| Mad Season – River of Deceit Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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Wow, some of these comments go back to the Clinton administration. Well, anyway, that doesn't matter. All music is timeless in a way. I heard River of Deceit today, actually been years since I last heard it, and was compelled to return here and provide my wisdom. Or bullshit, you decide. I'll start with a bit of pushback on the opinion that the song wasn't about Staley's drug addiction but rather the forces or experiences he endured that led him to addiction. I don't agree with that, I believe the song is ENTIRELY about his drug addictions and, more importantly, a crossroads. The prophet is actually a reference to a 1923 book of the same name; it's a collection of poems and stories written by Lebanese poet Khalil Gibrand. Layne had been studying his anthology before recording the album and no doubt many of the lyrics in RoD, while seemingly enigmatic and esoteric, are taken from the Prophet. On a side note, I recommend everyone read it at least once. It's a powerful life lesson. The title itself, River of Deceit, is curious. What is the river? Is this a real or imagined river? Was he talking about a mythological river like Styx or Lethe? Is it a metaphor? YES, yes, it is. The river is the artery of blood in his arm into which he injects heroine. Now I have no way of knowing if he ripped this off from Neil Young but it's oddly similar. If you recall Young's lyrics from "Down By The River" he says down by the river, I shot my baby. The river was his arm, the baby he shot was the needle. I don't know about you but I see a connection. Anyway, the river is blood, the heroine is the deceit. Staley ties in a lot of loose and personal metaphors of the river. He could drown, he could swim to shore, the river always pulls down. Now, that last part interests me. Blood always returns to the heart, but this river won't be returning, it flows in only one direction. Not unless he gets out of it. Because down is death. The use of a river as a symbol of life or death I think was incredibly well played in this song. The river, polluted with drugs, will kill him unless he starts swimming. Otherwise, I don't think it necessary to try to unlock easter eggs in the lyrics. What does pull off my skin mean? What does burn mean? What does grow a beautiful shell mean? Well, I do actually have an idea about that last one. I don't think it means anything. Or if it does, it's an allusion to a sea creature that hides and emerges only when it needs to. What does that mean? I have no clear idea except possibly a dream of re-imagining himself. Not all song writers are channeling the gods. Not all lyrics are written with some secret cypher required to allow the listener to grasp some deeper meaning. Sometimes words just fit and sound cool. Ever hear Stairway to Heaven? Sorry to break it you you, the music is beautiful but the lyrics are gibberish. However, I think Staley was trying to communicate something important to him in RoD, and he wanted us all to know. It was a message of hope and despair. That he had a choice to make, and he knew it as well as everyone who loved him knew. If he didn't maneuver on the river, he would drown. The song was released in 1995. Seven years later he would be found dead of an overdose. Perhaps it was all a plea for help, or a declaration that he accepted his fate, or that he was just confused as hell and didn't know what to do. But he had to tell someone, and he told us. Thank you, Layne Staley. For your passion, your talent, your brilliance. And for the lonely who heard you from shore and chose to swim. |
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| Queen – '39 Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Such a fantastic song, one of my favorites. A Brian May composition which is a bit of a departure from the power progressive style of Queen. It's a science fiction tale which brilliantly employs a part of Einsteins theory of Relativity, time dilation. Meaning as speed increases time expands; a week becomes a month, a month becomes a year, etc. It tells a story of a group of space voyagers (the volunteers), who in the year of 39 (could be 2239, 2339, who knows) depart a dying Earth in a space ship to explore a distant world for habitability. Presumably a government project, essentially scouting the planet for colonization. If they were to travel at speeds approaching the speed of light then the effects of time dilation would dramatically reduce the rate at which they age. A year back on Earth could mean only a day to them physiologically. If you follow the words you can piece together it took the volunteers 100 years to complete the mission, returning to Earth exactly one century later (in the year of 39 came a ship in from the blue). It's the year of 39.... in the next century. Upon their return they discover the world they left no longer exists. They have been gone a century yet the effects of time dilation has aged them only a year. Their families are long dead, the Earth has deteriorated to a gray planet. They came back to report the world they explored is vibrant and perfect for humanity. But their good news is quickly squashed by the realization that they are now refugees in time. The song seems to have a dual narrative; a third person perspective telling the tale of the voyage and their return underlying a first person conversation. "Can't you hear me calling you, though you're many years away?" is an imaginary conversation between one of the volunteers and presumably his wife, speaking to her through space and time. "write your letters in the sand", to me, seems to suggest leaving him a message etched in the earth he will see when he returns, perhaps a tree or stone. "for the day I take your hand in the land that our grandchildren knew." is simply a longing to return to the time and place with his loved ones. A land he knows his grandchildren will inhabit in his absence. I think the line "your mother's eyes from your eyes cry to me." suggest the voyager has met one of his children. After so long it has to be assumed his child is now a centenarian. And he is still a young man. "For my life's still ahead, pity me." means he is now alone and will live out the rest of his life displaced in time with no one. Lyrically the song does not give you all the information you would need to assemble the events or meaning of those events. It only gives you enough to put together a long voyage and it's effects physically and psychologically. What I love is the way it's intentionally framed as a sea voyage to a new land, not as a journey into space. Unless you knew "though I'm older but a year" meant a very specific phenomena of intergalactic travel, you would be confused by that. But that is precisely what it is, and Mays knew enough about astrophysics to use it as the basis for a sad tale of loss. |
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| Genesis – Home By The Sea Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Yeah this is one of those songs I love, have cranked in the car whenever it was on, knew all the lyrics, and had no clue as to what it was about. Then I stumbled on an article about it which says it's about a burglar captured by ghosts in a haunted house, the home by the sea. THEN it made absolute sense. It's a creepy song and a ghost story. It sounds to me the ghosts are trapped in the house and have need of the living to help them escape. It frames the tale but does not explain it completely. There is room for speculation about who they were, how they got there, and why the burglar needs to stay with them the rest of his life. But now that I understand the basis of the song it kind of gives me a chill when I hear it. | |
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