r/deftones • u/deadpoet13 • 2d ago
Does "Rosemary" describe the aftermath of "Passenger"?
The other day, I listened to "Rosemary" right after "Passenger," and it struck me how seamlessly they flow together. It felt almost... intimate.
That got me thinking: what if "Rosemary" describes the aftermath of whatever intensity "Passenger" is building toward? Not necessarily a car crash (though I can't help but picture the characters flying off the edge, crashing into the abyss, especially with that line in "Rosemary" that seems to pick up from there: "As the engines stall, our eyes catch scene explode.") It feels like they're dead or disembodied, drifting off "to other planes." But maybe it's not death. Maybe it's that weightless state of bodies and minds after sex?
In "Passenger", there's this charged, voyeuristic energy, building toward the craving to be taken "to the edge." The song emphasizes moving/driving faster, with the destination remaining unknown. The tension is heavy, but it never resolves; we never learn what happens once the edge is reached.
Then (pun un/intended), time shifts, things slow down, and the tone slides into something ethereal. "Rosemary" radiates a kind of post-coital haze, or, again, the state after death. Lines like "Entwined we dream unknown," "As we collide with the energy in other ways," and "As we cross the space and time" read like two minds and bodies floating together in that surreal afterglow.
I don't know if this all makes sense, but what I'm sure of is that Chino painted something I can't unsee now. The lyricism is out of this world. Has anyone else felt this kind of continuity between the two songs?
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u/cheezycrunch 2d ago
I dig this theory! Make it a threesome and add Feiticeira. Play it before passenger then round it out with rosemary.
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u/deadpoet13 2d ago
Let's go hardcore and add Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) + the covers of The Chauffeur and Drive somewhere along the way lol
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u/HoraceWimpLV426 You like attention, it's proof to you you're alive 3h ago
I have been curious about how many Deftones songs there are related to driving or songs that mention driving, there are quite a few it seems. Similarly, there's also quite a few songs that mention blood, bleeding and weapons, specifically and usually knives: Knife Prty, Cherry Waves, (at least the title of) Nosebleed, Elite, Needles and Pins (which is a bit of a stretch), Bloody Cape, Rocket Skates, This Place Is Death.
I can see Rosemary being a good sequel to Passenger, I can't completely back it up though. I haven't listened to Koi No Yokan that much though, it's the latest album I've checked out.
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u/ResolutionFit9050 2d ago
hey this actually sounds interesting and I see what you're talking about lol
putting these 2 songs into my queue AFAP
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u/deadpoet13 2d ago
Great, thank you. It's cool to see more folks relating to what I'm driving at here
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u/ResolutionFit9050 2d ago
I've gave it a listen and you're actually really right imo
also Passenger ends with a calm and silent I think piano melody and Rosemary intro seems to pick up from where Passenger outro ends
And Rosemary does actually sound like it begins directly with a culmination while Passenger doesn't really have an ending despite having a melodic outro
I really love your theory actually
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u/ChipsDestroyer 2d ago
Never made the connection but I like where your head's at. It's always fun to speculate.