Burial is a contextual song in the album that aims to paint a picture of the chaotic state of the world. It really deals with combating complacency in the face of overwhelming odds, even when that self-imposed rebellion holds no significant wins.
In terms of its relation to the overall theme of death anxiety, Burial’s anthemic nature speaks to the suffocating nature a person feels under the weight of systems, idealisms, fear, and emotional strain.
“It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” - Kurt Cobain
BURIAL
FENCEWALKER
Fencewalker is a contextual song for both Phase 1: In Vain and for the current state of the world. While in concept the song paints a picture of societal chaos, it also deeply describes the anguish that Black people and people of color face in relation to police brutality and injustice within the criminal justice system.
The continued injustices that black people, people of color, and other marginalized groups face from cops, as well as the role that racism plays in our society, are topics that are often avoided by society at large. Spurred by the protests for George Floyd and other murdered people of color, Fencewalker is a blatant picture of anger from the perspective of a person with a target on their back.
Black Lives Matter, AND THEY ALWAYS WILL.
Node deals with acceptance of dying, or at least the idea of it. Confronting mortality is a resounding theme for Phase 1: In Vain, and Node is a shaky truce with that internal turmoil. As someone who is nonreligious or spiritual, death becomes a bit more definitive and final.
However, lacking belief in a religious experience doesn’t nullify the need for questions of what happens in that experience, or what that nothingness feels like. In the end, we’re all afraid, and Node attempts to take the fear of dying and wear it like armor.
NODE
DENY
Anxiety can be a suffocating experience to many, and for myself, anxiety around the idea of dying has always been particularly difficult. Deny serves as the interlude to Node, a song that is about accepting the impermanence of the end.
What differs however is that Deny speaks to the uncomfortable and scary nature of death’s transition. Screaming in a dark room for help with a fear that feels so definitive that you can’t explain it - that is what this part aims to achieve.
Halo is the resounding gong of the end. It describes the unexpected and sudden invasion of death in our lives - a presence that is always present, but never as vivid as it becomes when our hour arrives.
In the case of Phase 1: In Vain, this overwhelming force has arrived at everyone at once - and people scramble to adjust or cope with this moment. “I reside at the bottom of the hourglass” is a line that speaks to that moment of finality for all involved in this rare universal truth, or in a way, solidarity in the face of impending doom.
HALO
