"Ladders of Supremacy"

Album Art by Chase Stone.

## Music Video

Official Video on YouTube

**"Ladders of Supremacy"** is a song by the American rock band Coheed and Cambria. It is the eleventh song and sixth single on their 2022 album *Vaxis - Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind*.

## Lyrics

**[Verse 1]**

Oh, we've only got one chance at this

The severity unmerciful as the tension sits

As the world comes into view

Our biggest fears they seem to all come true

**[Pre-Chorus]**

So, how we gonna handle this?

When the punch lands, boy, it's all about how you fall

Go on, swallow your defeat

Stay!

**[Chorus]**

Down, boy! See ya got clowned boy

You got heart, but sorry, just ain't meant to be

Another one down the Ladders of Supremacy

**[Verse 2]**

The time has come for us, accept all you've become

All your chances burn to ash, thе end's begun

Herе we watch as time moves on, away from all the things we could've done

**[Pre-Chorus]**

So, how we gonna handle this?

When the punch lands, boy, it's all about how you fall

Go on, swallow your defeat

Stay!

**[Chorus]**

Down, boy! See ya got clowned boy

You got heart, but sorry, just ain't meant to be

Another one down the Ladders of Supremacy

**[Bridge]**

Evil is as evil do

All you want, they took... from you

So, that's how it goes

Cause who you are

Take a look

You knew, you never had a chance

You need a chance to be loved

**[Verse 3]**

No matter how hard you want to play

You'll always have one foot in the grave

You just wanna live, but you were born to lose *(to lose)*

Now get up from the gravel

And dust off your shoulders

Because, now it's your chance to prove

**[Outro]**

Climbing up the Ladders of their Supremacy

Was it everything you had dreamed?

Did you make your mark, or did you let them stand between?

Between you and everything

## Music Video

On June 15, 2023, Coheed released a joint post with Crunchyroll teasing the music video for the song. It was fully released in an article on the site a few hours prior to being released on Coheed's YouTube channel on June 20. The video features manipulated artwork by Chase Stone that was included in the novella, as well as original models of the major characters, and it was directed by Darin Vartanian, AKA Pixelface. The video is steeped in the world of Vaxis; featuring sci-fi space ships, aliens, hover crafts, and the like.

File:File:Coheed and Cambria - Ladders of Supremacy (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

## Story Context

This is basically the Five Houses of Star Supremacy's theme song. Contrary to the suggestion that the last song provided, this is not depicting a showdown between our main pair and HOSS. This is simply HOSS showing off: what they think, how they feel about all others, and what they'll do to those that get in their way.

That said, the first verse is actually the Five Heads talking to each other. Their "one chance" is the experiment between Windows and Quintillian Speakers to revive their bodies, and ultimately allow them to live forever as dying is their ultimate nightmare.

The pre-chorus and chorus is an illustration of what they do to those trying to rise to their level; they attempt to briefly reason (You thought you could make it here?), but ultimately knock them down and tell them to stay like the dogs they are. They watch as they fall back down from their high place.

In the second verse we get how HOSS feels about all the others who *don't* oppose them: they are Nothings, so they should accept this and not fight against their superiors. Just sit back and let things happen.

The bridge however, takes us to a hero. Is it one of our parents? Is it Vaxis himself? Is it Sirius? The answer to this could be all three, really, but this is depicting *someone* standing up to them. Verse 3 seems to show us that this figure (or figures) hasn't given up yet. They've been knocked down and ridiculed by HOSS, but they *keep getting back up*. The outro tells us that their conclusion isn't yet certain: we get a lot of questions, and no answers. We shall have to wait and see...

## Background

This was originally going to be the opener for *Vaxis 1*, but Sanchez didn't think the lyrics were up to par yet. After George Floyd's death sparked national outrage, Sanchez was moved to consider a perspective he hadn't explored before. Being that the characters are in the "lion's den" and everything is chaos and fear, the song made sense here.

## Trivia

* The line "Evil is as evil do" is a from the song "Bad Man".
* This track was one of the few tracks that were written during *Vaxis I*'s release.
	+ It was also originally considered for *Vaxis I*, but Sanchez ultimately felt didn't make sense for it, pushing it to *Vaxis II*.

## References

1. ↑ https://genius.com/Coheed-and-cambria-ladders-of-supremacy-lyrics
2. ↑ Coheed and Cambria. Booklet. *Vaxis - Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind*, Roadrunner Records, 2022.
3. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CthHAweMScg/?hl=en
4. ↑ https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/features/2023/6/20/coheed-cambria-ladders-of-supremacy-music-video-top-10-anime
5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3FQwZb8ghg
6. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/TheFence/comments/vklxyl/claudios\_trackbytrack\_descriptions\_from\_allmusic/
7. ↑ Epstein, Dan. "Coheed and Cambria." Revolver (Issue 159), Spring 2022, pp. 58-66.
8. ↑ Hickie, James. "Interview with Claudio Sanchez" AltPress (Issue #406.1; May 2022), 16 May 2022, pp. 60-67.