Saetia – Tendrils
Released January 3, 2025
https://saetianyc.bandcamp.com/track/tendrils
A lot to answer for
A lot of answers tied to right now, a lot can settle a score
Answers tied to right now
The bridge between a cycle we want to end
And a cycle just beginning
I know – I can be a guide, I can be a light
When glass breaks the cracks take over
The story of a whole is buried in these tendrils
In these tendrils
That snake across the surface
Here and everywhere
If we grabbed that story
The cut’s a blemish
A distraction from a path is really all we need
One step past good taste
Two steps in reverse
Three steps in this case
Four steps break this curse
So breathe in this beginning
Beginning an overdue end
Every end another chance
To change the story at hand
You don’t need to point it out
I’ve become you despite a better effort
I’ve become a worse version of myself
All the answers with none of the charm
All of the heat and flash we left in the past
Consuming each breath
A wish tossed out without thought
Everything she told me above the flowers she left behind
Those words wrung out
All the answers none of the charm
The setting is bi-dimensional, as it refers to two distinct moments in time. The ‘then’, and the ‘right now’. Then would be the ‘cycle we want to end’ and the right now would be the ‘cycle just beginning’. The image of ‘the bridge’ suggests the parties involved may still be in a transition phase of getting from Point A to Point B, and the narrator offers help navigating through the process.
The trajectory of the transition is described as complex and possibly headed towards negativity, through reliance on images such as cracked glass, being buried under tendrils, a snake, and a cut. Even the suggestion that help may be needed to get to a destination implies that the journey should be expected to be complicated, rather than simple. The glass is not pristine anymore, and has begun to weaken, as cracks spread over. The tendrils burying something also indicate that a lot of time has passed, as tendrils do not grow to cover a surface overnight. If it was wished that the tendrils should cover a surface, the idea would express the achievement of a goal. However, if it was not so, the image would point towards a lack of maintenance and care. Looking at the cover published on Seatia’s Bandcamp page for the single, one can see two people embracing under a whole lot of nature. While it does not indicate whether or not it is a good thing that tendrils are so overgrown, it does reinforce the idea of the subject of the song involving relationships and illustrates the metaphor. The snake is usually associated to bettrayal and an evil force, going back as far as the book of Genesis when the image of the snake was attributed to Satan. Its presence here adds an element of danger lurking, perhaps overseeing the transition that is happening. Qualifying the cut as ‘a blemish’ also allows the inference that a negative connotation can be derived from the situation by drawing upon a deformed quality. All of these elements combined to determine the manner in which the current events are taking place may be a hint of apprehension from the actors, as suggested by the phrase ‘the story of a whole is buried in these tendrils’. The constitution of a whole would combine the beginning, the end, as well as the transition in between. It is interesting to note that this indication only applies to the tendrils, and not necessarily to the cracked glass. Therefore, the narrator, through this statement, appears to be taking a step back to consider their situation and express the impression derived from the reflection.
The situation is not completely hopeless, however, as a solution may lie in a change of path. The directions for such a path would be to head towards passing ‘good taste’, take a few steps back, and they should be free from the cycle of doom repeating itself. What lays at the end of that path would be a chance to end things in a more favorable manner. An opportunity to achieve different results from the last time these grounds have been thread. By extending an open hand, the narrator is inviting others to engage on the proposed path so they may begin ‘an overdue end’.
After the project has been explained and proposed, the tone changes from a description of the situation to an introspection. The change is visually hinted at in the lyrics from the band’s page, as the next lines are separate from the rest of the body of lyrics for the song. Similar to a message or a commentary track, the result of the introspection constitutes a form of admission that, despite their best effort, they have failed to become a better person. They are not doing any better. In fact, superiority or condescendence is established when they say ‘I’ve become you despite a better effort / I’ve become a worse version of myself’. Playing devil’s advocate in order to tune out this condescendence, perhaps the author is alluding to an idea that, back when the parties involved parted ways, they expressed dislike for the way each other were, and they are now admitting that, looking back, they are not any different. This might even have been the ‘wish tossed out without thought’. Similar to the way in which an angry person would say things and regret them instantly. In combination with the rest of the song, this message gives the impression that the two parties have been away from each other for a prolonged period of time, as the end is ‘overdue’. Like the meeting of old friends who had left each other on dubious terms. The quality of these terms are supported by the ‘heat and flash we left in the past’. Negativity lies in the way in which they were ‘consuming each breath’. Something has been festering. Heat is an element often associated with arguments, as in the expression a heated argument used to describe a bad jout. Flash, for its part, is an element that is sometimes associated with angeri. Moreover, the terms in which the group parted were not the result of a mere dispute. The idea that they were cursed almost implies that a superior force was at play, causing their ultimate demise.
Using a musical analogy, a band may have broken up after an argument between its members and, as time went by, perhaps regrets were developed. A so-called maturity may have spawned the idea of unexplored potential, causing one of the members to reach out and extend an open hand. To pursue this analogy a little further, receiving flowers may be associated with acclaim. With the line ‘everything she told me above the flowers she left behind’ would refer to unreceived acclaim and support the idea of unrealized potential. The flowers were left behind as though they belong to the past or they were not acknowledged and remained in the past while everyone moved on, creating and unresolved issue or an incomplete cycle. A loose end.
Attempting to solve this puzzle under the perspective of the sense derived from the last section of the lyrics, one may look at the very beginning of the song, at the mention of having ‘a lot to answer for’. This adds an element of pressure or burden resting on some shoulders. A pressure to explain. To either hold someone, a group of people, or one’s own self accountable. These things to answer for may have been generated over an extended period of time, just as it may suggest the problem at hand is a complex one that cannot be summarized in only a few words. The task that presents itself is to resolve an issue, or ‘settle a score’. In the context of the internal dynamics of a band, it may mean that the members are looking to make amends to start with a clean slate. Differentiating between the ‘cycle we want to end’ and the ‘cycle just beginning’ would state that they are trying not to replicate the past. Focusing on their old wound would equal to missing out on an opportunity to make things right.
The one phrase that appears to be harder to fit in the puzzle would be ‘all the answers none of the charm’. As the beginning of the song expresses the intent to answer to a lot, this phrase should be closely tied to the idea of purpose. The first three words of the phrase may imply that all of the pending issues have been addressed. The last four words would indicate the manner in which it was done. In this perspective, the author could be stating that resolving issues is not always pretty. It is possible that it could refer to the theme of accountability and the notion of blame. The implication being that people do not come out of this process unscathed and that all the parties involved have to share the burden.
The musical analogy is not the only perspective under which one may look at the lyrics for interpretation. It could be broadened to something less specific, like relationships, in general, for example. It seemed fitting that one should look at them under this scope after it has been 26 years since their last release. This generous offering, if any indication of the process involved in its creation, would be received as a good omen of the three song EP that is to come.
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