Benediction - Dark Matter Will Flow

Benediction is the second song from Dark Matter Will Flow's 2022 EP "Ender", available on Bandcamp: https://darkmatterwillflow.bandcamp.c...

Jeff Vicario: music, lyrics, arrangement, guitars, drums, vocals & synths
Joey Wilkie: music, lyrics, vocals, Total Korg Mayhem

Rachel Fey: Ender EP artwork

This version was ever so slightly remixed in July 2024.

Benediction was written in 2021 as a companion piece to Malediction. I think the initial idea was to create something lighter to offset the utter darkness of Malediction but if anything, this song is even bleaker. It went through several rewrites and originally the verses were to be sung by either Jeremiah or myself, but the song only snapped into focus when Joey became the lead vocalist.

Lyrics:

I pictured you drowning
I saw you swept by the tide
I was promised it was the last time
One too many times I know that you lied
But somewhere deep down inside
I thought there was hope
I extended a rope
As you thrashed wildly

You swear to God?
You swear to me!
Your actions have consequences
It's getting harder to breathe
I'm looking everywhere for a shred of truth
I lost you under a wave
You bob and you shake
Knees weak like I'm lost in a quake
With so much left at stake
I don't know whether to pull you out
Or keep your head under

The phantom of your
Existential struggle
Rears its ugly head
It stares you down
Into oblivion
Conveying benediction

So you drift away
That's just where I'm at
I'm left with no paddle on the River Styx
I was dumb to believe you
I fell for your tricks
But I can't let you drown me
As you keep flailing wildly
I know you were condemned
By the system and by society
You crucified sobriety
The shaking keeps happening

Now you're coughing violently
I reach out my hand and let you go
Mutter a final good bye
Make peace with the fact
That we tried
Dragged out too far with the sea
It won't happen anymore
Swear to yourself
Swear to me
Swear to God

The phantom of your
Existential struggle
Rears its ugly head
It stares you down
Into oblivion
Conveying benediction