“Sepulcher”... What Does That Even Mean?!
Among the sonorities that I wanted to explore were the 60s melancholic ones, but with a type of dark “big band” brass section, mixed with cello, violin, and psych elements. For me, it felt like a perfect way to convey the profound emotional dimension of the record without falling into unnecessary bleak and depressive clichés. I hate format and standardization and despise everything about it with a violence and an anger I couldn’t even bear within myself. Is it my rebellious nature or my untamable spirit? I don’t know… I’m always looking to cultivate a more peaceful state of mind, a balance between consciousness and emancipation. It’s easy to become your own mocking parody, a travesty of self. Art can be a wonderful outlet for imagination and personification. And as much as I would like to wear a costume and a mask sometimes, I decided to remove mine when I made Your Favorite Enemies go on hiatus. Some emotions just can’t be hidden in a persona or a character. While I understand that you have to look after your heart while exposing yourself to others, you can’t manage fake and real in the same way an illusionist would do; you have to stand by your creations. For me, it’s by standing in the lights that words can actually bloom, that songs come alive…
Therefore, when we approached the next song, I didn’t want to write some nonsense on a piece of paper for the sake of finding some catchy melodies. I needed a moment to reflect so that the words would be soulful, not just hasty gibberish, making the process mine. I was starting to be very tired, so it was the perfect occasion for me to take that necessary moment to dwell within myself while giving my body a little break. The tone of the piece had a very fascinating nature, and I was wondering where it might lead if I were to pay much more attention to the invisible essence connecting its sonic threads… I know that when I do, such introspection will provide me with an image; blurry at first, and then the outlines will slowly emerge to reveal its shape and form. In that case, it’s a word that kept reverberating in my head: “sepulcher”, a word that would become the cornerstone of its soon-to-be-assembled lyrical entity. It became a “sepulcher of the mind”, and like it usually does when I start to add lyrics to a song, it led to an anecdotal episode.
Therefore, when we approached the next song, I didn’t want to write some nonsense on a piece of paper for the sake of finding some catchy melodies. I needed a moment to reflect so that the words would be soulful, not just hasty gibberish, making the process mine. I was starting to be very tired, so it was the perfect occasion for me to take that necessary moment to dwell within myself while giving my body a little break. The tone of the piece had a very fascinating nature, and I was wondering where it might lead if I were to pay much more attention to the invisible essence connecting its sonic threads… I know that when I do, such introspection will provide me with an image; blurry at first, and then the outlines will slowly emerge to reveal its shape and form. In that case, it’s a word that kept reverberating in my head: “sepulcher”, a word that would become the cornerstone of its soon-to-be-assembled lyrical entity. It became a “sepulcher of the mind”, and like it usually does when I start to add lyrics to a song, it led to an anecdotal episode.
– Me: “Do I have the proper pronunciation for “sepulcher”?
– Mikko: “What?! Can you repeat?”
– Me: “Sepulcher!”
– Mikko: “Sepulcher???”
– Me: “Yes, as in a sacred type of tomb…”
– Mikko: “Sepulcher… I don’t think I’ve ever heard that word. Interesting. Do you know that word, Jojo?”
– Jojo: “No, I haven’t heard that before. It’s beautiful, though…”
– The band members: “No… Never heard that word either.”
– Me (addressing the band in French): “Voyons, guys! Un sépulcre, vous savez ce que c’est!”
– Mikko (looking at his phone): “Ah, it’s an old word… Quite interesting, actually.”
And, in his soft and beautiful British accent, pronounced the word properly: “Seh-Pul-Ker”
– Me: “See, that was easy! Sepulcher of the mind, as an empty tomb. It is an analogy with Christ’s tomb, which was found empty when people went to look for him. In the context of the song, it’s about finding yourself unable to trace back the fragments of what made you who you are and realizing that your mind has been bleached out.”
– Mikko: “Wow! Right on, let’s see how to sing that thing of yours, now!” Not sure it’s a catchy song title, though…!
– Mikko: “What?! Can you repeat?”
– Me: “Sepulcher!”
– Mikko: “Sepulcher???”
– Me: “Yes, as in a sacred type of tomb…”
– Mikko: “Sepulcher… I don’t think I’ve ever heard that word. Interesting. Do you know that word, Jojo?”
– Jojo: “No, I haven’t heard that before. It’s beautiful, though…”
– The band members: “No… Never heard that word either.”
– Me (addressing the band in French): “Voyons, guys! Un sépulcre, vous savez ce que c’est!”
– Mikko (looking at his phone): “Ah, it’s an old word… Quite interesting, actually.”
And, in his soft and beautiful British accent, pronounced the word properly: “Seh-Pul-Ker”
– Me: “See, that was easy! Sepulcher of the mind, as an empty tomb. It is an analogy with Christ’s tomb, which was found empty when people went to look for him. In the context of the song, it’s about finding yourself unable to trace back the fragments of what made you who you are and realizing that your mind has been bleached out.”
– Mikko: “Wow! Right on, let’s see how to sing that thing of yours, now!” Not sure it’s a catchy song title, though…!
Note: The short clip below is at the time nobody knew the pronunciation was actually “Seh-Pul-Ker”. So funny!!! A small word with heavy consequences…!
