#sidenote if you know how to find scene packs please tell me (T_T) i have IDEAS

[dry-yellow-marker]

every day i loose my mind a little bit more thinking about rengoku kyojuro so here's an analysis of "where is your rider" by the oh hellos and how i relate it to his character

these lyrics could refer to rengoku upholding his father's legacy and the times where people mistake him for his father. there are two big instances of this that i know of: the elderly woman in mugen train and the former lower rank two demon from rengoku's spinoff chapter*.

in the genius annotation of this song, the line "but i know that wicked shape to your smile" is a reference to the previous song in the album, "pale white horse", and the crooked smile of death. this line could also relate to rengoku realizing that he is unlikely to survive the battle with akaza-- as a demon slayer and a hashira, he is very familiar with death and might know when it is coming. if you REALLY wanted to get into specifics, you could also argue that the line above it, "see, your face wasn't quite as i remember" could refer to the sickness and death of his mother-- with that context, this would mean that rengoku saw death up close in the form of watching his mother pass and now recognizes that it is coming for him.

*i haven't been able to get my hands on this myself so this info comes from the kny wiki

rengoku's self-sacrificial and selfless nature!! this is so him!! "so bury me as it pleases you lover / at sea, or deep within the catacomb" could be the uncertainty of a demon slayer's life and the constant threat of death that they face. rengoku worked tirelessly as a slayer and was well aware that he was likely going to die on the job, likely somewhere out of his control and far away from his home.

"but these bones never rested while living" is literally every hashira idk what to tell you just trust me this is the most rengoku lyric to ever lyric

if you wanted, you could also see the last line as akaza calling for rengoku to become a demon and not squander his potential; instead of "languishing in repose" (becoming weaker with time) he should preserve his strength. it could also be akaza asking rengoku directly, "how can you stand becoming weaker with age/time when you have so much strength?"

the first line is again a reference to "pale white horse", which establishes "the cavalry" as death. if we continue with our previous metaphor for death being akaza, this section of the song can be focused on akaza and rengoku's battle and their warring philosophies.

i like to wrap the first and second lines ("he has thrown down the cavalry as gravel sinks / and as the stone founders underneath the sundered sea of red and reed") into general "ooo big fight", but i'd be really interested to see if anyone had anything to add to these lyrics!!

finally, "the shadow of hades is fading / for he has cast down leviathan, the tyrant, and the horse and rider". the song originally contains this segment to emphasize jesus christ's defeat of death through his resurrection with the "horse and rider" referring to death again. however, for rengoku (who did NOT beat death smh) i think that this instead refers to his life & purpose fighting demons. "the shadow of hades is fading" is about his FEAR of death fading because he knows that saving the lives of the people around him is more important.

"For he has cast down Leviathan, the tyrant, and the horse and rider" could be some of his past achievements as a demon slayer if you stretch it a bit! this section of the song is the hardest for me to explain, so i apologize if it's a little iffy compared to the rest

"he will hold with all of his might the armies of night" is his battle with akaza (akaza, as an upper moon, being the "armies of night"). following that, "still as boulders laid to the side 'til we pass by" could be his motivation to defeat akaza-- protecting the train passengers and tanjiro, zenitsu, & inosuke.

an alternative perspective (because i have a lot of those apparently) is that the "armies of night" are demons as a whole and this refers to his career as a demon slayer overall. he neutralizes demons, rendering them "still as boulders" so that others can go about their lives without fear (pass by).

finally, i see this chunk as relating to rengoku's legacy and his impact on the main cast (mainly tanjiro).

"he has hoisted out of the mire every child" is him saving not only saving the passengers of the mugen train but also guiding and mentoring tanjiro, inosuke, and zenitsu throughout the mugen train arc. ("every child" being the main trio-- not as much nezuko unfortunately but i still love her).

"so lift your voice with timbrel and lyre" represents tanjiro's growth as a person and as a demon slayer following rengoku's mentorship and death. he promises to honor rengoku's sacrifice and legacy by "lifting his voice" to become a better and more dedicated protector.

"we will abide, we will abide, we will abide" is tanjiro specifically promising to carry rengoku's final words with him, literally abiding by his final words: set your heart ablaze.

in conclusion,