The Wars, Part Five

Read Part One first! ~

Another A7X song. ~ Heart-wrenching and catchy at the same time. ~ Written and performed as a tribute to the belated James Owen Sullivan (aka "the Rev"), I found "So Far Away" a fitting song to fit into my wars playlist. ~

Humans deal with death even in day-to-day life, not just in war. ~ Death is presented in many ways, and its effect on those around the deceased person have sparked many a novel, song and painting. ~ Pain, memories and, to a certain extent, fear of the future. ~ A sickening mixture that amalgamates to grief and loss. ~ With these emotions in mind, please approach the song and the analysis with an open perspective and a certain understanding. ~

Furthermore, the increasing amounts of lives lost will cause individuals deep emotional pain and suffering, furthering their disenchantment as a consequence of facing the realities of war.

So Far Away, by Avenged Sevenfold:

Never feared for anything, never shamed but never free
A life that healed a broken heart with all that it could
Lived a life so endlessly, saw beyond what others see
I tried to heal your broken heart with all that I could
Will you stay? Will you stay away forever?

[Chorus]
How do I live without the ones I love?
Time still turns the pages of the book it’s burned
Place and time always on my mind
I have so much to say but you're so far away

Plans of what our futures hold, foolish lies of growing old
It seems we're so invincible, the truth is so cold
A final song, a last request, a perfect chapter laid to rest
Now and then I try to find a place in my mind
Where you can stay, you can stay awake forever

[Chorus]

Sleep tight, I'm not afraid
The ones that we love are here with me
Lay away a place for me
'Cause as soon as I'm done I'll be on my way
To live eternally

[Chorus, modified]
How do I live without the ones I love?
Time still turns the pages of the book it’s burned
Place and time always on my mind
And the light you left remains but it's so hard to stay
When I have so much to say and you're so far away

I love you, you were ready
The pain is strong enough despise
But I'll see you when he lets me
Your pain is gone, your hands are tied

So far away and I need you to know
So far away and I need you to, need you to know

Literary Content

The death of his fellow soldier in “Sink or Swim,” coupled with the many other deaths as a result of the war, have affected the individual deeply. He questions “how [he can] live without the ones [he] love[s],” relating his pain through the use of a burnt book metaphor. For the individual, the pages of the book that is his life are scorched irreparably by the loss of so many of his fellow soldiers. He “ha[s] so much to say,” yet because his friends are “so far away,” a euphemism for death, the individual alone must feel “the [cold] truth” of the war. His use of irony in the words “a perfect chapter” convey his bitter feelings regarding the war, which he feels was “perfect” because his fellow soldiers were still alive, yet truly imperfect because it caused their deaths.

Auditory Elements

The song is in a minor key, with a sad melody that conveys the melancholy that accompanies the individual’s memories of his friends. The quiet acoustic guitar interlude after the modified chorus begins calmly and in the same sad mood, yet builds with the addition of the drumset and electric guitar, conveying his growing anger at the deaths of his fellow soldiers. Finally, the entrance of the singer in an unusually strained voice in the seventh and eighth stanzas conveys the individual’s pain-filled tone despite his acceptance of his friend’s death, foreshadowing his further disenchantment with the war.