Some of the greatest ‘hateful’ bands in the alternative rock genre can easily by named without breaking a sweat, but some bands such as Coheed and Cambria don’t automatically make you think of hatred. Their singer/lead guitarist Claudio Sanchez writes lyrics for albums according to a story that has been ongoing for 4 albums. These albums tell the story of a distant universe and the struggles within the characters, Coheed, Cambria, and Claudio. Within these albums, one song pops out as a very hateful song that made them actually need a parental advisory, which they never had before. Welcome Home, the most defiant track of Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV (Volume One: From Fears Through the Eyes of Madness), and tells the bad side of a relationship which has turned bitter because the women just like the man for his fame, shadowing Sanchez’s past relationship with another women. This song helps convey the message of ‘celebrity’ relationships and shows what the feelings are after a harsh breakup.
This song opens with an amazing riff by lead guitar/vocalist Claudio Sanchez and shows his amazing mastery of the guitar and virtuosity with it. His almost guitar solo goes on for a good minute before starting with the lyrics, but this sound already sets a tone, almost foreshadowing, for what will happen in the song. Sanchez’s distinct high pitch voice belts out the lyrics for the first verse, and immediately starts to characterize the women who was in this relationship, being in 2nd person it almost feels like you are her. “A whore in sheep’s clothing/Fucking up all I do” shows the direct characterization of her actions and makes it so the listener knows the woman isn’t a good person in general. His final lines “Please make up your mind girl, before I hope you die” pretty much sum up his feelings for her with a big middle finger.
The biggest poetic device used in the song is the idea of allusion they use for religion. “You stormed off to scar the armada/Like Jesus played martyr/I’ll drill through your hands/The stone for the curse you have blamed me” makes a direct reference to Christianity by pointing out Jesus in general, but also for the ‘drill through your hands’ remark. This continues at the end of the verse with “So with sin I condemn you/Demon play, demon out!” and keeps the idea of hell with demons. His use of this really shows the true extent of her actions, saying she tries because like Jesus but ultimately blamed him for breaking him apart. This is like a hyperbole to her actions, exemplifying them in a religious way to make the point come across.
Sanchez ends each chorus with a few objectifications such as “Here laid to rest is our love ever longed?” and “With truth on the shores of compassion”, all heightening his complete and utter hatred for her. In his closing lines he says “Please make up your mind girl, I’ll do anything for you”, which sums up the relationship at the beginning, but ironical the next line “Please make up your mind girl, before I hope you die”, showing the quick and hasty relationship that happened, and how quick it faded away. After the song is over, the title finally begins to make sense; it is a satire played to denounce her by greeting her, but in reality he wants to kill her. These lyrics are passionate and show the love gone awry in Sanchez’s life and are a great example of how much hate can form and be brought out in lyrical form.
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