@randomnpc7773

1 year ago

My thoughts and feelings about the meanings behind this album: The theming of the first two albums doesn't continue one to one into the second two, notably because of the large gap in between times they were released. Notos and Eurus were realesed in 2017 and 2018 respectively, and feel like a continuation of one another. Boreas and Zephyrus were released later in 2020, during covid, which greatly effects the mood of the album. As such, I believe that when talking about the theming of the album it is important to separate the frst half from the second half, as they have themes that are different enough it's worth talking about seperately. I am of the opinion that the theme of the first half of this album is a dismantling of Christian beliefs and questioning why they are the way they are. The Oh Hellos themselves have stated that they wrote the first half at a time when their own Christian views and beliefs have been increasingly used as justification for great atrocities, and that the album is a dismantling of that. Going through step by step, I feel it is very easy to read the album in this light. Some of the songs don't line up 1 to 1, because it's an album and has a general theme instead of a concise storyline. I think the first EP, Notos, is about dismantling the old systems, using a great storm to justify rapid and violent change. Starting from On the Mountain Tall, which is about how people use Christianity to justify violence, and ultimately beliefs grounded in anger, and a quieter, softer interpretation of god. "Whisper to me we words in a voice so small, like the one that to Elijah called," refers to God's voice being quiet small and soft. Meanwhile, while describing people who's faith is tied to anger and fury they write "He was not within them." There is also an interesting couple of lines in here about the duality of Christianity and how it both wants you to love God and fear God. I think Torches is one of the easiest to interpret with this thought, specifically being how hate and prejudice are passed down from generation to generation, likening it to passing down torches and the spinning of wheels. Wheels come up an awful lot throughout the album, and are a very important motif about cycles and the passage of time and repeating of patterns. Constellations is about drawing meaning from nothing, "clinging to the faces and shapes in the silence" referencing how constellations are ultimately just patterns drawn by people, instead of having some greater meaning. The last stanza of the song is extra interesting, as it describes a shift in constellations and a change in beliefs, harkening back to the theme of the album. Notos is very interesting, as it describes a great storm, which may be a metaphor for a sudden change. However, the song uses "I" to describe the storm, that they are the change that is coming, their voice a great storm that is shifting belief, and an incredible anger and fury as they dismantle the old world. Ultimately, the song ends repeating "you gotta let go" while fading out. New River is about change, specifically that change will always come and that you have to except change, even if it can be scary. Again, this relates back to the theme of the first EP, a destruction of old systems in a great storm that wipes away the old. This song states that change WILL come, and the only thing you can do is change with it or drown in the new river. If the first EP is about recognizing that there is a problem and asking for rapid change, I think the second EP, Eurus, is about trying to understand the problem, and recognizing what needs to change. O Sleeper is about after recognizing that something needs to change, "waking up," and starting completely over. Turning the tables in the temples on their side, burning the pillars of the old world, cutting away the mountains and filling the dales below. Grow is about accepting the natural world as holy, and embracing nature. This is a reoccurring theme as well, nature being inherently holy shows up many more times in this album. Simply put, Eurus is about capitalism. It likens the grind of work and importance of wealth to Sisyphus's boulder, an impossible task. The gods in this song represent the wealthy, and how they exploit the underclass, and the wheel of Fortuna is essentially gambling if your born rich. It also has lines about how people hurt and exploit each other for money. Hieroglyphs is the burning of the wheel established in torches. It's about the beauty and faith in the natural world, and how the world is "both sacred and dust," and how it will destroy the old systems. Passerine is about how Christianity is used both to justify joy and hatred. Passerines are a classification of bird that notably includes both songbirds and birds of prey, and the song is about how because so many Christians are so hateful it has made it harder to connect with and believe in god, as well as the guilt that comes with denouncing other people who should share your beliefs. The birds looking like centurions instead of messiahs is the most obvious example, but also pruning feathers could be a metaphor for deciding what to believe in, and the chorus is about how the guilt has made it harder to connect with religion. When he comes knocking at my door refers to god (in general "he" without a specific person will always be god) and how they won't know how to reconcile these conflicting truths. Update: Alright, second half leggo. So, the first thing that strikes me with the second half of the album is just how much sadder it is. It's traded the storms of notos and eurus for a much softer melancholy. It opens with "a kindling, of sorts" which doesn't have much lyrical symbolism but is a wonderful tone setter. Cold is about slowly becoming separated from emotions and more melancholic. About how you don't even notice as you get sadder, and how it eats up and silences the happy things in your life. Also, some good classic oh hellos beating on capitalism. The final stanza is a strengthening of resolve. Finding the will to do something, anything, instead of doing nothing. Lapis Lazuli is about how hard it can be to accept change, and specifically about challenging world views and growing out of harmful ones. It's also about how, even though it sucks, there is beauty in change and the ability to challenge worldviews gives you the ability to "see the blue." Rose is probably my favorite song in the entire album. The first thing I notice is about shrouding of language and how words are used to alter meaning. Then it talks about the hypocrisy of religion, pots and kettles. And than the third thing that jumps out at me is about accepting the pain of love (platonic and otherwise) and yet still seeking it. Understanding that even though it hurts sometimes, and even though you have to be venerable, it still has value. Boreas is a very emotionally resonant song for me. For a bit of context, I have been diagnosed with depression, and this song reads aggresively as a depressive episode. About the monotony of simple tasks, about no longer keeping tidy, about wanting to do something, anything else. The second half of this song is about wanting to leave something behind after you pass, about wanting your life to have value and meaning. Glowing is about rebirth, and finding new meanings. About how things that once had value become paper-thin overtime and overcoming them. It talks about how the old systems have refused to take responsability for their negative aspects and for the harm that they've caused. So, that's all of boreas. A little sad, a little depressing, but hopeful. The album is desperate for a break from monotony, for something to be different, for it's overwhelming melancholy to leave. And than, when suddenly you find the strenth to continue, it feels like rebirth from some kind of dying. Zephyrus is the ending of the cycle, the last of the four winds. It's about questioning if the entire cycle meant anything. Rio Grande is very political, very first thing that I notice is the comparison it draws between immigrants crossing the Rio Grande and Moses as a baby in a basket on the Nile. It's about budging just a little bit, and becoming a little bit more accepting of the world. Theseus is about fixing the broken stuff. Things break, rot and decay, grow old and die, and Theseus is about finding value in patching up the broken parts. Things change, and there's beauty in that. Zephyrus is about wanting to find meaning. Ultimately, I think it comes to the conclusion that things matter because they *are*. We are breathing, we are matter, and it matters. Even though it's not the saddest song in the album, Soap is the one that makes me cry the hardest. When I was younger, I struggled hard with suicidal ideation. I thought I had no value, that the world had no value. I no longer feel that way, mainly because of a lot of soul searching and therapy. Soap came out when my mental health was at its worst. This song was the song I listened to when I didn't have the strength to go on. Soap tells us that we are good enough, we have value, our sums and our pieces are enough, and we are worth holding on to. It's the little bit of reassurance that you need to hear sometimes. That even tho the world hurts, it's worth holding on to. It's the conclusion of everything, the meaning the entire album has been searching for. Rounds is the final song in the album, the final peice of the cycle. The cycle continues. It will keep going on until everything ends, there will be ups and downs, but it will keep going. And so, like the four season, the album is a cycle, it loops back to the beginning. So, what does it all mean together? Ultimately, the four winds is about accepting change, challenging the systems we currently live in, and finding meaning in the world. TLDR: you too can be a cottagecore lesbian.

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