Delere Auctorem Rerum Ut Universum Infinitum Noscas Lyrics
My footprints trod the virgin snow
As I was mauled by unending blizzards
With knees and elbows
Nails, teeth and viscera
Through screaming chasms I ventured
Into the winding caves I chased warmth
Revealing a palace... of ice and stone
Of fire, flesh and timber
Alien yet familiar
Lined with talismans... and amulets
I struggle... to walk their length
But I must
After each failed step... I summoned another
The cold not longer beat at my chest
I stood tall and strong
And with each golden trinket and ornament
I marched faster onwards
They came
Tearing through splintered oaken floors
I fell for eternity
Dragged by sinewy fingers
Torn off... by the stone walls of the pit
As I descended
Screams reverberated in the deep
Dust revealed my destination
This place
where men are conjured by cheap incantations
Where all questions are answered
And all journeys are at an end
Stained with the blood of climbers
Pulled apart by those who speak hollow words
And tell of the nothingness... beyond this place
"Some of you may notice I have a little Darwin Fish, an evolving fish. I had this pin on several years ago at a conference and a physicist Murray Gell-Mann was there, and he is a very learned gentleman. And he said: ‘Dan I like your pin.’ He said, 'Do you know that the Christian fish-symbol was the first acronym?’ Ichtys (ΙΧΘΥΣ) it’s the greek word for fish and it stood for: Iēsous (Iησοῦς), Christos (Χριστός), Theou (Θεοῦ), Yios (Υἱός), Sōtēr (Σωτήρ) – or 'Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.’ That’s why they used the fish. I said that’s very nice Murray, very interesting. He said: 'What I wan’t to know Dan is what does D A R W I N stand for?’ And I thought that’s a very good question. Well I’m not really a classical scholar but I did take latin in high school for a while, and I thought let me work on that to see what I can come up with. So I wen’t off and had a cup of coffee and got out my pencil and worked at it for a while and I came up with something which seems to fit pretty well. So here we go, here’s D A R U U I N, there is no W in latin so you have to use double U. Delere Auctorem Rerum Ut Universum Infinitum Noscas – Destroy (or delete) the Author of Things in order to Understand the Infinite Universe." — Daniel Dennett.
The lyrics to me appear to be an admonition against the dangers of religion (although, not necessarily the concept of god/God). They tell a general tale of a man, set in place of all men, who is coddled and allowed to walk tall through the comfort and strength of religion, but who ultimately finds that religion to be his downfall as the ravages of reality set in.
It is odd that the concept of God does not seem to be specifically addressed, considering that the Dennett quote speaks of deleting God (the supposed author of things) in order to gain understanding.
I do like the line:
"where men are conjured by cheap incantations Where all questions are answered And all journeys are at an end"
If a theory explains everything, it is likely to explain nothing.