My Body is a Cage

I haven't written anything in a while, so allow me to apologize for that. I've been very busy recently, that's all. Today I'm going to share with you the lyrics to the song "My Body is a Cage", by Arcade Fire. To be honest, I never listened to the original version, but instead discovered it through Peter Gabriel's cover of it on his album "Scratch My Back", which contains orchestral arrangements of songs by various artists, where the vocals are covered by Gabriel himself. The symphonic arrangement for this particular track was enchanting, and Gabriel's vocals were amazing. I'm sharing the lyrics because they're particularly interesting. They invoke amazing images, ideas and thoughts.

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MY BODY IS A CAGE:


My body is a cage
That keeps me from dancing with the one I love
But my mind holds the key

My body is a cage
That keeps me from dancing with the one I love
But my mind holds the key

I'm standing on the stage
Of fear and self-doubt
It's a hollow play
But they'll clap anyway

My body is a cage
That keeps me from dancing with the one I love
But my mind holds the key

Standing next to me
My mind holds the key

I'm living in an age
That calls darkness light
Though my language is dead
Still the shapes fill my head

I'm living in an age
Whose name I don't know
Though the fear keeps me moving
Still my heart beats so slow

My body is a cage
That keeps me from dancing with the one I love
But my mind holds the key

Standing next to me
My mind holds the key

My body is a . . .

My body is a cage
We take what we're given
Just because you've forgotten, that don't mean you're forgiven

I'm living in an age
Still turning in the night
But when I get to the doorway
There's no one in sight

I'm living in an age
Realizing I'm dancing
With the one I love
But my mind holds the key

You're still next to me
My mind holds the key
Set my spirit free
Set my spirit free
Set my body free
Set my body free
Woo!
Set my spirit free
Set my body free
Oh, oh
Oh, oh

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Blogger didn't let me embed the video, so here's the link if you want to listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeFezGJF7mA

God bless.

(:

We are the People

We are the people. This is our time, our place, our world. You will not torment us. You will not stop us. You cannot overthrow us. We will have our revenge. We are our own vengeance. We are the streets shouting freedom.

We are the wind's howl,
We are the sea's rage;
We are the fire's scowl,
We are time's age.

Oh, freedom we are!
Peace we will be!
Stretching out and far,
Making this world free.

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Consider this as my reflection on the events of 2011 in general, and a celebration and recounting of the Egyptian 25th of January revolution.

In memoriam Egypt, on 25 / 01 /2011

A few intriguing thoughts...

I always enjoy 'munching' on a good thought, so I thought I'd share some of the interesting thoughts I have with you. Hope you enjoy thinking about them!

1) Are negative dimensions possible? We live in a world that has many dimensions, and we can only perceive four of them. So can negative dimensions exist? I'd say that these are what we'd find on the other side of black holes. I also believe that right on the 'surface' of a black hole would be the zeroth dimension; the point of nothing.

2) What is the opposite of space? If everything exists in space, then space would exist in an even greater space. So, the question is, is there something that isn't 'space'? What would that be like? Is nothingness the opposite of space? Is it that it doesn't exist or that we can't imagine it?

3) What is 'nothing'? When I try to imagine nothingness, I always imagine this white space that extends in all possible directions. But that's not 'nothing'. That's space, and it's colored white. Nothingness wouldn't even be this same space even if it were transparent, because what color would that be then?

4) What would colorlessness be like? A black-and-white life isn't colorless. It's colored, only monochromatically. Could something be colorless? By the way, I don't believe transparent material counts in this case, because it takes the color of whatever is behind it (or the light shining on it). Imagine it like this: if the whole universe was transparent, what would that be like?

5) Can we imagine something with less than two faces? Think about a coin, for example. It has two faces. Can you imagine it with one face only? It's impossible for me.

Poem - Growing Up

This is not my regular poetry; nevertheless, I'm taking my chances. I'll save you my interpretation of the poem and will leave this up to you. I think it's better that way. The idea for the poem is partially inspired by William Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience". Now, without further ado, the poem:

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GROWING UP:

I feel the days grow old,
And I still remain the same.
I see the nights unfold,
And I'm more than just a name.

Many lies they have told,
In order to win their game;
But lies aren't made of gold
And soon will die their fame.

My honesty shall be bold,
And my desires I shall tame;
My future I will hold,
I will not be the same.

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Just after I finished writing the poem here and revising it, I noticed that there's some sort of secret message in there. If you think you've found it, post it as a comment and I'll reply telling you if you got it or not.

God bless.

(:

What Do You Go Home To?

We live in a strange world that we yearn to explore, and we're too afraid to explore what should be explored, and we exploit what shouldn't be exploited. But, in the middle of this whole word that vibrates with life, both the malignantly narcissistic and harmlessly optimistic of it, lies what we call 'home'. Home is where we find all we need: love, safety, memories and warmth. Yet, in our youth, we do yearn to escape this 'home' of ours and explore the world, because 'home' has become some sort of a trap. Then, as we grow older, we realize how important 'home' can be, and that happens as soon as we're away from it. But... what is home? Is it a physical location? A certain person? A song? A distant memory? A grand deception?

I'd argue that 'home' is a combination of many factors linked to one major factor that dominates all others. Thus, in the absence of the dominant factor, all other factors will serve as reminders of the greater factor; the actual foundations of your 'home'.

So that's home then. And here's the question: can we live without a 'home'? I'd say yes, but it wouldn't be a very pleasant life. Tormenting the soul on purpose would be less of a pain, to be honest. The suffering may be strangely pleasurable at first for some, though, and is taken as a source of inspiration.

This post was inspired by an instrumental by the post-rock band Explosions in the Sky, titled "What Do You Go Home To?" The question got me thinking for quite a while... what do I go home to? Where is home?

What do you go home to?

God bless.

(:

Just some questions...

Why does the truth elude us? How valuable is the truth? Do we seek the ultimate truth because we are predestined to, or is it just because others have done so before us? Is the truth the same for everyone? is there  a truth in the first place? Is it that we can't find the truth, that there is no truth (which is a truth in itself), or that the truth is what is actually leading us astray?  If the truth is what purposely leads us astray, is it still truth? Since the truth itself is unknown, is humanity's venture to find it worth it after all? Can we create a different truth? can we live without any truth? Is it truth that gives purpose to life, or life that gives purpose to truth, or are both just a misconception of humanity's? Would life be worth it if it all made sense? If, upon reaching the truth, one realized that what made it precious was the journey, would they still share it or would they keep it to themselves? Is it the truth that leads us onto the false paths and ways, or is this part of human imperfection? If perfection demands the existence of imperfection, does perfection still really exist? Is existence subjective, objective, or both? Why do all contradictions seem to agree on the same basic principles? Does one choose his own principles, or do the principles choose him? Why is life clearly vague?

The 12 Faces of Humankind

I always love interesting album art. I collect pictures of all of the different albums I listen to, and admire the art in them. The following is the album art from King Crimson's album, "In the Wake of Poseidon", released in 1970. The album art is a painting by Tammo De Jongh, called "The 12 Faces of Humankind", or "The 12 Archetypes". The idea behind the work is the following: The artist believes that there are four elements that make up this world: air, fire, earth and water. And, each of these 12 archetypes is made of a combination of two of these elements. The 12 archetypes and their respective elements are:

- The Fool (fire and water)

- The Actress (water and fire)

- The Observer (air and earth)

- The Old Woman (earth and air)

- The Warrior (fire and earth)

- The Slave (earth and fire)

- The Child (water and air)

- The Patriarch (air and water)

- The Logician (air and fire)

- The Joker (fire and air)

- The Enchantress (water and earth)

- Mother Nature (earth and water)

[Note that the order in which the two elements are listed is important.]

Below is a picture of the painting:

You can identify each character and see a bigger version of each individual here:

http://thehope.tripod.com/rgface12.htm

Now that I'm done explaining the art, I'd like to say why I like it very much. First off, it's very easy to relate to. I believe that everyone passes through these 12 archetypes during their lifetime, and we choose the one that we are most comfortable in. Second is the elements: thinking about the relation of each character to their elements opens up worlds of beauty for me. Third is the colors: I love the combinations and different shadings of all of the colors in the painting. Fourth and last for now is the album itself by King Crimson, especially the eponymous track, "In the Wake of Poseidon." The elements and characters make an appearance in the lyrics, though not under the same names. Below are the lyrics, written by Peter Sinfield:

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IN THE WAKE OF POSEIDON:

Plato's spawn cold ivyed eyes 

Snare truth in bone and globe. 

Harlequins coin pointless games 

Sneer jokes in parrot's robe. 

Two women weep, dame scarlet screen 

Sheds sudden theatre rain, 

Whilst dark in dream the midnight queen 

Knows every human pain. 

In air, fire, earth and water 

World on the scales. 

Air, fire, earth and water 

Balance of change 

World on the scales 

On the scales. 

Bishop's kings spin judgement's blade 

Scratch "faith" on nameless graves. 

Harvest hags hoard ash and sand 

Rack rope and chain for slaves 

Who fireside fear fermented words 

Then rear to spoil the feast; 

Whilst in the aisle the mad man smiles 

To him it matters least. 

Heroes hands drain stones for blood 

To whet the scaling knife. 

Magi blind with visions light 

Net death in dread of life. 

Their children kneel in Jesus 'til

They learn the price of nail; 

Whilst all around our Mother Earth 

Waits balanced on the scales.

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The lyrics are abstract in some points, amazing in others. I hope you do enjoy them. And please forgive me if this is different from my regular posts; I just felt like writing this today when I saw a status update with the word 'madman' in it today on Facebook, so I instantly remembered this line from the lyrics:

"Whilst in the aisle, the mad man smiles. To him it matters least."

Anyways, I'm working on a new poem that I'll share with you soon... I'm also working on finding a word or phrase that you (yes you, blog readers), would use to identify each other around the Internet. I know it's only something like twenty people at best who have seen my blog, but it's still fun. You know, just like a small secret that we share together. If you've got any suggestions, please post them in the comments section. Meanwhile, I'll be thinking. Let's hope for the best.

God bless.

(: