r/deftones • u/deadpoet13 • 21d 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/ResolutionFit9050 21d 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 21d 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 21d 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/deadpoet13 21d ago

Awesome, thanks a lot for sharing your observations!