Iron Maiden

In 2010 Iron Maiden released The Final Frontier, their newest album to date. The album became number 1 in 28 countries (including UK). Many songs about this album are weaved around the themes of the British empire (Coming Home, The Alchemist), sailing (The Alchemist, The Talisman) and exploration (Satellite 15, The Talisman). The Alchemist tells the story of Dr. John Dee, an English scientist and occultist from the 16th century.

Stranger than the comet as it streaks across the sky
Stranger than the truth I know before my open eyes
I have dealt in mysteries and trickery, of light to entertain
Looked into the abyss, called it by its name

Dee was a recognized astrologist and this led to problems many times in his life. He was arrested in 1555 for calculating the horoscopes of Queen Mary and Princess Elizabeth. He was absolved from his crime but this wouldn’t be the last time he would face persecution for his “art”.

I have plundered time itself, put the world inside it
I’m the mysteries, day and night, divide it
A plague of wonders, on your knees beside me
Know the secrets, you shall not deride us

Throughout his life Dr. Dee was ridiculed and harassed for his thoughts on the world, life and God. He was mocked and threatened because his views of mathematics were a junction between science and spirituality. According to this article by Robert Poole, Dee was convinced that “numbers were the basis of all things and the key to knowledge, that God’s creation was an act of numbering”.

According to his Wikipedia entry, Dee also maintained that “angels laboriously dictated several books to him, some in a special angelic language”.

My dreams of empire from my frozen queen
Will come to pass
Know me, the Magus
I am Dr. Dee
And this is my house

It’s accepted that Dee was one of the first men who thought about the idea of a British Empire (he might have even coined the term). During Queen Elizabeth’s (his frozen queen) reign, he was appointed as the scientific adviser to her court where he prompted her to expand the glory of the Britons.
Magus, as you might know, is a term used to refer to magic practitioners.

I am the master of the tides
I shame the mirror in my sight
What random music of the spheres
Across the years

Dee was a cartographer, and starting in 1550 his position as an adviser to court led him to write several books on cartography and imperialism (where he kept pushing for his idea of a British Empire).

Know this
I will return to this land
Rebuild where the ruins did stand
Chain up the demons set free
Strange alchemy

In 1583 he met Albert Laski, a polish alchemist, and followed him into mainland
Europe. Due to complications in the trip, Dee had to wander around the continent doing spiritual conferences and meeting with the rulers of several empires to try and get funding for his angel-related ventures (speaking with them, mostly).

Gather round the aimless and the feckless and the lame
Hear the master summon up the spirits by their names
I curse you Edward Kelly your betrayal for eternity is damned
Know you speak with demons, you cannot command

John Dee

A bit before his 1583 trip, Dee met Edward Kelly, another English alchemist who followed him into the European continent. Although Kelly was a pretty good alchemist, it’s not known if he actually believed the angels-talking thing or if he was just fooling around with the doctor.

In 1587 Kelly told Dee that the angel Uriel had ordered them to share their wives. Dee did not question the order itself but he stopped giving conferences and returned to the UK, never talking to Kelly again.

Even as I looked into the glass then I was blinded
Burning by the Mortlake shore my house my books inside it
You have taken up my wife and lain beside her
Now the black rain on my house, the timbers burning

John Dee had the largest library in the UK by that time (maybe the second largest in the entire continent), but when he came back to his house in Mortlake after his mainland expedition, he found out that his house “had been been partially sacked and burned by the mob“.

I was the keeper of the books
I had the knowledge of the scrolls
But now through ignorance and fear
I cast a shadow through the years

When Queen Elizabeth died, James I took over the reins of the empire. He was not interested in the supernatural research of Dr. Dee and after some years, John died in 1608 (or 1609, depending who you ask). The cause of his death was not recorded but its known that he died in poverty, having to sell many of his possessions to support himself and his daughter.

If you want to know more about the story of John Dee you should check out the website of the John Dee Society.

In 2011 an opera called Dr. Dee was released. The music was composed by Damon Albarn from Blur. The story was inspired by the comic book author Alan Moore and the play was directed by Rufus Norris.

This song is inspired in a story by Charles Bukowski called The Most Beautiful Woman In Town. You might want to read the story (it’s really short) before proceeding.

Five sisters and she’s the one
More beauty than the setting sun

Cass was the youngest and most beautiful of the five sisters. Her father died of alcoholism and her mother ran off, leaving the girls alone. The five girls were sent to a convent by a relative.

But she was much more than she showed
Something her form could not hold

Cass, although beautiful, was a bit crazy. She enjoyed inserting pins in her nose, eyes and she cut her throat twice. She also had marks on her left arm from picking up fights and a scar along her left cheek.

She’d dance and flirt with all the boys
But all her beauty she would sooner destroy

She’d flirt with all the boys but only a couple of times she’d get into bed with any of them. When it came the time to have sex she’d somehow escape.

The anchor of a soul cut loose to drift
The anchor of a soul cut loose to drift
The difference what was and what is
I ain’t exactly sure
Think how young our fathers were

The first two lines are still talking about Cass (the anchor of a soul cut loose to drift) but I’m not sure what the last three are talking about, maybe it’s a reference to how this happened in the past, in the time of our fathers?

Indian and Irish blood
Long dark hair and an angels touch

Cass was, in Bukowski’s words:” 1/2 Indian with a supple and strange body, a snake-like and fiery body with eyes to go with it. Cass was fluid moving fire“.

A beauty no man could control
And something her form could not hold

Cass was too crazy for any man, including the author. She ended up committing suicide.

Think how young our fathers were
And that same night sky
Offers no answers why
Think how young our fathers were

The story ends with the author in the night he learned about Cass’ suicide. The last phrase reads “The night kept coming and there was nothing I could do.”

A bit of nerdish trivia: The name of the album (Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers) comes from an appendix in the third book of the A Song of Ice and Fire saga (the series where A Game of Thrones is the first book).

I’ve always tried to refrain from writing about Coheed and Cambria songs in the past. Although they’re one of my favorite bands, their story spans 5 albums, and trying to make sense of all of this without the context is really hard. I’m giving it a try here but I’d appreciate any input from other fans.

In a paragraph, here’s what’s happened in the C&C story until this song: Coheed (a guy) and Cambria (a girl) had four children: Josephine, Claudio, Matthew and Maria. Wilhem Ryan, the Supreme Tri Mage of Heaven’s Fence (where they live) wants them all dead so he orchestrates a plan to kill everyone. Claudio is the only one who manages to escape and survive. Ambellina, a prise, is tasked with the job of watching over Claudio. When
they both try to leave Shylos Ten (a planet), they board a ship called the Camper Velourium that’s piloted by a guy called Al the Killer. They’re supposed to be meeting
Jesse Kilgannon, Claudio’s uncle, but things take an unexpected turn and that’s where this song starts.

(The comic presents this part of the story in a different way, scroll to the bottom to read the note).

Your eyes tell the stories of a day you wish you could
Recall the moments that once have
Retract the footsteps that brought us to this favor
I wouldn’t ask this of you

Al the Killer betrays the group and decides to bring them to House Atlantic, the base of Wilhelm Ryan. Ryan’s looking to kill Claudio (the son of Coheed and Cambria) since he wasn’t able to get his parents to kill him in the Second Stage Turbine Blade era.

Good eye, sniper
Here I’ll shoot, and you run

Unexpectedly, Al decides to make a stand and protect Claudio and Ambellina from certain death at the hands of Ryan, he chooses to stay and shoot with his sniper rifle while they try to escape. It’s possible that Al’s obsession (or love) for
Ambellina leads him to correct his previous dick move.

The words you scribbled on the walls
With the loss of friends you didn’t have

Al had this thing for with white girls where he’d kill them with his rifle and stash
their bodies in a closet, hot shit, right? He’s now made the decision to save them but they were never his friends (the loss of friends you didn’t have). We never knew what was written on the wall but maybe the comic will reveal this.

I’ll call you when the time is right
Are you in or are you out?
For them all to know the end of us all, all

Al urges the group to run (are you in this?) while he holds the enemy for as long as he can. Ryan’s troops are unaware of this plan so it gives Claudia and Ambellina enough time to escape the planet.

Run quick, they’re behind us
Didn’t think we’d ever make it
This close to safety in one piece
Now you wanna kill me in the act of what could maybe
Save us from sleep and what we are

 One of the problems of the verse/chorus/verse structure of some songs is that you already know the end of a story before the next verse. In this case we’re back at the beginning with the “Didn’t think we’d ever make it this close to safety in one piece“. Ambellina is asking if Al wants to kill her (a really bad idea at this point, being that she’s the prise whose mission is to take care of Claudio and save the universe and that kind of stuff).

Bye bye beautiful
Don’t bother to write
Disturbed by your words and they’re calling all cars
Face step, let down.
Face step, step down.

This is Al’s farewell to Ambellina (“By bye beautiful, don’t bother to write“). He’s still obsessed with her but he notices that they’re calling all patrols to try and capture them.

After this scene, Claudio and Ambellina manage to escape on Jesse’s ship (Jesse’s
Claudio’s uncle). We don’t know what happend to Al the Killer but it’s probably safe to say he died defending the rest.

If you want to read more about the story behind Coheed and Cambria’s music you should check out the Coheed Wiki at Wikia and the Amory Wars entry in Wikipedia.

Note: According to melmou90 on the Reddit thread, none of this happens in the comic (which was written a couple of years after the album):

In the comic Al never became a good guy in the end and while trying to kill Claudio, Claudio controls his mind to help kill enemies end then Claudio defends the group against a giant robot that was under House Atlantic, and then they escape.

PS: I don’t have any songs in queue for the next couple of weeks, so if you have any suggestions please let me know by writing a comment here, sending a tweet to @rockgenie or emailing me at rockgenius@mheroin.com.

Black Market Music, Placebo’s third album, was released in 2000 after the successful Without You I’m Nothing. According to this interview by Melody Maker, lead singer Brian Molko wasn’t in the right place when they wrote it. The songs on this record are very explicit about drugs, sex, slavery and self disgust.

Commercial for Levi was a nod to Levi, the sound guy for the band during their second album tour. One time in Italy Brian went nuts, jumped on top of a car, started singing and then he tried to run into the street. Levi grabbed him by the neck as a car passed by, probably saving his life.

The song is about looking to a friend in the eyes and telling him “You’re my mate and I love you, but if you don’t watch out you’re going to fuck up pretty bad”.

The first time I listened to the song I thought it was a cute tune with a nice melody. The music is pretty and you don’t understand what’s going on until you listen to the lyrics. After that you realize that the melody is just filler for nasty, nasty stuff.

You’re the one who’s always choking trojan
You’re the one who’s always bruised and broken

As mentioned in Urban Dictionary, choking trojan refers to the act of performing oral sex on a man (Trojan is a brand of condoms). He’s always bruised and broken, due to his taste for masochism.

Sleep may be the enemy
But so’s another line
It’s a remedy
You should take more time

“Another line” is doing more cocaine. The author’s worried about his friend and he doesn’t want to see him crash. He’s asking him to slow down.

You’re the one who’s always choking trojan
You’re the one whose shower’s always golden

We’re back to oral sex and this time he adds golden showers to the mix. A golden shower is when someone urinates on somebody else, giving himself or the “victim” sexual gratification.

Spunk and bestiality
Well it’s an Assisi lie

As if the previous stuff was not enough, we learn that the guy’s also into animals. Spunk is
another term for semen.

Francis of Assisi was a monk from the Italian city of Assisi who was known for taking care of the animals.

It’s ahead of me
You should close your fly

The author’s telling his friend that he’s going too far. Again, he asks him to slow down.

I understand the fascination
The dream that comes alive at night
But if you don’t change your situation
Then you’ll die
You’ll die, don’t die, don’t die
Please don’t die

Our narrator’s been there and he knows how it feels, but if the friend doesn’t change his mind he’s going to die from doing all of this. “The dream that comes alive at night” is a reference to all the ”bad” stuff that happens during the night: parties, S&M, the sexual encounters, etc.

You’re the one who’s always choking trojan
You’re the one who’s always bruised and broken
Drunk on immorality

It’s pretty clear that none of the things the guy does are moral, it’s all a whirl of indecency.

Valium and cherry wine
Coke and ecstasy
You’re gonna blow your mind

Diazepam (Valium) and other opiates (Clonazepam) are mixed with cherry wine (really cheap wine) to get you high and drunk at the same time. Coke (cocaine) and ecstasy are on his repertoire as well.

In the Melody Maker Interview, Brian says that he took the lyrics to the extreme on this
song. He is being a bit sarcastic by portraying an image that could be perceived as himself to outside listeners who were convinced he was indeed a monster:

Yeah, there’s definitely a certain amount of irony in Commercial for Levi, especially if it’s directed towards me. I’m smiling wryly at people’s opinions of me and what they imagine my lifestyle is like or what I must get up to.

This ain't rock 'n' roll, this is genocide!

In 1974 David Bowie released Diamond Dogs, an album that marked his transition from his rock ‘n’ roll roots into his plastic soul era. Bowie wanted to write a musical for the book 1984but George Orwell’s wife didn’t allow it, so he then took some of the songs he had already recorded (Big Brother, 1984) and mixed them into this album. This mixture of songs feels weird since he’s musically switching through the record between his raw, original sound (in songs like Rebel, Rebel) to a more disco sound in others (1984).

This album tries to follow the concept of 1984, oppression and chaos. Without knowing it, Bowie made a record describing punk kids before punk kids were punks. According to Bowie’s biography by David Buckley (Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story), the Big Brother song is “a daring, insisted, frightening paean to the Super God”. Let’s see what’s this about:

Don’t talk of dust and roses
Or should we powder our noses?
Don’t live for last year’s capers

The time has come to stop wasting our thoughts on banal acts, stop worrying about your looks or the fun times you had in the past. None of that is important.

Give me steel, give me steel, give me pulses unreal

Let’s start producing! Let the real work begin!

Many lyrics use pulsars instead of pulses but I don’t see how that’d fit in here. After listening to the song too many times I’m pretty convinced that it’s pulses.

He’ll build a glass asylum
With just a hint of mayhem

Big Brother

A glass asylum is a place that provides safety (I don’t think we’re talking about a mental hospital here). The fact that it’s made out of glass serves to represent the illusion of freedom, the people inside it don’t see the outside walls so they live under the idea that they’re still free.

He’ll build a better whirlpool
We’ll be living from sin
Then we can really begin

The whirlpool, a bunch of currents spinning, serve to illustrate the point of the lies being
translated into half truths. Our Big Brother’s spin machine will keep feeding us lies and modified truths that will lead us to a life without sin.

Please saviour, saviour, show us
Hear me, I’m graphically yours

I’m not fully sure of what the graphically means here. It might be an allusion to the fact that the Big Brother sees everyone through cameras (and so he’s only getting the graphical representation of yourself). It might also be another way of saying “I’m fully yours, in every sense of the word”.

Someone to claim us, someone to follow
Someone to shame us, some brave Apollo
Someone to fool us, someone like you
We want you, Big Brother, Big Brother

Ah, what a great chorus. Our character is now fully involved in this thing. Like Winston in
1984, the character has been fully brainwashed and now he praises the Big Brother.

Comparing the Big Brother to Apollo brings images of the perfect man, after all, Apollo is the mythical representation of what a man should look like. He’s also the guy that empowers you (and takes your powers away if you’re nasty).

I know you think you’re awful square
But you made everyone and you’ve been everywhere
Lord, I’d take an overdose if you knew what’s going down

An awful square is someone old fashioned and boringly conventional. The Big Brother gives his followers the impression that he’s just and old dude, not too relevant, but his disciples see him as the guy who “made everyone and is everywhere”. Our character would overdose if his leader told him to.

Someone to claim us, someone to follow
Someone to shame us, some brave Apollo
Someone to fool us, someone like you

Someone to claim us, someone to follow
Someone to shame us, some brave Apollo
Someone to fool, someone like you

Someone to claim us, someone to follow
Someone to shame us, some brave Apollo
Someone to fool, someone like you
We want you, Big Brother

They must really want him.

Hemispheres

You probably hate Geddy Lee’s wailing. If you listened to the guitar solo in Freewill you’d probably think Alex Lifeson is cheating with some weird shit to create those sounds. Hell, I’m pretty sure you won’t agree with Neal Peart’s libertarian views of the world. That’s fine though, I’m sure you can agree that Rush is one of the greatest bands still around. They have been around for like 40 years now, in the backstage of Rock, constantly experimenting with new sounds without thinking too much about their commercial success (even if they rank third for the most consecutive gold or platinum albums behind The Beatles and The Rolling Stones). In 1978 they released Hemispheres, their most complex album to date (with an average time track of almost 9 minutes). The first release from the album was The Trees, “a fable recounting how a forest suffers from the competition of tall oak trees and shorter maple trees for sunlight”. A lot of controversy has been stirred around this song since the writer, Neil FUCKING Peart, has mentioned several times that the idea behind the lyrics just came from a comic he was reading while working on something else. According to the Rush Fan FAQsthere’s no message behind the song and it’s just a tale, but Rush fans, being Rush fans, have looked a bit deeper into the song. I’m about to do the same. Peart, drummer and main lyricist in the band, is known for inserting his political views, libertarian ideas and fantasy topics in the lyrics. During the late 70s he paid homage to Ayn Rand’s Anthem on 2112 and he expressed some of his concerns on Anthem (another Rush song). A lot of his lyrics reflect his expression of the self against society and the rejection of the collectivization of the individual. Like most nerds, he and his partners never felt comfortable with the idea of homogenizing individuals to create a fair and equal society.

There is unrest in the forest, There is trouble with the trees, For the maples want more sunlight And the oaks ignore their pleas.

Lots of ideas have been thrown around regarding the distinction between the maples and the oaks, which supposedly represent the liberation Canadian movements (maples) vs. the American (oaks) “overlords”, the government vs. the people or the smart against the uneducated.

The trouble with the maples, And they’re quite convinced they’re right They say the oaks are just too lofty And they grab up all the light. But the oaks can’t help their feelings If they like the way they’re made. And they wonder why the maples Can’t be happy in their shade.

The maples complain about the oaks stealing all their sunlight because of their height, but the oaks can’t do anything about it, that’s just the way they grow. Although the oaks would seem to be right (they can’t change their nature), the last comment (“they wonder why the maples can’t be happy in their shade”) sounds just wrong. After reading some of Rand’s work, some people conclude that this fragment represents the differences in society: not everyone’s born the same and some people will always be above others (due to their nature, power, skills, etc). Another common interpretation is that the oaks represent “The Man”, the government, the riches and in general the powers shadowing the people. I prefer the first interpretation since Peart’s a known objectivistand it seems to fit his ideas of anti-collectivism.

There is trouble in the forest, And the creatures all have fled, As the maples scream “Oppression!” And the oaks just shake their heads So the maples formed a union And demanded equal rights. “The oaks are just too greedy; We will make them give us light.”

Rush, by "philmo"

Although the maples unite and criticize the oaks, they never do anything about it, they just stand there, complaining, without looking for a way to improve things. This could be a reflection of what Neil sees in society, way too many people yelling and marching without committing to any real purpose besides screaming a bit. They’ll form their unions and they’ll shout against the tyranny of their oppressors, but in most cases, that’s as far they’ll go.

Now there’s no more oak oppression, For they passed a noble law, And the trees are all kept equal By hatchet, axe, and saw.

The fight doesn’t matter anymore since society passed a sharp razor trying to make everybody the same. Since the maple can’t be grown taller to reach the height of the oak, the oak is cut instead to be made as short as the maple. Putting everyone at the level of the minimum denominator is the only feasible way to make an create an equal society since it’s easier to dumb down people than to make everyone achieve excellence. Remember this is only a personal interpretation, and as Peart noted, there’s no real story behind this song. If you like Rush you outta check the Rush Fan FAQs, a huge resource for understanding many of their songs. They recently released “Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage”, a great documentary about the 40-year career of the band. Anthem and Atlas Shrugged are probably the most important books by Ayn Rand, and they served as the inspiration for much of Rush’s work.

Kezia

Kezia’s the first full length release of the Canadian post-hardcore band Protest the Hero. This concept album tells the story of Kezia, a prostitute sentenced to death for her sins. The story’s explored in three different acts with three different points of view: a prison priest, the guard who will execute the protagonist and Kezia’s, the protagonist herself.

No Stars Over Bethlehem is the first track of the album and it’s an introduction to the story told from the priest’s point of view. His lack of faith makes him doubt of his actions and he doesn’t know if he can do what he has to, he thinks it’s not his right to decide who lives and who dies.

(This should never be)

I’ll burn all the lives of this angel illuminati
When St. Michael sized means find an end to justify

The priest doesn’t approve the current state of his church (angel illuminati) and its way of dealing with issues (using “St. Michael sized means” – killing people). Saint Michael is the archangel in charge of God’s armies who defeated Satan and it’s usually an image associated with murder. The means mentioned are the execution of people in an attempt to maintain control over society.

A belief to fortify this stained glass disgrace
Too beautiful to change or perhaps too scared
The truth behind our lives will be erased

The priest’s seriously doubting his faith and he sees his institution as a “stained glass disgrace” that thinks that it’s too perfect to change. In reality, the institution is too scared to change, “the truth behind our lives”, the meaning in the lives of men, would be gone if the church ceased to exist.

I’m a crusader begging for a crusade in which to die

Although the crusades started as a series of wars to regain control of the holy lands, they ended up turning into a business which rewarded greatly everyone interested in fighting for the cross. The priest is looking for a way to redeem himself and although he knows that what he’s about to do is wrong (preparing Kezia for her execution), he thinks he has to do it.

Where lead locusts pierce the heart of men
And tie the tongues of those who lie
Cut the sinner, bleed redemption through the city streets
That resonate in prayers of this never should be

Protest the Hero

The “liars” who oppose the church and its teachings are killed by “lead locusts” (bullets) in a public way to keep the public (society) entertained. This act of killing “sinners” in the name of the lord is then just a way to keep the people happy, making them think they’re honoring the name of God (“prayers of this should never be”) when they murder a “sinner”.

Someone plunged a dagger deep into God’s chest and
When he groaned it laid our entire civilization to rest
When he pulled out the dagger and marveled at the pain he could create
We stuck another in his back to seal creation’s fate

Excellent metaphor to describe what men were able to do once they discovered their power. It suggests that God’s gone and now the man is the one in charge of civilization, putting words in God’s mouth to man’s own advantage. Once they found out that they could control people through the means of prayer they moved their lord aside and started ruling society.

Now we turn from wealth in the height of all our poverty
A call that renders me ageless
Turning the pages of a belief that’s greater than us all

The priest’s call is a life commitment, and even if he doesn’t fully understand it (or accept it), he acknowledges that this “great belief” is greater than “us all”. He knows that the vows of poverty and lifelong engagement with his religion are bullshit, but once again, that religion is the foundation of his society.

Amen to the fools and the cossacks and the pulpits
Amen to the people who think there’s still a way to help us

The final two lines are a joke to all the believers, “amen” to the people who still think that humanity can be saved, “amen” to the people who tells us what to do from their pulpits. The cossacks reference is most likely used to refer to warriors with high beliefs in their faith (discarding any other religions).

As mentioned above, this is only the opening of the album and the story is described with more depth in the following tracks. Although the priest’s faith is weak he decided to proceed along with the execution of Kezia. On the second act (songs 4-6) we get to see the guard’s doubting about his execution duties too, he thinks that once he kills Kezia he’ll stop being a man – in Sputnik words: “[Kezia] gives him a choice: kill her and, in the process, kill a part of yourself, or drop the gun, and take control of your life”.
Finally, in Act III (7-9) we hear from Kezia herself while she’s on her cell and then when she’s preparing for the execution. Not wanting to spoil the end of the story, you should go listen to it right now.

Sputnik Music has a great review of the album with some story telling here. As usual, Wikipedia has a good entry on the entire album and finally, if you want to read a bit more about the cossacks referenced in the last two lines, you should read this.

A Night at the Opera

On 2001, before the release of A Night at the Opera, the members of Blind Guardian setup a poll on their website asking their fans to choose a fantasy theme for a song in their next album. Weis & Hickman’s Dragonlance fictional world won the spot over stories like Dante’s Divine Comedy or Another-Boring-Stephen-King-Tale.

The Soulforged tells the story of Raistlin Majere, one of the main characters in the Dragonlance stories set in the world of Krynn. His health was ruined during his Test of Sorcery and he was forever cursed with a golden skin and hourglass-shaped eyes. The mage goes on to become the most powerful mage in Krynn and his ultimate goal is to be an immortal god after defeating every other god in that plane.

I’m not insane (that’s how it seems though)
Spiteful, cruel, but wise (beyond his age)
My body fails
My soul will rise
The end of life’s immortalized

During his Test of High Sorcery, Raistlin encountered a lich called Fistandantilus (cheesiest name ever) and made a pact with him: He’d give him his life force in exchange for being able to pass the test. Although he survived the test, he was cursed by the High Mage Par-Salian and his body was forever weakened (“My body fails, my soul will rise”). After experiencing the pain and fear inside the Test, Raistlin would drop his red robes (robes that defined a neutral mage) and slowly became a follower of the evil goddess Takhisis. His final goal was to turn into a god to live forever (“The end of life’s immortalized”).

It’s worth noting that although Raistlin was weak, he was the smartest and youngest mage to ever take the Test of High Sorcery (“I’m not insane // spiteful, cruel but wise beyond his age”).

And I see death through golden eyes
Beyond the door
There’s something more
It seems there’s just one way
On through the heat
I’ve felt the touch of evil
I still feel the icy claw in me

The curse casted by Par-Salian gave Raistlin hourglass eyes, making him see the passage of time in every living being (“And I see death through golden eyes”). As mentioned above, the mage’s ambitions changed after the test and he realized that his destiny in this world was to become a god (“Beyond the door // There’s something more // It seems there’s just one way”). The door in the last part refers to the door to the Abyss, where Takhisis, head of the Dark Pantheon, resides.

During the pact made with the lich, part of Fistandantilus’ spirit was passed to Raistlin (“On through the heat, I’ve felt the touch of evil, I still feel the icy claw in me”) in exchange for his life force, making him weak and cursing him with a constant cough.

For a decent price
I’ve banned kindness from my heart
The spirit of all truth and beauty
Pawned for my desire

During “The Legacy” short story, Raistlin asserts that he wouldn’t have traded all the love in the world for his knowledge (“I’ve banned kindness from my heart // The spirit of all truth and beauty // Pawned for my desire”). The “decent price” is giving away part of his life’s in exchange for the lich’s powers.

And from the flames
As chance would have it
The soulforged will come into light
And from the flames
As chance would have it
The soulforged, the stainless will rise

“The Soulforged” is a name for Raistlin that comes from The Soulforge, but it’s not a common way of referring to him since the book appeared 14 years after the original trilogy. He’s also called “The Stainless” due to his golden skin, which served him as a magical armor during his Test.

I will never change my mind
I will leave it all behind

Raistlin betrayed his friends several times during the Dragonlance stories, always trying to achieve his own mission (to become a god). He once said about the group’s leader: “I do not follow Tanis. We are merely traveling in the same direction… for the time being”.

And through the hour glass
Everything’s grey
Everyone’s pale
No color nor beauty will lighten my heart
The seal of life’s empty and cold
Cadaverous you all seem to me
Stillborn, but you’re still alive
You’re still alive

Once again, this is related to Par-Salian’s curse. Through his hourglass eyes Raistlin could see the effects of time in all things. After acquiring the curse he starts to see how time changes everyone including his brother and friends (“Cadaverous you all seem to me”). With time, Raistlin would learn to use this power to his advantage, and it’s said that the only women who he ever loved was an Irda (an immortal being) who always looked the same through the mage’s eyes.

Stillborn in this context are the babies who are delivered dead by labour even if they died weeks before the process.

Truth lies in loneliness
When hope is long gone by
I’ll wipe out the bliss of the new age
And welcome you precious night

Taken from Blind Guardian's 2004 live DVD, "Imaginations through the looking glass".

Raistlin plans to defeat Takhisis and then kill all the other remaining gods, making him the only person alive in Krynn (“Truth lies in loneliness // I’ll wipe out the bliss of the new age and welcome you precious night”).

And through the looking glass
I still fear mortality and
Its loss in the end
Unlimited power in my hands
The claw of the dragon ascends
Mourn for his lost soul
He’s cursed and condemned

Although Raistlin’s the most powerful person in Krynn, he’s afraid to die (“And through the looking glass // I still fear mortality and // its loss in the end”). His plans of becoming the only immortal god are born from this fear and that’s what leads him in his quest for power (“Unlimited power in my hands // The claw of the dragon ascends // Mourn for his lost soul // He’s cursed and condemned”).

Each step I take
May it hurt may it ache
Leads me further
Away from the past
But as long as I breathe
With each smile on my bleak face
I’m on my way to find
Back to the peace of mind

In the end, after Raistlin defeats the evil goddess Takhisis, his brother travels in time to the moment where he opens the gate to the Abyss and stops him from doing it again. He finally finds peace of mind after joining the River of Souls with Caramon, his brother.

A movie called Dragons of Autumn Twilight was released in 2008. More information about the Dragonlance universe and about Raistlin can be read in the Chronicles trilogy (Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night and Dragons of Spring Dawning) and in the Legends trilogy (Time, War and Test of the Twins).

Supporting Caste.

Propagandhi’s known for being one of the few no-bullshit punk groups still around. Today’s song is named after their “Potemkin City Limits” album—although the song is from their 2009’s Supporting Caste (which was voted the best album of the year by PunkNews users). According to Wikipedia, they are “an active veganarchist band supporting animal liberation and veganism”. (Update: According to the band (and Jesus H. Christ) they’re satanic, not vegananarchist).

The song’s based on the story of Francis, a pig that escaped from a slaughterhouse in 1990 and roamed free for 5 months in the parks of Red Deer, Alberta. He was finally caught and sent to a farm where he would eventually die.

The lyrics are pretty straightforward: Francis was an animal raised for meat production (not a nice image):

In his short life he’d only ever known
Panic, fear, pain, darkness and pandemonium
In the hell that was his home

He managed to escape when a worker got distracted:

His would-be killer’s back turned for a moment
And a blinding ray of light spread across the floor
In a crimson pool he saw his own reflection
As he bolted for the door.

And then roamed free for five months until a local farmer by the name of Al Marshall captured him:

And where for 5 months he ran free
A quarter mile just short of the city limits
They finally captured him

Francis, the pig who earned his freedom.

According to the local lore he’s sent to a farm to live the rest of his life, but the real story’s a bit more sad: Francis was hit by a car, and although he survived he was severely injured. Al Marshall found him near one of Red Deer parks and shot him three times with tranquilizer darts. He was then taken to a nearby farm where he would die a couple of days later due to the injuries caused by the darts (his internal organs were punctured).

In 1997 a statue was built in downtown Red Deer to honor Francis, the pig who “earned his freedom”. Chris Hannah (writer, vocalist and guitar player of the band) compares this statue to the false Potemkin Villages built by Grigory Potyomkin in the 18th century:

And there’s a statue that the abattoir erected
To remind us all of their contributions
To me it marks Potemkin City Limits
This Francis cast in bronze

More information about Francis’ story can be read in the Edmonton Journal and in this sketchy website.

This one needs a bit of background since the whole album, Bedlam in Goliath, is based around the concept of The Mars Volta’s playing with a Ouija board during the recording of the album.

It goes like this: the band’s guitarist Omar Rodriguez goes to Israel on vacations and decides to stop by a curiosity shop in the middle of Jerusalem. He sees a nice Ouija board in a bag with some religious tokens and buys it. He takes it back to the States and gifts it to Cedric, the singer of the band, during their 2006 tour with Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

They start playing with the board every night after the concerts and then weird shit starts happening (weird as in the studio flooding or the audio engineer going crazy). Omar decides to break the board in 7 pieces and bury it to try to undo the damage done by “Goliath”, the incarnation of the three spirits (Aberinkula, Metatron and Ilyena) inside the board (which they named “the Soothsayer”).

In the song Soothsayer (11/12 tracks into the album) they appear to surrender to the board:

Calling me
She’s calling me
This it may have come to falter
We have become these pleads

In a field of balding marble where the medicine awaits
The hourglass pokes at the ribs of my cage
At half rations I’m finished
At half rations the minutes
All that happens was given
Coil and embrace

And then, when you think that they’ve lost it, that they have succumbed to the Soothsayer, Conjugal Burns comes up:

The horsemen you have brought deserve me
Some how they’ve made it through the floor
The clocks you set are they reversing
Before this visit turns conjugal
Ever more maybe tonight

Some sort of evil “spirits” (“the horsemen you have brought”) are coming from down below (“they made it through the floor”, from hell maybe?), but before Omar and the band are forever bound to Goliath (“before it turns conjugal”), they’re gonna try one more thing.

So my half is waiting filed to a pulp
Used insomnia’s been cleansing with floods
I got a pain inside that’ll rip through the
very fabric of time
Cause I’ve been with you before
God gave me sin
I’ve got to get born
Just so you know
There’s too many reasons

Now Goliath’s talking, somehow understanding what Omar told him (remember Omar was the one who buried the board). Goliath’s feeling compassion (my half is waiting filed to a pulp // Used insomnia’s been cleansing with floods // I got a pain inside that’ll rip through the very fabric of time // because I’ve been with you before) and he starts becoming overwhelmed with a lot of thoughts (Just so you know // There’s too many reasons[x4]).

(A funny fact stolen from the YouTube comments: Cedric’s voice can be hard to understand some times and it’s perfectly normal to hear the third line as “I got a penis that’ll rip through the very fabric of time”. I just want to note that a penis ripping through “the very the fabric of time” would be beyond epic.)

You set the silver down to guard me from the weak
You check the spelling for nothing, nothing
You sent yourself the flood

I gotta admit that I have no idea what the “silver down to guard me” or the “check the spelling for nothing” mean, they might be related to the board itself (“check the spelling for nothing” as in try to make sure the board actually said what it said —”You are mine”) but the last line, “You sent yourself the flood” sounds like Goliath’s stopped feeling compassion and is telling Omar and the guys “Hey, you looked for it, now you got it, you brought this on yourselves”.

All of this time, bedsore containment
Where am I now that the music has faded?

These are probably my two favorite lines from the entire album, not only do they make up an excellent chorus but they’ve been present since the De-loused in the Comatorium storybook:

Deloused in the Comatorium Storybook

…The burning sank a fade as I swam deeper into the listening…”all of this time bedsore containment, where am I now that the music has faded.” Enraptured in vicoden tucks, kennel swarms of cumulonimbus dogs ran through my delusion, was I just making it up or was there a maelstrom of pets, impending a gush upon me?…

Sadly, I don’t think they’re related to the actual song.

And I’m nowhere near the place
You sent me here to breathe
But I’m drawing closer to the present
And I’ll find a space with no memories
I’ve got a second chance to inhabit the living

Back to Omar. It seems like he had a small chance to escape and he took it (“You sent me here to breath” and now he’s “Nowhere near the place”). He’s coming back to reality (“I’m drawing closer to the present”) since he apparently burrowed the board and wants to get rid of the memory of the place where he hid it (“I’ll find a space with no memories”). He realizes that he might even be able to go back to his normal life! (“I’ve got a second chance to inhabit the living”).

If Goliath won’t speak I’m blinded by heaven
When will your Eden come die?
If the liars that blink are bound by the sender
Trinkets you gave have all rusted down

My take on this (since again, I’m not entirely sure of what he’s talking about) is something like this: “When will your Eden come die” is referring to Final Fantasy’s Eden GF from FF8. The trinkets mentioned in “Trinkets you gave have all rusted down” are World of Warcraft trinkets that are now red due to their heavy usage (even if trinkets in WoW never go red). From this we can assert that whoever wrote this song is a hardcore RPG nerd.

Actually, he wrote an entire album around the idea of spirits from a Ouija board getting to his band, we already knew he was a nerd.

You better steal this chance to give birth to more
You’ll wear those healing damns down to the plug

“Steal this chance to give birth to more” could mean that with the board hidden and broken in pieces no more souls will be claimed through Goliath’s actions. It could also be talking about the love triangle (father, mother and daughter) described through the album. “Healing damns” make me think of joyful screams from the one who survived the Soothsayer, he’ll be doing that for a while (wearing them down to the plug)

More about the Bedlam in Goliath’s story can be found in The Mars Volta’s Descent Into Bedlam: A Rhapsody in Three Parts by Jeremy Robert Johnson and in Goliath the Soothsayer, a Flash game released with the album.