Deftones Departing The Body Meaning and Review

A Slow and Experimental Opening

Deftones close Private Music with “Departing the Body”, a track that feels both experimental and ethereal, unfolding with a slow, atmospheric beginning. The opening is drenched in a weightless ambience, with minimal instrumentation allowing the vocals to float in an almost otherworldly space. This restraint sets the tone for the song’s exploration of transcendence, embodying the sensation of drifting away from the physical and into something larger. It immediately signals that this is not just another track, it is a deliberate conclusion.

Shoegaze Influences and Sonic Shift

As the song progresses, the band leans into a lush, shoegaze-inspired soundscape that feels like Deftones reimagined through a dreamier, more distorted lens. The guitars swell with hazy reverb, creating a wall of sound that is less aggressive than their trademark crunch but just as heavy emotionally. This sonic shift mirrors the lyrical themes of dissolution and transformation, as if the music itself is departing from its body, dissolving into textures rather than riffs. It is a subtle but powerful evolution that makes the song stand out in their catalog.

Lyrical Imagery of Transcendence

Lyrically, “Departing the Body” is steeped in imagery of space, light, and dissolution. Phrases like “our low-res bodies sway” and “we watch these grains dissolve” conjure the sensation of fading into the infinite, blurring the boundary between physical presence and cosmic abstraction. The refrain, “Racing through the light, today we are gonna taste beyond,” captures that forward thrust into the unknown, a motif that resonates strongly as an album closer. It is both haunting and hopeful, suggesting that endings are just beginnings in disguise.

A Dreamlike Vocal Performance

The vocal delivery matches the atmosphere perfectly. Rather than relying on the visceral screams and sharp edges that Deftones often employ, Chino Moreno’s voice is restrained, layered, and entranced. His performance enhances the shoegaze comparison, not unlike bands such as Slowdive or My Bloody Valentine, but filtered through Deftones’ signature sense of tension and release. The result is a hypnotic pull that draws the listener deeper into the song’s dream logic, making its six minutes feel timeless.

A Perfect Closer

Ultimately, “Departing the Body” functions as an ideal closer for Private Music. Its gradual build, its fusion of experimental ambience with shoegaze textures, and its lyrical meditation on transcendence give the album a sense of completion while leaving the listener suspended in mystery. Deftones prove once again that their artistry thrives not just in heaviness, but in atmosphere and emotional depth. This track feels less like a finale and more like a portal, an invitation to step beyond the body and into something unknown, shimmering, and infinite.

Listen To Deftones Departing The Body 

Deftones Departing The Body Lyrics Meaning Explained 

The meaning of Departing the Body by Deftones is a meditation on transformation, mortality, and the journey beyond the physical self. The song explores the liminal space between existence and transcendence, using imagery of rooms, light, and dissolving bodies to convey a sense of movement from one state of being to another. It captures the tension between detachment and awe, portraying the body as fading or "low-res" while consciousness or spirit progresses toward an unknown yet compelling beyond. Through both its lyrics and its ethereal, shoegaze-influenced instrumentation, the track evokes the sensation of leaving the material world behind and entering a purer, timeless plane.

Opening Atmosphere

Departing the Body opens with the lines, "There's a room / We hang in space / It's clear and cold." These lines immediately establish a confined yet surreal setting. The "room" suggests both safety and limitation, a space where transition begins, while "hang in space" conveys suspension between worlds, neither grounded nor fully free. The description of the environment as "clear and cold" evokes detachment and stillness, highlighting an atmosphere of sterile transition and otherworldly calm.

Chorus and the Theme of Liminality

The chorus, "A dome light is all that remains / Helps split these days apart / Our low-res bodies sway / We watch these grains dissolve," expands on this theme of liminality. The "dome light" serves as the only remaining tether to reality, a faint remnant of consciousness marking the passage of time. "Helps split these days apart" suggests that awareness is attempting to measure the unmeasurable as one moves through this space. The phrase "our low-res bodies sway" is a metaphor for physical degradation and impermanence, likening the fading human form to pixelated or indistinct images. Finally, "we watch these grains dissolve" conjures the image of time slipping away, like sand in an hourglass, emphasizing mortality and the ephemeral nature of life.

Refrain and Transcendence

The refrain, "Racing through the light / Today, we're gonna taste beyond / Enchanted by what lies / What awaits our future," introduces the theme of transcendence. "Racing through the light" evokes the classic image of moving toward a higher plane or consciousness, while "taste beyond" suggests a visceral experience of crossing into the unknown. The phrase "enchanted by what lies" captures fascination and awe for what remains unseen, leaving ambiguity between reality and illusion. "What awaits our future" emphasizes that the journey is not merely an ending, but a transition into something beyond physical existence.

Transformation in the Second Verse

In the second verse, "I realize, as morning came, a brand-new phase upon / Our movement is starting to change / We let the mod begin," the lyrics describe transformation and awakening. "Morning" symbolizes renewal, and the "brand-new phase" represents a stage of existence beyond the physical. "Our movement is starting to change" highlights the gradual adjustment to this new state, while "we let the mod begin" frames the transformation as deliberate, akin to updating or upgrading the self to a higher form. The repeated refrain, with slight variation, continues this motif: "Racing through the light / Craving what awaits beyond / Enchantment in our eyes / We're veering closer" intensifies the desire for transcendence. The change from "taste" to "craving" underscores the urgency and longing for the unknown, while "enchantment in our eyes" reflects awe at the impending transformation. "We're veering closer" suggests an unstoppable momentum toward the beyond, as if being drawn toward a predetermined destiny.

Climax and Resolution

The third verse, "Lift your eyes, surprise, surprise, we made it / And you raise your eyes, surprise, we're finally / Through, through, through / In a room / We end in, it's clean," represents the culmination of the journey. The repeated "surprise" emphasizes awe and disbelief at reaching this new state, while "lift your eyes" suggests enlightenment and the act of looking toward something greater. The repetition of "through" reinforces completion and finality. Returning to the image of "a room" mirrors the first verse but transforms it; this is no longer a space of suspension but one of resolution. "We end in, it's clean" conveys purity, peace, and the ultimate release of the physical self. The reprise of the chorus, "A dome light, all that remains / It splits these days apart / Our low-res bodies sway / We watch these grains dissolve," closes the narrative, reinforcing the imagery of fading physicality and the dissolution of time, leaving only transcendence and awareness.

Departing the Body Meaning

Departing the Body is a meditation on mortality, transformation, and the transition beyond physical existence. The song’s imagery blends technological metaphors such as "low-res bodies" and "mod" with spiritual archetypes like light and the unknown, suggesting a movement from corporeal limitation toward a higher, purer state. The repeated refrains capture both longing and awe, making the journey feel less like loss and more like initiation. As the closing track of Private Music, it embodies dissolution and transcendence, leaving the listener in a reflective, contemplative state, mirroring the passage from the tangible world to something infinite and unknowable.

Deftones Departing The Body Lyrics

[Verse 1]

There's a room

We hang in space

It's clear and cold

[Chorus]

A dome light is all that remains

Helps split these days apart

Our low-res bodies sway

We watch these grains dissolve

[Refrain]

Racing through the light

Today, we're gonna taste beyond

Enchanted by what lies

What awaits our future

[Verse 2]

I realize, as morning came, a brand-new phase upon

Our movement is starting to change

We let the mod begin

[Refrain]

Racing through the light

Craving what awaits beyond

Enchantment in our eyes

We're veering closer

[Verse 3]

Lift your eyes, surprise, surprise, we made it

And you raise your eyes, surprise, we're finally

Through, through, through

In a room

We end in, it's clean

[Chorus]

A dome light, all that remains

It splits these days apart

Our low-res bodies sway

We watch these grains dissolve