The Sun Claims Its Due [Viciously Yours] (Salvation Part Five)


I taste the blood upon your lips
I watch as your eyes shift
Their gaze toward mine own
Their gaze toward mine own

Walking on ash, we chart our own path
With touch of glass, I cut you to see
The blood of yours become mine own
The blood of yours become mine own

We can stay up until
The moon’s light swallows all
And then we will scatter
As the sun claims its due

Sadomasochistic and reciprocal
Majestic and fantastical
Through darkest affection
We see our own reflection

The air I let you breathe
The sights I let you see
They all become mine own
They all become mine own

The words I let you hear
The scars I let you wear
Your pulse becomes mine own
Your pulse becomes mine own

We can stay up until
The moon’s light swallows all
And then we will scatter
As the sun claims its due

Sadomasochistic and reciprocal
Majestic and fantastical
Through darkest affection
We see our own reflection

What is life without fear
What is love without hope
Hopes that become mine own
Hopes that become mine own

You die, die, die inside
As desires become realized
Desires that become mine own
Desires that become mine own

We can stay up until
The moon’s light swallows all
And then we will scatter
As the sun claims its due

Sadomasochistic and reciprocal
Majestic and fantastical
Through darkest affection
We see our own reflection

Viciously yours, I claim what’s mine own
Viciously yours, I claim what’s mine own
Viciously yours, I claim what’s mine own
Viciously yours, I claim what’s mine own

I am viciously yours
I am viciously yours
I am viciously yours
I am viciously yours

We can stay up until
The moon’s light swallows all
And then we will scatter
As the sun claims its due

Sadomasochistic and reciprocal
Majestic and fantastical
Through darkest affection
We see our own reflection

The longest song on Salvation, Viciously Yours, appears to be an extremely fucked up love song of some sort. The question is who is loving whom? If one leans into the religious trauma angle only, they may think this is just some weird and kink-probable power dynamic between two people. However, given Jessica’s “usual” asexuality and aromantic nature, this seems highly improbable. Like nearly everything else on Salvation, this song must be examined through the lens of Dissociative Identity Disorder, at which point becomes clear that this song is really about radical self-acceptance and self-love.

While the parts of Jessica’s system are never really identified during the course of the song, it’s clear that there is a give and take between their core self and the parts that orbit as satellites around this core self. “We can stay up until / The moon’s light swallows all” … “And then we will scatter / As the sun claims its due” these lines give most of the punchline, that an eventual event will bring realization and harmony to the unstable power dynamic that had haunted Jessica previously even if they did not know it. The event was, of course, realization. And through the eyes of each part, the system is realized and known: “Through darkest affection / We see own our own reflection.” The system may be one of discord, but there is love therein. It is that love that is the subject of this song.