolute
Stuck in an anguished innocence
This moment loved, I greet the sun
And wake from a war I could've won

Well, in your arms I’ll keep this memory to me
This kitchen floor won’t reveal all the things I've felt for you, oh

Please, level with me
Understand that I’d do anything for you
Seize any moment while you can
This void is coming after you
Because loneliness is why you hurt
Just don’t kill the messenger

The dust a-dance against my breath
The world awakened, slowly dressed
A life unanswered in the light
With questions scattered through the night

And now my heart feels heavy
The weight will drag me down
You were the only reason 
The reason they’d find me here, tonight

Please, level with me
Understand that I'd do anything for you
Seize any moment while you can
This void is coming after you
Because loneliness is why you hurt
Just don't kill the messenger

Next up: Carol Ann