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PEACEFIELD
Peacefield opens similarly to Kaisarion, with bright, and for lack of better term, optimistic instrumentation. Unlike the doomier and darker sound of past openers, Peacefield is an incredibly hopeful track, attempting to subvert the somber themes of later tracks.
First thing that stood out to me when looking closer at the lyrics was the allusions to real world history, specifically that of revolution. Revolution is not a new topic to Ghost, being addressed previously in From the Pinnacle to the Pit, but its treatment is far different. In the verses of Peacefield mentions are made to an intentionally vague regime, using both the term ‘Tsar’ and ‘Monarchy’ to illustrate the theme of a liberated regime replacing autocracy. The line ‘we all need something to believe in’ speaks to kind of a new question that came to many in the fall of a long standing regime, the question of what comes next.
In the aftermath of the Russian Empire’s collapse, mentioned in the line ‘a slaughtered Tsar’ there would be a great shift in culture and the lives of many, the erasure of an autocratic empire for a Communist regime. The end of the first verse speaks to the need for a guiding light (get it?) for this new ‘blank slate’ nation, desperate for something to unify them in the aftermath of everything they had known being erased. Russia is one of the most horrific examples of what can happen in the transition between regimes, with the revolution splitting in two to fight for Russia’s destiny. This battle over the revolutionary question cost an estimated 8 million lives, making plain just how potent the revolutionary zeal can be. But despite these existential questions, the revolutionaries are conscious of what they have achieved ‘this is what dreams are made of!’ appeals to the collective consciousness of all they have accomplished. They are in control of their own destiny, and after all they have been through their optimism will not be shaken.
I tried my damnedest to find a meaning for Peacefield beyond the obvious, that it is a place of peace. The best I could find was that Peacefield was the name of the house belonging to American Revolutionary leader John Adams. Adams purchased the property as a place to retire to after the end of the American Revolution until he found his calling as president.
Another interesting thing I noticed in Peacefield is how it slightly maintains a continuity with the end of IMPERA (2022). At the end of the last record the unnamed empire was in its dying breaths, unraveling in the aftermath of radicalization and terror, bringing us to Peacefield. Picking up on the fall of an empire, Peacefield brings us to the perspective of the revolutionaries who brought down that empire. The fall in IMPERA is the ‘Dawn of prosperity’ in Skeletá, giving us a positive reflection of the bittersweet collapse presented in Respite on the Spitalfields, as well as an opening after the previous chapter of Ghost closed. While Skeletá is not narratively driven unlike the other albums, this first track functions as a bridge from that era of Ghost to the introspective goal of Skeletá.
LACHRYMA
Lachryma, meaning ‘tear‘ in Latin, can be interpreted in two ways, simply as vampires and the fear of them, or, more creatively (because it’s never that easy) about Christianity and Papa V’s relationship with it.
VERSE 1
Ripping through every poem
Like a vampire should
And it takes one to know ′em
Like I knew you would
CHORUS
In the middle of the night it feeds
In the middle of the night it eats you
Everybody knows
Everywhere I go
I can never run and I cannot hide
I'm done crying
Over someone like you
I’m done crying
Hope you're feeling it too now
I'm done
Crying, crying
VERSE 2
Now the sweet′s gone sour
Seeping down the cracks
Getting worse by the hour
The vile rot attacks
CHORUS
In the middle of the night it feeds
In the middle of the night it eats you
Everybody knows (everybody knows)
Everywhere I go (everywhere I go)
I can never run and I cannot hide
I′m done crying
Over someone like you
I'm done crying
Hope you′re feeling it too now
I'm done
Crying
Crying
CHORUS (AGAIN)
Everybody knows
Everywhere I go
And I cannot wait until the day
I′m done crying
Over someone like you
I'm done crying
Hope you′re feeling it too now
I'm done crying (crying)
Over someone like you
I'm done crying (crying)
I need somebody new now
I′m done
1st Verse: This (most likely) refers to bible psalms, which are often written as poems, and destroying them as a vampire or simply a demonic creature, and since we listeners are also kind of blaspheming by listening to these ‘satanic’ messages.
Pre-Chorus & Chorus: The pre-chorus seems to suggest either having nightmares due to religious trauma or reliving those kinds of moments at night and knowing you can’t chase them away or run from them.
The chorus itself implies that Papa has spent much time crying over something that has happened, but that he’s gotten over it or is at the very least healing, or that he’s simply trying to repress everything.
2nd Verse: This verse is really contrary to the chorus, showing that everything is, in fact, not okay. It could be referring to previous progress (possibly something like getting a pedophile removed from the church) being drowned out by the continuous flow of evil that doesn’t let any accomplishments stay untainted, instead spreading further, quicker.
Additional notes: The pre-chorus could also be talking about fears of the ‘vile rot’ from the second verse, fearing that corruption could reach him as well, even change him.
This song also cuts out instead of fading like others, maybe meaning that the ‘vile rot’ has reached him, or that the ‘thing’ in the middle of the night has found him.
SATANIZED
Satanized was the first song from Skeletá, being released during a live stream together with its musicvideo. At first, the singer seems terrified of being satanized, but in the end, he learns to accept it, with the music video even showing him turning into Papa V.
VERSE 1
There is something inside me and they don’t know if there is a cure
A demonic possession unlike any before
It's a sickening heartache and it’s slowly tormenting my soul
I've invested my prayers into making me whole
CHORUS
I should have known not to give in
I should have known not to give in
Blasphemy, heresy
Save me from the monster that is eating me
I'm victimized
Blasphemy, heresy
Save me from the bottom of my heart, I know
I′m Satanized, I′m Satanized, I'm Satanized
VERSE 2
An nescitis quoniam membra vestra
Templum est Spiritus Sancti
Qui in vobis est quem habetis a Deo et non estis vestri
Through a life of devotion
I′ve been quelling my urges to burst
I've been fighting the notion, to my love be coerced
CHORUS
I should have known not to give in
I should have known not to give in
Blasphemy, heresy
Save me from the monster that is eating me
I’m paralyzed
Blasphemy, heresy
Save me from the bottom of my heart, I know
I'm Satanized, I′m Satanized, I'm Satanized
BRIDGE
Like a deadly affliction that is twisting and bending my core
I have begged God for the remedy, but I'm no longer sure
CHORUS (YES, AGAIN)
I should have known not to give in
I should have known not to give in
Blasphemy, heresy
Save me from the monster that is eating me
I′m laicized
Blasphemy, heresy
Save me from the bottom of my heart, I know
I’m Satanized
From the bottom of my heart, I know
I'm Satanized
From the bottom of my heart, I know
I'm Satanized, I'm Satanized, I'm Satanized
1st Verse: This might mean that the possession isn’t actually demonic at all, but that Satan Himself might be possessing him, making it unique and irrevocable. The singer also shows just how terrified he is, with his soul being ‘tormented’.
Chorus: He says that he has ‘given in’ to the possession, most likely because he was deceived or assumed whatever he gave into was harmless. The blasphemy, heresy isn’t sung in the voice of the main singer, suggesting that somebody else is saying the words to him, deeming him as purposefully evil even though, in the next lines, he’s begging for salvation, though deep inside, he knows it’s too late.
2nd Verse: This is Corinthians 6:19 in Latin, translating to “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own”, but in here, this isn’t referring to the actual Holy Spirit, but instead Satan’s, suggesting that his body is no longer his own. Because of this, we know that this possession has been going for much longer than he let on, and that he’d been fighting it for a long time.
Bridge: Here, he says that it’s like a disease, but not actually harming him, and showing that he’s slowly accepting it, no longer begging for a ‘cure’.
Although he subconsciously knows that he’s possessed, he still begs for salvation but gives up eventually. He loses his position in the church and comes to fully embrace that he’s Satanized.
GUIDING LIGHTS
The song is a very melancholic track, sounding sad but also hopeful, even though according to the lyrics, there shouldn’t be any hope, having been led on an infinite path to nowhere.
VERSE 1
If I could pause right here
I would open my heart
And tell you with no fear
That the path we have walked led us into the dark
CHORUS
There stood my God before me
Do you know what they said?
That the road that leads to nowhere is long
And that those who seek to go there are lost
The guiding lights, they lead you on
And the road that leads to nowhere is long
VERSE 2
If I could turn around
I would′ve told you the truth
It could've found its way
Through the powers that be
I just want you to see
PRE-CHORUS
There stands our God before us
Can’t you hear them saying
CHORUS
That the road that leads to nowhere is long
And that those who seek to go there are lost
The guiding lights, they lead you on
And the road that leads to nowhere is long
OUTRO
That the road that leads to nowhere is long
That the road that leads to nowhere is long
That the road that leads to nowhere is long
That the road that leads to nowhere is long
1st Verse: At the start, he sounds almost hesitant to tell us the painful truth; our journey has sent us into an unfamiliar, dark place.
Chorus: That this is an endless, meaningless journey, and that those who attempt it are lost to the wandering. The guiding lights could represent false hopes or negative influences, leading you astray and prolonging the way to nowhere at all.
2nd Verse: Like the first verse, he expresses a deep regret to not have told us, even though he thinks that the ‘powers that be’ most likely would have prevented it anyway.
Pre-chorus: Here, it turns into ‘our God’, suggesting a revelation from the listener.
Outro: In the end, we can do nothing but accept that we are stuck on this excursion to nowhere for what is possibly forever, the line ‘That the road that leads to nowhere is long’ haunting us, following us and seeming to continue forever.
DE PROFUNDIS BOREALIS
De Profundis Borealis, meaning “From the Northern Abyss”. A relentless song of the singer trying to uplift the listener. They call them out for holding onto things that will not allow them peace or to grow. They are in a self imposed prison "a palace built of frozen tears" but despite the fact that all resistance seems to have gone, they are ready to burst from this imprisonment. Despite this desperate condition there is reassurance that this prison is not to last. The listener may have unresolved frustrations, failed attempts to make things right and actions that had failed. Hopelessness comes dangerously close as they feel they are heartrendingly close to their salvation, it is within their ability to complete but doing so is hard to fathom.
Interesting in this section is a small introspective line from Forge, making reference to "all the songs that couldn't mend your heart, but slit it up and tore apart". I believe this is in reference to Forge's goal in songwriting and what he said about Skeleta prior to release. Forge wanted the record to be Ghost's most healing record, and I believe this line is in reference to him realizing that there needed to be a shift from the darker themes of previous records to hope in Skeleta.
Another noteworthy aspect is the connection to the Oscar Wilde letter from which De Profundis Borealis takes its name. The letter written by Wilde from prison contains a large segement reflecting on the spiritual journey of imprisonment, not unlike the lyrics of this track. Wilde wrote that he found the secret of life to be suffering, which came in excess in the prison. Wilde's spiritual journey had him no longer despising his unjust imprisonment, but considering it a blessing for the growth it brought him. English philospher Simon Critchley argues that the major theme of De Profundis is self-realisation. Wilde, having lost everything dear to him, does not accuse external forces, justified as this might have been, but rather absorbs his hardships through the artistic process into a spiritual experience.
This most certainly reflects the themes of De Profundis Borealis, although it substitutes the literal prison Wilde found himself in for a metaphorical one. Within the palace of frozen tears the subject is forced to grapple with past wrongs, the things in their life that hurt them, and how to move forward. Only by waiting it out will the morning sun melt this imprison, in other words, when the subject escapes their own darkness and reaches the dawn.
The pre chorus emphasizes that while there is someone buried in the ground, they are still around everywhere the narrator goes. For as long as the narrator is walking the earth, the memory of the loved one is “riding next to [them]”.
Forge stated before the release of Skeletá that Cenotaph is in relation to a monument that may be put in place to remember someone, but does not house a grave. This is reflected in the aforementioned lyrics, where while the person may be buried in the ground, they are truly still with everyone who remembers them.
MISSILIA AMORI
A love letter to cheesy 80s rock containing a narrative of toxic love and lust. The song is a confrontation between a former lover who is becoming filled with hate and taking it out on their partner.
Before we press on we need to address the infamous surface level interpretation of the chorus, the chorus of "love rockets, shot right in between your eyes" can most certainly be interpreted as the speaker making reference to ejaculation onto the face of the subject. Regrettably this is just a surface level meaning of the chorus, but almost certainly intentional. I would not for a second put it past Tobias Forge for making an analogy between ejaculation and the weapons of war.
Missilia Amori creates a blurred line between love and hate, when the speaker expresses emotion the softness of love is contrasted with the violent and militaristic rockets. Forge's singing blends a seductive tone with sharply manipulative lyrics. Beginning with an accusative "so you want out now don't you love?" that reflects bitterness and perhaps frustration, while "was I not all you were dreaming of?" shows a wounded pride. The second verse gives a sense of urgency from the speaker, threatening that the love will turn to outright hate (as if it wasn't already there) if the subject does not act accordingly. Missilia Amori paints a picture of the most toxic form of love, a love that has degraded into obsession and possessiveness to the point where it it recognizable only as hate.
MARKS OF THE EVIIL ONE
Marks of the Evil deals lyrically with subject matter that would not be even slightly out of place on IMPERA. The track chronicles the growing influence of dark forces (alluded to be Satanic in origin) in the current day, with people failing to recognize their growth.
Interesting in the perspective of this track is that it is a concerned watcher shouting to anyone who will listen that this darkness is taking hold. Subject matters like this would not be out of place on albums like Infestissumam though I believe the perspective would be shifted to a deity or a harbinger of this oncoming horde.
Mentions of the horsemen of the apocalypse tie this into the doomsday imagery of past albums, with the armies of “the serpent’s lair” coming onto Earth and surely wreaking havoc. This is blended with the social critique of IMPERA where the people of the world are criticized for failing to realize this coming storm, not seeing it or worse, brushing it off as conspiracy.
"When plowing through the seals / Like there is no tomorrow to be seen / As if the falling sky is nothing but an ancient dream / And when the sun eclipses / It's just abracadabra / Some hocus pocus sham” is quintessential denial of the coming signs. We see such conspiracy narratives pushed surrounding subjects like climate change and even the rise of the right, where those who sound the alarm bells are disregarded.
Steeped in a sense of urgency with the calls of “there! there!” and “watch!” brought home by “there is a f***ing- there!” makes the emotion of this track driven home. It is not often that Ghost features expletives in their tracks, which makes this one, at the fading end of the song, stand out more.
UMBRA
Translating to ‘shadow’, Umbra is quintessential Ghost. Religious imagery combined with erotic lyrics drive this home as a classic. Forge stated that he felt there needed to be a coital track on the record, and it certainly delivers. Papa entices the listener into the shadows and to embrace the darker side of life.
The lyrics contrast the seductive nature of the darkness and ritualistic decor with the holy setting, turning this conflict into a place of love. Amidst the blasphemy of making love in a holy site the narrator tells the listener that he will make them more holy by putting his love in them. This carnal liberation is made all the better by the blasphemy, with the narrator seeming to take pleasure in the contrast between coitus and the purity of the setting.
EXCELSIS
As the last song of the album, this song carries a lot of weight, needing to be both an outro and still stay in your memory as its own song. It’s both sad and encouraging, as if trying to give us hope, even though it is the end.
VERSE 1
It is the end of your penitence
It is the end of your sadness and pain
It’s the return to your innocence
It is the end of a life grieved in vain
CHORUS
Everybody leaves one day
I know it hurts
Everybody goes away
You will too, I will too
Come with me to the rainbow's end
Come with me to the Holy Land
Come with me
You will too, I will too
Excel, excel
VERSE
There is still time for deliverance
There is still time to make peace with your friend
And to return to where there’s a chance
There is still time to love once again
CHORUS
Everybody leaves one day
I know it hurts
Everybody goes away
You will too, I will too
Come with me to the rainbow's end
Come with me to the Holy Land
Come with me
You will too, I will too
Excel, excel
BRIDGE
As levees are breaking, a flood comes
Washes away all the rubble
Past indiscretions and stalemates
We are all sailing to the gates
CHORUS
Everybody leaves one day
I know it hurts
Everybody goes away
You will too, I will too
Come with me to the rainbow's end
Come with me to the Holy Land
Come with me
You will too, I will too
Excel, excel
Excel, excel
OUTRO
This is the end of the avenue
I am afraid of eternity, too
1st Verse: This points to the reader having died/being close to death, and attempts to comfort us, trying to make us not grieve ourselves and our life lost, instead instilling hope for what’s to come.
Chorus: In this chorus, he, again, comforts us about our passing, and acts as our grim reaper, bringing us to the holy land. He tells us that we will ‘excel’, that we’ll transcend above our life and rise to something better. It’s something that everyone has to go through eventually, and we aren’t alone in our worries and fear of the end.
2nd Verse: He pushes our salvation into the close future so that we can say our goodbyes and settle, before going to the new place where we’ll eventually find love again.
Bridge: The metaphorical dam breaks, washing away our guilt with a flood before helping us drift to our next (and last) destination.
Outro: We are reminded that this is the end not only for us, but for him as well, and he confesses that he’s scared of the unknown too, showing that it’s okay and that we’re in this together.
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