"Key Entity Extraction IV: Evagria the Faithful"

Art by Nathan Spoor.

**"Key Entity Extraction IV: Evagria the Faithful"** is a song by the American rock band Coheed and Cambria. It is the eighth track on their 2012 album *The Afterman: Ascension*. A demo version of the song was released on *The Afterman: Ascension* (Big Beige Demos) album and a live version was released on *The Afterman: Live*.

## Lyrics

**[Verse 1]**

This sinking warmth through obscurity

Beyond the sweet in between where and what you're doing

There is a view of an uncharted place

Where you're the brunt of a joke and everyone's laughing

**[Pre-Chorus]**

I am not who I seem, who you thought I could be

The support you could lean up against when you need

I'm the dark when you want the lights out at all costs

This is mine, that is yours, I'm the bricks in your wall

**[Chorus]**

Goodbye forever, my darling

Whether I was everything you thought I'd be, or not

I was a bad man, ooh, to stop you, girl, from loving me, oh oh

Goodbye forever, my darling

Whether I was everything you thought I'd be or not

I was a bad man, ooh, to stop you, girl, from loving me, oh oh

**[Verse 2]**

A yearning loss to silence me

The struggle breaks the black and white, calling, transmitting

The echo breaks, electric air

Her pulse, it stretches from never to everywhere

**[Chorus]**

And from the other side, she'll save me

Her courage, strength, and heart beyond

I wish she'd stay mine, but her place is in some other time, oh oh

Goodbye forever, my darling

Whether I was everything you thought I'd be or not

I was a bad man, ooh, to stop you, girl, from loving me oh oh

**[Bridge]**

Body separating, ascend and release

This tragedy is all my fault

Reaching desperately to salvage any piece

This tragedy is all my fault

**[Breakdown]**

This hurt won't, won't go away

This hurt won't, won't go away

This hurt won't, won't go away

This hurt won't, won't go away

This hurt won't, won't go away

This hurt won't, won't go away

This hurt won't, won't go away

This hurt won't, won't go away

**[Chorus]**

And from the other side, she'll save me

Her courage, strength, and heart beyond

I wish she'd stay mine, but her place is in some other time, oh oh

Goodbye forever, my darling

Whether I was everything you thought I'd be or not

I was a bad man, ooh, to stop you, girl, from loving me, oh oh

**[Outro]**

Goodbye forever, goodbye forever... *(You won't be forgotten)*

Goodbye forever, goodbye forever... *(You won't be forgotten)*

Goodbye forever, goodbye forever... *(You won't be forgotten)*

Goodbye forever, goodbye forever... *(You won't be forgotten)*

## Story Context

This Entity turns out to be a good one, which we get in the line "sinking warmth through obscurity." Evagria picks Sirius up and cradles him. She takes him to The Samaritaine in the lines, "Beyond the sweet in between where and what you're doing / There is a view of an uncharted place." But Sirius is "the brunt of a joke and everyone's laughing," as he's so out of place.

In the pre-chorus we get Evagria's description with the lines, "I am not who I seem, who you thought I could be / The support you could lean up against when you need / I'm the dark when you want the lights out at all costs / This is mine, that is yours, I'm the bricks in your wall." Evagria was a dedicated social worker and had adopted 3 at risk kids, raising them alone, giving them every advantage she could and was among the first to volunteer at a local hospital when a political protest tore through her planet. But in her "mid-life" she was diagnosed with a rare incurable bone disease, and instead of being sad for herself, she spent her final days to comforting her friends and family as they watched her succumb to the disease. The last line "I'm the bricks in your wall" not only refer to how she acted when she was alive, but also in this moment, as she cradles and protects Sirius in his vulnerable state.

The chorus returns to Sirius' perspective with him, thinking he's dying, calling out to Meri, saying, "Goodbye forever, my darling / Whether I was everything you thought I'd be, or not / I was a bad man, ooh, to stop you, girl, from loving me, oh oh." He regrets how he treated her, and chose the mission over her.

The second verse brings us to the conflict between Evagria and Vic. "A yearning loss to silence me / The struggle breaks the black and white, calling, transmitting / The echo breaks electric air / Her pulse, it stretches from never to everywhere." Vic is still desperately trying to break into Evagria's defenses, but she's left the black (The Mono) and fled into the white (The Samaritaine). Still they can hear him and his ferocity is palpable. Still, Evagria holds strong.

This time, in the chorus, when we switch back to Sirius, he says "And from the other side, she'll save me / Her courage, strength, and heart beyond / I wish she'd stay mine, but her place is in some other time, oh oh." Thinking again of Meri, Sirius uses memories of her, back home, to stay sane. But she’s not present with him, he's still stuck in the Keywork without her.

In the bridge, Sirius is trying to keep his sanity, and even his physical body as well. He knows he's gotten himself into this mess and has only himself to blame. The following breakdown depicts how soon, all he can think about is how much everything hurts; his heart, mind, and body, down to his very soul. And in the outro, all he can do, is say goodbye.

## Background

"It's easy to underestimate the concept of faith, until you need it for something," Sanchez wrote about this song, "This track serves as the opposite to the one before, so from the conceptual side of things, it makes sense that Vic the Butcher and Evagria the Faithful are almost like Yin and Yang." He went on to say that loss is a reoccurring theme in the album and inside that concept, the loss of a partner is particularly strong. Sanchez thought about what might have happened if, with regards to Vic's track, he had actually left his wife after their fight and how different things would be for both of them through Sirius' story.

## Trivia

* Eppard played Keyboard for this track.
* Sanchez has joked that this is the song he would recommend to people to get them into the band since "it's the only song [they] have like it."

## References

1. ↑ Coheed and Cambria. Booklet. *The Afterman: Ascension*, Everything Evil Records, 2012.
2. ↑ https://genius.com/Coheed-and-cambria-key-entity-extraction-iv-evagria-the-faithful-lyrics
3. ↑ https://www.revolvermag.com/music/claudio-sanchez-picks-best-coheed-and-cambria-song-introducing-new-fans#evagria-faithful