“End (The Other Side)” by Fit for a King

Some of us are such that we have never experienced the death of someone really-really close to us. That is partially how Ryan Kirby described the backdrop of “End (The Other Side)”, as his wife having a stroke and nearly dying, and himself, never having endured the passing of a person so near to him, being totally unprepared for that prospect.

And the lyrics actually do an outstanding job of encapsulating that entire narrative without directly doing so per se. For instance, we see that the addressee had a near-death experience, and in reading in-between the lines during the latter part of the first verse, it is also cleverly put forth that cause was her suffering from a stroke. 

The thesis sentiment being put forth, quite forcefully, is that the singer does not perceive how he would be able to go through life if she actually were taken away.

Speaking of which, usually in such context the term “the other side” is meant to point to the afterlife. But here, it’s rather the vocalist who is applying that metaphor to himself, i.e. painfully imagining how his own life would be if his significant other were to pass. And his response is that he ‘doesn’t think he’ll survive’. 

And yes, people can, according to science, actually die from grief. But all lyrics considered, he’s not speaking to literally dying himself. Instead, let’s say like any true spouse, Ryan does not perceive how he can navigate through this world without his soulmate. That said, it should be stated that this is not as much of a literal statement as it is an emotional one.

Conclusion

But that noted, what the conclusion revolves around is, after having this indirect brush with death, Ryan realizing that dying itself is inevitable. In other words, as commonly known as that fact may be, the looming presence of death is something the vocalist never fully appreciate until nearly losing someone he can’t do without. And in closing, it should be noted that the lyrics themselves never reveal the nature of the relationship between the singer and addressee nor the gender of the latter.  So this song does, in a large part, have a general applicability.

Fit for a King

Fit for a King (FFAK) is a metalcore act that traces its origins back to the mid-aughts and the Texan city of Tyler. They have experienced notable success on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart, with five of the six studio albums they’ve released thus far scoring within the top 10 of that list. 

But the group’s achievements on US Christian Albums chart are arguably more noteworthy, as for instance their last album, “The Path” (2020), reached the summit of the list. But that said, it does not appear that FFAK is actually classified as a Christian act.

“End (The Other Side)”

Interestingly, none of the founders of FFAK are still down with the band as of the release of this track on 11 August 2022 (nor have they been since the late aughts). Instead, the most-tenured member would be guitarist Bobby Lynge, who has held that position since 2010. And since then, he’s been respectively joined by vocalist Ryan Kirby, bassist Tuck O’Leary, guitarist Daniel Gailey and drummer Trey Celaya.

This track is backed by Solid State Records, i.e. the label behind “The Hell We Create”, which is the FFAK album which “End (The Other Side)” is derived from.