"Wine Red", The Hush Sound

"Wine Red" - The Hush Sound

Who shot that arrow in your throat?
Who missed the crimson apple?
It hung heavy on the tree above your head

This chaos, this calamity, this garden once was perfect
Give your immortality to me; I'll set you up against the stars

Gloria,
We lied, we can't go on
This is the time and this is the place to be alive

Who shot that arrow in your throat?
Who missed the crimson apple?
And there is discord in the garden tonight

The sea is wine red
This is the death of beauty
The doves have died
The lovers have lied

I cut the arrow from your neck
Stretched you beneath the tree
Among the roots and baby's breath
I covered us with silver leaves

Gloria,
We lied, we can't go on
This is the time and this is the place to be alive

The sea is wine red
This is the death of beauty
The doves have died
The lovers have lied

The sea is wine red
This is the death of beauty
The doves have died
The lovers have lied

The sea is wine red (Gloria, we lied)
This is the death of beauty (this is the time and place)
The doves have died (Gloria, we lied)
The lovers have lied (this is the time and place)

The song “Wine Red” by The Hush Sound utilizes rich color imagery and symbolism with allusions to create a beautiful song, with a mild satire on human nature. In most of their songs, The Hush Sound uses vivid imagery to paint intense mental pictures. “Wine Red” is a great example of the Hush Sound’s style. Many of the allusions in this song point to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Along with this comes the turmoil and trouble in the world, and how people continue to destroy the earth today. There are several allusions to Greek mythology or legends. The alliteration, juxtaposition, parallelism, and repetition help contribute to the song’s message. While the song may have religious allusions, it is not necessarily condoning any religion, especially since they blame Adam and Eve for the downfall of humanity. “Wine Red” has two levels- on the surface it is a catchy, fun song, but deeper lies the darker message of humankind.

The imagery of this song is violent and often unhappy. “Wine Red” opens with the line “Who shot that arrow in your throat”, which grabs the listener and causes a reaction. There is a large emphasis of colors, seen in “wine red“, “silver“, and “crimson“. Wine red is obviously a reference to blood, and the line, “the sea is wine red” could symbolize the widespread hatred and unhappiness in the world. It could also bring a sunset reflecting red light onto the sea, symbolizing the end or death of an era. The crimson apple is a reference to the Garden of Eden and the apple that supposedly undid everything. Also the lines “there is discord in the garden tonight” reinforce the Christian creation story. “I’ll set you up against the stars” calls to mind Greek myths where Gods alternately rewarded and punished people by immortalizing them in the night sky. This is ironic because “giving immortality” by being placed in the stars seem to be opposite actions. “The doves have died” symbolizes the death of peace and happiness. “The lovers have lied” reminds listeners of the lies Adam and Eve told when they allowed sin into the world. So many of the images have double meanings that this song has incredible depth and intricate symbolism.

The diction and word choice of The Hush Sound adds a lot to the overall meaning of the song. There is a lot of parallelism in the song, both for the sound’s purposes and to highlight the points the band wants to make. “The doves have died/the lovers have lied”, demonstrates parallelism and the way it can be used to make a point. There is a lot pf repetition, probably mostly for the flow of the song, but the repeating lines are very poignant. “This is the time and this is the place to be alive” also helps the rhythm and meaning. Many of the words themselves are very important to the song. “chaos“, “calamity“, “discord“, and “death” all provide a dark feel to the violent images of an arrow shot in someone’s throat. The sharp “c” sound also is a staccato feel reminiscent of panic or unhappiness found in the events of the beginning of the song.

Sounds are possibly the most important aspect to songs, especially with this song. Some sounds provide a cacophonous sound like “crimson apple”. The sharp “c” sound highlights the unpleasant situation that the world is in. There is a lot of alliteration in the song like “hung heavy,” “chaos, calamity” doves died” and “lovers lied”. These all simply allow the song to flow smoothly. The rhyme scheme is very complicated. Some parts do not rhyme at all, but the refrain has a simple ABAB or ABCC. Rhyming is very important to songs, and the overall sound juxtaposes the sad subject matter. The music is upbeat and not dark or depressing.

The song “Wine Red” has many literary devices to portray the unhappy nature of human kind. Drawing attention to the start of all of our troubles becomes the main topic of the song. The Hush Sound always creates a beautiful song that actually means something, instead of just creating songs to make money. While The Hush Sound is not the best known band, they have a lot of talent both lyrically, vocally, and musically. Their interesting blend of several creation stories allows the listener to form new ideas, or think about things they had never thought of before. That is really the point of art, create ideas or feelings in people previously inexperienced. This catharsis is especially present because this song repeats the important lines and highlights with alliteration and parallelism. The Hush Sound’s song has a deep meaning while being a pleasure to listen to.