Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: emo
Song Meaning of “Moth” by Moss Icon
The song “Moth” written and performed by post-hardcore band Moss Icon captures a basic human emotion that many people can relate to: loneliness and melancholia. It is through the lyrics that we are introduced to the heart of the protagonist, a character surrounded by a chaotic world and smothered by depression. The artist expresses their inner struggle in rhythmic and poetic lines.
The title of the song can be interpreted as a metaphor for how we often find ourselves feeling like a helpless insect, drawn to a light, small, and insignificant compared to the vastness of life. In the first verse, the narrator pleads for help, expressing the feeling of enveloping darkness they live in. The lines express stark imagery of a dark reality, “sharpens the teeth of destruction, brings death closer to us”.
The chorus introduces some hope, as the narrator declares that the soul ultimately belongs to them although at the same time reiterates their helplessness saying, “My soul is in my self I’m owned by no one else”. Through these lines we can infer the narrator’s longing for independence, freedom, and the ability to fly away from the grief which envelops them.
The second and final verse brings the protagonists anguish to life, as they talk about the futility of fighting the inevitable. “To challenge the sky is to bring a fire of my heart”, conveys a sense of trying one’s best against all odds. The narrator is yearning for an escape from this unavoidable suffering.
The haunting guitar at the end highlights this feeling of desolation. The song conveys the hopelessness of having to try to fly against the strong winds of loneliness and searching for a moment of relief. Moss Icon perfectly captures this emotion in their song, and speaks to the hearts of those who feel like the protagonist of the “Moth”.