"A Favor House Atlantic"

Album Art by Bill Scoville.

## Music Video

Official Video on YouTube

**"A Favor House Atlantic"** is a song by the American rock band Coheed and Cambria. It is the tenth track and first single on their 2003 album *In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3*.

## Lyrics

**[Verse 1]**

Your eyes tell the stories of a day you wish you could

Recall the moments that once have

Retract the footsteps that brought us to this favor

I wouldn't ask this of you

**[Interlude]**

Good eye, sniper

Here, I'll shoot, you run

**[Pre-Chorus]**

The words you scribbled on the walls

The loss of friends, you didn't have

I'll call you when the time is right

Are you in or are you out

For them all to know the end of us all?

**[Verse 2]**

Run quick, they're behind us, didn't think we'd ever make it

This close to safety, in one piece

Now you wanna kill me in the act of what could maybe

Save us from sleep and what we are

**[Interlude]**

Good eye, sniper

Now I shoot, you run

**[Pre-Chorus]**

The words you scribbled on the walls

The loss of friends, you didn't have

I'll call you when the time is right

Are you in or are you out

For them all to know the end of us all?

**[Chorus]**

Bye bye, beautiful

Don't bother to write

Disturbed by your words

And they're calling all cars

Face step, let down

Face step... step down

**[Pre-Chorus]**

The words you scribbled on the walls

The loss of friends, you didn't have

I'll call you when the time is right

Are you in or are you out

For them all to know...

**[Chorus]**

Bye bye, beautiful

Don't bother to write

Disturbed by your words

And they're calling all cars

Face step, let down

Face step... step down

Bye bye, beautiful

Don't bother to write

Disturbed by your words

And they're calling all cars

Face step, let down

Face step... step down

## Music Video

An official music video was released for the single on June 8, 2004. It was directed by Christian Winters, who also directed "Devil in Jersey City"'s music video.

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Largely uncredited, there is a second, animated video that, while within the concept, doesn't have anything to do with the song itself. It was directed by Neil Leiar and Dan Picard and is copyrighted by Sony Music in 2004.

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## Story Context

Though this song is title aptly titled with "House Atlantic" and thus would make it obvious that this is depicting the battle that took place there in this chapter, it jumps wildly between perspectives and time (as the majority of the comic does). The first lines support this with them seeming to echo Claudio's words to Apollo. "Your eyes tell the stories of a day you wish you could / Recall the moments that once have / Retract the footsteps that brought us to this favor / I wouldn't ask this of you," with the eyes being Apollo's, allowing Claudio to reminiscent about Newo and the steps he didn't take that brought him to where he is now.

For the interlude ("Good eye, sniper / Now I shoot, you run") is a simple reference to Al the Killer, who is still under his control on the battlefield of House Atlantic. The pre-chorus that follows is also on the field. At this point, Claudio has met up with his uncle, Jesse, and his cousin, Chase (though he is unaware of this connection yet; same with Sizer). "The words you scribbled on the walls" refers to Chase quoting from The Ghansgraad the foretelling of The Crowing, Claudio's role. "The loss of friends you didn't have" refers to how Claudio internalizes these events since he was always a bit of a loner. He's resentful he has to save people he never called friend and mourns them all the same. "I'll call you when the time is right" could also refer to the prophesy of The Crowing as he will only appear "when the time is right"—if and when God's plan for Heaven's Fence is interfered with. "Are you in or are you out / For them all to know the end of us all?" may very well be a line spoken by Jesse to Claudio, though not officially in comics. He basically makes him choose, right then and there, what he wants to do.

The second verse starts with "Run quick, they're behind us, didn't think we'd ever make it / This close to safety, in one piece." These lines probably refer to the moment House Atlantic becomes mobile with Crom as its model. The battle really picks up here, and everyone throws themselves wholly into the battle. "Now you wanna kill me in the act of what could maybe / Save us from sleep and what we are" thus refers to the moment when Al stabs Claudio and almost goes on to kill Chase. But it is this moment when Claudio takes over Al's mind.

The chorus is rather interesting. It starts with "Bye bye, beautiful / Don't bother to write" which probably refers to Claudio's relationship to Newo. Then it follows up with "Disturbed by your words / And they're calling all cars / Face step, let down / Face step, step down" which could very well be the moment that Chase and he walk through the streets of Apity Prime, hand-in-hand, as Chase and he quote The Ghansgraad and essentially tell the soldiers opposed to them, "Get behind us, or get out of our way."

## Trivia

* The title is actually a reference to the first chapter, as Althaddeus Favor (the original Mage of Sector 1) was the original owner and creator of House Atlantic.
* The code name for this track in development was just "Police".
	+ A number of interesting line changes were made: in the pre-chorus, "For them all to know the end of us all" was "For them all to know a victory song," in verse 2, "Now you wanna kill me in the act of what could maybe / Save us from sleep and what we are" was "You wanna kill me; I can sense you're angry / Let's leave as friends and bid farewell," and the interlude that follows was "Nice try, liar" instead of "Good eye, sniper." The last pre-chorus was "The words you brought them up before / The lack of blood, you fall short / Could this be the press of our part ways" instead of "The words you scribbled on the walls / The loss of friends you didn't have / I'll call you when the time is right" followed by "My life's end; place in / The words in my heart as a victory song" instead of "Are you in or are you out / For them all to know..."
* In the official music video, Chondra Echert makes a cameo as one of the girls in the bar; the one that Sanchez attempts to woo.
* The line "Good eye, sniper" was actually spoken by Sanchez's then band manager. The pair was trying to find a store, Sanchez spotted it first while they were still a ways away, and the manager told him, "Good eye, sniper." He liked the phrase so much, he vowed to fit it in his lyrics somewhere.
* A Piano Interlude plays during this track, though the melody is backwards, perhaps suggesting that the next song is a time regression, rather than progression.
* Video Game Soundtrack features include:
	+ *Rock Band* in the DLC pack titled "Bonnaroo Pack 01" on Jun 2, 2009.
	+ *ATV Offroad Fury 3*, released in 2004.
		- Also on it's updated version, *ATV Offroad Fury Blazin' Trails*, released the following year.
	+ *Major League Baseball 2K9* in 2009.

## References

1. ↑ Coheed and Cambria. Booklet. *In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3*, Equal Vision Records, 2003.
2. ↑ https://genius.com/Coheed-and-cambria-a-favor-house-atlantic-lyrics
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRWjLLpwnOM
4. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/artist/1746748-Christian-Winters-2
5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ7nEWNH\_HQ
6. ↑ https://archive.org/details/CoheedAndCambriaIKSSE3DemoCassette/06.+Police.flac
7. ↑ https://rbdb.online/songs/details/301
8. ↑ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6V7tZGXV1m7XId6kyx9dhL
9. ↑ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4KCWZ92bUX6TuiFMeWMqdX?