#jericho sleep token

Okay, so. I'd like to preface this by saying I've never been a drug addict, but unfortunately I grew up with addict parents and have been on the recieving side of abuse. So yes, my vision here might be a tad skewed, and obviously you are free to disagree with me (general you, not just OP lol).

But I do think Nazareth is about drug usage, specifically heroin, and the abuse (to yourself and the people you love) that comes with it. ("Let's show her what a hollow point does to a naked body, let's fuck her up.") And I know a hollow point is also a type of bullet, that's not lost on me! I'll talk about that farther down.

I saw it mentioned briefly in the reddit somewhere, and I hated it at first. I hated the theory that it was heroin/abuse due to my own triggers. But listening to it closer, watching the lyrics roll across the screen, I think Vessel might be talking about killing a part of himself he no longer wants around. I know it says

"Let's load the gun

Make her eat the tape in the bathroom mirror

See if she can guess what

A hollow point does to a naked body

Let's fuck her up"

So he's referring to someone else. Maybe he's referring to Sleep/Eden, whichever you prefer. I think he's showing Sleep/Eden the destruction he has caused to himself, trying to show her that there is no coming back from who he is, or what he's done. Be it drug usage or wrath, seeing as wrath is mentioned quite a few times throughout the song. ("I'll see you when the wrath comes.")

Now let's talk about the hollow point. Hollow point needle or a bullet? How about both?

I think Nazareth is about showing Sleep/Eden what/who he is, and how he does not like that part of himself. I think he's trying to show Sleep that he thinks he can't change, and that Sleep is fighting against that. She wants more for him. I think, in the end, when Vessel is singing "Let's load the gun, I won't be missing you," He is no longer talking about Sleep/Eden, but himself. I think he's talking about killing a part of himself and that he won't miss that part.

Because if we go listen to Jericho, it feels like the aftermath.

"Tread ancient water salt,

Like I sink down like precious stones"

I think he's talking about finally sinking into Sleep and her religion, what she has to offer. Finally giving himself over to something new.

"You taste like new flesh." as a reference for why I think the above.

"Something in the way you lay, enough to make the dead switch graves."

I think the above lyrics talk about how Sleep was enough to make him switch. To make him want to be better. To be clear, I think Vessel always had that want/desire to be better, because in my own experience, someone cannot be helped unless they want it. And I think that's why Sleep stuck with him, even through Nazareth, and before, during Calcutta. She knew he wanted to be better. And she didn't want to give up on him.

We see Sleep leave, in Jericho.

"You take your leave,

you taste like new flesh (x3)

Say my name again (x2)

My hands are not worthy."

Vessel still struggles with the idea that he deserves to be saved, here, but, I think he also knows that if he wants to see Sleep again, he has to continue his path of recovery and start healing, and he does this by saying

"Til I wake, I dine on old encounters)

And I'm assuming he means old encounters with Sleep. His memories of Sleep and their previous encounters are enough to keep him going until he can see her again.