Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: emo
Song Meaning of “Familiar Presides” by Moss Icon
Moss Icon’s ‘Familiar Presides’ is a piercingly personal song that reflects the struggles that come from trying to live a life of morality in a harsh, unfair world. The lyrics explore the tension between holding on to an innate sense of righteousness in the face of nihilism and despair, but not knowing where that might lead. It is a song filled with frustrations and emotions that come from confronting a murky morality, and its lyrics serve both as a warning and as an exhortation to keep searching for one’s own sense of justice.
The chorus of the song is particularly powerful, reflecting the decisions we must make in challenging times. The narrator asks, “Do you weigh the gold of values or the cold weight of deeds?” In other words, does one choose in favor of their inner morality—their values—or does one simply do whatever it takes to survive in a society where corruption and wrong-doing is the only thing that is rewarded? While one might feel safer by choosing the latter, the chorus serves as a reminder of the spiritual and moral cost of doing so.
The lyrics also make pointed commentaries on our current state of political and social unrest. The narrator questions, “Does familiar preside or is it only hatred that will carry you away?” The familiar in this sense might refer to the seemingly safer option of doing whatever it takes to get whatever one wants, while hatred might mean a taken to action driven by anger and desperation. This could imply that those with a sense of familiarity with their environment often find themselves drowning in a sea of hatred, and those who do not might be able to find a way out of it.
Ultimately, ‘Familiar Presides’ is a complex meditation on the hazards of life in a corrupted world. It nudges the listener to confront the softer questions of morality and justice rather than to dismiss them as too abstract or too hard for the average person to understand. It serves as a reminder that even when the world looks dark and imposing, it is possible to make a meaningful difference with a small act of courage rooted in our own internal sense of justice.