OK, a fluff piece that’s been kicking around in my head for awhile, a lyric analysis. No MikeS, not Rush. I’ll do a special lyrical analysis of YYZ
for you since I know you really want it. Here you go

Actually, this is a 4-part piece by the prog metal band Redemption  called “The Fullness of Time” from the album of the same title (2005). It’s almost always the music that grabs me first for a particular band or song, but then I do tend to think about the lyrics a bit. Here, the writer (Nick van Dyk – founder, guitarist) is almost certainly writing about his relationships, but it clicks on a broader life level (to me, a mark of good writing) and has elements of Stoicism.

I won’t reproduce all the lyrics here, just bits that interest me with a small comment. As mentioned the song is broken into 4 parts:  I  Rage, II Despair, III  Release, IV  Transcendence. Here’s the full piece (21:34 – why didn’t it come out to 21:12?) uninterrupted

I Rage

(Music, lyrics)

      I believe in death
      I believe in disease
      I believe in injustice and inhumanity and torture and anger and hate
      I believe in pain
      I believe in cruelty and every crawling putrid thing, every possible ugliness and corruption
      You son of a bitch!

I just love that intro (movie quote I think)! Anyway, here we’re just laying out the background. He feels betrayed by people in his life and is angry and seeking revenge.

     Struck down by the persons that I trusted
     Robbed of dignity and left for dead
     I can feel unmeasurable anger building in me
     Emptiness and rage begin to burn inside my head

     You claimed that I imagined all the things you’d done to me
     You’ll pay for being so destructive
     Youll beg for compassion
     But I’ve nothing left to give

As mentioned above, he’s talking about personal relationships, perhaps specifically a (series?) of romantic ones. But the ideas here are generalizable; life can – will – throw you trials, tribulations and pain. And even though you start innocent and a good person (“once I was a person without malice, once my heart bled red instead of black”) you can easily become enraged and bitter and seek revenge on life itself.

II Despair

(Music, lyrics)

This is a short bit; Basically, he’s laying out his feelings of betrayal, loss of security.

     Left now
     Alone with your betrayal
     There’s no way to feel secure

     Broken
     Crushed in soul and spirit
     With no way to set things right again

     My faith and friendship shattered
     And my life beyond repair

This is the most specific piece in that it’s clear the writing is relational. In terms of relationships, it’s easy to see all the conflicts and actions as directly personal. But if you look at all the obstacles and trials that life throws at you in general as personal affronts, you will end up in the same place of despair, one that covers the whole of your existence.

III Release

(music, lyrics)

In this part, he’s trying to rise above what he sees as a sinister scheme against him. There’s an element of Stoicism – or fatalism – here.

     Just release yourself
     Cause they can’t rape the willing
     Or take what you have if there’s nothing else

     Seems so counter to our nature
     Accepting with grace the things we can’t change
     But when all’s said and done and you’re wronged and deceived
     Then it matters the most what you choose to believe
     Should I fight against fate
     Or should I just lay down and die?

There’s a visceral revulsion at the second line above and I’m not sure I understand the sentiment – willingness to be violated or have everything taken from you and accepting it is not something that sits well with me and I’m not sure releasing yourself from pain and despair requires it.

The two lines in the next verse sort of encapsulate an element of Stoicism to me. And the writers reaction parallels my thinking; “should I fight against fate” – would the Stoic say no? I would say yes and he does to:

    Rise above pain, move past my despair
    And put down the cross that I’ve made myself bear
    Now I’m still standing
    And I’m not gonna crawl

IV Transcendence

(music, lyrics)

This is my favorite part, musically and lyrically.

     Now
     The smoke finally cleared
     And I can see the wreckage of my past that lies about me

He realizes that the rage and despair he feels at the things that have happened to him have made a mess of his life.

     I’ve been spending my whole life pursuing those who built this cell
     Lamenting all the hateful things that happened to me
     Never thought to look at how I might have played a part in who I am
     Or what it means to lose the game before it starts
     Now I know that I cannot turn back and change the past
     And that the only choice to save myself
     Is changing what I carry from it
     Everything I did to myself
     Everything that’s been done to me
     I’ll turn my back on that and walk away

To me, this is the core of the song; “Never thought to look at how I might have played a part in who I am” People do bad things in your life, the world/existence doesn’t care about you, positive or negative. How you react to them will define where you end up. Looking back at decisions you’ve made or paths you haven’t taken and lamenting them is of no value – you cannot change the past, the only thing you can do is learn a lesson and understand that maybe you made the mistake, not the rest of the world.

     I’m a better person for having known the pain
     A better person having overcome the pain

This seems to be one of those strange quandaries of life. It’s almost axiomatic that it would be better not suffer in life, but empirically it seems that everyone who is interesting or lead what is thought of as an interesting life has suffered. Or maybe everyone suffers, is betrayed in some way, and experiences pain but many people stay in Part II – Despair. Those that live some semblance of a contented life transcend and “change what they carry from [the pain]”.