"Mother Superior"

Album Art by Ken Kelly.

**"Mother Superior"** is a song by the American rock band Coheed and Cambria. It is the sixth song on their 2007 album *Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV - Volume Two: No World For Tomorrow*.

## Lyrics

**[Verse 1]**

Here, sleep at the bottom of Hell

Your time has come to pick the road

You'll walk in this tale

Turned and as a coward, you've learned

Through sickness and health, there's only one

Now go and bite your tongue

**[Pre-Chorus]**

You'll just say the worst of me, with a hope they'll understand

No, they know you're just a boy, so grow up and be a man

Little baby, kicking, you scream and whine

Victims pay the price, eventually—the cost? Let's see... your life

You've got nothing to prove

Stay afraid, young brother

You've got nothing to prove

**[Chorus]**

Your answer is in there, just stare down the barrel

Your sincerest apologies won't write you out of this one

Tonight... you'll find the right

In the pull of the trigger, now bite

Oh young fools, don't cry... anymore

**[Verse 2]**

A fear sleeps inside your stomach... it swells

A torn boy alone, in need of fix

And the pinch that cures the itch

For too long, this little baby has cried on

For tomorrow, we'll sing the words and song

Of a time we're glad is long gone

**[Pre-Chorus]**

You'll just say the worst of me, with a hope they'll understand

No, they know you're just a boy, so grow up and be that man

Little baby, kicking, you scream and whine

Victims pay the price, eventually—the cost? Let's see... your life

You've got nothing to prove

Stay afraid, young brother

You've got nothing to prove

**[Chorus]**

Your answer is in there, just stare down the barrel

Your sincerest apologies won't write you out of this one

Tonight... you'll find the right

In the pull of the trigger, now bite

Oh young fools, don't cry...

**[Bridge]**

Mother Superior, come catch the rabbit, he runs

My, how've you been?

You're frightened of leaving this truly gone-fishing amalgam

Go fetch your gun

**[Chorus]**

Your answer is in there, just stare down the barrel

Your sincerest apologies won't write you out of this one

Tonight... you'll find the right

In the pull of the trigger, now bite

Young fools, don't cry...

**[Outro]**

Not anymore, don't cry, boy

Not anymore, don't cry, boy

Not anymore, don't cry, boy

When you're sick to the stomach

Just pull out the knife, oh no

Don't cry, boy

Not anymore, don't cry, boy

Not anymore, don't cry, boy

When you're sick to the stomach

Just pull out the knife, oh no

## Story Context

**As the official story has not yet been released, anything in this section is speculation, not fact. More so than usual, of course.**

This song is probably the most debated in the community. The prevailing theory is that Claudio is speaking to a figure (nicknamed Mother Superior) who is finally snapping him out of his inaction and embrace his title of The Crowing. Some believe Mother Superior is All Mother, Cambria Kilgannon, or even Josephine Kilgannon. Here is the evidence:

"Hell" doesn't really exist within the universe, but there is an afterlife in the Keywork, which is divided into a hell-like area (The Mono), and a utopia-like area (The Samaritaine). An Entity doesn't *have* to stay in one or the other. If you want to crossover to The Samaritaine, you must accept the good and the bad of your life as it was, without kidding yourself. Once in The Samaritaine, you can cross back and forth between The Samaritaine and The Mono freely, as Evagria did. Therefore, this song most likely starts with the central figure (which most fans assume is Claudio) in the Keywork—The Mono, specifically.

Obviously, "picking the road" refers to the path he must take, which is the path he wants to avoid. He still has the power to choose, though, thus the conundrum. The lines, "Turned and as a coward, you've learned / Through sickness and health, there's only one / Now go and bite your tongue" seems to be saying, "You've learned a lot when you cowardly hid from the world, and you know there's really only on path to take, so shut up and do it."

In the pre-chorus, the character tries to reject this saying, "I know you'll just think the worst of me, but I hope you'll understand..." only to be cut off with an understanding response: "No, you may think you're still just a boy, but you need to grow up and stand tall already. They think you're a boy because you're throwing a temper tantrum, but people are paying the price for that. And it will cost you yours too." But then, curiously, we get the lines, "You've got nothing to prove / Stay afraid, young brother..." Now, "brother" doesn't have to be taken literally, but Claudio was only a younger brother to one person: Josephine.

Then in the chorus, Mother Superior says, "You think your answer is to die, to commit suicide, but no matter how much you apologize for wanting or even going through with it, it won't save you from destiny. There are other ways to spurn to you to action, to trigger you, and you'll find the right one right now if you stop crying like a fool."

Verse 2 sees the figure offer some hope, instead of chastisement. "I know you're scared. You've lost a lot of people you love, and you've done things you regret, and you think that by avoiding your destiny, you'll fix these things. But it won't, and you've avoided it for too long, so let's get this over with, and then celebrate that it's all over."

The bridge has another interesting clue. Here, Mother Superior is addressed, indicating there's a third person, perhaps. The image of a rabbit is invoked, and it is widely believed to represent Claudio. It doesn't say your rabbit, but the rabbit, so it could still be Josephine, but it may also be Cambria due to this context. That is, Josephine telling Cambria to catch Claudio and then the two of them attempt to convince him together to take hold of his destiny. It has to be someone who knows him because of the follow up line, "My, how've you been?" which rules out Sirius and thus All Mother. Then of course, whoever it may be, says I know you're scared to leave the clusterfuck that is this life, but you have to. Pick up your weapon and go fight, as you must."

In the outro, we get the repeating "Not anymore, don't cry, boy." Again, boy generally refers to Claudio. Of course, Sizer is called boy by Jesse and there are some other instances in which a character may be called boy derogatorily, but pretty much every character refers to Claudio as boy in one way or another. Ryan, Jesse, Coheed, Ambellina... everyone has called him boy at least once. That said, it is highly unlikely that Josephine, his sister, would call him boy. With that, it could be conceivable that part of these lyrics are Cambria, and part are Josephine.

## Trivia

* Stevie Blacke provided the string arrangement and played the Violin, Cello, and Viola, while Rami Jaffee helped Sanchez with the Synthesizers and played Piano.
* Sanchez said that on this album, this song would be the one he would choose to showcase his talent and progression.

## References

1. ↑ Coheed and Cambria. Booklet. *Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV - Volume Two: No World For Tomorrow*, Equal Vision Records, 2007.
2. ↑ https://genius.com/Coheed-and-cambria-mother-superior-lyrics
3. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ikw5z/i\_am\_claudio\_sanchez\_frontman\_of\_coheed\_cambria/cb5h9qi/?utm\_source=reddit&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3