"Dark Side of Me"

Art by Nathan Spoor.

## Music Video

Official Video on YouTube

**"Dark Side of Me"** is a song by the American rock band Coheed and Cambria. It is the eighth track and only single on their 2013 album *The Afterman: Descension*. A demo version of the song was released on *The Afterman: Descension* (Big Beige Demos) album and a live version was available on the *The Afterman: Live* album.

## Lyrics

**[Verse 1]**

In those discouraging days

I always missed the mark

When we were comfort and close

I would neglect to keep...

You safe and unexposed

A portrait of time repeats

This moment now replaced

With an empty wish to give

I give, I gave

**[Chorus]**

I gave my everything

For all the wrong things

In this cold reality I made

This selfish war machine

Oh, this has become hell

How can I share this life with someone else?

I promise you, there is no weight that can bury us

Beneath the ghosts of all my guilt...

Here, in the dark side of me

Here, in the dark side of me

**[Verse 2]**

Now in your absence, I wade

Through the coursing, lonely, lost

And in this tragic dismay

I never could believe what I became

**[Chorus]**

I gave my everything

For all the wrong things

In this cold reality I made

This welcomed war machine

Oh, this has become hell

How can I share this life with someone else?

I promise you, there is no weight that can bury us

Beneath the ghosts of all my guilt...

Here, in the dark side of me

Here, in the dark side of me

Here, in the dark side of me

Here, in the dark side of me

**[Bridge]**

I couldn't give you what you needed

It's all my fault

Too coward to believe I lost it all

**[Chorus]**

I gave my everything

For all the wrong things

In this cold reality I made

This selfish war machine

Oh, this has become hell

How can I share this life with someone else?

I promise you, there is no weight that can bury us

Beneath the ghosts of all my guilt...

Here, in the dark side of me

Here, in the dark side of me

Here, in the dark side of me

Here, in the dark side of me

**[Spoken]**

All Mother: "You fought to withdraw from a location which has incited severe, quantifiable pain, and nearly terminated the mission; nearly terminated your life. Yet, you desire to set a course back to it. I am not equipped to comprehend human rationale. Sirius, Is this what love is?"

Sirius: " ...Yes."

## Music Video

An official music video was released for the single on September 23, 2015. It was directed by Robert "Roboshobo" Schober.

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## Story Context

In the first verse, Sirius is recounting his time with Meri, admitting to himself that he was never the perfect partner. His pursuit of his dream drew him away from her when she needed him the most, and kept him distracted from her during "comfortable and close" times when their shared love should've been kept and not fleeting.

In the chorus, Sirius acknowledges how he devoted vast amounts of time and effort into this ambition but in doing so his relationship suffered. He felt if he could only achieve his dream, he'd make things worth her while, creating a sort of hell for the both of them. Now, as a shell of himself, he is full of only regret and sorrow.

He never thought this is how things would turn out and he's utterly lost. In the story, Sirius also encounters Officer Colton, the man who had recaptured Meri's lost heart and the father of her unborn child, now both gone at his hand. The lines, "And in this tragic dismay / I never could believe what I became," could allude to this encounter.

In the bridge, we get the line, "Too coward to believe I lost it all," which shows how he truly understood when Meri told him she'd moved on when he was declared dead, but just didn't want to accept it.

The spoken outro shows Sirius getting back into a new ship (The Saudade), and bringing All Mother back online. Despite everything he went through in the Keywork that the All Mother recounts, Sirius’s sole purpose has become to reenter it to find Meri and help her transcend into the peaceful stage of the afterlife, the Samaritaine.

## Background

Sanchez said the sentiment for the song was "cut and dry," but very personal. Following "Iron Fist," the song is meant to explore someone actually being apart of your life. "Sharing the good parts about you is elementary, so finding a partner in life can't be only about showcasing these agreeable characteristics, but also the less impressive ones. In a strange way, true intimacy lies in that dark side—in making peace with the fact that it lives inside you somewhere—so that you can share it with the person and they can be there to help you overcome it."

## Trivia

* Eppard played the Keyboard, & John Medeski did the Synthesizers for this track.

## References

1. ↑ Coheed and Cambria. Booklet. *The Afterman: Decension*, Everything Evil Records, 2013.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://genius.com/Coheed-and-cambria-dark-side-of-me-lyrics
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KEkhORyu-0