#“Get in the sea” is a euphemism in the North West of England meaning “Go fuck yourself”

[sciencevillain]

Eurus’s Song Analysis

This meta started out as something in connection to Redbeard = Love, but quickly morphed into random thoughts on symbolism and meanings within the song. So take this more as an open-ended reference than anything else; something you can refer back to when writing Eurus-song-meta of your own. ;) There’s also some interesting discoveries around if the numbers (9x19, 6x6, etc) correlate to chapter and verse references in the book of John, in the bible.

Song lyrics in bold, thoughts are not-bold. Let’s dive in, shall we?

~

I that am lost, oh who will find me? Deep down below the old beech tree.

“I” = Sherlock’s ability to express emotions, especially love. Therefore, his love for john is lost. Even though Eurus wrote the song, the “I” could be from Victor-Trevor’s perspective, or hers, or both.

Beech trees:

Have sweet, edible nuts. You all know what “nuts” are a euphemism for.

Wikipedia says, “In England, the iconic bluebell woods, filled in spring with bluebells, are beech woods.“ Not sure what to do with that information, but the word “bluebell” came up in THoB.

This tree apparently symbolizes learning / knowledge / understanding. At first I didn’t see anything interesting about that symbolism, but there’s actually a lot to think about. His loving side is buried deep beneath a symbol of knowledge, which represents how he has suppressed his emotions in favor of being smarter and better at sleuthing. It could also represent that he doesn’t understand love, since it’s buried under a symbol for understanding.

Help succor me now the east winds blow. Sixteen by six, brother, and under we go!

I wasn’t going to bother with the numbers, but then I remembered the book of John in the bible, and John chapter 16 seems like a possibility in terms of being intentionally referenced by Mofftiss.

John chapter 16, the verses numbered in superscript, and verse 6 itself bolded:

(Jesus speaking to the 12 apostles, soon before he lets the pharisees crucify him.) 1 All this I have told you so that you will not fall away (so that we won’t fall away from believing in tjlc after the show gets “crucified” for the joke of TFP). 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God (people hating on tjlcers). 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me (antis don’t understand the gay motives of mofftiss). 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. (not sure if mofftiss actually warned us...? whatever...) I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ (Jesus is talking about how the apostles don’t realize he’s talking about literally dying, they just think he’s going on a trip [hiatus?], and he’s thinking oh man, you mortals... you’re gonna flip... [Mofftiss: lol they have no idea we’re gonna literally destroy the show]) 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. (our speculations about how TFP shows casuals that the show sucks without Johnlockian subtext? TFP being “for johnlock’s good”?)  Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; (unless they do this melodramatic weird TFP crash-and-burn thing, johnlock won’t happen??) but if I go, I will send him (johnlock) to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

(There’s a LOT more under the cut, which I encourage you to read! I go through each couple of lines in the song in excruciating detail. It’s even longer than my Redbeard meta, so I figured I’d save your dash from scrolling down for 130 years. If you prefer scrolling down a lot rather than loading a new page, just let me know and I’ll edit this post to get rid of the cut.)

Now let’s look at the meaning of the east wind:

Wikipedia says, “In greek mythology, Eurus, the east wind, was the only wind not associated with any of the three (!!) Greek seasons, and is the only one of these four Anemoi not mentioned in Hesiod's Theogony or in the Orphic Hymns.” Could this be alluding to the “elephant in the room”, that is not mentioned even though it hides in plain sight? Remember that Eurus hides under three different, fairly normal disguises; red wig, grey wig, and blonde wig; before revealing her fourth identity, an implausible thing that doesn’t fit with any of the previous context of the show. Are her three disguises somehow representing the other three winds? I dunno. I’m not going to research the personalities of the north, west, and south winds right now. Maybe in another meta.

According to a bible meanings website, the east wind represents “the dispersion of evil and falsities”(!!!) Many religions also believe that when Christ comes again, he will come from the East. When Johnlock comes, it must emerge after the east wind f**kiness of S4.

“In chapters 10 and 14 of Exodus, the east wind is summoned by Moses to bring the locusts that plague Egypt and to part the Red Sea so that the Children of Israel can escape pharaoh's armies.” I might be reading too much into things here, but Eurus certainly brought a metaphorical “plague” to the show and fandom, and (assuming EMP is real), was part of an episode designed to make “The Heteronormative Armies” realize johnlock is necessary.

Another interesting thing from Wikipedia: “[The East Wind is] also called ‘the wind of the Lord’ (Hosea 13:15), it is ‘prepared’ by God (Jonah 4:8) for the purpose of destroying the ungodly and unrighteous. The Lord has stated, ‘If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction’ (Mosiah 7:31).” Eurus could represent homophobia in connection with Christians who think God thinks homosexuality is “filthy” and “unrighteous”, coming out of nowhere and making the plot make no sense, just to “defend against gayness”. Ugh.

And now, I bring you... ACD canon itself!

Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story, "His Last Bow", ends with Holmes' addressing his assistant Doctor Watson on the eve of the First World War:

“ "There's an east wind coming, Watson."

"I think not, Holmes. It is very warm." (lol, just like we were like “johnlock is coming during TFP” before it came out.)

"Good old Watson! You are the one fixed point in a changing age. There's an east wind coming all the same, such a wind as never blew on England yet. It will be cold and bitter (aka bitterly confusing, like Eurus), Watson, and a good many of us may wither before its blast (people giving up on tjlc, anger at the show’s writers for being so stupid). But it's God's own wind none the less, and a cleaner, better, stronger land will lie in the sunshine when the storm has cleared." (Johnlock comes when the storm of heteronormative-episode TFP has passed.)

It’s also interesting that Sherlock says this on the eve of WWI. Does this crazy hiatus count a war? Is the fandom divided enough? Are people confused enough? I’ll leave you to your conclusions.

Without your love, he’ll be gone before. Save pity for strangers, show love the door.

Can it get any more blatant? The at-face-value-level reading of this line, within the episode, is talking about Victor Trevor (a John mirror) needing Sherlock’s love. There’s also the fact that John is trapped in a well while Sherlock deciphers this line. Whoever you’re talking about, it heavily implies that Sherlock loves the person that’s in danger. So he’s gay (surprise!!!!!). I’m not sure what “before” means. Maybe it’s just a rhyme to go with “door”? And “save pity for strangers” is odd too. Wouldn’t you think “don’t save pity for strangers” makes more sense, generally? “Show love the door” sounds like kicking love out the door, unless it’s talking about showing love the door into you heart. I can’t find any bible references that use these lines, nor anything else on the internet.

My soul seek the shade of my willow’s bloom Inside, brother mine - Let Death make a room.

Willows:

“Have a propensity to grow near a source of water” (*cough* the well *cough*).

Symbolize grief and healing, as well as everlasting life. Can be reproduced by planting a twig in moist soil. Ironically, in Christianity, there is a symbolic connection between willow trees and death. Combine those two (death and immortality), and you get... resurrection symbolism?

Willows are very flexible, and able to bend during strong winds without breaking. Huh... like the show itself bending in a weird direction under Eurus’s influence? 

Some website about tree symbolism said “The willow reminds us to let go and to surrender completely to our innermost selves and to gain a deeper understanding of our subconscious. We can also look at how the willow tree encourages the expression of deep emotions, including grief and sadness through tears and teaching us the value and consequences of love and loss.” Johnlocky and EMP-ish, ain’t it?

Let death make a room? Sounds like his subconscious is telling him to give up and die. Yikes.

Be not afraid to walk in the shade. Save one, save all, come try!

“Shade” meaning the shade of the willow, as described in the previous three lines. If we look at the symbolism of the willow, Eurus is telling Sherlock to not be afraid to take the path of emotions, even if it brings him grief, because it will also bring healing.

There’s a Japanese song called “Save the one, save the all”, but I couldn’t find a good translation of the lyrics. Here they are in Japanese, even if the title is probably just a coincidence.

“I solve the murder, but John Watson saves the life.” Sounds similar to that last line there, for some reason. No solid conclusions here, just dead ends.

My steps - five by seven Life is closer to Heaven Look down, with dark gaze, from on high…

Life is closer to heaven = Sherlock’s closer to dying.

John chapter 5 says (same deal, verse 7 is bolded... sorry, no verse numbering here) -- (oh yeah, also note that chapter 5 happens way before chapter 16, referenced earlier in the meta)

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. (side note: they like the pool so much because they believed that when the water was “stirred”, as in moving due to wind or something, it had powers to heal any sickness.) One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

I don’t have much to analyze about that verse of scripture... only that water plays a large part in S4 and TFP.

There’s also no ideas on my part about the “dark gaze” line. Maybe in connection with the line before it, you could interpret it as the dark, high-horsing gaze of homophobia, which brings Sherlock closer to death, where he’d go to homophobic Christian “heaven” for not acting on his gayness?

Before he was gone - right back over my hill. Who now will find him? Why, nobody will.

Before he, aka the show’s emotional/gay subtext, was gone?

I’m not getting much out of these lines. Only that if Eurus is an enemy to Sherlock’s emotional side, she’s probably rooting for “nobody”( aka “nemo”, in Latin) ever being able to unbury and release Sherlock’s emotional side. Doom shall I bring to him, I that am queen. Lost here forever, nine by nineteen.

Going back to the idea of Eurus representing homophobia, which I’ve seen floating around on my dash (if you wrote about it, post a link and I’ll link it here), or at least being against Sherlock uncovering his emotional side ... Eurus is like “mwahahaha, johnlock is doomed! Lost forever! Straightness is queen! Gayness is wrong, and I’ve destroyed it!” Or, “Emotionalness is stupid and dangerous, and I’ve destroyed it so you can be the most logical detective ever!”

Now for chapter 9 of John. Which is kinda exciting, because there’s so much to get out of it.

1 As he (meaning Jesus) went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. (I think when Jesus says “night”, he means the time period after all the original apostles die, when Christianity gets really confusing and corrupt and splintered, esp. the dark ages.) 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam”. So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. 11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

12 “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said.

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. (If you’re not familiar with the bible, here’s a quick description of the pharisees: the corrupt, hypocritical, yet influential Jewish leaders, who were always trying to trick Jesus, and were the ones that plotted to kill him, including shouting “crucify him!” at the Roman judge guy, who said “fine, crucify this guy if you want, but he’s innocent.”) 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. (Again, the pharisees told people it was sinful to do work on the Sabbath, including healing people.) 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided. (tjlc metaphor: some of the fandom’s like “TFP and S4 sucked, Mofftiss aren’t keeping the laws of good storytelling”, while others are like “how could they write a bad episode on accident, when they’ve written such great stuff in the past? No, they know what they’re doing, and they’ve given us tons of signs to let us know it’s EMP.”)

17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”

20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. (or, anyone that thinks johnlock is endgame will be ridiculed.) 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man (aka Jesus) is a sinner. 25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (I have to mention our speculations about John being shot in the eye and made blind in one eye here, it’s just too much. Even if it’s unlikely that TLD was real at all, the whole being-blind thing is a big part of this bible chapter. Of course, being blind and then recieving sight could refer to the countless people who were blind to tjlc before TFP (like me!!!!), and “now see” tjlc as plain as day, thanks to it being the only explanation for why TFP sucks.)

26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? (lol, when we try to explain our super-extensive metas about johnlock to people who just don’t see tjlc, even after TFP.) Do you want to become his disciples too?” 28 Then they hurled insults at him (woah, watch out, here come the Jesus antis) and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out. (tjlc metaphor again: the guy given johnlock sight uses logic to defend his position, while the antis just shout lame insults at him and get angry for... no reason??? Just because they have no evidence to counter sight-guy’s evidence and they find it embarrassing??? I can’t even)

35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” (when someone’s like “TFP sucked!?” and their friends disagree with them, but that someone still doesn’t know about tjlc yet, and then the tjlc meta descends onto their search screen and they’re like ohhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHH)

38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said,[a] “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” 40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” 41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. (heh, the antis are like “you callin’ us blind???” and Jesus is like “no, you’ve heard the evidence for me being the messiah (I mean, for johnlock being endgame) and decided to ignore it, so you’re WILLFULLY blind, you homophobics.)

That commentary of John chapter 9 was a bit too salty, so... disclaimer: I think when we say “antis”, we’re talking about people who pick fights with tjlcers and hate on our theories, and create entire websites just to sh** on us, right? We’re not talking about people who merely disagree that johnlock is endgame. There’s nothing homophobic about a difference of opinion.

Anyway, that’s all my research into Eurus’s song! Thanks for sticking around on that wild ride. As always, let me know if you don’t want to be tagged, because I’m just gonna tag people that showed interest in my previous meta. Feel free to tag me as well, if you ever use this post as inspiration for writing meta of your own.

@marathecactupus @sherlockians-get-bored @goodmythicalmail @the-7-percent-solution @sherlock-overflow-error @loudest-subtext-in-tv @mrskolesouniverse @possiblyimbiassed @johnlock-is-my-life @sarahthecoat @ebaeschnbliah @sianbrooke @gosherlocked