"Crossing the Frame"

Album Art by Bill Scoville.

### Appears on

*Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV - Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness*

### Mastering

Brian Gardner

**"Crossing the Frame"** is a song by the American rock band Coheed and Cambria. It is the fifth song on their 2005 album *Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV - Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness*. A demo version exists on the *GAIBSIV Demos* cassette.

## Lyrics

**[Verse 1]**

Home... a silence between glares

That stutters words misleading

Here... Give me all you got

With one shot sent to lend me

No... here across the grass.

Between the glass

I know... you're not the one

I left to wait here, helping

**[Pre-Chorus]**

I... I left in a sudden rush and never said why

You... couldn't know that I had no goodbyes

**[Chorus]**

But I wish that you were, I'm spying on you, Newo

The way that you would've been if

I stayed here at home, I'm giving you up, Newo

How important I could've been to you

**[Verse 2]**

Press the steps I take to cross your door frame if

You decide to answer when my fist rings hello

**[Pre-Chorus]**

I... left in a sudden rush and never said why

You... couldn't know that I had no goodbyes

**[Chorus]**

But I wish that you were, I'm spying on you, Newo

The way that you would've been if

I stayed here at home, I'm giving you up, Newo

How important I could've been to you

**[Bridge]**

Casting quarters into wells that hold our dreams

You won't believe me... if I told you so

Casting quarters into wells that hold our dreams

You won't believe me... I wouldn't if you told me so

**[Chorus]**

But I wish that you were, I'm spying on you, Newo

The way that you would've been if

I stayed here at home, I'm giving you up, Newo

How important I could've been to you

## Story Context

In this song, we finally rejoin Claudio. In the previous chapter, he still pined after his ex-girlfriend, Newo Ikkin. He has made piece by the end of the chapter, so this song acts as the manifestation of this resolve. Of course, this is very similar to what's happening to Ryder the Writer and his ex, Erica Court. In verse 1, we start with, "Home, a silence between glares / That stutters words misleading here" describes a broken home; people that glare and can't express themselves. Claudio had a pretty stable home until his world fell apart. This is described in the next lines, "Give me all you got / With one shot sent to lend me." Then, "No, here across the grass / Between the glass" which show us that he's outside Newo's house, in her yard. "I know you're not the one / I left to wait here, helping" is meant to express that he knows it's been a long time, and they've both changed. He also knows it's weird to show up out of nowhere and try to reconnect.

That's what the pre-chorus is about. "I, I left in a sudden rush and never said why / You couldn't know that I had no goodbyes." And by "no goodbyes" he is referring to how she's suppose to think he's dead. You can't say goodbye if you die.

The chorus let's us know why he even came to her house. "But I wish that you were, I'm spying on you, Newo / The way that you would've been if / I stayed here at home, I'm giving it up, Newo / How important I could've been to you." The last two lines could very well have a double reference to not just Claudio and Newo, but Ryder and Erica. If Ryder had given up writing the story, would he have remained in his life?

In verse 2, we get just two lines: "Press the steps I take to cross your door frame if / You decide to answer when my fist swings hello." This doesn't correlate with anything exactly, but this could be an analogy for the conclusion of his visit when he tells Apollo, "I'm Burning Star IV" and his eyes glow. In this chapter, we see that Claudio expels some of his power and blows up a portion of Newo's fence. They manage to hide or leave right as she opens the door to see what happened.

The bridge seems to be a conversation Claudio has with Ambellina and Chase where he feels completely unable to express what's happening to him. He is seeing or feeling what Ryder is doing or feeling, and it is bleeding over onto him (like Ryder stabbing himself with a screwdriver, and that same screwdriver suddenly stabbing Claudio as well).

## Trivia

* Danny Louis played Keyboard.
* The "Frame" in the title may refer to the Willing Well, which is more of door-looking portal than a well.
* According to Sanchez, the simple explanation of this song is: "In Second Stage, the Writer wrote a love interest for the Character [Claudio]. Her name is Newo. And the 'Crossing the Frame' is the parallels between Newo and Erica Court, the Writer's love interest."
* The line "I stayed here at home, I'm giving it up, Newo" was "I stayed here at home, I'll give it no thought, Newo" in development.
* Sanchez has said that if he could remove a song from the album, this song would be it.

## References

1. ↑ Coheed and Cambria. Booklet. *Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV - Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness*, Equal Vision Records, 2005.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://genius.com/Coheed-and-cambria-crossing-the-frame-lyrics
3. ↑ https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2007/10/24/coheed-decoded-coheed-and-cambria-frontman-recaps-his-sci-fi-epic
4. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ikw5z/i\_am\_claudio\_sanchez\_frontman\_of\_coheed\_cambria/cb5h57b/?utm\_source=reddit&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3