What is Jamie trying to convey with his song “The stains of time”?

 5/1/2022

 

“The stains of time” was released by Jamie Christopherson in 2013 in conjunction with a lot of other beloved songs which I have analyzed such as “I’m my own master now” and “The only thing I know for real”. The song in my opinion is used to convey the feeling of regret and how some scars never fade.

 

[Intro]

Wash away the anger

 

The intro gives us the feeling that the anger is something that has a strong importance and needs to be removed.

 

[Verse 1]

Here I stand beneath the warm and soothing rain

The droplets falling gently down on the terrain

Wash away the sorrow, all the stains of time

But there’s no memory, it’s only dry inside

 

Just after the first few lines I can already see a lot of emotion being conveyed such as the “washing” or removal of anger and regret by trying to forget. This makes me inclined to believe this song is trying to tell the story of some hapless individual who has done things that are unforgivable and therefore regretful actions. The rain serves as the tranquil state of mind being warm and soothing, making the sorrow disappear.

 

However, the “stains of time” can be interpreted as scars or painful memories which are impossible to forget or “wash”, seeing how the character feels it has no real memories but rather just ones that make it feel like an empty husk.

 

[Pre-Chorus]

In the mud and sinking deeper

Into a peaceful life

 

Trying to move away from the past it realizes that it must come to terms with it as they are just sinking deeper and deeper in it. The peaceful and serene life that it seeks may not be what it wants after all, as the past has absorbed and influenced the character so much it thinks that a peaceful life feels like the wrong way to go.

 

[Chorus]

And it will come

Like a flood of pain

Pouring down on me

And it will not let up until the end is here

And it will come

Through the darkest day

In my final hour

And it will never rest until the clouds are clear

Until it finds my dreams have disappeared

My dreams disappear

 

The chorus explains exactly how much the past bothers this character as it compares it to “like a flood of pain, pouring down on me”. The character feels so over encumbered that it uses simile to explain this feeling of being pushed down by the past and the word pouring to show how much there is to the past. The rest of the song further emphasizes how constant this pain is and how the character feels that nothing can be done to ease this pain with it finally ending with the characters dreams disappearing alluding to that the character has taken their own life to relieve themselves from all this stress and pain.

 

 

So, what does this tell us?

The character that is being displayed here I believe is one of a soldier who has faced multiple life threatening situations therefore resulting in his scars and his feeling of emptiness. His only memories are ones of the battles he has participated in, and the “stains of time” is how his mental state slowly crumbles after his service in the wars.

 

The peaceful life he seeks can never be achieved because his body was once on the battlefield and now doesn’t know how to do anything else, he feels washed away from his own humanity. His constant attempts at trying to forget became his only goal in life and when he realizes this he feels as life is meaningless and therefore takes his own life.

 

“The point, please?”

Jamie is trying to convey the dangers of war and how dehumanizing they can be, as even if you survive the battlefield, it isn’t certain if you can continue to survive with yourself and your own actions. Many veterans to this day can’t find piece with themselves and many find it hard to return to their normal lives. If you want to listen to this masterpiece yourself or want to comment on any points I have made, there is a link below to the song and the comment section is always open!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep7Ni6dtQaA