Guys, it absolutely has do with an internal conflict within a character! As others have said, first understand it is about one single character, who starts as a boy here, and matures to an old man. Also know that The Rabbit is symbolic of what is inside the main character's head (in other words his psyche). Okay, now the juicy stuff...
At the beginning of the video, the band walks out from inside the Rabbit and is divided into 2 separate groups; all black on the left side of the screen, and white with black on the other. The 2 sides are shown colliding and fighting against each other (essentially good vs. evil in the characters mind). Furthermore, Jmann and Jeffrey are back-to-back with their arms interlocked, as if they are stuck together because their powers are negating each other and neither one is dominant over the other. It's symbolic of an individual who wants to do right, but his demons won't allow him to, which takes an enormous mental toll on the person. The boy's facial expressions show how unsure and terrified he is of what is happening to him.
Then, "There's a calm before the storm, and the Western front is quiet" is exactly what it says, it is calm, but the "storm" is coming and there will be one great final battle. The song commences with an epic instrumental roar as Jmann and Jeffrey, representing each side, trade lines in the verse, basically arguing and battling with each other verbally. One side says, "you don't know peace 'til you've had suffering" to which the other side replies, "I have suffered."
During this, it shows the band members colored in black cutting the Rabbit with a chainsaw, representing the individual being literally destroyed mentally. Then, both black and white band members walk back inside the Rabbit. Lastly, the character who is now an elderly man, barely tugging on the Rabbit (his emotional baggage)...falls to the ground, unable to move forward from the weight of his inner turmoil he has fought with his whole life. Unable to conquer his demons, he is now condemned to death. He finally gives up and dies.
P.S. I feel the words "Rembrandt as my right hand, solo as my pilot" are nothing more than creative use of words by Jmann that work for the song and sound cool, but really aren't important to the story being told. The "Nowhere" sign shows the man has accomplished little and feels hopelessly lost, held back all his life by this conflict.
Great interpretation. Adding on to "Rembrandt as my right hand...", Rembrandt was a famous painter who lived in the 1600's (Hence "masterpiece". He suffered from stereo vision, a condition that caused him to see in only two dimensions when using both eyes. By using one eye he could see in 3d. This allowed him to paint in great depth when painting on 2d canvases. I think that this reference refers to the conflict in his head. At first you can see the surface, the main conflict, and both of them are talking back and forth. After these verses about Rembrandt...
Great interpretation. Adding on to "Rembrandt as my right hand...", Rembrandt was a famous painter who lived in the 1600's (Hence "masterpiece". He suffered from stereo vision, a condition that caused him to see in only two dimensions when using both eyes. By using one eye he could see in 3d. This allowed him to paint in great depth when painting on 2d canvases. I think that this reference refers to the conflict in his head. At first you can see the surface, the main conflict, and both of them are talking back and forth. After these verses about Rembrandt only one of them is talking, like Rembrandt closing one of his eyes.
@KjSwantko I have a feeling that "Solo" may be in reference to "Solo Dark".
@KjSwantko I have a feeling that "Solo" may be in reference to "Solo Dark".
In Terance Mckenna's book "True Hallucinations", Mckenna describes Solo Dark as the strange leader of a fringe religious group. Solo Dark believed he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, Hitler and Lucifer simultaneously...
In Terance Mckenna's book "True Hallucinations", Mckenna describes Solo Dark as the strange leader of a fringe religious group. Solo Dark believed he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, Hitler and Lucifer simultaneously...
Guys, it absolutely has do with an internal conflict within a character! As others have said, first understand it is about one single character, who starts as a boy here, and matures to an old man. Also know that The Rabbit is symbolic of what is inside the main character's head (in other words his psyche). Okay, now the juicy stuff...
At the beginning of the video, the band walks out from inside the Rabbit and is divided into 2 separate groups; all black on the left side of the screen, and white with black on the other. The 2 sides are shown colliding and fighting against each other (essentially good vs. evil in the characters mind). Furthermore, Jmann and Jeffrey are back-to-back with their arms interlocked, as if they are stuck together because their powers are negating each other and neither one is dominant over the other. It's symbolic of an individual who wants to do right, but his demons won't allow him to, which takes an enormous mental toll on the person. The boy's facial expressions show how unsure and terrified he is of what is happening to him.
Then, "There's a calm before the storm, and the Western front is quiet" is exactly what it says, it is calm, but the "storm" is coming and there will be one great final battle. The song commences with an epic instrumental roar as Jmann and Jeffrey, representing each side, trade lines in the verse, basically arguing and battling with each other verbally. One side says, "you don't know peace 'til you've had suffering" to which the other side replies, "I have suffered."
During this, it shows the band members colored in black cutting the Rabbit with a chainsaw, representing the individual being literally destroyed mentally. Then, both black and white band members walk back inside the Rabbit. Lastly, the character who is now an elderly man, barely tugging on the Rabbit (his emotional baggage)...falls to the ground, unable to move forward from the weight of his inner turmoil he has fought with his whole life. Unable to conquer his demons, he is now condemned to death. He finally gives up and dies.
P.S. I feel the words "Rembrandt as my right hand, solo as my pilot" are nothing more than creative use of words by Jmann that work for the song and sound cool, but really aren't important to the story being told. The "Nowhere" sign shows the man has accomplished little and feels hopelessly lost, held back all his life by this conflict.
Great interpretation. Adding on to "Rembrandt as my right hand...", Rembrandt was a famous painter who lived in the 1600's (Hence "masterpiece". He suffered from stereo vision, a condition that caused him to see in only two dimensions when using both eyes. By using one eye he could see in 3d. This allowed him to paint in great depth when painting on 2d canvases. I think that this reference refers to the conflict in his head. At first you can see the surface, the main conflict, and both of them are talking back and forth. After these verses about Rembrandt...
Great interpretation. Adding on to "Rembrandt as my right hand...", Rembrandt was a famous painter who lived in the 1600's (Hence "masterpiece". He suffered from stereo vision, a condition that caused him to see in only two dimensions when using both eyes. By using one eye he could see in 3d. This allowed him to paint in great depth when painting on 2d canvases. I think that this reference refers to the conflict in his head. At first you can see the surface, the main conflict, and both of them are talking back and forth. After these verses about Rembrandt only one of them is talking, like Rembrandt closing one of his eyes.
@KjSwantko I have a feeling that "Solo" may be in reference to "Solo Dark".
@KjSwantko I have a feeling that "Solo" may be in reference to "Solo Dark".
In Terance Mckenna's book "True Hallucinations", Mckenna describes Solo Dark as the strange leader of a fringe religious group. Solo Dark believed he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, Hitler and Lucifer simultaneously...
In Terance Mckenna's book "True Hallucinations", Mckenna describes Solo Dark as the strange leader of a fringe religious group. Solo Dark believed he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, Hitler and Lucifer simultaneously...