| Devin Townsend – Praise The Lowered Lyrics | 10 years ago |
|
Okay so this is the intro to the album, the concept of which Devin has explained as about a man obsessed with understanding the true nature of reality, going to great lengths to do so. The intro sets the scene, a man in great turmoil, battling his addictions: "tonight it's soda water, soda water, soda water boys" The duality of his existence and the suppression and eventual break out of his darkest demons are expressed beautifully by the contrast between beginning and end of the song, with the first half slow and serene; his mind chipping away ("get ready, one won't stop the flow) at his sober and responsible lifestyle "console your child... get him ready". The midpoint begins to show the turn from control to chaos as his addictions start to overwhelm him, progressing at first from singing about sobriety to being stoned and back to stone sober (the stoned sticking around as it creeps closer). And so his addictions begin to scream at him, telling him they want to drink the wine, take acid, heroin and smoke crack cocaine. Eventually they demand he "smoke that fucking weed boy" and "drink the wine". He breaks at the final and most crucial moment and slips into his addiction. He revels in it and wishes pain upon himself; "bring the pain!". And so our character's descent into hell (an aspect of the album Devin has confirmed during interview) begins here. As you can see I view this song as a conversation between the light and dark within the main character, and Devin is drawing on his own experience and expressing his own feelings through the tale. He's spoken at great length in the past on his troubles with mental health, drugs and addiction. This album, about facing your fears and overcoming them (again, Devin has confirmed this in interview), is Devin's way of "putting to paper" or in this case, to CD, his struggle with and eventual overcoming of his troubles. That's my interpretation, anyway. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.