"Hearshot Kid Disaster"

Album Art by Bill Scoville.

**"Hearshot Kid Disaster"** is a song by the American rock band Coheed and Cambria. It is the sixth track on their 2002 album *The Second Stage Turbine Blade*.

## Lyrics

**[Verse 1]**

Still searching for your call, today

Sit down, and structure; will you be the engineer?

Still tired and dreaming out against and overboard

When pain kills you'll hate me and wait for, or

Then call me crazy

And pretend I left us discontent and afraid

So what, so I'm crazy *(yeah)*

Then send me justice and I'll have Paris in flames

**[Pre-Chorus]**

Still searching for your faith

In the arm that killed the president

Relapse, waiting here for

Still searching for your face

In the crowd that killed the president

Relapse, waiting here for

**[Chorus]**

I need Mayo! *(I won't fail you now)*

Dear Captain, send the S.O.S

When we're gonna go down

I need Mayo! *(I won't fail you now)*

*(We're going down and you're all fucked up, for sure!)*

Dear Captain, send the S.O.S

When we're gonna go down

**[Verse 2]**

Wound open and squeezing my heart against

This pain inflicts and, in passion, I bleed for it

But with this what they gave me *(yeah)*

This book, and flint and a match to go with it

**[Pre-Chorus]**

Still searching for your face

In the arm that killed the president

Relapse, waiting here for

Still searching for your face

In the crowd that buried New Mexico

I'll be waiting here for

**[Chorus]**

I need Mayo! *(I won't fail you now)*

Dear Captain, send the S.O.S

When we're gonna go down

I need Mayo! *(I won't fail you now)*

*(We're going down and you're all fucked up for sure!)*

Dear Captain, send the S.O.S

When we're gonna go down

**[Bridge]**

*(Have you ever heard the lyrics he sang?)*

In his thoughtful transmission, the words lost sentence remain

*(Sing his song, sing his song loud!)*

Structure, will you be the engineer?

*(Where's your song, or have you lost the key or tone?)*

**[Outro]**

Thank God for your strength *(no)*

Will you hold your breath?

Waiting for me to exhale

In the short life lived

Thank God for your strength *(no)*

Will you hold your breath?

Waiting for me to exhale

In the short life lived?

## Story Context

This song is told primary from Wilhelm Ryan's perspective in Issue 2. The first verse is him pondering the question he began to muse over in the first chapter: if God is real, why doesn't he intervene? He just wants a sign (a call) but he gets nothing, so he will continue to act better than god (telling him to sit down). The "and structure; will you be the engineer?" part is more mockery of God. If he can structure something and prove he is real, Ryan is more than happy to respect him, though he will still destroy him. The second half is more of the same: "Still tired and dreaming out against and overboard" meaning God is sleeping while his people begin to go *against* him and become zealous for Ryan. Even when he destroys them, the people continue to love him. Maybe. ("When pain kills, you'll hate me and wait for or...") You can almost hear Ryan's shrug at the lack of an "or" option. "Then call me crazy / And pretend I left us discontent and afraid" is Ryan flippantly disregarding anyone's opinion to the contrary. He doesn't care if people call him crazy and believe he's the cause of the Fence's problems; he believes that's God's problem anyway. The last lines confirm this as he says, "So what so I'm crazy" and mentions burning Paris to the ground. The Paris mentioned here is actually Paris: Earth, the capital planet of Sector 12. When he has activated the Monstar, his first plan of action is to destroy the entirety of that world. (This of course, is foreshadowing.)

In the pre-chorus, we start with the line "Still searching for your faith / In the arm that killed the president / Relapse, waiting here for." God has faith in his followers, so this first line refers to man. The Fence doesn't have a "president" but the closest thing to that may be the governing Mages. Ryan killed or apprehended them all in the first chapter, but always claimed it to be self-defense. In this thought, Ryan is where the faith of God (the Fence's people) now reside and God is like an addict who has relapsed, as he waits for them to return. In the reprised second lines, we get "face" instead of faith, and "crowd" instead arm. This indicates Ryan switching his attention from the despondent God to remaining Kilgannon child. He is still waiting to capture that one...

In the chorus, Ryan cries out, "I need Mayo!" as he is reminded that he has yet to succeed in that mission. Mayo's response is "I won't fail you now." And the scene turns to the Gloria vel Vessa where the Kilgannon elders, (Coheed, Cambria, & Inferno) are trying to battle Crom. The ship is compromised and thus the line, "Dear Captain, send the S.O.S / When we're gonna go down."

The second verse takes us to Issue 6 where Claudio has landed on Shylos X. The lines "Wound open and squeezing my heart against / This pain inflicts and, in passion, I bleed for it" refers to the Star that tried to escape on the ship he stowed away on only to be killed (the posthumously name Hearshot Kid the song is named for). And then, when he finds safety with some of the other Stars, he is told about the Ghansgraad (book) and the prophecy, but also left to fend for himself (flint and match).

We're not 100% sure where "New Mexico" might be in this universe, but it could refer to Mariah on the desert planet of Dil-Ariuth IX, which is also located in Sector XII. Ryan is also searching for her as she inspires the rebels organizing against him.

In the bridge, the line, "In his thoughtful transmission, the words lost sentence remain" could very well refer to the "riddle" God left The Fence in the Ghansgraad: "If Man should decide to dabble in my affairs, then guardians must intervene. But, should I come forth to change the face of Man with you there to challenge me—then I shall return with the stars to destroy all I have made. Whether Man or I present that danger will not be told in the coming." This *thoughtful* prophecy ends with the consequences "will *not* be told" meaning there is something hidden from the people. This could be the lost sentence.

For the Outro, this is when Ryan decides to call on Crom. "Thank God for your strength" has a bit of a dual meaning: since Ryan views himself as God, he tells Crom to thank *him* for his strength; that Ryan didn't kill him when he could have and instead gave him the opportunity to serve him ("will you hold your breath, waiting for me to exhale"). And the final line, "In the short life lived" refers to this new partnership between them, as Crom only joined him 20 years before, at the end of the first chapter.

## Trivia

* Montana Masback provided additional vocals for this track.
* The "Hearshot Kid" is a Star who tried to escape the camp Claudio is hiding out in, but was killed.
* The chorus is not listed in the booklet for the album.
	+ The lines "Yo I won't fail you know / Dear Captian send the S.O.S. when we're gonna go down" were added to the end of "Junesong Provision" in the booklet instead.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Coheed and Cambria. Booklet. *The Second Stage Turbine Blade*, Equal Vision Records, 2002.
2. ↑ https://genius.com/Coheed-and-cambria-hearshot-kid-disaster-lyrics