Biblical Origins
The Four Horsemen, originating as figures in the Hebrew Bible’s Book of Revelation, reach beyond the Christian realm and can commonly be found in several forms of media as representations of apocalyptic horrors. In an American context, the judgment imagery found in the Bible likely evokes uncomfortable recollections of sermons about everlasting punishment in the pits of fiery torment. Though violence and bloodshed do saturate the Bible, American Christianity during the mid-century often neglected to remind church-goers about the epic reentry of the conquering King Jesus. One English mid-century scholar, C.S. Lewis, known for his meditative reflections on Christianity, reminds readers that death and decay’s presence necessitates the hope of resurrection through the conquering King’s return.
The Inspiration
The album from which this month’s song comes is entitled Dear Wormwood, a reference to C.S. Lewis’ 1942 novel The Screwtape Letters. The novel is a fictional account written as a collection of letters from a demon named Screwtape as he mentors his nephew Wormwood in the ways of tempting mankind toward sin. Lewis uses an inversion of typical Christian dialogue regarding sin and temptation to express how human nature inclines us to behave and think in certain ways that we may not often be aware of in our daily lives. The Oh Hellos’ Dear Wormwood takes Lewis’ conceptualization of a subliminal demonic presence and recenters it as a personal narrative, the album voicing the journey of a human who attempts to recognize and escape an abusive relationship with the demon, Wormwood, also referred to as personified Death and the singer’s lover.
How This Song Fits within the Album
“Pale White Horse,” the song preceding “Where is Your Rider?,” images Death riding into the scene, a reference to Revelation’s Four Horsemen as well as the triumphal entry of conquering kings during the New Testament’s composition. “Where is Your Rider?” marks the climactic moment of the album when the singer, no longer afraid, witnesses the true conquering King and Messiah who will overtake Death and remove him from his seat on victory’s horse.
Lyric Breakdown
Recognizing Death
As the album is inseparable from its Biblical context, this song’s lyrics remain heavy with Biblical allusions and personal conviction. The singer speaks to Death and the Pale White Horse throughout the song, asking questions that imply an approaching shift in the narrative. Addressing Death in the first two stanzas, the singer asks, “Was it you ‘mid the fire and the ember?” followed by the statement, “See, your face wasn’t quite as I remember, but I know that wicked shape to your smile.” The singer now recognizes their lover in a different light, one of truth wherein it is understood that the cycle of abuse was always leading toward this final moment of revelation and impending destruction.
Invoking a Higher Authority
Initially, the singer seems welcoming of Death, no longer fearing its presence, saying, “Bury me as it pleases you, lover.” But this bravado is quickly explained in the line, “But these bones never rested while living,” a reference to the Old Testament account wherein God empowers the prophet Ezekiel to transform a valley of dry bones into a living army, demonstrating God’s authority over Death. This line initiates the narrative shift as the power dynamic is overturned through the singer’s invocation of a higher authority. That authority is then addressed in the next stanza as he who has “thrown down the cavalry as gravel sinks, and the stone founders underneath the sundered sea of red and reed.” This refers to Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea in their escape from Egyptian slavery, Pharaoh chasing them in his horse-drawn chariot. The singer has now twice reminded Death of his insufficiency in the face of such a deity as this second example specifically recalls a moment when a conquering, horse-riding monarch is removed from power by the God whose authority surpasses deified Pharaohs.
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin
The singer then directly addresses Death as the figure whose reign is nearing its end by stating, “The shadow of Hades is fading. For he has cast down Leviathan, the tyrant, the horse and rider.” As the power of Hades, the abode of the dead, fades, so does its ruler, assumedly Death as addressed here. Leviathan, a monstrous creature referenced in the Book of Job as a reminder of God’s power and reign, is compared to the tyrannical figure of Death. Though Death has placed fear into the hearts of mankind since the beginning, his reign on earth is over, and the singer no longer has reason to dread his presence nor succumb to his manipulations.
Following the stanza wherein the Lord’s authority is invoked, the singer asks, “Where is your rider?” implying the Pale White Horse, the representative transportation of royal triumphal entries, has lost its king. Death’s reign has come to a close and the singer has been set free. Once again, the King who has conquered Death is addressed as he who “will hold with all of his might the armies of night, still as boulders laid to the side till we pass by.” The singer directly attributes this victory to Jesus, the conquering King, who rose from the dead and rolled away the stone that sealed him into his temporary tomb, allowing the singer to hold fast to hope of the same resurrection.
Life and Light Returned
The song closes with a final reference to the crossing of the Red Sea when the singer calls on us, as Moses and Miriam do the Israelites, to “lift your voice with timbrel and lyre,” claiming that “We will abide.” This reference is meant to be the singer’s praise for the conquering King and savior that reigns over Death and rescues its victims, bringing them into the hopeful light that fills the final songs of Dear Wormwood‘s resolution.
Musical Aspects
This song uses the push and pull of percussive intensity to emphasize the gathering confidence of the singer throughout the piece. The song opens with light and layered hand claps backing subtle acoustic rhythms and soft vocals as the singer unveils Death’s true form. The intensity grows with the singer’s accusations until all sound is silenced and a full percussive set enters all at once, again crescendoing with the lyrics. The song escalates and reaches its climax at the casting down of Death when all percussion gives way to the wind-like qualities of the vocals and the return of light acoustic strumming. The light breezes of instruments and smooth intonations of the vocals create a vacuum-like environment, replicating what one could imagine as the vast silence of settling nature after the Red Sea divided and plummeted on Pharaoh and his army. The Israelites expressed utter relief and exuberant joy when their God prevented an oppressive nation from recapturing them, and this song’s instrumentals provide depth to the song’s narrative of personal escape from Death by creating an auditory environment realistic to the Red Sea Crossing. Not just “Where is Your Rider?” but the album, as a whole, is a master class in using music to construct stage sets for the ear rather than the eye, truly returning listeners to the Early Modern English culture of “going to hear a play.”
Final Thoughts
“Where is Your Rider” is an epic moment in the album’s story arc. The atmospheric tension and release generated by the lyrics and musicality demand the attention of any listener who has experienced a breaking away from Death’s cycle. This song, being the assertive and triumphant moment we often yearn for in our own lives, does not shy away from exposing the grit as well as the glory. To face Death in its truest form and denounce its supposed triumph as loss, though we have yet to see the fall, is how we go on living in spite of the darkness. Always in hope of the light. Always in hope of a resurrection.