Regress
Regress
In spells of unconsciousness
Slave to the seeds you’ve sown
Lost in the leaves
So we’ll depart
Goodbye to your stubborn heart
Now you’re alone
Find relief that the end comes swiftly for you
🌲🌲🌲
What happens?
The Oracles inform Hunter that nothing can be done to change his fate now, that he is doomed, and will shortly die. They depart Hunter, who they rebuke for ignoring their warnings.
What’s in a name?
‘Regress’ — Mirroring ‘Rebirth’ from Act IV, driving in how Hunter has undone all the possible development he had, and broken down into a confused and near-soulless slave of sin and corruption, but also subtly suggesting the reemergence of his old self. Principally a down-and-out vibe, though.
Whose viewpoint?
Oracles.
🌲🌲🌲
>0:00 – 0:13 Instrumental
Beautiful. Welcome, gently and gracefully, into Act V.
Though not the final act as plotted, Act V concludes Hunter’s story well enough that, even if Act VI never happens, we’re left with a pretty satisfying tale that can still stand on its own. Act V, being the climax of things for Hunter, and the culmination of most plot threads revolving around him, is both narratively and musically the most intricate of the Acts — you can tell Casey went nuts on this one to get the message and themes of this narrative right.
Because of that, I don’t think I’ll be able to zero in on specific passages too often and say ‘oh, this is probably this’, or ‘this is probably that’, just because the layers of back-reference and symbols get so hefty that singling out one to be one thing or another becomes outrageously hard. Not for lack of my trying here, but the nuances get thick. So I’ll still give it my shot of course, but a lot of the time I think the only way you can get the message that’s being sent is just by listening. I mean, don’t you want to listen? This stuff is incredible.
That’s my disclaimer for Act V, which I anticipate having a lot of ‘not sure but it’s cool!’ and ‘this is something, but I can’t be sure exactly’ and ‘ok just trust me this is what these super-hard-to-translate Casey Vocabulary lyrics are MOST LIKELY pointing to, I think’ moments.
>Regress / In spells of unconsciousness
So! That all aside, we’re now in Act V and the Oracles are here, as ever, to welcome us into this chapter. They have finally gotten fed up with Hunter’s refusal to listen, as now there is no fate left for him but death, and leave swiftly after conveying this message since there is not much else to say. And it would suck if they spoiled things.
‘Regress / in spells of unconsciousness’ -> Probably referring to how Hunter is able to get in touch with his true self, which is represented as himself as a child (regression), while high. Simultaneously, points to how far he has degenerated as a person as he lives this false life of the Son, his own ambitions broken and sense of self shattered by TP&P (Hunter does not even feel ‘here’ or ‘awake’ or ‘conscious’ as he goes through the restricted motions of this false life).
(Strings echoing the end of Is There Anybody There -> points to Hunter’s identity confusion ‘who can tell me who I am / or at least where I have been?’, though the answer this time is the Apparition)
>Slave to the seeds you’ve sown
Hunter is cornered. It’s a consequence of his own actions, and his own choices that he’s fallen into the thrall of TP&P and the inescapable, shackling emptiness of this false life.
>Lost in the leaves
‘Forget my place amongst the grass / the leaves and the trees remember me’, maybe? Pointing to how Hunter’s former self feels to be beyond his reach, as in, you can envision the older Hunter trying to push through all these bushes and bushes to find something, and the something is his former self, that he knows should be somewhere in here and can find hints that it’s not entirely gone but he just can’t grasp it.
>So we’ll depart / Goodbye to your stubborn heart
On that dour note, the Oracles sever their communications with Hunter. All they wanted was the best for him, but he would not heed their warnings.
>Now you’re alone
Due to that stubbornness, and his inability to change his ways, he has fallen into a false life where all of his connections are fraudulent. He has a fake Mother, a fake Wife, fake Friends, makes fake promises to his constituents, under the guise of his fake self, and now even the Oracles have abandoned him… the most real connection he has left is to the conman who tricked Hunter’s soul into servitude.
There’s nobody to turn to. There’s nothing left.
…Or is there a glimmer of hope yet, in these angelic tones? Man. Amazing how it’s such a desolate line, but there’s still this harp and voice as if assuring Hunter, even though he’s near as damned as damned can get, that he’s not completely forsaken. (Reprises his ‘cloud nine’ moment from Smiling Swine pointing to his renewed relationship with Ms Leading).
>Find relief that the end comes swiftly for you
The Oracles give Hunter their final, and gravest message. There is no positive future for Hunter now but death, which is imminently coming. Hunter will die in this chapter.
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