drag path lyricism. thoughts?

to start off, i have been listening to top since trench and have essentially labeled them as my favorite band in terms of immersion and lyricism (especially). i think that tyler joseph's solo work with no phun intended has been one of the most inspirational works of art i have found in terms of questioning faith and the push and pull of it, as i grew up in a private christian academy that i was so defiant of. i say this as not to make a means to me being a believer but as someone who had so many doubts about the system and the beliefs that surround it. i still don't know how to feel. honestly, and it can still be pertained to self-titled as well.

i recently delved into the original version of drag path after seeing the official release today. i think that it was an interesting decision releasing a previously "paywalled" song but they left out, in my opinion, the most important verses of the song: the first and the last.

i've kept myself relatively updated on the dema lore since trench, and, while i love it, this post is going to be more forwarded towards the message sent in vessel. i know that vessel has some "references" to dema, but i view anything before blurryface as more of a "spiritual" or more personal take on mental illness and the trials/tribulations that come along with it. with that in mind, i will not be talking about anything lore related.

this song immediately captured me by the first verse: "when i see the devil's eyes, a current travels down my spin. he found me. seems as though i've lost again, a story told ad nauseam. he found me. maybe once or twice or three, he's tried his hand at drowning me. but still i'm on fire. at least, i'm pretty sure."

now they left this out of the official release and i think that it is because it holds so true to the significance and sacredness that the band is trying to keep towards their former albums and messages, which i will get to at the end of this post.

the last verse, which was also left out, ends with: "the sun begins to rise. we made it through the darkest night. you found me"

i think that both of these verses, and the ones in between, relate back to truce and a little bit of trees (which is my favorite top song). the entirety of vessel is based upon one "bad night" that tyler is having. trees is all about looking and feeling for something, whether it be a "higher power" or just anything that pertains to hope, which is my favorite vague call to hope. it ends with truce saying "now the night is coming to an end. the sun will rise and we will try again."

while truce is based on mere hope and survival for the best, i think that the expansion to drag path is based on actually finding and embracing that hope with the lyrics aforementioned. of course intentions is just truce played backwards with different lyrics, and i think that this is intentional with the message that drag path gives and that intentions didn't deliver (not that it's a bad message, but that drag path is much more correlated with the idea of vessel as a whole). it truly feels like a final chapter in the most important book that they started.

i've done my research into these lyrics as much as i could find and couldn't find any correlation between these songs in that sense. i, again, understand that it is an important song and that every record past vessel is ridiculously important in the dema storyline, but i was wondering if anyone else had these same thoughts when digging deep into the actual application and intentions (no p"h"un intended) to these lyrics and the sacredness that they are trying to keep with these songs.