Wow! What a wonderful begining! A marvelous explotion of sound pulls us into another place, another time... and we watch, with wide eyes, as a whole world opens all around us.
A rumble, low and powerful... we see the Elder Race leave for exploration, leaving their old home, their own planet behind.
And the meek did, in fact, inherit the earth. The Elder Race left for other planets, unafriad of learning, growth and change. Other planets, other planes, higher existance. And the meek stayed behind. Too afraid of change, they stayed behind, safe in their world. Physicaly and mentaly they remained 'stuck' in the same mind.
So afraid of change, they took control and held on to it feircly. Templevision and the Temple Paper to tell the citizens what to do, what to think, how to think. *Goodness, if people start thinking for themselves, we could well loose control! We can't have that, now...*
No new thoughts, no change, no old ways re-surfacing. *Just do as we say and all will be well.* Well of course there was 'peace' since 2062, with the Priests in control of all thought, all action. With no change, no possibility of change, there were no conflicting ideas and so, no conflict.
Any strange urge to change, that gets quickly squashed.
All of this done under the guise of protection and care for all the good citizens. And the citizens are 'happy' to be a herd of sheeple, the good Priests as their wise and wonderful shepards.
*All right everyone, it's time to remind you how lovely life is and how very wonderful we are for holding it all together for you.*
The paragraph on the lyric sheet (or the album/c.d. sleeve) before the song begins... looks at the Priests from a citizens point of veiw. Oh! The awe and wonder and admiration for these wise Priests! The benevolent leaders of this perfect world! How they care... even making sure there's a Temple in the heart of every Federation City.
And inside the magnificent Temples, how very wonderful, every single facet of every single life is all taken care of for you! No doubt even your meals are decided for you... you haven't got to worry about anything at all, you haven't got to think about anything at all.
That's right! The Priests tell you what to read, what to listen to, what to do... everything. You haven't got to think at all. How wise they are! They know what's best for us all!
.
And so... the song begins, from the Priests, they demonstrate their hold over all...
"We've taken care of everything..." sets the tone beautifuly. Doesn't it sound terific? It's a perfect world! Nothing to worry about, nothing to wonder about, everything is all taken care of.
"Oh, what a nice contented world..." hmmmmm... I think maybe 'complacient' is the more accurate word here. It's an easy mistake, if one is complacient, one may think themselves content...
But it's a false contentment. It's lazy and rather hopeless... kind of depressing to look at... No need to change, no need to try or work for anything different or better. 'I'll just stay right here and do as I'm told like a good little sheep.' Until that complacience is all there is. Generation after generation of this, and soon you've got a world that, not only doesn't bother to think... they can't think. And that's just fine with the Priests. They will run the "great computers" and make all of our desisions for us.
*uh, oh!*
The paragraphs before the song are simply beautiful. We have found an ancient treasure! Lost and long forgoten, but so beautiful... magnificent. What a miricle! We find it can express so much!
Slowly, we find the ways to change the sounds, blend them, create such beautiful music! As we explore this wonderous treasure, our eyes and minds opening, the seeds of new ideas take root as endless possibilities unfold! Surely this must be shared!
The Priests... they will most certainly help to spread this wonderful discovery to every citizen. How wonderful! And we feel the passion and excitement and delirious joy boiling to a dizzy high!
And the song echos the preceding paragraphs beautifuly. We feel the joy as we marvel at this ancient wonder, we share the delight as we discover how to make it sing. We pour our hearts into this odd thing, and emotion pours out, carried on those amazing wires... to stir any heart that may hear.
We share his optimism, surely the Priests will see how wonderful this is and they will know what to do... how to spread this treasure to all!
*Well, the paragraphs before the song kind of jumps a little ahead of the song... but whatever...*
We have made our presentation, played for the Priests, shown them the magnificent treasure. We have shown what can be done... still believing that they would see what a great strength it can be for our world.
But we see suddenly how closed their minds and hearts are. Threatened by this discovery, they become angry and destroy our precious instument! Surely, in their minds, this will be the end of it. Their fear, hidden under the veil of anger at this one citizen's disobedience and disruptive behaviour, is that he might start something too big for them to stop.
The destruction of the guitar feels, to me, like the crushing of the Spirit. I believe that is what Father Brown and the Priests were wanting. Crush this rebelious little Spirit so he can't cause any trouble. Destroy his voice and he can't speak out, crush his Spirit and he can't disrupt the 'peace'.
When the song begins, we rewind a bit... We hear our friend as he pleads with the Priests. "Listen to my music/And hear what it can do..."
He wants this beauty to be shared. He knows this is a great power and a wonderful gift. "There's something here that's as strong as life/I know that it will reach you..."
He's right, of course, just not the direction he thought. Yes, the power reaches the Priests, and they feel what could happen if this gets out. They fear it, they could loose control and their hold over the citizens! Something like this, it can unlock emotions and thoughts... it could open eyes, minds, hearts... it could even spur free thought and that... well, that could destroy everything!
So the Priests tell him to forget it, dismissing it as a "waste of time". A discouragment stated flat and with a tone of finality.
Shock and disbelief flood through us... can't they see? "Our world could use this beauty/Just think what we might do..." Can it be.?. that our 'magnificent' Priests are not so wise as we once believed? And he tries to reach them again, surely they will see! If they just listen!
'Conform, damn you! We can't have any of that reckless and evil free-thinking!' You will conform, you will do as we say. You will think as we tell you, we will see to that, make no mistake. You will not infect the good people of our perfect world with your rediculous notions! "Just think about the average/What use have they for you?" oooh... kinda' drives that whole anti-individualism right home, doesn't it.?.
And in their terrified anger, they utterly destroy the guitar and break the Spirit. Denouncing and dismissing it didn't work, so crush the dream, crush the instument and break that Spirit. The musician silenced, they are sure they have quelled that little rebellion...
There is an order born of conformity and compliance, individuality is just so wrong here...
The beautiful guitar that was so brutaly destroyed was a symbol of freedom, individuality and identity. It was Spirit and voice. It conveyed emotion and ideas. Music can express so powerfuly, so eloquenly, where words so often fall short. Music can reach right to the heart and soul, can shift everything profoundly and instantly.
The Priests knew it, they knew what could happen if it was allowed. They would be powerless to stop it...
What if the young man had gone elsewhere? What if he had been heard by others? What if that thing had found it's way to anyone else? They had to destroy that damned guitar!
...No doubt the Priests were uneasy that night... but our focus is our friend, now very suddenly disillusioned and confused...
And we see our friend as the realization settles in... This is no life. There could be so much more. As our friend recalls his 'dream'... reflecting on what he was shown, we share his desperate frustration with the reality of his life. We feel the same aching hope and yearning for the world that the Oracle showed him.
What he saw in his 'dream', that's what should be. He never realized how empty and meaningless life under the Red Star hed been. But he's seen it now. The music, his precious guitar, had opened his eyes, his mind, his heart to the possibility of something more. The vision showed him what that 'something more' could be... freedom, creativity, expression, the treasure of thinking for one's-self.
The song begins as we wander blindly, numb... home... broken and bewildered and so achingly empty. A restless sleep as the day replays in painful fragments. Desperate for some sort of clearity or answer, crying out for any kind of help to understand... anything...
And we dream. The Oracle shows another world, another way. Oracle shows us the Elder Race, their distant planet, a higher plane, a totaly different way of LIVING. Before the Priests, before the Federation, before any of this began, the Elder Race left, and we see what they have become... what they have done...
"I see the hand of Man arise/With hungry mind and open eyes..."
What life is truly ment to be! Such art, such ideas and these people working together, yet still individuals. Free to create their own works, free to express their own ideas and emotions! They are not forced to think or feel one way. They do not kill the individual, unique Spirit. They celebrate it and encurage expresion! They embrace change and their minds are not 'stuck'... so different from the Priests and the Federation!
"The Elder Race still learn and grow..." And as we explore with our friend, soaking in the beauty in this way of life, this learning, growing, becoming... oh, we feel the hunger in his Spirit and heart.
And what else do we see? It looks like the Elder Race are prepairing to come back...
"Their power grows with purpose strong/To claim the home where they belong./Home- to tear the Temples down/Home- to change!"
..."I have not left this cave for days now, it has become my last refuge in my total despair"...
Reflecting on his dream, his vision, he finds no comfort. He is not happy as he once thought he was. He has tasted freedom, life, light, creativity and infinate possibilities... and it was taken away by the Priests... and his hope fades each day as the dream is stolen by the sun, leaving him with only memories of that 'other world'.
Desperation and such deep longing... we feel the ache, the hunger, the desperate pining... the emptiness of 'life' under Federation Rule. This 'life' has no meaning. It is mearly existance, empty and without purpose. Freedom and voice and creative expression are not allowed. How can anyone live that way, once they've tasted the joy and wonder of those beautiful treasures?
"My last hope is that with my death, I may pass into the world of my dream, and know peace at last."...
Again, the song is a perfect echo of the paragraph before it. Recalling the journey, his vision of the distant world where he saw the Elder Race. As dawn pulls him to reality, he longs to remain in the dream's embrace, the heart prays that perhaps, the world may become, the Elder Race may return as he saw in the dream... It's heartbreaking...
"Just think of what my life might be/In a world like I have seen"! The injustice of it all! Our friend could be so much more than a mindless shell! He could learn more, learn deeper... He could do something real with his life...
But not here. Not now. Not under the Federation Rule.
And it tears at him, day after empty day. Until desperation is critical. He can not carry on. He can not possibly continue to exist in this empty, soul-less world.
"My Spirits are low in the depths of despair/My life blood spills over..."
...One can only hope that he saw the Arrival before he died... a glimpse of hope as he passed...
Yes, the Elder Race have returned, as our friend saw in his dream.
"Attention all planets of the Solar Federation...
...We have assumed control..." is it just me, or does that voice sound more than just serious? Sounds like the Elder Race are ticked-off at what they see. Man. A world full of people who can't think led by these cowardly 'priests'... how did it get to this?
...Yeah, it's gonna' be rough. But change never comes easy. As I said before, though, change is good...
*whew!* I don't know why this one was so damn hard! This is the 14th re-do! It was sooo hard to get it all said the way I wanted. (anyone got an aspirin? I have gotSUCH a headache! Now I know what Geddy's talkin' about with "My Favourite Headache"...) There was just so much! I'm just glad I finaly managed to get it all said... as well as I could...
In love and light,
Lunar Pixie (The Original And Still The Best!)