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Caramel is about the struggle of fame
DISCLAIMER: this is MY interpretation of the song, none of this is fact, you can feel free to disagree RESPECTFULLY and tell me why you do. Once again, respectfully. I don't have enough patience to get into an online fight over the interpretation of a song.
ANOTHER DISCLAIMER: if anyone puts their identities in the comments or reblogs, you will be blocked. This page is a place for respect to the band, and their privacy. If you don't respect that, or the other fans, you're not allowed in this space.
Sleep Token got doxed a while back, their birth certificates, real names, addresses, etc. And in response, they wrote Caramel, (Vessel specifically, he's the lead song writer) which directly features a line that says 'Every time they try to shout my real name just to get a rise from me, Acting like I'm never stressed out by the hearsay' is a direct message to the people who shout their real names at concerts, ruining the magic and anonymity of the band. This is the first time we ever hear directly from the man behind the mask, the man who writes the lore. This isn't just Vessel, this is the man behind the character, because Sleep Token was about separating art from the artist, appreciating the art itself instead of only enjoying it because of who it came from. The song starts with a music box esc tune, showing that Vessel feels like one of those ballerinas, forced to perform every time the box opens. There is a song on their first album (Sundowning) called 'Sugar' which is basically a love letter to the fanbase, the people who listen to their art because they believe that's what it is. Art. Now we look at Caramel, which is what happens when you melt sugar.
'Count me out like sovereigns, payback for the good times' Sovereigns are a British currency, first issues by King Henry the VII. Vessel generally portrays himself as the 'king' or lead of the band. This being currency is a metaphor for how the music industry turns art into product, they profit off of heart break, and drama.
'Right foot in the roses, left foot on a landmine' There is a lot of connections in their music and in this particular instance, it can be connected to several different songs, and I will go in release order for this part, in 'Blood Sport' the lyric is 'you're still my weapon of choosing' and in 'Aqua Regia' the lyric is 'putting down the roses, picking up the sword' and then in 'Emergence' the lyric is 'I am the rose you relinquished again' and now it's this lyric, which shows the progression of the roses, and how they compare to a weapon. The roses generally represent the Garden of Eden, a safe haven, heaven on earth, and the landmine is a metaphor for how the moment Vessel takes his foot off fame, it'll blow up in his face. The landmine can be compared to the forbidden fruit, the first sin, the sin that produced the seven deadly sins. Greed being one of them.
'I'm not gonna be there tripping on the grapevine' A grapevine is a metaphor for gossip, or blabber. Vessel is possibly saying that he is tripping over all the gossip and drama and whispers about his life.
'They can sing the words while I cry into the bassline' Vessel has cried while singing songs many times before, and the fans always sing over it, (almost) so he could be referring to the lack of empathy some fans have.
'Wear me out like Prada, devil in my detail' This line suggests that he's being worn too thin, burning out like a candle. His 'detail' being his identity, it's also possible that he's referring to the fact that people are talking about the real him so much that it's getting old. This band could've been his only form of escapism, so people knowing who he is has damaged his mental health.
'I swear it's getting harder even just to exhale' Suggests anxiety, like panic attacks.
'Backed up into corners, bitter in the Lense' Back into a corner can also be a metaphor for anxiety too. To me, lense is the rose-colored glasses people wear when it comes to fame, and bitter means that those lenses have been taken off, showing the reality of the fame the band faces.
'I'm sick of tryna hide it every time they take mine' He's tired. Tired of his privacy being invaded.
'Stick to me like caramel' is like saying 'you're burning me, and you won't stop' it's a way of attempting to say 'leave me alone'
'Walk beside me till you feel nothing as well' saying this is essentially saying 'walk a mile in my shoes as see if you're still unbothered.'
'They ask me, 'is it going good in the garden'' Eden referred to again, fame being the 'heaven on earth' or 'promised land' and the forbidden fruit being too tempting.
'Say 'I'm lost' but I beg no pardon' Vessel is saying this because he firmly believes that he's blessed with the fame and influence he has, and he feels like he can't navigate it, because it's new, and terrifying.
'Up on the dice but low on the cards' Everyone can see your dice rolls. Everyone can see if you rolled well or poor. Cards are generally secret, so saying up on dice means he's acting well, he's playing the part of mentally healthy, but the inside is crumbling.
'I try not to talk about how it's harder now' They got so successful so quickly, and it is obviously going to be difficult to adjust to a new life style.
'Can I get a mirror side stage' He doesn't want to speak ill of the fanbase, after all they 'support' him, and he doesn't want to throw it away.
'Looking sideways at my own visage, getting worse' To build on the previous point, pretending everything is fine is actively destroying him, it's a common theme in this song, so this point will likely be repeated in this breakdown.
'Every time they try to shout my real name just to get a rise from me' He was doxed. His life was leaked, and his privacy was breached. This band was meant to be art. Separating art from the artist, and yet here they are, identities revealed. 'Fans' goad him at concerts, trying to get a reaction from him.
'Acting like I'm never stressed out by the hearsay' Fans aren't always empathetic. They don't always grasp the gravity of being in the light of public. The gossip, drama, etc, is stressful, and not everyone quite understands how it can damage the subject of the conversation, in this case, it's Vessel.
'I guess that's what I get for tryna hide in the limelight' Hiding in limelight is counterproductive, there are a few different ways I interpreted this line. Hiding while in the limelight, versus using the limelight as your hiding spot. To build off the first one. The band wears masks. Directly hiding in the spotlight. Now for the second one, often fame is used as a mask, or a way of escapism, (previously mentioned) a way to ignore the issue of your real life.
'Guess that's what I get for having 20/20 hindsight' He knew it was a possibility, being doxed. It's a possibility for every celebrity, but he still chose to forge his passion, his art, and he chose to show his heart to the public. He chose to share his art to the world, and in response, the world treated the band with disrespect.
'Everybody wants eyes on 'em' This is a reference to other musicians, the ones who aren't anonymous, the ones who release music to be on the top hit boards. This leads into the next line
'I just wanna hear you sing that top line' Vessel is stating here that he never wanted eyes on him. He just wanted people to enjoy and relate to his music, he wants people to scream their hearts out at his concerts, he wants people to enjoy themselves. That's all he wanted for this band, was for people to appreciate the art, and let themselves relate.
'And if you don't think I mean it, then I understand' He understands if you don't think that's true, because obviously everyone wants attention, right?
'But I'm still glad you came, so let me see those hands' He's grateful. For the fans, the support, and the love.
(Chorus part 1 again)
'I'm falling free off the final parallel' In 'Euclid' parallel is referenced as the parallel Vessel would 'lay his life on' He did. And he stumbled. Falling off this parallel, and into the depths.
'The sweetest dreams are bitter but there's no one left to tell' This is a reference to the fact that the song is telling. This song is making it so that there is no one left to tell that this once sweet dream has turned sour, and harsh.
'Too young to get bitter over it all' Vessel is realizing that he's too young, he feels like he hasn't been through enough to be bitter about it.
'Too old to retaliate like before' Generally when a band or celebrity is starting out, they can respond to the hate, or the disrespect, and when they get bigger, they're held to a higher standard. Vessel feels like he's too old to respond to the disrespect with disrespect.
'Too blessed to be caught ungrateful, I know' He feels like the fame is such a blessing, a chance that so few receive, that he can't feel bad about it. Like he's far too 'well off' that it shouldn't affect his mental state, but it does. So why is he supposed to be grateful? Why can't he be bitter? Because he feels too 'blessed'
'So I'll keep dancing along to the rhythm' He dances through his pain, circling back to the beginning of the song, where the music box tune plays, those ballerinas are forced to dance, even if it hurts, even in their feet bleed. And he's saying that he'll dance through the pain, maybe he'll go numb.
'The stage is a prison (too young to get bitter over it all)' The overlapping is like the two voices, the one telling him that he can't be ungrateful, and the other telling him that he is allowed to be. Once again, music boxes are prisons for those little dancers.
'A beautiful nightmare' It was so gorgeous at first, so beautiful, until the dream went dark, and bitter. It turned into a nightmare, and there's few things you can do to escape a nightmare. He hopes he'll wake up at some point. That it'll all have just been in his head.
'A war of attrition (too old to retaliate like before)' Attrition is reduction of effectiveness. A war of this means he's fighting to stay productive, to stay 'relevant' even. But wars are always lost.
'The deepest incisions (too old to retaliate like before)' This could be a reference to self-harm. He's referenced it before, but most of the time, it's left up to interpretation, as all the band's songs are. Fame has damaged him so much that he feels the most control in pain he causes himself. It's the only pain he can control.
'I thought I got better, but maybe I didn't' There was a point in time that he thought his mental health was doing better, and now he feels like it's only gotten worse.
'(In these days) Tell me did I give you what you came for' So many fans are so hungry for more music that he might've felt pressured into releasing this album, maybe rushed. So, he's 'retaliating' with this single as a form of giving the fans what they wanted, while also attempting to make things better, or find closure.
'(I wish it all away) Terrified to answer my own front door' This comes with popularity, being doxed is unsafe. It's scary. And he wishes he never got here. He wishes he'd never started this.
'(I thought things had changed) Missin' my wings in a realm of angels' He thought the fans understood, his privacy was his own, and that changed. He feels alone. Missing wings amongst other angels would feel heartbreaking, and terrifying, cause what if he never flies again
'(But everything's the same)' He thought the fans gained respect. They didn't. At least enough of them didn't.
And then the second part of the bridge replays with the music box tune in the background, perpetuating the idea that he's a forced dancer.