"Neverender"

Album Art by Bill Scoville.

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

## Lyrics

**[Verse 1]**

When you've gone about things all wrong

Bury them here, with the lifetime you would never regret

In savoring sleep

What do you mean I "toss and turn everywhere"?

I'll miss you when you're gone

In pretending that you meant the world to me

With that, you'd call me a liar

And in the making mistake, you'll rest incomplete

**[Pre-Chorus]**

*(I'll be home)* In graver mistakes, dear Mom and Dad

I write you in this letter that states: *(I'll be moving on)*

When the new day's begun *(New day's begun)*

Forget your son, when he's out on his own

**[Verse 2]**

When the hand reads 7:30

And your night begins to sink in the short, but faster fall

In the anxious but calm retort

To mirror that frames your face, barring the finest swell

When the day begins to break

Like the tears that run across your cheek

Stand straight and imagine you then

In the things and the way they could have been

When the thoughts, they race across your chin

Here, in the Neverend

**[Pre-Chorus]**

*(I'll be home)* In graver mistakes, dear Mom and Dad

I write you in this letter that states *(I'll be moving on)*

Scratched through the wall:

When the new day's begun *(New day's begun)*

Forget your son, when he's out on his own

**[Chorus]**

Point your gun in another direction

Now that you've cried yourself to sleep

Point your gun in another direction

Now that you've cried yourself to sleep

Here, in there, after the fire

**[Bridge]**

*(Before the long walk home)*

When the days found figuring, will he be home again?

*(Signal loss and stereo)*

With wide open windows, will she be waiting for?

*(The sounds that surround the overpass)*

With severed arm placement when the day's dark, old, and dead

*(A dead man against you)*

We'll write her a letter in long time passing by...

**[Pre-Chorus]**

*(I'll be home)* In graver mistakes, dear Mom and Dad

I write you in this letter that states: *(I'll be moving on)*

When the new day's begun *(New day's begun)*

Don't forget son, when he's out on his own

**[Chorus]**

Point your gun in another direction

Now that you've cried yourself to sleep

Point your gun in another direction

Now that you've cried yourself to sleep

Here, in there, after the fire

**[Outro]**

After the fire

*(I'll be home to say "I love you," and I'll be moving on)*

And I'll be bigger

And I'll be bigger

## Story Context

This song is entirely from Claudio's perspective. It seems to be his journey from Hetricius to Shylos X. In the first verse, we start with "When you've gone about things all wrong / Bury them here" which could be a reference to when he's on the *Guile Greaver* garbage transport. He's not sure what direction to take, but maybe he can bury his failures with his family and Newo by getting off planet and burying them. The line continues "with the lifetime you would never regret" which in the same vein means to bury his old life and start anew somewhere else. "In savoring sleep / What do you mean I "toss and turn everywhere"? ends the first bit and refers to how little Claudio has been able to sleep. He's been sleeping on Hetricius' streets trying to dodge soldiers and keeping an eye out for Priests. He *says* he favors sleep, but what sleep hasn't he actually gotten? It then goes into "I'll miss you when you're gone / In pretending that you meant the world to me" which refers to Newo, who he's left behind but certainly can't stop thinking about. This is backed up by the concluding line, "With that, you'd call me a liar / And in the making mistakes, you'll rest incomplete." If he said that Newo meant the world to him to her face, she'd certainly call him a liar since he left and told he'd be dead. But she won't have much sleep herself, not knowing what happened.

In the pre-chorus, we start with the line "In graver mistakes, dear Mom and Dad" where the word "graver" refers to them have been captured and their actions that led to that. He wants to write them a letter, but it's unclear if he did, since he's not sure if they will ever go back home. We get confirmation of this in the last lines of the part. "I write you in this letter that states: / When the new day's begun / Forget your son, when he's out on his own," if they ever do return, forget about him since he's left and will never be able to return.

In the second verse, we start with "When the hand reads 7:30 / And your night begins to sink in the short, but faster fall" which could refer to the time he boards the vessel and how they arrive at Shylos X when night is falling, with the "faster fall" being the landing. "Anxious but calm retort / To a mirror that frames your face, baring the finest swell." This could be the first time Claudio has been able to relax. Yes, he's still on edge, but he's finally managed to get some sense of safety. He can see his face for the time, and it bares a scar from the scratch of the nail of the Onstantine Priest who attacked him. "When the day begins to break / Like the tears that run across your cheek." He's still thinking of Newo and how she'll react. Maybe, when the day breaks, she'll read the letter and cry, but he wants her to stand strong and move on. "Stand straight and imagine you, then / And if things were the way they could have been / When the thoughts, they race across your chin / Here, in the Neverend." Yes, she'll think about what could have been, but one day, these wishes will be contained in a box that lives in a corner of her mind.

Then, in the chorus, we have: "Point your gun in another direction / Now that you've cried yourself to sleep" which could be how Claudio hopes the reunion will go. Newo will cry and be upset, but in the end, she'll see it wasn't his fault and assign the blame elsewhere. The line "Here, in there, after the fire" may also be foreshadowing Claudio's role as The Crowing that burns all.

The bridge seems to be a brief look into both their lives. For Newo: sitting in a class a school, having made peace with his absence but she still wonders "will he be home again?" And for Claudio: driving on the streets of Shylos X, "will she be waiting for?" Still thinking of each other. Then, it goes back to Newo's POV: on her way home, she's driving on an overpass and thoughts of him are like the phantom pain of a severed arm, and flair up when "the day's dark, old, and dead." Then back to Claudio: he's like a ghost that haunts her. He wonders if his existence is contain within the letter he wrote her, and if she'll keep it forever.

Since this song is all about waiting, it makes sense for the outro to end with "And I'll be bigger." In "Junesong Provision", Claudio says "I'm just a boy," so it seems this declaration is a bit like a promise. "When I come back, I'll be older, mature, worthy of your forgiveness and love—better."

## Trivia

* "Neverender" is the brand of the gun Claudio Kilgannon stole before stowing away to Shylos X.
* "Neverender" is also what the band calls their tours in which they play an album in its entirety, from beginning to end.

## References

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