| Serenity – My Legacy Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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This song is not intended to be interpreted as a metaphor or anecdote - rather, it's something of a riddle. Serenity have stated that each song in their album Death and Legacy was inspired by a historical figure, and with My Legacy, as with the other tracks, it's a matter of inferring which historical figure best matches the story told. I've been considering this for some time, and while I am not entirely confident in my conclusion due to some passages which are difficult to interpret, I believe this song is about Galileo Galilei. The song opens with a passage entirely about dealing with blindness, as Galileo did later in his life. Following that was the section that first tipped me off: 'The telescope was my obsession...' and so forth. Galileo wasn't just fascinated by astronomy, he's considered by many to be the father of modern astronomy, and pioneered heliocentrism. As we enter the chorus, we start to run into some stumbling blocks. While Galileo was cast out of the Catholic Church and kept under house arrest for much of his later life, he was never subjected to torture. Threatened, yes, but never actually tortured, as the song would imply with 'All those years in shame and in torture...'. Beyond that, however, just about everything said can be connected with Galileo's life and beliefs. As we enter the latter part of the song, we hit the second red flag, so to speak, with 'A trial in Rome swept my good hopes away!' Galileo was confronted by the Church about his defence of Copernicanism, and tried in Rome by the Inquisition. Following his refusal to admit he had supported Copernicanism, (self-denial has clouded my ways) he was placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life. Returning to the second bridge and chorus, the song once again addresses the blindness with which Galileo was stricken in his later life, and ends with the stirring line 'I'll fade away, but my legacy stays!' As I said, while the song is littered with what I believe to be references to Galileo Galilei's life, an alternate interpretation could easily be applied, turning the song into someone else's story. Does anyone have an idea of someone else this song could be about, or do you believe my interpretation is sound? I'd love to hear some responses; get some good discussion going. But opinions and interpretations aside, this song is undeniably brilliant, and will always be one of my favourites. |
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