Russian artist shadowraze has been on ascension recently due to his 2021 track “astral step” stepping up on social media. The song is in Russian and in this article, we will attempt to decode the lyrics and unearth the meaning behind the song. Fair warning: it might get a little existential-crisis-like!
“astral step” was released on October 29, 2021, and is written by shadowraze and Plvstic. The latter is the producer of the song, as well. kaaori, who did the artwork for the song cover, talked about the inspiration for the song coming from seeing a picture of a girl with a gun to her head.
The word ‘astral’ means relating to the stars. The title of the song suggests that the singer is walking toward the stars. And unfortunately, our physical bodies cannot carry us to the stars. So, we have to leave our bodies behind if we want to walk among the stars.
Listen to “astral step” by shadowraze
shadowraze “astral step” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
Now we will attempt to dive into the meaning behind these lyrics. This will not be a perfect annotation of the song, as some meaning will be lost in translation from Russian to English.
Intro
The intro of the song is a shout-out to the popular video game Dota 2. More specifically, the video game character named Void Spirit. One special skill of this character is called ‘Astral Step’ which enables the character to step through a higher plane of existence out of danger from its enemies.
Chorus
In the hook of the song, the singer talks about his ascension to a higher plane. This plane is existence is nothing that you can access with our physical bodies. When we leave our bodies behind, we become invisible.
У них в башке один preset
Я покажу тоннельный светThey have one preset in their head
I’ll show you the tunnel light
Most of us do not see this astral step as part of human existence, mainly because it is invisible, and also, because nobody really talks about this topic for the fear of them being labeled as ‘crazy.’ This is why shadowraze says that most of us humans have only one preset setting in our head. From our birth till death, we are all programmed to chase success -one factory default setting – good education, good job, good family, good kids, promotions, better car, better house, fatter bank accounts, and you leave it all behind in a few years. When did this become the norm? What happened to happiness? shadowraze is here to show us the light for us mortals stuck in this dark tunnel.
Verse 1
In the first verse of the song, shadowraze talks about moving through the astral network at the speed of light. But he does admit that the astral step is a hard lifestyle – it comes at disconnecting from the physical world. The singer says he killed all the other people and he didn’t even have to lift a finger to do so. This is because his ascension was purely mental rather than physical.
У меня сотка гулей, посмотри — ты вновь один
I have a hundred ghouls, look, you’re alone again
shadowraze sings that he is surrounded by ghouls – by no means friendly or supportive creatures. But it just might be better than being alone.
In a world full of 7 billion people, it takes a special eye to realize that we are all alone. And when we do realize that, we might want to take the astral step and be among the stars. We are, after all, made up of stardust and returning to stardust at the end.
Bridge
shadowraze is talking about a quasar burning in front of his eyes. Quasars are highly luminous objects in the early universe, thought to be powered by supermassive black holes. And these are as destructive as they come. But shadowraze says he is advancing at all costs. He can do this because of his metaphysical existence. No force can destroy the mind and soul of a person.
Verse 2
In the second verse, shadowraze spits some energy about his metaphysical existence. He compares himself to a self-driving Tesla with a lot of horsepowers. How about his ghoul friends? They are dead, too. Now he is truly by himself, but he does not mind. Because he does not need friends. He has broken his physical and emotional needs.
Я не злодей, но у меня свои бесы
I’m not a villain, but I have my own demons
Everything that shadowraze said so far sets him apart from the rest of us. He is apart from the normal and this usually puts someone in the light of a villain. But he is no villain. He shows us what we all humans should be doing – pursuing a higher dimension of happiness – an eternal bliss.
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Check out the complete English lyrics and Russian lyrics on Genius.