Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: garage
Song Meaning of “Principalities” by Protomartyr
Protomartyr’s ‘Principalities’ paints a picture of a soul weighed down by the consequences of their actions. The song starts out with the singer admitting to feeling “the weight of my principalities”, hinting at spiritual injustice and guilt for past wrongs. The lyrics suggest that the singer is continually stuck in a cycle of self-condemnation and regret, unable to move on and continue his life in peace. By singing of “the works of my emptiness”, the singer is conveying to the listener the grieving and ache of the soul from deeply internalized feelings of loss and hurt.
The song is brought full circle by the repetition of the opening line, serving as a reminder that the singer carries his own chains of guilt, and will continue to do so until they are acknowledged and released. Through ‘Principalities’, Protomartyr attempts to remind us of the importance of self-forgiveness, recognizing that the only way out of a never-ending cycle of guilt is to make the conscious effort to free ourselves of the burdens of our own past.