Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: piano
Song Meaning of “Ashes Made of Spades” by The Rocket Summer
This song explores themes of vulnerability, strength, and perseverance. On one hand it speaks to the damaging and lonely place one can find themselves in, where life’s struggles can seem insurmountable. But it also proclaims the power within, and the beauty of enduring the worst of situations.
As the song begins, we are brought to a place of darkness and despair where success feels so out of reach that it’s as if, “the sun just can’t come back around”. The narrator acknowledges the sinking feeling of being helpless and alone, laying down on the ground and dreaming of a miraculous intervention that never seems to come.
And yet, against all odds, the narrator finds a newfound strength within. Instead of being crushed by the weight of his despair, he rise up and rebuild by polishing the ashes made of spades. As he recovers and rebuilds, he discovers that a strength he never knew he had. With a newfound resolve he throws off the chains of the past and stands tall — surrounded by a newfound sense of belonging.
The chorus speaks to the toil of the journey, but triumphs in the knowledge that each passing moment takes him one step closer to the shining light of freedom and peace. In the end, he’s emerged victorious, and despite the darkness of the past, finds hope in the possibility of a brighter future.