"Delirium Trigger"

Album Art by Bill Scoville.

**"Delirium Trigger"** is a song by the American rock band Coheed and Cambria. It is the fifth track on their 2002 album *The Second Stage Turbine Blade*. A demo version was released in 2000 on the EP of the same name.

## Lyrics

**[Verse 1]**

We're now up here, alone

Terror on the intercom, can someone save us?

Systems malfunction, blast it, this damn machine

Over and out, captain

Something lurks, creeps on the counter top

Somewhere behind you

Parasitic cyst, I can't stand to watch

It's coming up and out of your chest

Remember when we were young?

**[Verse 2]**

Sit up, right on the table

A photograph of earth feeding me a way back

Frightened, I tear alone

Or maybe not the the only one there

"Hello?"... "Hello"

When it rings, will you answer?

There, corner tall short stance, it's you

Come on, kill me

**[Pre-Chorus]**

You made a good friend to me

But while you were outnumbered and torn

You made us do things

**[Chorus]**

Oh dear god, I don't feel alive

When you're cut short of misery

Will you pray it be the end?

Give a look surprise, wide eyed to me

Then you'll know just what I am

The scare that triggers your fear

Come know me in a different light now

Come know me as god

**[Bridge]**

You made a good friend to me

But while you were outnumbered and torn

You made us do things *(to you)*

Run sand, hourglass

In my time, will I be worth?

Spin 'round, carousel

When your horse isn't screwed in

**[Chorus]**

Oh dear god, I don't feel alive

When you're cut short of misery

*(Raise forth lost cause!)*

Will you pray it be the end?

Give a look surprise, wide eyed to me

*(Raise forth lost cause!)*

Then you'll know just what I am

*(Subtle demise, legitimate cry)*

The scare that triggers your fear

Come know me in a different light now

Come know me as god

*(Raise forth lost cause!)*

## Music Video

Though this song came out in 2002 (2000, if you count it's demo released on the EP of the same name) and an official music video was released for it by the band's record company, Equal Vision Records in 2005 as a way to promote the reissue of the 2002 album, *The Second Stage Turbine Blade*. It was directed by the band and features early camcorder footage of the band performing with microscopic images interspersed throughout.

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## Story Context

The majority of this song depicts Issue 4. Coheed and Cambria have been brought aboard the ship *Gloria vel Vessa*. It is here that their memories come back and they know the truth: Hohenberger created them to fight against Ryan, and the virus couldn't have passed to their children and mutated. And they are PISSED. They break free of their containment units and unleash hell on their guards.

But in the first verse, we get the lines, "We're now up here, alone / Terror on the intercom, can someone save us? / Systems malfunction, blast it, this damn machine / Over and out, captain" which indicate that now that the pair has control of the ship and has isolated the ship by knocking out the communications system. Yet the Ryan-loyal crew is trying to repair it to reconnect with the army. The second half of the verse actually goes back to the Kilgannon house where the Onstantine Priest that chased Claudio away has come back. Red Army soldiers have also been posted in the house to apprehend the Kilgannon if he came back. The lines "Parasitic cyst, I can't stand to watch / It's coming up and out of your chest" refers to the Priest creeping around the house, finding the soldiers, and ramming his blade arm into one of their chests. The last line in the verse is "Remember when we were young?" which takes us back to when the Kilgannon parents woke up on the ship—all their memories returned.

The second verse seems to be what happens later on in Issue 8 when Coheed and Cambria are strapped to opposing gurneys and forced to stare into each other's eyes. Back to the present, the line "A photograph of earth feeding me a way back" may refer to their current course: Paris: Earth, the capital planet of Sector XII. The line ""Hello?"... "Hello" / When it rings, will you answer?" may refer to the pair being stranded or the crew being destressed by their presence, or figuratively saying, "When someone calls out to you for help, will you help?"

The pre-chorus begins the introduction of Admiral Vielar Crom to the scene on the stranded ship. In the previous chapter, Crom started off as a good guy, working for Ryan's enemy, Covet Marth as his right-hand man. By the end of that chapter, Marth has been killed, and a captured Crom is tempted to join Ryan. Though he refuses on multiple occasions, by the end of the chapter, it is revealed that for whatever reason, Crom has joined him after all. The line, "You made a good friend to me" may be a reference to Crom having started off on the same side of the battle as Coheed and Cambria. The last of the lines give us something to ponder though. "But while you were outnumbered and torn / You made us do things," could hint at how or why Crom switched sides. Does the "outnumbered and torn" part refer to Crom, who had been chained up, or to KBI who were divided, both of whom never had much numbers to begin with? Regardless, the last line must refer to Crom, as Coheed and Cambria were never really made to do anything they didn't believe in.

The chorus describes how Coheed and Cambria react when they encounter Crom. Crom, who is part machine has a special ability to absorb energy through his suit. Coheed employs his laser arm cannon, but Crom's suit simply absorbs it. Cambria tries to use her psychic energy to attack him, but he can absorb this too. Even Jesse joins them but to no avail. The line, "Come know me as God," is straight from Crom's mouth at this point, as he gloats his victory over them.

The bridge holds a reprisal of the pre-chorus with added lines. These added lines don't seem to be from anyone's perspective specifically, but do give us some insight into how this battle is going. Not well. If you're on a carousel on which the horse you ride isn't screwed in, you're probably not going to stay on for very long, even if it's going pretty slow.

## Trivia

* Nate Kelley is credited on Drums.
* The piano interlude at the end of this song is a recurring piece of music found in other tracks like, "The Hollow", "The Broken", and later in the saga on the tracks "God Send Conspirator", "The Ring in Return", "The Light & the Glass", and "Keeping the Blade".
	+ This sound is meant to convey a change in scene, or to convey a large time gap. In this case, we are switching scenes.
* Lyrics from this song are later reprised on the track "The Willing Well III: Apollo II: The Telling Truth".

## References

1. ↑ Coheed and Cambria. Booklet. *The Second Stage Turbine Blade*, Equal Vision Records, 2002.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://genius.com/Coheed-and-cambria-delirium-trigger-lyrics
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E35z2AlLws4