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Sabrina Cuevas

Professor Batty

English 102

08 December 2018

Learning Lessons about 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 promoting

unrequited love. After reading and listening to the song, I see that through the use of figurative

language, symbolism, repetition, tone, tempo, and diction, its overall significance is to serve as

an example of how to not behave towards a person when their love is no longer mutual.

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

is what offers evidence that this song is an example of what not to do when it comes to

unrequited love. In the song, it is being acknowledged that this person is no longer relevant to the

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

specific, it is in the second verse of 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

the word, but instead uses its implied meaning: irrelevance. In other words, the songwriter’s use
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of connotation in this specific line brings to attention the amount of emotional damage that one

may experience during unrequited love. The songwriter uses their pain that they experience from

dwelling over an unrequited love in order to set an example of how not to approach a situation

regarding a love that is no longer mutual.

In addition to the use of figurative language used in this song, the aforementioned line in

the previous paragraph also takes on a more metaphorical meaning. When the song says, “I am

dead to you, a shadow doomed,” (3) the songwriter is taking on the image of a doomed shadow.

This itself conveys the level of pain to which the songwriter 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

songwriter 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. The songwriter uses a metaphor in

order to display the emotional pain that they experience from dwelling over a person who no

longer loves them, and it is through the use of this metaphor that the song serves as an example

of how not to handle unrequited love. By revealing the pain that comes along with pursuing a

past lover whose feelings are not returned, the lyrics are serving as an example of how not to go

about a situation regarding unrequited love.

Furthermore, the use of personification also plays a role in carrying out this song’s

significance. For example, 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
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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 songwriter uses

personification in order to bring to life the emotional damage that they are suffering from loving

their past partner. In bringing to life this emotional pain, the author paints a picture for the

audience to get an insight of what dwelling over a past lover might bring forth on their emotional

health, which is done so that the audience may learn from this and prevent it from happening to

them. In doing this, it is clear that the song’s significance is to set an example of what not to do

when a past lover’s romantic feelings are no longer reciprocated.

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 giving the audience

some insight on what it’s like to obsess over a person who doesn’t love you in return. Using

symbols in order to give the audience a better insight gives them an opportunity to learn from the

pain that is being depicted in these lyrics.

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. 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 /
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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. The songwriter continues to repeat this line in particular to give the audience an idea of

what dwelling over unrequited love feels like. In doing so, this song ultimately serves as an

example for readers and listeners to learn from.

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. 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

that people shouldn’t waste their time with unrequited love. All in all, tone and tempo also play a

role in molding this song’s significance

Some people might say that this song is generally about the beauty and power of love and

devotion and that overall, this song is promoting unrequited love. With lines like “And of all

untruths the truest is you / too close to my heart,” (5-6) where the songwriter is displaying how

close they hold their object of affection to their heart, I can understand why others might argue

that this song is promoting one-sided love. However, there is more evidence that shows that the

meaning behind this song is in regards to shining light on the pain of obsessing over an

unrequited love and serving as an example of what not to do when it comes to no longer being

loved by a significant other. To be more exact, it is the specific word choice that shines light on
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the significance of the song. For instance, lines like “I’ll be drowning you, in this river of gloom

/ forever in my heart,” (13-14) illustrate more of the depressing aspects of unrequited love. Using

a word like ‘gloom’ to describe how this person’s heart feels from loving someone who doesn’t

feel the same way about them captures the more depressing aspects of unreciprocated love. By

capturing the more depressing aspects of unrequited love, the song is suggesting that wasting

time dwelling over an ex lover is pointless since doing so will end up having negative emotional

effects.

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 not worth pursuing. 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 and not worth chasing after. Love, especially a one-sided

kind of love, is depressing; it is unhealthy. 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

​ ire Records, 2007. ​Spotify,

H.I.M. “Cyanide Sun.” ​Venus Doom, S

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​.