Veteran Of The Psychic Wars Lyrics
I've been living on the edge so long, where the winds of Limbo roar.
And I'm young enough to look at,
And far old to see, all the scars are on the inside.
I'm not sure that there's anything left to me
It's time we had a break from it,
It's time we had some leave.
We've been living in the flames
We've been eating up our brains.
Oh please don't let these shakes go on!
You blame me for my silence, saying it's time I changed the rule
But the wars still going on dear,
And there's no one that I know.
And I can't say if we're ever,
Don't let these shakes go on!
It's time we had a break from it,
It's time we had some leave.
We've been living in the flames,
We've been eating up our brains,
Oh please don't let these shakes go on!
My energy is spent at last, and my armor is destroyed,
I have used up all my weapons, and I'm helpless and bereaved.
'til I hear you say that this is victory
Don't let these shakes go on!
It's time we had a break from it,Send me to the rear!
Where the tides of madness swell,
And bend slightly into Hell.
Don't let these shakes go on
Don't let these shakes go on!
It's about Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion, you tits.
Yup, written by Moorcock. It is of course about the Eternal Champion in general, but it seems it would best fit Erekosë as he's the one who can remember all his previous incarnations.
To me, this song is about mental illness. Maybe a survivor of severe abuse. Even if you can get away from the abusive situation, the psychic scares run deep and the mind can be severely injured.
Also, the lyric in the line "But the war's still going on, dear, and there's nowhen that I know" is wrong...it is "no end" not "nowhen".
Micheal Moorcock did cowrite this song (along with Black Blade and the Great Sun Jester). He says the song is an allusion to a soldier's post traumatic stress syndrome. They keep living the horror in their heads.
The literal phrase "Veterans of the Psychic Wars" is mentioned in the Eternal Champion trilogy. If I remember correctly, they are incarnations of the Eternal Champion who fought for so long that they forgot about everything except fighting. The current Eternal Champion calls on them for help in a battle. Those of them that die on the battefield are set free, while the rest have to wait another era (or whatever it's called; been a while) for the next battle. There's also a Hawkwind song about it called Warriors.
The song is based on Elric of Melniboné (probably the most famous of the Eternal Champions, wikipedia has a good overview of him), a character written by Michael Moorecock. This isn't just my interpretation, its what the writers intended. He wrote at least some of the lyrics. But if I didn't know better, I would think it was about drug addiction too. I just found out about this song recently (I vaguely remembered it from the movie Heavy Metal). Awesome song.
@SadisticSavior Definitely not Elric. His journeys were about his own struggle against destiny and fates that he actively wanted nothing to do with. Elric is loved for many things, I loved his balls. It takes some pretty extra-dimensionally large cojones to tell the Infinite Lords of Law, Chaos and Justice to all go screw themselves.
@SadisticSavior Definitely not Elric. His journeys were about his own struggle against destiny and fates that he actively wanted nothing to do with. Elric is loved for many things, I loved his balls. It takes some pretty extra-dimensionally large cojones to tell the Infinite Lords of Law, Chaos and Justice to all go screw themselves.
What is more likely, is that this song, written for a sci-fi film, gave Moorcock an opportunity to express that the Eternal Champion, even in some futuristic world of psionic intergalactic warriors, continues as the Avatar of the Balance.
What is more likely, is that this song, written for a sci-fi film, gave Moorcock an opportunity to express that the Eternal Champion, even in some futuristic world of psionic intergalactic warriors, continues as the Avatar of the Balance.
While this song by Moorcock is obviously about the Eternal Champion, I do not find any validation for assuming it is about any one of those whose journeys have been written of.
What is more likely, is that this song, written for a sci-fi film, gave Moorcock an opportunity to express that the Eternal Champion, even in some futuristic world of psionic intergalactic warriors, continues as the Avatar of the Balance.
It references the Eternal Champion but it is also clearly about the PTSD of a soldier and given the time period a Vietnam vet.
This song haunted me for years. I didnt know any background, didnt know about Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion. Although the imagery sounded much like a soldier's PTSD, I thought there must be something deeper. To me, it brought to mind the the mass media advertizing that we're surrounded by. I always hated the media. The thousand psychic wars were the thousands of advertisements both commercial and political, constantly trying to get into our heads, make us want things we dont need, playing on our fears and hopes, making us identify with one brand against another brand, what to like, what to be afraid of. "Im not sure that there's anything left of me", meant that we couldnt be sure if our opinions were our own, or if they were implanted by the media. They dont care how much they mess with your head.
The war's still going on, dear, and there's no end that I know. ...we're all veterans of these psychic wars.
Never diid know what the "shakes" were. Guess I didnt do enough drugs back when I had the chance. :-)
One of my all-time favorite songs.
@solagreg Hi solagreg, Your interpretation is good, if you didn't know about the books of Moorecock. With those book in hand it is pretty obvious. Without them your interpretation is solid, and I just wanna say I dig it too.
@solagreg Hi solagreg, Your interpretation is good, if you didn't know about the books of Moorecock. With those book in hand it is pretty obvious. Without them your interpretation is solid, and I just wanna say I dig it too.