It's moments like this that make me realize that I don't quite care what anyone says about No World for Tomorrow. Perhaps it doesn't feel quite as memorable as previous records, but the album does have its truly wonderful moments. This is one of those moments.

As we get closer to the end of this album -- and, I remind again, the end of the story -- Coheed and Cambria add one last catchy, ballad like song to the mix. But it's a different sort of ballad. It isn't as anything like "The Light & the Glass," "Wake Up," or "Mother Superior." Instead, it's more like a dance. The rhythm to the song is simple and bouncy.

"The End Complete IV: The Road and the Damned" plays out in a beat that's very similar to a waltz, which is why I said it sounds like a dance ballad (though it's lyrical content and melody still mean it wouldn't be much of a thing to dance to). More to the point, the song is a rather simple tune, at least in comparison to the rest of "The End Complete" series. The song is accompanied with beautiful piano work that plays in sync with the guitars. To me, this song seems to have been made with the idea of being something to groove to. Which is fine, because since Coheed and Cambria are a concept band with a grand story to tell, the lyrics add a whole new dynamic.

Now, given how "The Road and the Damned" sounds -- upbeat, hooky, even a bit optimistic --  you might think I'm crazy for coming up with this interpretation, but here it goes. I can only think that this song is the narration of Claudio fulfilling his task as the Crowing. Using the powers given to him as the Crowing, he burns Star IV (after all, that's what the last two albums dealt with, right?), and in so doing destroys the Keywork holding all of Heaven's Fence together. By doing this, he has allowed the souls of all who gave their lives to fight back during Ryan's tyrannical rule. Why do I come to that conclusion? Well, the answer is in the title of this post.


Okay, so that was a rather grim and perhaps unsatisfying explanation, but that's because I suck at these things. Truthfully, the idea sounds much better in my head than it does written down.