What is "Soldier, Poet, King" by the Oh Hellos about?
"Soldier, Poet, King" is believed to be about the second coming of Christ. The Oh Hellos haven't explicitly confirmed this, though they have said their Christian upbringing has influenced many of their songs. Based on the lyrics to "Soldier, Poet, King," which draw heavily from the Bible, listeners have widely interpreted the song to be about the second coming of Jesus Christ as depicted in the book of Revelation. Christ is represented at various times in the Bible as having the attributes of a soldier, a poet, and a king, so the song's title is very likely a reference to the three facets of Christ's personality. Christ is described as a warrior with a might sword (soldier), a master of words who moved people spiritually (poet), and a rightful ruler of the Kingdom of God (king). Christ’s embodiment of these three archetypes recalls the Biblical holy trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
The song may use the second coming as a metaphor for leaving an unhealthy relationship. The album on which "Soldier, Poet, King" appears, Dear Wormwood, is a reference to C. S. Lewis' 1942 book The Screwtape Letters (we’ll cover more about Dear Wormwood later in the article), and the Oh Hellos have specifically described the album as being about navigating an unhealthy relationship: "This album is a collection of letters, all written by a single protagonist and addressed to a single recipient, a conversation to which the listener is an observer as a relationship gone wrong reaches its breaking point—the words and music are at times affectionate and bittersweet, at others resigned and resolute." We don't know specifically how "Soldier, Poet, King" fits into that narrative, but frontwoman Maggie Heath describes it as being "a fairly easy song to sing along to…. It’s a song that we can all sing together [to] keep moving forward…even though it’s the darkest times." In other words, "Soldier, Poet, King" might be a hopeful song about how even though things may seem bad now, there's a light at the end of the tunnel—symbolized by the second coming of Christ, which promises peace and victory.
"Soldier, Poet, King" Lyrical Analysis
Verse 1: "There will come a soldier who carries a mighty sword" The first verse depicts a soldier coming to "tear your city down." These lines draw directly from Biblical depictions of the second coming of Christ, including Revelation 19:15, which says: "And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."
Verse 2: "There will come a poet whose weapon is his word" The second verse of the song depicts Christ as a poet "who will slay you with his tongue," evoking the spiritual Armor of God described in the Biblical book of Ephesians: "Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:11–17)
Verse 3: "There will come a ruler whose brow is laid in thorn" Jesus is commonly called the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in the Bible. Before he was crucified, the soldiers placed a crown of thorns on his head to mock him: "And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head." (Matthew 27:29–30)
Verse 3 (continued): "Smeared with oil like David's boy" The third verse goes on to describe the ruler being "smeared with oil like David's boy," a reference both to the tradition of anointing a king with oil at coronation; to the Biblical son of David, King Solomon; and to Christ's status as a direct descendent of King David. In other words, Jesus is a direct heir to King David's throne. "So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed [David] in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David." (Samuel 16:13) Jesus' trajectory is also often seen as paralleling David's own trajectory: the two both begin life in humble stations, only to eventually become king. They each identified as a shepherd, and they were also each betrayed by a close friend (David by his counselor Ahithophel, and Jesus by Judas).
The "Soldier, Poet, King" TikTok Trend
The Oh Hellos' song "Soldier, Poet, King" has inspired personality quizzes and a TikTok trend. The song "Soldier, Poet, King" was released on the Oh Hellos' 2015 album Dear Wormwood, but it really took off on TikTok in early 2023 as creators used the song to soundtrack videos of them at the Renaissance faire or wearing medieval garb. The song has also inspired numerous personality quizzes, like this one on wikiHow: Are You a Soldier, Poet, or King? The exact reason the song took off in the first place is hard to pinpoint, but the song has been featured in thousands of TikToks and covered numerous times (as in this TikTok by user @ahh_its_tarah). Whether the personality quizzes inspired the TikTok trend or the song's virality on TikTok inspired the influx of personality quizzes is sort of a chicken-or-the-egg situation, but needless to say, many TikTokers have taken to the app to post videos of them sharing the results of the quiz (like this TikTok by user @noahjayw). The song and many associated personality quizzes are trending once again as Dear Wormwood celebrates its 10th anniversary and as the Oh Hellos set off on tour to promote the beloved album.
Soldier, Poet, King Personality Types
Being a soldier, a poet, or a king is thought to represent how you move through the world. We'll briefly break down what the three archetypes are thought to represent as personality types: Soldier: A passionate, hardworking individual who thrives in heavily structured environments. Purposeful and respectful, they value harmony but are willing to fight for what they believe in. Poet: A creative, intelligent communicator. They are sensitive and compassionate, but their sensitivity is their gift, with which they are capable of changing the world. King: A responsible leader. They are wise and fair. Though they are powerful, they are always willing to sacrifice their needs for the needs of others.
More about 'Dear Wormwood'
Dear Wormwood is a 2015 concept album inspired by The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. The 1942 satirical epistolary (that is, told in letters) novel follows the correspondence between a senior devil, Screwtape, and his nephew, Wormwood, a junior tempter, about how best to lead Wormwood's "patient" (that is, human prey) into despair and sin. But the Oh Hellos wrote their album from the perspective of that patient, reimagining them as someone exiting an unhealthy and potentially abusive relationship. "Everything that Screwtape says is bad is good," Oh Hellos' Tyler Heath told Westword in 2016. "And everything he does that’s good is bad." Tyler and his sister Maggie—the other lead of the Oh Hellos–-decided to employ this "double speak" to discuss "this obviously unhealthy relationship—this tormentor figure" in their music "by couching it all in this very affectionate, very lovey-dovey" language. The album has been described by the band as "basically C. S. Lewis fanfiction" and as a "volume II" to their previous album, Through the Deep, Dark Valley.
Are the Oh Hellos a Christian band?
The Oh Hellos are Christian, but they don't identify as a "Christian band." What does that mean? As Maggie Heath explained in 2016, not long after the album came out, "We never really pinned ourselves as a Christian band, because that kind of connotes 'music written for Christians, by Christians, and that is just for Christians.' If you’re not a Christian, then you won’t relate to that, and that’s not what we're trying to do." That being said, the band draws from religious influences in their songwriting: "Tyler and I both grew up in the church and have spent time questioning our faith-upbringing, and kind of come around to, I guess, an understanding of what it is we truly believe," Maggie says. "So when it came to our music," she continues, "and wanting to write music from our heart, we do tend to use a lot of our biblical knowledge, or language of our childhood. We were wanting to write music that was sincere." As of an October 2020 American Songwriter interview with the band, the politically progressive duo have reexamined their religious beliefs after witnessing "a lot of people we had grown up seeing as…spiritual leaders…openly embracing political ideologies that were so counter to what they had taught us about what faith and tradition was supposed to mean," as Maggie explained. However, while the duo may have experienced a crisis of faith, they apparently still identify as Christian.
More Song Analyses
If you loved this article, check out wikiHow's other song analyses. Whether it's jaunty, medieval-inspired Christian-influenced folk you're into or the biggest pop songs of the day, wikiHow's got you covered! Take a deep dive with us into these other songs: "Father Figure" by Taylor Swift "Actually Romantic" by Taylor Swift "Ordinary" by Alex Warren "Manchild" by Sabrina Carpenter "Good Luck, Babe!" by Chappell Roan "Speed Demon" by Justin Bieber
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