| The Protomen – The Sons of Fate Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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So... I agree entirely with L33tsaber's corrections. And it bothers me that in almost three years, Kuroji hasn't bothered to do the fixes. Is there any way we can get this fixed? As for meaning, before I read the "official" narrative in the liner notes, I had a completely separate vision for how Protoman dies. I imagined that Megaman was just avoiding Protoman's assault as they do their duet, then Protoman strikes some sort of mortal-looking blow. As he gloats before the crowd, he hears them call for blood, then is shocked to hear Megaman scream, "No!" followed by the command to kill Protoman. And I imagined a similar change of heart at the sudden display of defiance from the crowd, as Protoman sees that maybe they just needed to be pushed far enough before they'd actually start to rally behind someone. |
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| The Protomen – The Good Doctor Lyrics | 16 years ago |
For the last stanza, I hear:And we will stand above the cityAt first, I thought Wily sang the last stanza, too. But the lead singer is just one guy, and in their first album, Light's voice crosses into the higher end of his range during Unrest in the House of Light, so I don't think Wily is singing at the end. Also, I recommend including speaking roles, but that's just me. At any rate, as for meaning: This is pretty standard establishment stuff, setting the tone of the story and laying out the character of Light as a public-spirited genius, and hinting at Wily's megalomania. Light wants to build robots so that people won't have to suffer for their bread; Wily wants to be paid in loyalty for "solving" the problem of manual labor for everyone. It also gives motivation to Dr. Light, and explains why he started building robots in the first place (which is how he met Wily), which is completely absent from the video games. |
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| The Protomen – Give Us the Rope Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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When I hear this song, I see the following in my head: The judge bangs his gavel, and Dr. Light is escorted out of the courthouse by Wily's robots. As the clarinet (?) plays, bystanders gawk and gossip at the defeated-looking man led by in shackles, head hanging, tears in his eyes. The courthouse door creaks as it opens, and a furious mob is seen outside, screaming for blood. The mob is barely held off by Light's robot escort, and the good doctor is brought to a truck and driven to a train while Light has to hear the taunts and jeers of the city Wily has turned completely against him. I imagine that the robot escort continuously reassures Dr. Light, "We have control. We keep you safe. We are your hope. We are in control." But maybe that's too much. This song blends seamlessly into How the World Fell Under Darkness, which starts with the sounds of a rail car coming in behind the music, which is why I imagine that Light is taken to a train station before heading to the prison. |
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| The Protomen – Father of Death Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Spoiling away! My thoughts: If you've heard of The Protomen, then the general context of the song should be obvious; for those who have not, in fifteen words or less: Dr. Light is bemoaning the fact that his work has gone wrong. As for the last part, the vision I have in my head is that Wily is trying to convince Emily to rule the world with him, since Light refuses to do things Wily's way. She says no, and so he kills her, ultimately pinning the crime on Dr. Light, thus removing the last obstacle to his plan for world conquest. I imagine that the killing blow is struck when the Choir cuts out at the end. On their first album, the liner notes included additional narrative that was not sung. Reading it in my head, I noticed that the pacing for most (if not all) of it fit really well as I read it in my head, and so I imagine that here, too, there is action to fill up the instrumental parts, and it's not just musical masturbation (groovy though that is). OK, so, from the killing blow as described above, I imagine that Wily is lit with rage as he strikes Emily down, then regrets his decision when the music box chimes back in, since he loved her as well. As the music box slows down, the grief on Wily's face turns to a manic grin as he forms a plan: when the horns and drums resume, he begins staging the scene so as to frame Dr. Light for the murder. Everything else is pretty straightforward, to my mind. |
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| The Protomen – The Hounds Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Thanks for the corrections, Jake! I also added a couple others ("Tear all through the town" corrected to "Tell us who you've found," "I guess my man, he used a tool" corrected to "Like a smart man, he used a tool"), and italicized speaking roles. OK, meaning! And, of course, beware of the spoilers. This, I believe, is Wily's master stroke in taking over the world: having killed Emily, he pins the crime on Light (who blames himself anyway for ever having trusted Wily in the first place). He accomplishes this through, of course, a smear campaign; the swing-ish big-band sound evokes a sinister glee at getting everyone to go along with his "song and dance" routine. It's a tough call, but I think "who turned this city on" refers to the general citizenry, considering the later line, "They'll not switch it off again" (emphasis added). Without that last bit, I'm pretty much evenly split on whether Wily means just himself, or the populace - they've grown dependent upon the machines, and now that Wily has shown Light to be "the bad guy," the crowd has turned against him and there's no going back (Light can neither run from them, nor stand against them, and they're all "tuned in" to Wily's message). Other thoughts? |
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| The Protomen – Father of Death Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Well, the album is out, and I suspect that the only ones who come here will be interested in deeper interpretation, so here I go! I think after the choir responds with their final line, that Wily kills Emily for rejecting him. After Light's second insistence that he will not be the father of Death, the narrative jumps into the past to explain the event alluded to and expounded upon in Light's first and second verses (respectively). Less obviously, and in context with the rest of the rock opera, I think that Wily kills Emily for rejecting him. This shows how much of a sociopath he is, and Light, good man that he is, ironically blames himself for ever trusting Wily in the first place. This misplaced blame - humans are responsible for their own actions, after all, and not the actions of others - is compounded later as Wily convicts Light for the murder and turns the entire city against him, imprisoning Light for the crime and then taking over the world while the only one capable of stopping him is behind bars. In short, Wily completely ruins Light's life. Whether or not one thinks this makes for good storytelling, I think it must be said that this is a damn sight better than any of Capcom's efforts. |
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