ok u sold me on the “rain is about ii” idea i fucking Love It
im curious if u have any lore thoughts for shelter?? idea popped in my brain last night that its from iis perspective about vessel… my only logic being they both mention rain…
AAAAAAAAAA /positive. okay i have to pop an ibuprofen and lock in for this
My Original interpretation for Shelter was that it was addressed to Sleep, actually! Though, now that i think about it, the song being about II and Vessel's general dynamic makes just as much if not a lot more sense to me.
As for my General Thoughts™ on it ... hm
"When it rains, you don't take shelter, you don't take signs from God."
This is... interesting to me.
Now, if you weren't aware already, through my subscription to the theory that Two (as in the EP) is from II's perspective, that also leads me to believe that he deals with a lot of his internal struggles regarding how he views himself (i.e. "my hands are not worthy," "they won't be missing you," the works,) and the following singles (TWTYW and Jaws) are created driven by Vessel's insistence in spite of them, wanting to be able to see those wounds and love him regardless. Vessel, in his own way, wants to shelter II, and II has mixed feelings regarding that determination. This is the basis of their newfound relationship, and while I do assume it changes later down the line, I wouldn't doubt it still applies here since we're still so early on in the discography.
II himself is the rain, but he doesn't view that in a positive light. He views himself as the severe, hurtling thunderstorm coming forth to herald imminent destruction. The raging thunder that inspires fear in the meek. The flashing lightning that could kill in an instant. The exact kind of weather that serves as a disruption at best, and a calamity at worst. "If I am to let you in, or if you are to do the same, it won't end well for either of us." But Vessel, rather than running for shelter, stands still in the rushing winds-- walks toward the dark clouds above, even, even at risk of being struck.
Because, if it makes any sense, Vessel doesn't only view II as the storm. He views him as the showers in the spring that fertilizes the earth and gives life to everything beautiful, the calm white noise of the droplets hitting against the windows and the ground, the gloomy days where the earth seems to rest and encourages her children to do the same. And also, you know his gay nerd ass would probably throw something about his mythology knowledge in there. How the Greeks saw the rain clouds in the sky and thought that surely, this must be the king of kings, the father of gods and men.
Maybe that's why he doesn't feel so inclined to hide; he acknowledges the potential danger, but it's not all that he sees.
I think their admiration and want to protect each other is a mutual thing, and that's what becomes most evident in this song.
"And when you can't swallow your demons, you become starving."
This line and all the lines relating to it in later verses have... never made complete sense to me. I'm putting it here to try and make sense of it now.
Obviously, "demons" could be referring to negative aspects of oneself-- negative traits, thoughts, struggles, etc. It's failing to swallow them and therefore becoming starving that's never really clicked with me.
It's possible that Vessel has very little to identify with other than his demons. They're upsetting, but a very firm part of what he is. If he were to fail to take this in stride and consume them, then there would be very little of him left over. That, or the less extreme alternative is that he will fail to write anything, since most of the songs on the discography are about his own experiences, which would obviously lead to writers block and therefore frustration.
"And as you become part of my waking rituals, I can tell -- you gather up all of my demons, you become starving. Darling, I'm noticing my flaws, and I'm matching them with yours..."
Obvious reference to Vessel trying to inspect II like a bug under a microscope in Jaws and TWTYW. I feel like Vessel realizing how much he cares for II and how much he wants to know every piece of him is part of his own self-actualization outside of being a vessel for Sleep; here's a friendly reminder that in my version of these events, Vessel begins as nothing. A blank slate. Learning that he's even capable of desiring things like this is one of his first steps towards becoming a real person again, and II is to thank for that being possible. It's II and the rest of his bandmates that eventually indirectly teach him how to be human again, and it's in part thanks to all of them but ESPECIALLY II that he becomes the version of himself we know today. Of fucking course he's gonna write about it.
As for the latter few lyrics, I believe they just refer to Vessel and II being mirrors of each other in their own ways, since Vessel has some similar problems.
"And no matter the cost of rain, I will shelter you all the same."
II has cared for Vessel to begin with-- but this is him saying that he is willing to push past all the horrible things he sees in himself for the connection the two of them have, because he sees it as something he himself desires to the point of it being worth the risk to him. This is II reciprocating Vessel's protective feelings of him. This entire song feels like a response or an inverse version of what Jaws and TWTYW were.
"And now and then I notice you laughing, laughing at perfect death. Then you change, suddenly hollow, you become starving. Darling, we must have met before. Though, I could not say for sure if we knew what we were in for."
I feel like there's nothing left to be explained here, as the final verse can probably be inferred through what I explained about Vessel's entire situation with essentially being reborn, living in isolation, and forgetting what being a person is like. However. I would like to point out that the "Darling, we must have met before" kind of feeds into Teeth of God prologue theory a bit (specifically my version where every numeral has a parallel version of themselves in the comic which I also believe in purely on the basis of it being Fun and literally nothing else.) Could just be the regular flavor of deja vu, though.
but yeahhhhh thank u for asking me things people never do that so i am honored to get to talk about my thoughts yayyyy yay ^^ watch out for the holidays by the way. yes you specifically. im gonna Get You (with presents 🎄)
