Cage The Elephant - 'Dying In Reverse'
Cage The Elephant, known for hits “Cigarette Daydreams”, “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked”, and “Come a Little Closer” just released their latest single “Dying In Reverse” on September 10th. The track will also be a part of the EA SPORTS FC™ 27 soundtrack, launching globally on September 25th.
After a five year hiatus from 2019 with album Social Cues to 2024 with album Neon Pill, the band is back again with singles “Beaches In Tennessee” followed by “Dying In Reverse”.
“Dying In Reverse” is layered with a nostalgically hypnotic guitar, chorus, and meditative beat that pulls the listener into a trance-like state. With soft and emotionally charged lyrics the psychedelic track tackles themes of mental health, death, rebirth, and a toxic relationship.
Vocalist Matthew Shultz, states the single is “essentially about a fresh start or a rebirth of sorts,” with lyrics “Back to the beginning of love”, “Cryin' like a baby, I ain't got no past”, and mantra “I feel like I'm dying in reverse” solidifying this statement.
One of my favorite lyrics in the song is “Go on and clip my wings / While in mid air”. Often used as a metaphor for captivity, “clipped wings” can also be seen as a reversal of age, since when a baby bird is born, they can not fly yet and are confined to the nest. This lyric pairs greatly along with the phrases “give them wings” and “leaving the nest”.
Lyrics “I take that ripped parachute and I'm cutting it loose” and “Dive into this ceiling” follow the theme of clipped wings, with the cut parachute being the now clipped wings. This leads him to the crossroads of either removing the dead weight (the toxic relationship) or keeping it on him. When he does cut himself loose and he is falling, he is free diving out of the relationship with lyrics “I finally opened my eyes / I don't need no more proof / I wanna taste your disaster on the tip of my tongue / To the back of my mind / Where the damage was done.”
Though no longer confined like a caged bird, he still thinks on the relationship with lyrics “Back to the beginning of love” and “There's no difference between us” but knows he should keep moving on with lyrics “Keep my eyes ahead and no I won't look back”.
The metaphors in “Dying In Reverse” are very well done, and after re-listening and re-reading the lyrics, I found they could mean either shedding a relationship with another, or a relationship with one's self.
“Dying In Reverse” takes a softer approach to Cage The Elephant’s previous discography, marking the start of their latest evolution. Guitarist Brad Shultz states that they always wanted to reinvent Cage The Elephant’s sound. Speaking on “Dying In Reverse” he stated, “We’ve discovered a whole new side to our band, how we look at things, and how we make art. You’re growing constantly as an artist, and I think we’ve tapped into that growth. I do feel like we’re making the best music we’ve ever made. If anything, it’s definitely the most inspired.”
“Dying In Reverse” is a must listen for Indie lovers and die hard Cage The Elephant fans.
Words by Isabella Basile
