'Marks of the Evil One' by Ghost: A Close Reading

The MAGAs who cried apocalypse

Skeletá album cover, art by Zbigniew M. Bielak

Skeletá

I love stories, and I love music that incorporates storytelling. Ghost is a band that manages to draw me in not only with the fascinating themes behind each and every song — find my analysis of their song ‘Twenties’ here — but also with the ongoing fictional narrative of the band itself.

Ghost’s sixth studio album Skeletá also marks the debut of its fifth lead singer, Papa V Perpetua, embodied by Tobias Forge (as were his predecessors). Two distinctions this time around are that a) Papa IV remains alive in the narrative, having taken on a managerial role in the organization and that b) for the first time, Papa V’s costume doesn’t cover his mouth! (Believe me when I say that fans are enthralled by the ability to actually see him sing.)

Skeletá is a wonderful and varied album that I’ve been listening to on repeat since its release on Friday, but there’s one song in particular that’s been calling on me to give it a closer look. So without further ado, consider taking a listen:

On the surface

If there’s one thing you can count on Ghost to do, it’s to explore some biblical, religious and/or satanic imagery. This song is no exception, opening with lines quoted almost exactly from the Book of Revelation.

One rider has a bow // Rides a steed, white, and wears a crown, conquering
A second rider joins, on a steed // Red, swinging a sword, mongering
…
The third rider looks cool on his steed // Black, a pair of scales in his hand
The fourth rider is Death, rides a steed // Pale, and Hades follows him

Say hello to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Ghost even stays true to the original passage by only naming Death; the names of the others (Conquest/Pestilence, War, Famine) coming only from later scholarly interpretation. As their boy band name suggests, their arrival heralds the end of the world. It’s therefore a little strange that the Pre-Chorus and Chorus seem to be appealing to them for help.

Fall on us, and hide us // From the tyrant who is satanically enthroned
There! There! // The marks are spreading everywhere
There! There! // The marks of the evil one
…
There! There! // The marks are spreading everywhere
There! There! // Disciples of the evil one
There! There! // Watch! They’re crawling out the serpent’s lair
There! There! There! // The marks of the evil one

So there are signs and disciples of evil all around, even brazenly associating with the biblical serpent. I think it’s only fair to assume that the ‘satanically enthroned tyrant’ and ‘evil one’ are referring to the same figure. Perhaps the apocalypse is preferable to living with — or is a price worth paying to eliminate — this evil?

We’re plowing through the seals // Like there is no tomorrow to be seen
As if the falling sky is nothing but an ancient dream
And when the sun eclipses // It’s just abracadabra // Some hocus pocus sham
…
Here they come, here they come, here they come There is a fucking there!
There! // The marks of the e — 

The seven seals are a part of bringing on the end of the world in Revelation, so their smashing through them sounds intentional. And judging by how the lyrics cut off, it sounds like they got what they wanted — though they continue their (paranoid?) warning cries right up until the end, so it’s hard to imagine they felt any catharsis or satisfaction from it.

So on the surface, I think the moral is to be careful what you wish for — and moreover that expecting external solutions to your problems will never address your internal strife. That kind of change has to come from within.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, by Victor Vasnetsov (1887)

Is there a deeper meaning?

Yes. Am I entirely sure what it is? Well…

What little speculation I’ve seen online has been quick to call the song political, with either the Horsemen or the ‘satanically enthroned tyrant’ representing Trump and similar fascist world leaders. That makes a lot of sense, considering the Trump imagery in ‘Twenties’ and that the song so clearly evokes the paranoid, unthinking and hateful worldview of MAGA supporters — they see evil everywhere, plain and simple.

I don’t think Trump (or his counterparts) can be the ‘tyrant’ or ‘evil one’, unless those lines are somehow from another perspective. But perhaps they can the horsemen, being called on to accelerate the end of the world. That is a terrifying real-world perspective held by far-right evangelicals after all: rather than practice empathy, shed enough blood and cause enough suffering that Jesus has to come down and save them. And if that’s your goal, what better method than to install a metaphorical Horseman of the Apocalypse in the White House?

To illustrate this point, I want to bring back one stanza I skipped over above:

We’re plowing through the seals // Like there is no tomorrow to be seen
As if the falling sky is nothing but an ancient dream

The first line just fits, since they literally want the end of the world and no tomorrow — though it also stands on its own, regarding our society’s rapid descent in recent months and years. The ‘falling sky’ represents the true consequences of these actions, forgotten amid zealous belief and the busy, tumultuous nature of our lives.

And when the sun eclipses // It’s just abracadabra // Some hocus pocus sham

The funniest line points out the horrible irony that the same people so desperate for the end of the world also deny the actual warning signs of global warming and so much else that science has to tell us.

My interpretation is that Ghost is alluding both to the famous eclipse from last year (which of course has been called a hoax online) and that described in Revelation 6:12, “a great shaking occurred, a total eclipse of the sun took place, and the moon turned bloodlike.”

The line works best with both references taken into account and perhaps even equated: anti-intellectualism denying the eclipse and zealous followers denying the sign of the end times, calling it a work of illusion because they can’t understand it.

Maybe that’s too clever, but hey I did say something very similar with regard to ‘Twenties’, so perhaps they just are that clever. I, on the other hand, feel slightly less than clever when it comes to interpreting the lines ‘hide us // from the tyrant who is satanically enthroned’. My best guess is that this represents the demonization of Trump’s opponents — there are certainly constant suggestions of satanic cabals and whatnot. If anything Trump’s presidency has let many monsters out of hiding, though. I’d love to hear your take!

Ultimately the message is similar — careful what you wish for — but with the devastating added context that it’s actually other people wishing for it and that they are completely closed off to reason. The apocalypse they bring about won’t save or satiate them, but it will damn us all.

Papa V Perpetua and the Nameless Ghouls

Back to Sanity

What is it about these close reading pieces that makes me feel like I’m halfway to being a conspiracy theorist myself? I actually didn’t have a clear interpretation when I started writing today, but rather found it while writing. A fun and teaching experience!

Anyway, let me know if you’d like to hear about any other songs from the album! I’ve already got an idea for a piece on ‘Lachryma’ and Nosferatu. Maybe a deep dive into Cowbell Ghoul’s return in ‘Umbra’?

Thanks for reading and until next time ❤