"Yet here I am, weeping, Cloaked in the shadows, Draped in the colours That felled you in battle"

i can feel the mounting sorrow in your voice as you near the songs climax. one of the easiest things to understand and the hardest to accept is that the future has no need of us. my wife told me of a writer who said that one does not gegin to age until one of his friends dies, and he is not old until all of them are dead. i think that is why i have aged ten years in the last one. the rest of life is one of regret that we never really knew the people we truly loved.

Oh, yeah. Just wow. I hear it right from the start with the keys. Love that you borrowed the opening line for your opening line. The influence is very clear and I think our lord and savior Claudio would be proud, as I'm certain your friend is, looking down from Valtias.

From the Mother Superior time signature and instrumentation/layered vocals/last chorus to the references to his sci-fi story, to the breaks and epic re-build present in so many of their songs, to the Josh Eppard-style drums (the right drummer), to the piano motifs repeated throughout... you did the thing. The chorus of this oddly reminds me of "The Road and the Damned" in feeling and melody. But I better stop listing parts of Coheed songs that I feel like influences this track, I'll never stop. You've now got me flipping back and forth between this song and apple music making sure I'm referencing the songs I think I am, haha.

Nerding out aside: This is so beautifully done. It's made me well up multiple times that I've listened since yesterday, and definitely drop a tear at least once. I had a friend much like yours (Shared love of Coheed, smart guy movies, fancied ourselves filmmakers), but I'm not certain where he is as we grew apart. This song made me recall other friends who are still in the throes of addiction, whom I love dearly but I can't often check up on for risk of my sobriety, but the relationship is the same, always right where we left off.

Anyways, I'm certainly picking up the album now that it's on bandcamp. Thanks for creating this and nerding out with me on Coheed, along with the catharsis.

A very moving and beautiful song - heartbreaking story. I am sorry for your loss. You've created something so beautiful to honour his memory. I'm listening to this thinking of friends I have lost over the years with fondness. This is how we connect through music. :-) #tit4tat

@williamjames I honestly didn't know that! This just shows how smart my friend was. That's actually amazing. Here I am, transcribing his words in the dark and needing an interpreter. I genuinely am so grateful for your kind words, they make me love and miss the guy even more.

This is a massive song! Reading the story just enhanced the effect. The lyrics are amazing the performance is emotional nad relatable. Listened to this as tears welled up. Massive song. I love it! PS. Valtias means a king or a ruler in finnish. Not sure if you already knew it.

Like said before, very moving. This song has a very organic sound. Sweet and refreshing but still longing and reflecting.

This is a very moving song. I know it must have been difficult to write this for your friend.

Great song. Also, nice production! And what strong vocals! The dynamic shifts in the song feel so intentional and polished. The harmonies! I'm excited to listen to more of your stuff.

Such a heartfelt outpouring and the spoken word section with the upswelling as punctuation is tingly and hair-raising. Congrats on reaching 14 tracks

my email address is

howthenightcame (at) outlook (dot) com

if you ever put these albums on bandcamp, please let me know

This is a beautiful tribute, your love shows so much. It's hard losing friends like that. "Have you found a home" is heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time, maybe there's another world out there that's kinder than this one. The idea of keeping stories alive when you can't keep the person is something that I've seen a lot but you capture the idea of it better than anything else I've seen or heard. The outro especially was very moving. This is really special, you've created an amazing piece for part of your friend to live on in.

The story of friendships like that resonate with my childhood. Great opening lines, love the whole pre-chorus > chorus/post-chorus sequencing. Love the sentiment here. Great production overall.

Wow! This is very moving. What a gorgeous melody and your vocal and harmonies are wonderful too. Everything about this sounds so polished. Your instrumental accompaniment is perfect. I especially like the drums, oh and that piano is so good. Love this! This lyric is very touching. It sounds like your friend was very special, and what a beautiful way for you to celebrate the time he was here, albeit brief. Thank you for sharing this.