This (originally) Post-Hardcore band is known for their sorrowful musings.
- The final verse of "Nice and Blue" is the singer realizing that without his love, his life is formless, leaving him to beg that she remember him with his final line.
- Both verses of "I Never Said That I Was Brave" are tragic; he first heavily implies that the singer's girlfriend was a Stepford Smiler while they were together, and the second has him begging her for some semblance of comfort even as he remains fully aware that there's no hope for their relationship moving forwards.No use in saying how I'm sorry
So I'm trying not to speak
I'll sing in silence, lay beside you
With my face there on your cheek - "Silencer" is rather mournful, detailing the singer's depression and feelings of failure following the separation. The last verse is more hopeful, but it still reveals that he's tired of putting on a brave face in spite of his misery.
- The second verse of "The Cure For Pain" heavily contrasts the singer's poetic words with his former love's Brutal Honesty to tragic effect.
- The recorded final line of "Tie Me Up! Untie Me!" ("And I haven't even thought about killing myself in five months") is rough by itself, but when Aaron was performing it live, he would change it to accurately reflect how he was feeling at the moment. Sometimes extending the amount of time...and other times drastically shortening it
. - "Carousels" details the singer wandering lost in a city, finding "a letter left by a payphone" inscribed with a note detailing a nameless man's apology for failing his love, realizing that a fondly remembered fair isn't arriving, and struggling to remember better days while forgetting worse ones. The chorus, while a bit more hopeful, also brings up his suicidal ideation.But if I didn't have You as my guide
I'd still wander lost in Sinai
And counting the plates of cars from out-of-state
How I could jump in their path as they hurry along! - "C-Minor"'s first verse details the singer's failed attempt to befriend a mouse, with the shouted, desperate-sounding final verse describing her only returning to him while bringing along a new "friend". The repeated chant of "It never ends" in the latter section doesn't help matters. The song on a whole stands out from the rest of Brother, Sister given just how melancholic it is compared to all the other tracks.
- While the climax of "The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate" is on the whole triumphant, the King having to say goodbye to his wife and children before he goes to his death is quite poignant.
- "February, 1878": The animals beg Elephant to run away with them, but she stoically refuses to do so, a decision that ultimately leads to her death. By the same token, Tiger refusing to leave his cage because he no longer values freedom, and because according to him, he can never see his family again for one reason or another.
- "East Enders Wives": Rabbit's new paramour abandons him in the middle of the night. Even though he probably should have seen it coming, it's still rather sad. The apocalyptic imagery used to describe his chaotic thoughts following her vanishing speaks for itself. Especially when you consider that the song on the whole acts as a Call-Back to [A→B] Life and Reality Subtext for Aaron Weiss.We've both been untrue but I'm still counting on you
Like an invisible rosary
As the past and all plans are undone
Slowly sank like the shipwrecked sun
Bridges and boats, burning them both
Burned up the sky
Choir sang as the black birch fell
Sorrow rang like a church-yard bell
An axe to the trees, smoke for the bees
And all our dads died - Peacock's absolute despair at being back in captivity in "Cardiff Giant", which is thankfully lessened by Tiger providing some solace through his own outlook.
- "Elephant in the Dock":
- Elephant (possibly) admitting that for much of her life she's "surrendered her love to objects of kindness and not the kindness they were emblems of" is a poignant moment of self-reflection, and the only time she ever demonstrates any kind of regret throughout the story.
- Elephant's death in general. Even though she meets her end without a trace of fear or hesitation, it's still heartrending to imagine a wise, old, motherly creature being executed like a common criminal for nothing more than derailing a train, and that her last moments were spent surrounded by an angry mob rather than any of her "children" which she obviously held dear.
- And the worst part? Something like this happened in real life.
- "Fox's Dream of the Log Flume": Bear's crushing, lasting regret over his Rejected Marriage Proposal cuts hard, especially for anyone who's dealt with rejection in the past.And with my grandma's ring
I went down on one knee
And the subsequent catastrophe
Has since haunted me
Like a fiberglass ghost in the attic - "Bear's Vision of St. Agnes*:
- Fox and Bear are both slowly dying of hunger, and all Bear can initially do is wistfully comfort her by reminding them of their days performing together at the circus. It's remarkably sobering, especially when you consider that it's likely all that Fox has ever known. Even though they obviously weren't happy in those positions, they at least enjoyed each other's companionship all the while.
- Bear lying to Fox in a faint whisper so she won't hesitate to do what she needs to to survive.
- Bear's death. Unlike Elephant, who went without a trace of fear or sorrow, he clearly feels terrified and alone in his last moments, only comforted by the fact that he knows that he's giving Fox a chance of living on. Made even worse by the fact that he was also one of the kindest and least flawed of all the animals who never gave up or lost hope a single time even in the face of terrible circumstances.
- Before jumping, he sounds resolute and confident, but while falling he slowly freezes up, telling himself that he's merely going to hibernate and "wake before the salmon pass" - the only happy memory he ever ends up recalling in the story.
- "Julian the Onion": The titular character is made into an act for the failing circus (implied to be involuntarily, given the reference to a "draytop shotgun rhino's peak", presented before a laughing crowd and relentlessly mocked by the carnival barker. The barker's description of his past - while obviously embellished, likely isn't too far from truth given the time period.
- "Four Fires": In a rather cruel twist on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Rabbit returns home only to learn that his father died while he was away, leaving him absolutely crushed. Especially in light of how enthusiastic he seemed to be returning home in the first place.
- His line "His faith in love was still devout!" implies that, just like in the parable, his father never gave up hope on his son's return.
- The accompanying artwork for the song shows Rabbit with his face in his palms, indicating that he feels a strong sense of guilt over not having come back sooner.
- "Mexican War Streets" has Aaron grimly recollecting a suicide attempt implied to be triggered by generational trauma from his parents. While he obviously doesn't go through with it, it's still upsetting to listen to, especially to anyone who's been in the same position.
- The line "It's not a person who dies, but worlds die inside us" is a simple yet powerful way of describing how loss affects all of us.
- "Dorothy" is a subtle yet absolutely crushing Grief Song about the death of Aaron's father.
- These lines. The way he repeats the third line while slightly altering it as if to reaffirm his belief in the spur of the moment is just brutal. Alternatively, it sounds like he's so broken he can't even bring himself to think of another lyric.
- I said "If you can change your shape that easily
Can you take the form of my dead father?
Because I think he would've liked to meet my wife"
And I know for a fact he would have liked my wife
- The use of the phrase Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthanitranslation references one of the last words of Jesus on the cross. Combined with the similarity of ''eloi'' to Elliot, the name of Aaron's father, and Aaron's feelings of complete and utter isolation are made clear.
- These lines. The way he repeats the third line while slightly altering it as if to reaffirm his belief in the spur of the moment is just brutal. Alternatively, it sounds like he's so broken he can't even bring himself to think of another lyric.
- From "Blue Hen", the contrasting of images of childhood innocence with the slow encroachment of Death, representing recognition of one's own mortality is sad in a nostalgic sense. You can almost feel the desperation to somehow return to the halcyon days of one's youth in the vocals.
- The chorus of "Birnam Wood" flips the contextually rhetorical question of "Are you a God and shall your grace grow weary of your saints?" from Sacred Harp 178 into a legitimate, pleading one, perfectly reflecting how a Crisis of Faith can turn one's world upside down. Aaron sounds despairing in the first chorus, but almost angry in the second, both conveying his desperation for answers.
- "Were sorrows measured by your worth, our grief would have no end" is a paraphrase of a line from Macbeth, only communicating the sorrow of a son losing his father rather than the reverse.
- "And can we not call it a nervous breakdown? My nervous system breaking down?"
- The outro of "Rainbow Signs" is pretty wistful, but surprisingly sweet as well.
- "Tortoises All the Way Down" is fairly cryptic (much like everything else on [Untitled]), but it does repeatedly suggest the singer deals with unending feelings of guilt and alienation.Everybody knows son
Everybody knows just what you've done - "New Wine, New Skins" features Aaron grimly contemplating the reality of his wife passing before him. The sorrow of it isn't that he sounds particularly despondent, but rather accepting it as a possibility to be anticipated.
