#two ep nazareth

[thesleeptokenarchive]

On This Day: August 18 2023

This day in August of 2023, II, our illustrious drummer of Sleep Token, posted a drum cam of Nazareth from a ritual earlier in Vienna.

[lifemod17]

Nahh cuz "they won't be missing you" panning from the left ear to the right and then back again??? Mister token the first, you are actually so sick for that 😭😭

[sweetmapple]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH

[spoiledleaff]

NAZARETH. NOW. PLEAAASEEEEE!

✿ �� okay, okay, haha! i know that this analysis is probably one of the most anticipated of the ep's songs, so i hope that i've done this analysis justice! :'D i'm also just gonna take a super quick moment to tag @excelsior9173, @laceandeights, and @pyrographic-memory!! i hope you all don't mind! :')) this is just because you all were so incredibly sweet with interacting with my original post, i figured i'd take a chance and tag you! :D there was also a super sweet anon who also asked for a nazareth analysis, but they asked on anon so i just hope that they see this, haha! :)

✿ — for a little bit of context, this ask is in reference to >>this<< post i made briefly going over my whole hc for the two ep!! :D you can also find my full analysis for calcutta >>here<<!! :)

anyways!! this post is gonna be another massive theory//headcannon post that will be focusing on the sleep token ep, two, and the second song, nazareth, as well as my hc that these songs are quite literally the basis for ii's backstory! :D i'm super proud with how this analysis turned out, and jericho is gonna be next up on that list! >:Dc followed by jaws and maybe even granite to tie it all up! :))

✿ — TWO + CALCUTTA.

↳ this is just a quick little summary of what we've analyzed so far!

this hc stems from the fact that every song from this ep are the only songs on spotify to list a 'vessel ii' as a composer alongside 'vessel'. and, of course, the ep is named 'two'! :D haha!

finally, i like to interpret calcutta as a song about hopelessness and about experiencing a growing sense of despair that can only come from loving another person that you cannot obtain. while sleep and their influences might be vessel's own personal prison—vessel is ii's calcutta; he is ii's prison that ii willingly crawls back into every night, just to have a moment where it is just the two of them. and i think that it is in this moment in time where sleep extends their influence to ii, intending to weaponize ii's jealousy and possessive thoughts to bring vessel closer to sleep. and this is where we've left off to prepare for our analysis of nazareth! :)

✿ — NAZARETH.

↳ tw + cw : discussions of death, jealousy, possessive thoughts, guns, domestic assault + murder. this one is a doozy!! please take care of yourself if you choose to continue.

✿ — before we deep dive into those lyrics, let's talk about what nazareth means! :)

✧ — as a name, 'nazareth' might mean 'a watch tower', but it's also been connected in the new testament with the word 'netzer' meaning 'a branch' or 'a shoot'. however! this doesn't mean 'shoot' as in with a gun, but 'a shoot' as in 'a growth that occurs from newly chopped down trees'. but!! this still has a chance to relate heavily to how sleep views their blessing specifically in vessel, mainly with how it is the consequences of the actions depicted in this song that leave a shoot of despair and resentment growing in both vessel and ii.

✧ — additionally, nazareth holds significant meaning in the new testament of christianity! nazareth is actually the childhood home of jesus, and it is in a synagogue of nazareth where jesus preached a sermon that eventually led to him being chased out of his boyhood home.

↳ but! why was jesus chased out of nazareth if that was his childhood home? well, when the people of nazareth demanded that jesus perform a miracle, jesus refused to do so because the people of nazareth did not have faith in him. the people of nazareth where so upset with jesus, that they wanted to throw him off a cliffside. now, this!! this is perhaps the most vital connection we have from the title of the song to its meaning! because, the reference of jesus' rejection by the people of nazareth could be interpreted as a very clear and intentional mirror of sleep's relationship with vessel.

✿ —alrighty!! these are pretty much the most important points i can make before we officially dive into the lyrics! the relationship between jesus and the people of nazareth is something that is absolutely imperative to keep in the back of your mind while we continue with the lyrics! >:Dc

✧ — as always, this is all a byproduct of my own personal opinions and headcannons, but i like to think that nazareth is a song about the drastic measures that sleep would go through in order to keep vessel tethered to them, using ii's pre-existing jealousy against vessel's current partner (as discussed in the calcutta analysis) as a weapon. i know i said that i wouldn't go through every single lyric in the previous analysis, i realize i kind of did anyways, haha! regardless, here is my interpretation of nazareth's lyrics. :)

✧ — super quick!! while calcutta, and later also jericho, are told from the perspective of ii, i think that nazareth is specifically from sleep's pov, talking directly to ii!! please keep this in mind while we continue! :D

' and i'll see you when the wrath comes // knocking on your bedroom door with money // building you a kingdom '

↳ this is sleep's promise to ii. throughout the entire course of the song, this is what sleep promises to ii. but what does this mean? i think this is sleep telling ii that they will be there when ii's anger and jealousy inevitably takes over—there will be a point in ii's life where this wrath will metaphorically knock on the door of ii's consciousness with money, with a deal that is too good to pass up. ii has alienated himself so much from vessel and his partner that it is with his jealousy and with his anger that he is building his own kingdom, he is growing too comfortable with all of these awful, awful feelings that are only further amplified by sleep's manipulation; ii is the king of his own misery, and sleep is there with him every step of the way.

' drippin' from the open mouth // i'll show you what you look like from the inside // and i'll see you when the wrath comes around '

↳ i think that these lines really start to illustrate for the audience just how much of a master manipulator sleep is as they continue to actively antagonize ii in regards to his immense jealousy of vessel's partner. using graphic imagery — perhaps even projecting the image of vessel's partner dying and bleeding out and dripping blood from their open mouth, already illustrating what they want ii to do — sleep continues to acknowledge ii's negative emotions, further reminding ii that his wrath will make itself known and sleep will be there when that happens.

' tonight, tonight, tonight // you have the answer '

↳ whereas sleep's previous words feel like a promise, these ones feel more like a taunt. a scathing reminder — a borderline prophecy — that sleep knows ii's fate. they're taunting him with this, though still trying to provoke ii.

' let's load the gun // make her eat the tape in the bathroom mirror // see if she can guess what // a hollow point does to a naked body // let's fuck her up '

↳ previously, sleep has been daydreaming about the violence that they want ii to unleash on vessel's partner, but here?? i think ii's sanity has finally snapped, and he currently has vessel's partner tied up and scared for their life as these lyrics are being sung. i think that the previous lyrics were nothing more than sleep's violent daydreams, but this verse is sleep describing all the things they want ii to do while vessel's partner is in the room with them.

↳ these lyrics are graphic, and it's deliberate. sleep wants vessel's partner to be afraid, they're toying with her life right in front of her eyes—sleep doesn't just want vessel's partner gone, they want her to suffer.

✧ — as a super quick interlude, i would just like to address sleep's motives before we continue with the rest of the analysis!!

in our calcutta analysis, we did briefly discuss why ii might be envious of vessel's partner—the reason being that ii might be envious of vessel's attentions being so divided between himself and vessel's partner, with ii feeling as though vessel doesn't care about ii when he's able to be with his partner, only defaulting to ii's company during the nighttime, when she is not available to be around vessel. which, to be fair, is honestly a totally valid human emotion! ii doesn't think of harming vessel's partner until sleep begins influencing him and taunting him. in calcutta, there isn't really any graphic displays of ii wishing any harm, let alone violence on vessel's partner—there is an instance where ii was rude to vessel's partner by completely dismissing her importance in vessel's life, but these wishes for violence don't make themselves terribly known until sleep starts taunting ii. but why would sleep be jealous alongside ii? well, i think that while ii has a very natural + human experience with his envy, sleep's jealousy is completely irrational and inhuman; it's completely possessive of vessel. sleep isn't used to vessel, or ii for that matter, interacting with anyone outside of sleep's influence. i think that sleep, as a deity, is used to being the center of attention—quite literally the center of worship. to them, vessel's partner feels like a threat, a distraction to vessel's worship. sleep doesn't simply want to occupy vessel's mind during the night, they want to occupy his mind and his attention at all given times. i think that knowing how ii shares those sentiments — albeit to a much more human and less completely dangerous degree; 'i'm whole again // for just a moment // 'till the morning comes' — sleep is able to poison ii's judgment and weaponize their shared jealousy to take vessel's partner out of the picture. i think the meaning behind the title of the song is that little hint that we need to properly understand sleep's motives! just like jesus when he refused to give the people of nazareth a miracle because they did not have faith, sleep is acting in a very similar way, albeit much more twisted. instead of simply rejecting vessel, sleep is rejecting his partner, the supposed source of vessel's sudden lack of faith. okay! back to the analysis >:Dc

' manifest pain at the core of pleasure // i'll see you when the wrath comes around '

↳ i think this line is meant to be split up between being addressed to vessel's partner and being addressed to ii. sleep has been an open antagonist throughout the entirety of this song; they want vessel's partner — and by extension, the audience — to absolutely suffer. sleep wants vessel's partner to think of vessel as she passes, sleep wants her to think of all the good times she's experienced with him + all the wonderful moments of her life she's spent with her loved one, and sleep wants her to die thinking of him; they want her to feel immense pain where there was once pleasure.

✿ — BIG, BIG TW FOR A DESCRIPTION OF BODY HORROR + GENITAL HORROR!! i totally understand if that's not your cup of tea!! please skip this next indented section!!!

↳ in a much more... gruesome approach, i think that this line might also be able to be taken quite literally—this is how ii kills vessel's partner. ii either shoots her in the heart, or... he might have also shot her in her lower abdomen, specifically targeting her reproductive system. sleep is so desperate to cause vessel's partner immense pain in the moments leading to her death that they are willing to have ii do anything to desecrate her humanity + any semblance of love she might've held for vessel—sleep wants vessel's partner to die with a twisted memory of vessel's love. regardless, because of this sentiment, i think this line specifically is a jab at vessel's emotions. of course, i always wanna insert my trans! ii headcannon into literally anything i write regarding this man, haha! so there's also a possible symbolic disconnect there if you really wanna think some sad thoughts :'D

↳ of course, we end with sleep's taunt towards ii, a reminder of what his rage + jealousy has forced him to do.

' tonight, tonight, tonight // you have the answer '

↳ this reoccurrence of this line had me going through the lyrics of all of the ep's songs quite a few times, because i never really remembered there being an actual question that might've been phrased or even referenced throughout the course of the ep. then, of course, i realized i'm writing a story for sleep token and quickly backtracked, haha! :'D i think this supposed 'question' is more-so implied in the aspects of ii's character that we see throughout the ep. i think that, deep down, this is another manipulation tactic used by sleep.

↳ vessel's partner is important to vessel, but obviously not to sleep. i like to think that ii was much more hesitant to accept sleep's blessings and their influence than vessel was, but his actions tonight have made it 'clear' that ii will do what he is told, even if that means harming vessel in the process. his allegiances are ultimately with sleep, not with vessel.

↳ (not really, haha! like i said, i think that this is another manipulation tactic used by sleep against ii. i think that, at this point, sleep is still obsessed with vessel and only vessel. ii is... interesting to them, but more-so in a useful sense than a 'hey, i actually kinda like this funky little fellow' kind of way, haha! sleep loves vessel, like, in a toxic, yandere kind of way. they want ii to feel guilty about what he's been coerced to do; they want ii to forcibly alienate himself even more from vessel, because ii loves vessel as well! and sleep unfortunately does know this.)

' let's load the gun // (they won't be missing you, they won't be missing you) // let's load the gun // (see you when the wrath comes, see you when the wrath comes) // let's load the gun // (see you when the wrath comes) '

↳ this is all sleep; ordering ii to load the gun, mocking vessel's partner over never being missed, and once again taunting ii over how easily his jealousy has gotten the better of him. this is where it all happens, and this is where it all ends.

↳ something i noticed while listening to this song on repeat, haha! now, i'm not experienced with music in any way, shape, or form, but to my uneducated ear, it sounds like there are two separate breakdowns towards the final minutes of the song—one following immediately after when vessel finishes singing, and another following a small piano-based transition that ends the song. i think that these two breakdowns symbolize our timelines!

↳ the first breakdown is when ii finally gives into sleep's demands and shoots vessel's partner until she's dead in the bathroom. the second breakdown is when ii completely loses it over what he's done.

✿ — to put it all together!! i don't think that ii can be entirely blamed for the murder of vessel's partner. with this story + interpretation, ii was entirely coerced, borderline possessed and overpowered by sleep's own possessive thoughts toward vessel, and inevitably manipulated into doing an extreme action when he wasn't in his right mind. (am i condoning this sort of reason in real life?? hell no!! but, as a very gentle reminder, this is fantasy! and like to think that i'm allowed to have my brain read too deep between the lines of a sleep token ep and come back to this silly little blog to report my findings and my daydreams, haha!) but ii's jealousy and wrath have made themselves known, and sleep was especially quick to monopolize on that—weaponizing ii's own emotions in a way that would directly benefit sleep through the murder of vessel's partner. this song is a warning; it is a threat and it's especially graphic and unsettling because sleep wants that reminder to forever haunt not only vessel, but ii as well, for the rest of their lives and their servitude to sleep. ii was the one holding the gun, but it was inevitably sleep that forced him to pull the trigger.

✿ — and that's it!! :D this concludes my analysis + narrative interpretation of the song nazareth from the ep, two! :)) once again, as a friendly reminder, this is just my own interpretation of the lyrics through a strictly narrative lense :) i don't think this could be actual sleep token canon, haha! i just think that this would make a very fun and interesting story for my own selfish reasons, haha! next up on the list is jericho, and then i'll for sure be making an analysis for jaws to tie everything all up! :) please feel free to let me know what you think of this analysis! :D this one was definitively a challenge to get through, but i've no doubt that jericho is going to be even harder in terms of angsty emotions as that one focuses more on ii's consequences and how they impact his relationship with vessel. :'D ahhhh, i'm not readyyyy, haha!

[hxneyydew222]

my brother's of sleep, it's that time once again.

[sleep-token-confessions]

personally, I don’t feel like many sleep token songs are sexual. esp the ones everyone’s convinced are sexual (summoning, sugar, etc). Unless I just suck at analyzing lyrics but even then I don’t interpret most songs as sexual. I understand Nazareth and some on the Two ep do have those connotations and I can’t argue with that but everything else...

We know Vessel uses the tasting and eating motifs a lot but I strongly think he doesn’t mean oral lmao.

.

[leonsleftbicep]

listening to the two ep with my mom and she pointed out something

here’s something she said:

“vessel seems disconnected from the lyrics. almost completely but its like he’s embodying someone else”

i looked over at her and explained how people speculate that the Two ep WAS written by II. and that the One ep is written by Vessel.

she nodded along and explained how bits of Nazareth dont sound like vessel, they sound like someone else singing it but in the end its all vessel.

i also told her about how people say that Missing Limbs is about III.

(also, first mother goose post in a while!)

[sleepanonymous]

Hi, do you have the illustrations for the albums, any of them saved somewhere? Can I please get a link if you do? For the life of me I can't find the piece of art I'm looking for.

Hello Anon! Yes, I do have (most) of the official Sleep Token Album Art. It's in my Google Drive here.

In case you or anyone else is curious as to what I have in the Official Art folder, here's a list:

Old Sleep Token Logo (transparent w/ band name)

Thread The Needle Single cover artwork (with transparent version)

One EP cover artwork (Original and Nemesis Redesign, with transparent versions)

Two Album cover artwork

Calcutta and Nazareth artwork (Jericho is unfortunately missing)

Newest Sleep Token Logo (transparent including Sundowning sigils)

Sundowning promotional photos by Andy Ford including sigils

Various Nemesis Designs promotional artworks for Sundowning and This Place Will Become Your Tomb, as well as vinyl mockup photos

This Place Will Become Your Tomb album cover gif

This Place Will Become Your Tomb creatures (in blue and high contrast black and white + some extras)

This Place Will Become Your Tomb artbook scans (courtesy of @murderofcrow)

Take Me Back To Eden runes

Take Me Back To Eden Creatures (including transparent versions of each creature representing a single and the song TMBTE)

There's a bit more in there too, but by no means is the collection complete lol. I hope I have what you need, though!

[melit0n]

for the lyrics thing: “there’s something in the way you lay / that makes the dead switch graves / you take your leave” from Jericho. is “you lay” a euphemism for sleeping around (so the person is so sexually active that they make the dead roll in their grave)? or is it saying that the person is so wonderful that they can even move the dead? i’ve never been able to figure it out so i’d love to hear your thoughts!

I was hoping someone would ask about the Two ep! Just my luck, thank you anon <33

In the UK, and in America as well I'm pretty sure, "lay" is used as slang for having sex with someone, so you're right on that part, definitely. However, the line "there's something in the way you lay" brings both negative and positive connotations to me. He's saying 'there's just something about you. The way you look like that.' There's either a sense of stillness and serenity with it; a calm brought about by the way they lay, possibly asleep next to their partner.

On note of the next line, which I'll talk about in a moment, a large amount of people are known to 'sleep like they're dead', and others note that having Sleep Paralysis feels like death. The Dead are often confused for the sleeping as well, as long as they don't have any noticible abnormalities.

Even though two is quite sexually charged, I mean hey, take a look at Nazareth, I'd like to go with it being they're just so wonderful, or, in the least, appear to be so.

"Enough to make the dead switch graves" Is a stupidly powerful line. Whoever this is is just asleep, or sleeping around, and they have enough authority to make the dead switch graves.

In addition to this, a typical euphemism you may hear is 'make the dead roll in their grave'. It's one thing to do something so disgusting that you make the dead roll around, but this is something enough for these corpses to get reanimated, dig their selves out, get up, walk to another grave, and switch. This person's mere existence is potent enough that it causes the deceased to get up and leave.

It gives the vibe of a shift in the natural order of things, if that makes sense.

Plus, plus, in Islam (I know, I'm back at the religion again, bare with me lads), after a person has died, it is believed they will rest in their grave until The Day Of Judgement where they will be full body resurrected and either be taken to Paradice or Hell. Aka, the corpse will be reanimated to be eternally judged. There's also a similar idea in Christian theology; some denominations believe they die and either straight up go to Heaven or Hell, or will wait in their grave to be reanimated and judged on Judgement Day. Just something to think about.

Further, Jericho is the 'oldest city in the world', and makes an appearance in the Bible and the Qur'an; Israelites conquer the city and destroy it's protective walls. Nazareth was the home of Mary in the Bible and also where she received Annunciation. Calcutta is the old name for the capital of British India (now called Kolkata). Overarching theme of big cities with violent histories.

Lastly, we have "you take your leave". It's sung in a very final tone, if you get what I mean. Basically a 'you leaving isn't a big deal...but it means a lot to me. You've hurt me; again.'. There's not much to analyse here; it's simple and it's final. Whoever this is is gone, either 'dead' and so thoroughly disgusted/angered by Vessel that they've reanimated themselves and walked off, and Vessel will spend his time dissecting old encounters and feeding off of whatever he can salvage.

On the note of 'death', a bed can also be a grave for some people, either a metaphorical one or a literal one.

[aquareegia]

Same as in the other poll for the One EP, I'm curious to see which of the songs from Two is the most popular.

I feel like Nazareth will win this one, my favourite is Jericho tho. 😁

[thesleeptokenarchive]

On This Day: June 19 2017

Seven years ago this day, Sleep Token released Nazareth as the second single of their EP "Two". The EP was released in full July 21 2017.

At this time, the only promotional evidence curated is this post on the site formerly known as Twitter, directing to a now deleted Basick Records post.

Nazareth cover image from the single release on Spotify when using this link.

The title on this image appears to be "Nazareth" using the written Arabic language but with each letter reversed. While researching this single, the image above also appears reversed on Discogs and on Spotify. The proper way to write out Nazareth in Arabic is "الناصرة".

Per this source, this song was produced by George Lever. The writers credited are Vessel I and Vessel II. Vessel is shown as the performer for vocals, guitar, bass, and piano. Drums show II is listed.

Any additional information, or resources, from that time frame regarding this single release is welcome. As is any correction of the aforementioned.

[lifemod17]

Nazareth spoilers

He's gonna make her eat the WHAT in the bathroom mirror?!?!!

[foundationsofdecay]

I mean really though, why is Gods the only main trilogy song to have an explicit rating?? Nazareth is explicit, but are the two that similar? Was it deliberate to have Gods be explicit and therefore limit the reach of that album, like how the Two EP must have also been limited despite the extremely narrow release that EP had to begin with? If it was done deliberately, why were no songs on TPWBYT or TMBTE made to be given that rating? It's not exactly uncommon to ensure at least one song on an album gets that rating on purpose, and there's only one "fuck" in Gods that earned it, so what was the reasoning there? Was it a line of thought that ended up being dropped later, maybe by management as popularity increased? An imagined through-line between some songs that ended up falling by the wayside for some other reason? Is there something to be read into from that? I don't have many lore-focused guesses, given how much could be due to irl things that we will never know about that would be more likely than any deliberate actions, but it still bugs me. Or, sticks in my head. I could understand if Nazareth was an exception, there's so much happening in that song that would make it the perfect song to be singled out in that manner, but Gods? Really? Why?? Why is your "fucking form [...] but a wreck beneath them?" That can't have been done on accident, it's one singular "fuck" that gets the whole album rated that way, at least to my knowledge, so what's special about that song, about both songs? What connects Gods to Nazareth in a way that other songs don't?

aka: LET VESSEL SAY FUCK 2K24

[spoiledleaff]

i think one of my silliest sleep token hcs is that the ep named two released in 2017 is quite literally ii’s backstory and his relationship with both vessel and sleep as in the song calcutta it shows ii’s reverence towards vessel and the beginnings of their relationship whereas in the song nazareth it shows ii’s jealousy and how sleep manifested in his consciousness as wishes for pure violence and finally in the song jericho it shows the consequences of ii’s actions and how it would forever impact his relationship with vessel and that the release of this ep is vessel’s way of forgiving ii for everything that happened and the music in and of itself is an offering for ii’s atonement :3

[ghostface-com]

guys... sleep token fr has me in a chokehold. like, uhm.

normally, i dont listen to EPs. But the moment I heard Nazareth and Thread the Needle? MY GOD.

anyways... listen to One and Two by Sleep Token. please, istg, my brain is melting

[mixdgrlproblems]

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#ElianMarjieh (known by her stage name #Elyanna) is a #mixed #Palestinian-#Chilean singer and songwriter. She has released two EPs: Elyanna (2020) and Elyanna II (2022). She is currently signed to Universal Arabic Music. Her singles Ana Lahale, Ghareeb Alay, and Ala Bali have all charted on The Official Lebanese Top 20.

She was born and raised in #Nazareth, Israel and is of Palestinian and Chilean descent. Her mother is a poet, and her grandfather is a poet and singer. She began singing at age seven and started posting covers of songs on SoundCloud as a teenager. In 2017, at age 15, she and her family moved to San Diego, California (eventually settling in Los Angeles) to further pursue her musical career. After arriving in the United States, she began posting covers on her Instagram, where she garnered a following of around 300,000 users. Elyanna’s music is a mix of Arabic and Western beats, something that the singer ascribes to her multinational upbringing.

“Growing up, I was inspired by a lot of genres such as jazz; it was all I would sing as a young girl. When I moved to the US, I felt an immediate connection with Arabic music and my culture. It gave me another perspective on the type of music I wanted to create.”

She just made history at #Coachella in April 2023 for being the first act to perform a full set in Arabic. She also set a precedent as the first Arabic-language artist to perform at the event.

"I always say that when you're an #immigrant, you get really attached to your culture more than ever. So when I moved to the US, I feel like I figured out who I am, and I figured out how beautiful our culture is. And I just wanted to embrace it the whole time. I want to show people a new culture. I feel like a lot of cultures, like Latin, Spanish, you hear them everywhere, and you don't understand everything, but it's so beautiful how international it is. So it's, like - it's not necessarily you have to understand what I'm saying, but it's all about the emotions and how it makes you feel." 🇵🇸🇨🇱 #arabamericanheritagemonth #mixedarab #halfarab #mixedgirl