“(D)eath” by Avenged Sevenfold
“(D)eath” is the penultimate track on the standard playlist of Avenged Sevenfold’s album “Life Is but a Dream…”, as issued by Warner Records on 2 June 2023.
The writers of this song, individually, are also the five members of the band, who are as follows:
- M. Shadow (frontman)
- Brooks Wackerman (drummer)
- Johnny Christ (bassist)
- Synyster Gates (lead guitarist)
- Zacky Vengeance (rhythm guitarist)
All five members of the band are also credited with producing the track, as a unit, alongside Joe Barresi.
Lyrics of “(D)eath”
It appears that this song’s narrator is taking on the role of a character who proceeds to unalive himself. And honestly the lyrics, especially the second verse, do read as if they are implying such.
As for the first verse, the day starts off for the vocalist as it does with most of us, i.e. with Shadows washing his face, making his bed and putting his room in order. However, afterwards he writes a note, which isn’t, shall we say, a common morning time practice.
He then “leave(s) it on the fireplace”. And, all things considered – such as also taking the title into consideration for instance – this would likely be his suicide note.
In the second verse, we find Shadows “star(ing) out in the distance of the city scene from way up here”, where “it’s so serene”. So, it sounds like he has made his way up to the roof of a tall building in an urban setting.
He continues to “make (himself) more comfortable with the edge”, presumably the ledge of the roof and then “leap(s) into the darkest night”. Afterwards he goes on to express a ‘satisfying’ feeling of ‘liveliness’, the type he never experienced before, though one as we will take as being short-lived if he actually jumped off the roof.
But that said, what he may be alluding to in terms of said sensation is finally feeling as if he is free of life’s problems.
Lastly, it should be noted that this all may be in the singer’s imagination anyway. In other words, both verses begin with the preposition “in my dreams” and end with it, in their own respective ways, also. So it may well be that they reflect a suicide fantasy, if you will, i.e. the vocalist imagining that making an extreme move as implied in the second verse may would actually be a viable means to achieve ultimate gratification.
The way I see it this song implies Ego Death not literal suicide…as that has been explored in the opening track Game Over….