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Sabrina Cuevas

Professor Batty

English 102

16 September 2018

The Pain of Unrequited Love in H.I.M.’s ‘Cyanide Sun’

Many songs sung throughout the history of humankind revolve around love. Whether it

revolves around the joys of love or the pain of love, or all of the odds and ends that come along

with love, it is a common theme that can be found in the songs of many artists and bands.

“Cyanide Sun,” like many others, written and composed by the band known as H.I.M., is a song

that revolves around the theme of love. It might be said that “Cyanide Sun” is chiefly about the

beauty and power of love and devotion. After reading and listening to the song, I see that through

the use of figurative language, symbolism, repetition, tone, tempo, and diction, it is arguing that

with unrequited love comes emotional pain.

In this particular song, the use of figurative language-- specifically the use of connotation,

metaphors, and personification-- is what brings to life the argument that unrequited love is

painful. In the song, it is being acknowledged that this person is no longer relevant to their object

of affection; their love for this person is described as being insignificant. To be more specific, it

is in the second verse of the the song where this is stated: “I am dead to you, a shadow doomed.”

(3). In this specific line, using the word ‘dead’ to describe this person’s irrelevance to their

significant other brings forth a negative connotation, as opposed to simply using the word

‘irrelevant,’ for example. In this line, the songwriter does not use the dictionary definition of the

word, but instead uses its implied meaning: irrelevance. This specific line also takes on a more
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metaphorical meaning in that the person takes on the image of a doomed shadow. This itself

conveys the level of pain to which this person is experiencing, due to the fact that they are no

longer loved by their beloved. They are being compared to a shadow that is doomed. Or in other

words, a shadow with an unavoidable ill fortune; a shadow being often times something that is

hardly paid attention to (something with very little significance). This person is being overlooked

by the person who they are in love with and it is causing them pain, to the point where it is

almost similar to being doomed. In addition to using connotation and metaphors to strengthen

this claim, the songwriter uses personification as well. Love, which is a concept, is brought to

life when the songwriter declares “One last caress from the corpse of love is all I want.” (9).

Although love is only a concept and cannot actually take on the physical action of caressing

someone, the songwriter personifies it, as well as describes it as a corpse in order to bring to life

the idea that although this person’s love is not reciprocated, they are still keen in attaining it. The

use of connotation, metaphors, and personification all aid in supporting the claim that with

unrequited love, comes sorrow and agony.

Equally important, this song also uses symbols to highlight its meaning. In line 10 when

the songwriter says, “Underneath the cyanide sun,” ‘cyanide sun’ serves as a metaphor of this

person’s object of affection as well as a major symbol of death. In comparing this person’s object

of affection to cyanide sun-- cyanide essentially being deadly, and claiming to be underneath it,

or in other words, kneeling down at the very feet of their significant other in complete adoration,

it is expressing the idea that having unreciprocated love for this person is equivalent to being

killed. In this particular line of the song, the use of deadly symbols aids in strengthening the

argument that unrequited love is indeed painful.

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Aside from figurative language and symbolism, repetition is also an important poetic

device that further helps to support the argument being made in the song. Not only do poetic

devices help strengthen the argument of the song, but musical components such as tone and

tempo help strengthen the argument as well. The line, “Underneath the cyanide sun,” (10), is

repeated throughout the course of the song, and repeated three times in a row in the very last

verse: “Underneath the cyanide sun / Underneath the cyanide sun / Underneath the cyanide sun.”

(20-22). Constantly repeating this line in particular emphasizes the idea that this person

experiences a great deal of sadness by continuing to love someone who doesn't love them in

return. It is drawing attention to the pain that unrequited love is causing this person. Furthermore,

tone and tempo also play a role in molding this song’s significance. For instance, the song

emerges with eerie-sounding guitar distortions, followed by heavy, dark guitar riffs that drone

on, leaving a mournful touch on the overall tone. Moreover, the tempo of the song is fairly slow,

which gives the song a sort of mournful ballad vibe. The musical aspects of the song

supplements both the lyrics and the poetic devices used, giving them a stronger overall meaning

in that the experience of unrequited love causes misery.

Although some people might say that this song is generally about the beauty and power of

love and devotion, there is more evidence that shows that the meaning behind this song is in

regards to how heartbreaking unrequited love truly is. To be more exact, it is the specific word

choice that shines light on the downsides of a one-sided love. For example, lines like “I’ll be

drowning you, in this river of gloom / forever in my heart,” (14-15) illustrate more of the

depressing aspects of unrequited love. Using a word like ‘gloom’ to describe how this person’s
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heart feels from loving someone who doesn’t feel the same way about them captures the more

depressing aspects of unreciprocated love.

As shown above, using poetic devices, as well as musical aspects, such as dark riffs,

enhances the general argument of the song that a one-sided love is depressing. Though it might

be said that this song is a representation of the beauty of strong romantic affection, the use of

many different poetic and musical devices helps to defend the argument that love, when it is

unrequited, is, in fact far from beautiful. Love, especially a one-sided kind of love, is depressing;

it is unhealthy. Not only is it unhealthy, but it is a very common type of love that exists in the

world today. Loving someone whose feelings are not mutual can hurt, and eventually lead to an

unhealthy state of mind. That is exactly the reason why dealing with the misery of unrequited

love is not worth it. Life is much too beautiful and much too short to waste valuable time and

energy feeling hurt over a person who does not reciprocate romantic feelings. After all, there are

more than seven billion people on this planet, which means that there are plenty of opportunities

to meet someone who will be worth the time and energy. Lyrics like those found in ‘Cyanide

Sun’ not only serve as a perfect example of the amount of pain that unrequited love can bring,

but as a perfect example of what not to do when it comes to a love that is no longer mutual.
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Works Cited

H.I.M. “Cyanide Sun.” ​Venus Doom, ​Sire Records, 2007. ​Spotify,

open.spotify.com/track/3rwUivqHZDdLrFZUTfjIye?si=gl8yrNQlT8Gu_jx450ARVA.
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Appendix A.

Should've known how hard it is to stop tearing each other apart

Separating souls entwined in all these labyrinthine lies

I am dead to you, a shadow doomed

My love, forever in the dark

And of all untruths the truest is you

Too close to my heart

This emptiness I've made my home

Embracing memories of dreams long gone

One last caress from the corpse of love is all I want

Underneath the cyanide sun

We've sailed the seas of grief on a raft built with our tears

Looking for a way to disappear for a moment from our deepest fears

I'll be drowning you in this river of gloom

Forever in my heart

This emptiness I've made my home

Embracing memories of dreams long gone

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One last caress from the corpse of love is all I want

Underneath the cyanide sun

Underneath the cyanide sun

Underneath the cyanide sun

Underneath the cyanide sun​.