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this is exclusively for posterity and it doesn’t matter but i am locking in my prediction that the black veil song that juliet features on is going to have a music video or some type of visualizer and andy and she will be victor and emily from corpse bride. ok goodnight
love the new black veil song and i’m excited for the album but admittedly i am not seeing much of an artistic throughline across the singles… more so between ‘vindicate’ and ‘certainty’, but ‘bleeders’ is completely different. i liked the sweeney todd concept for the latter but since it is such a departure from what they appear to be going for the new album, i feel like it should have stayed on the bleeders EP and left the three singles that have been released since july
big fan of the new black veil song but i am increasingly convinced that it is partly about / was partly inspired by the backlash andy received for keeping radke in his orbit and touring with FIR last year. the way he’s spoken about the inspiration / meaning behind the song is pretty esoteric and it is possible that’s due to it being about a multitude of things, but the way the lyrics lampoon those who “worship the digital scribe / demanding purity” and that his post-release statement says that he believes “in being true to yourself over the mass hysteria or in-group recriminations” feel too similar to his immediate response to people expressing their dissatisfaction with the FIR tour. like, what other “in-group recriminations” could he be referencing? and how could it not at least be tangentially connected to that very salient issue when he referred to people’s rightful criticisms as a “social purity test” that he doesn’t need to defend himself against because he “know[s] what [he] believe[s]?”
obviously this is all speculation but it seems very likely and i am incredibly disappointed that he continues to conflate the brutal harassment and abuse he endured as a child, teen, and young adult both in his personal life and in the scene with justified, warranted, and good faith pushback from earnest fans who feel betrayed and threatened by his association with a transphobic piece of shit whose entire reputation is staked on being a bigot. frustrating!
i can’t get over how good the new black veil song is but the VIDEO? THE PRODUCTION VALUE? they’ve always had good and interesting music videos especially with andy’s artistic vision and the world-building he’s so dedicated to, but this is an insane jump to the next level. imo the phantom tomorrow was a new chapter in the quality and depth of their music videos but i’ve never seen a video of theirs that’s as… elaborate? detailed? high-quality? as this one HOLY SHIT!
i saw some people saying they were disappointed that there was no album announcement to accompany the new song and i understand that because i can’t remember a time that they’ve dropped a single that wasn’t from an already-announced upcoming album (save for temple of love but that was a) a cover and b) a collab), but considering the depth of the music video, the sweeney todd concept being a realization of one of andy’s defining artistic influences, the robustness of this project that we’ve seen just from the music video and the rollout leading up to it, AND the fact that andy posted a picture of his notebook for the new album a few months back, i can’t imagine that this is a standalone release. it feels way too big to just be for a single… but i could be wrong! we shall see! all i currently care about is that this video gave me andy covered in blood and killing a cop. he did this for me specifically <3
just had a really raw therapy session so keep that important context in mind as you read this post but. i normally don’t care for live music videos — especially with black veil because i love the highly produced, flawlessly executed worldbuilding andy always spearheads — but i just watched the devil mv that black veil put out and i’m full-on tearing up at the footage of the crowds at their shows and the guys getting mobbed at the airport when they arrived in mexico like… this band that andy started at 15 and that was only him and a guitarist and a drummer who was his dad’s friend doing this kid a favor. this band that andy promoted on his own through designing and screen printing BVB merch and burning CDs with his covers of misfits and alkaline trio songs and passing them out at school. this band that had a revolving door of members because they either didn’t want to commit to or didn’t share andy’s vision. this band that couldn’t even get shows and played in parking lots that overflowed this band that was relentlessly mocked and heckled and shit on for YEARS by outsiders and people within the scene. this band with this crowd size. i’m gonna eat glass
people in the comments of black veil’s teasers for the born again video being like “the video doesn’t seem to match the vibes of the song at all” my siblings in christ do you think andy didn’t dream up, design, direct, and aid in the execution of every aspect of this video such that it perfectly fit his extremely specific and honed vision of what this world — a world that he built entirely himself, btw — would be and how to best visually represent the story. do you really think that
someone in the tags was asking for an explanation of the storyline(s) behind the phantom tomorrow music videos, and i assume folks who follow me already know BUT in the event that it’s helpful to have it delineated like this, i thought i’d share what i’d written in response to them!:
hi! i’m not sure how coherent or helpful this will be, but from what andy’s said, the video for ‘scarlet cross’ is intended to introduce the viewer to the world of the phantom tomorrow, which is a rebel group/faction that arose out of this sort of dystopian world they live in. it’s supposed to look super clean, almost not lived in, but you can see the echoes of this oppressive force in the individuals who go after scarlet (the woman the video follows), who is a member of the phantom tomorrow. the end of the video introduces blackbird, who’s this mysterious, batman-like “hero” (or presumed to be), who saves scarlet from these goons.
‘fields of bone’ picks up where ‘scarlet cross’ leaves off, and andy has said that the implication is that scarlet gets away with the help of blackbird and has now retreated to the underground world in which the phantom tomorrow lives and finds refuge. it’s supposed to look grittier, darker, dirtier. blackbird has come down to this world to essentially assess what’s going on, who the phantom tomorrow is, etc., when he encounters nine (the guy in the mask and white shirt), who’s intended to be a joker-like foil to blackbird’s batman. nine kills scarlet, and a confrontation ensues between blackbird and nine. it initially appears that nine has bested/killed blackbird, but we see toward the last minute that blackbird survives. the next video, crimson skies, depicts the “showdown” between nine and blackbird, where it appears that blackbird is killed.
from there comes ‘torch’, which follows the funeral procession for blackbird. the video shows a reverend-type figure aiding in the procession, and it’s later revealed to be nine in disguise. i believe after the band members all leave the church there is supposed to be a reveal that blackbird is alive, but at the last minute, nine presses a detonator on his phone that causes the church to explode, presumably killing blackbird once and for all.
the video for ‘born again’ was initially less clear to me; i felt like it was more a standard music video with theatrical aesthetic elements that match the world, but andy explained in an instagram post on friday that it was intended to show the “9th circle”, which refers to a location in the phantom tomorrow world that is “a plane of existence outside reality, a more esoteric version of a fire and brimstone afterlife but one that is directly attacking your daily life”.
Hi babe!!! so i just read your bio and i am dying to know your interpretation of that Torch lyric because you always have a point™ and i love to hear your bvb theories
LYNN MY BELOVED… I AM SO SORRY FOR HOW LONG IT’S TAKEN ME TO REPLY, it is absolutely unacceptable!!! i was just listening to torch and heard the line you’re referring to (“who’s the holy one that i can kill to stay alone?”) and suddenly remembered that i’ve left this unanswered for nearly eight months 😵💫 there is no excuse and i’m so sorry!
to answer your (lovely and thoughtful!) question, though: in all honesty, i primarily chose that line as the quote for my description because it resonated with me but for reasons i can’t quite articulate or place my finger on? i recall that andy described this song as being about “reaching out and finding a lifeline of truth and hope when all feels lost and freeing yourself of the negative and destructive noise that can sometimes fill our minds and bring us down”, and to me that whole verse (“kneel and pray / what’s the world today? / and who’s the holy one that i can kill to stay alone? / and if i take them down / will my lies be found?”) seems to be the internal monologue of someone who has isolated themselves from the world around them for whatever reasons (self-loathing, shame, depression, a combination, etc.); the idea that they feel the need to shut out everything to protect themselves or those around them from whatever shortcomings, failures, or harm for which they feel they’re responsible. this questioning of what holy figure they can “kill” to remain in their isolation to me emphasizes the intensity of their desperation to be left alone.
and if the purpose of the torch is, as andy says, to be a light for those who feel alone, then this internal warring described in the line “if i take them down / will my lies be found?” is resolved in the last line of the chorus and the song as a whole: “to live is to lie / so light the torch”. it reads to me as the narrator’s acceptance that we have all done things of which we are ashamed or not proud, but that it’s no reason to close ourselves off from the light and to not strive to find meaning and hope in that chaos and to strive to do better.
at least that’s my onion!!! i could be way off, but art is subjective and that’s always how i’ve read it!
