“A Neon Hymn” started with the bass line.
At the time, I was leaning pretty heavily into electro—stuff like The Egyptian Lover and Freestyle—and I had this very specific image in my head while I was writing it: being a kid at a roller rink.
That image stuck.
I could picture the lights, the floor, everybody moving around in circles, and that slightly strange feeling roller rinks have once you start separating the place from childhood nostalgia.
I even started imagining a music video pretty early on. Same setting, but darker. I had this idea that something terrible was happening almost unnoticed in the middle of everything—possibly even a murder—while everyone around it just kept skating.
I never completely figured out that story, so I stopped trying to force it.
Maybe I'll come back to it eventually.
What I remember most from making the song is just being completely locked into the bass line. I didn't really know what the structure was going to become. I just kept following that groove and letting everything else build around it.
THE MEANING
There isn't really one clean narrative behind “A Neon Hymn.”
It's more of a feeling.
A lot of the song is about movement—running, driving, dancing, staying in motion.
Sometimes there's this strange comfort in continuing forward instead of stopping long enough to examine everything that's happening around you.
That idea eventually turned into the line:
“What a beautiful demise.”
I wasn't trying to write something intentionally dark or dramatic. I liked the idea of recognizing that something is ending without immediately trying to save it.
Sometimes things burn out.
Sometimes they fall apart.
And sometimes all you can really do is see the moment for what it is.
Then the song gets a little more detached:
“Automatic
Catatonic
Psychotronic
All chromatic”
That's probably the point where movement becomes almost mechanical. You're still going, but you're not necessarily thinking about where you're going anymore.
And then the response is basically:
Let's dance.
Not because dancing fixes anything.
Just because we're here.
The final section is probably the most personal part of the song. It shifts into driving, distance, and being connected to somebody even when there is physical space between you.
“The space between you and I ain't far.”
That's really the center of it for me.
Distance doesn't necessarily mean absence.
You can be apart from somebody and still feel like the space between you is completely filled.
By the end, I don't think the song is really about running away from anything.
It's more about accepting where you are and deciding to keep moving through it with somebody else.
And apparently, in my version of that idea, we're doing it at a roller rink.
Meaning
A Neon Hymn - what I was getting at… This song isn’t really about one thing. It’s more like a state.
It starts with movement—running, staying in motion, not stopping long enough to deal with whatever’s behind you or even what’s ahead. Not dramatic. Just constant.
That feeling where if you slow down, everything catches up. But it’s not fear exactly. It’s almost voluntary.
“what a beautiful demise”
That line isn’t supposed to be edgy. It’s more like… recognizing when something is ending and not resisting it. There’s a moment where things are clearly burning out, falling apart, whatever—and instead of trying to fix it, you just stand in it and see it for what it is. The neon part matters. It’s not natural light. It’s artificial, saturated, kind of surreal. Like the whole thing is happening in a space that doesn’t feel real anymore.
The middle section gets kind of numb.
“automatic / catatonic…”
That’s just what it feels like when you’ve been in that state too long. You’re still moving, but you’re not really there. Then it flips into “let’s dance in the dark,” which is basically the only response that makes sense at that point. Not fixing anything. Just choosing to be in it anyway, with someone else.
The last part is the only place it gets specific. Driving. Distance. Someone you’re trying to stay connected to.
“The space between you and I ain’t far” — that’s not literal. It’s more like, even when you’re not physically close, it doesn’t feel empty. There’s still something there. That’s probably the real core of the song. Everything else is just the atmosphere around it.
By the end, it’s not really about running anymore. It’s more like… alright, this is what it is. Let’s just exist in it. Together, if possible.
That’s it. No big message. Just that shift.
Lyrics
On the run
We're on the run
We're running through the night
Through the night
Holding on
We gotta keep holding on
Holding through the light
Through the night
To sing with all of our might
What a beautiful demise
A fire burning in the sky
Sing a hymn in the neon light
Baptized in the neon light
What a beautiful demise
A fire burning in the sky
Sing a hymn in the neon light
Baptized in the neon light
Automatic
Catatonic
Psychotronic
All chromatic
Let's dance
In the dark
We'll embark
For the stars
I'm the one
You know that I'm the one
To show the reasons why
The reasons why
Gotta run
We just gotta keep on the run
Running to the light
Through the night
To sing for our demise
What a beautiful demise
A fire burning in the sky
Sing a hymn in the neon light
Baptized in the neon light
What a beautiful demise
A fire burning in the sky
Sing a hymn in the neon light
Baptized in the neon light
Did you know
We're drifting in the glow
With fire in the sky
In the sky
Don't let go
We just gotta keep control
And hold onto the light
Through the night
To sing for our demise
What a beautiful demise
A fire burning in the sky
Sing a hymn in the neon light
Baptized in the neon light
What a beautiful demise
A fire burning in the sky
Sing a hymn in the neon light
Baptized in the neon light
Long ago
We were so close and yet so far
So far
Away
In the car
Drive fast
Drive far
The space between you and I ain't far
The space is filled with the most brilliant stars
Brilliant stars
So we want
And we'll need
To be amongst the free
Dancing alongside with me
So we want
And we need
To be amongst the free
Dancing alongside with me
Shine with me brilliant stars to be
Shine with me brilliant stars to be
So we want
And we'll need
To be amongst the free
Dancing alongside with me and you
