In order to fulfill the requirements of a blog post I really don’t feel like doing, I’m just going to go through one thing at a time.
“Cite at least two specific ways in Acts I and II in which the shortened (and possibly pirated) First Quarto of Hamlet differs from the accepted definitive text” …
From Act I, scene iv, actual version:
Horatio: He waxes desperate with imagination.
Marcellus: Let’s follow. ‘Tis not fit thus to obey him.
Horatio: Have after. To what issue will this come?
Marcellus: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
From the quarto:
Horatio: He waxeth desperate with imagination.
Marcellus: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
Horatio: Have after. To what issue will this sort?
Marcellus: Let’s follow. ‘Tis not fit thus to obey him.
Oops. It appears the four lines are a bit out of order.
“and explain how they alter the meaning of the play.”
While the difference here is small, the meaning is somewhat significant. In the actual play, “something is rotten” refers to the issue raised by the presence of the ghost; in the quarto, “something is rotten” comes after Horatio says hamlet is “desperate with imagination,” thus implying that something is a certain prince who’s a bit crazy. Thus, while in the actual play, Horatio and Marcellus are simply making remarks that explain conclusions to be made to the audience, in the quarto, they discuss their belief that Hamlet is both insane and dangerous.
From Act II, scene i, the actual version:
My lord, as I was sewing in my closet,
Lord Hamlet, […] comes before me
From the quarto:
he found me walking in the gallery all alone
While the actual play has Hamlet stalking Ophelia to her room where she is sewing, the first quarto has Hamlet merely meeting Ophelia while she is walking alone.
This changes greatly the extent to Hamlet’s “madness.” While in the more correct play, Hamlet displays the extent and over the top drama of his madness by stalking Ophelia to her room, the Quarto has accidentally dumbed this down to a mere accidental meeting, perhaps implying that Hamlet is typically normal, but has insanity triggered by meeting Ophelia.
“Additionally, write about anything else that this laughably bad version of Hamlet brings to mind.”
It’s remarkable the difference a few words or a mixed up order can make when in key places. Also, note the presence of one “Rossencraft,” “Guilderstone,” Corambis,” “Ofelia,” “Voltemar,” “Fortenbrasse,” and other mangled names that would be hilarious if I wasn’t so tired. Finally, I do wonder how Hamlet’s sexual innuendos turned out in the quarto, although I’m too lazy to find out.
I decided to listen to Earth, Wind & Fire the same way I would evaluate the style of any other artist: I listened through three of their albums — Gratitude, All ‘N All, and I Am.
As a brief introduction, the music of Earth, Wind, & Fire is characterized by an upbeat, optimistic tone with a driving bass. They extensively integrate smooth vocal harmonies into their music, as well as high brass, using a dedicated brass section, the Phenix Horns.
Their music, while excellent on a song-by-song basis, is lacking, however, as a whole. While a well integrated brass section can bring an extra dimension to a song, Earth, Wind & Fire overuse this brass; it appears in almost every single song. Coupled with the same optimistic and upbeat tone and the same lyrical themes, every song is basically the same. Each song is full of closed, high vocal harmonies, triumphant horns, and a driving drum set and bass line, portraying moods ranging from upbeat to optimistic to upbeat and optimistic.
Therefore, without any diversity and experimentation in their sound, Earth, Wind & Fire is nowhere close to the title of Greatest of All Time. Any band that could be feasibly considered such must be able to draw interest for longer than a cursory inspection; without a full exploration of the full range of emotion, the style and works of Earth, Wind & Fire as a whole are worth no more than a brief survey, almost like visiting a noteworthy, yet mundane place: you go once to see what it’s like, then never go again, because it really isn’t worth it.
The monotony of their music, however, is negated when one considers each song individually; while their style may be lacking complexity, each of their songs does provide an interesting experience.
I could, of course, analyze September, but that’s far too overplayed. As such, here’s my favorite Earth Wind & Fire song:
The song starts with a slow, epic feeling introduction featuring an electric piano solo; then, strings and horns trumpet the build up to the first stanza. A heavily syncopated bass line drives the piece forward into its discussion of love:
Every man has a place, in his heart there’s a space
And the world can’t erase his fantasies
Take a ride in the sky, on our ship fantasii
All your dreams will come true, right away
And we will live together, until the twelfth of never
Our voices will ring forever, as one
For those unfamiliar (I had to google this), the phrase twelfth of never refers to a date that will never come to pass; it’s application to love was popularized by a popular song by Johnny Mathis, Twelfth of Never, in which the the phrase refers to the date that his lover will stop loving him.
Other than dated expressions, there isn’t anything cryptic or puzzling here; the lyrics quite simply discuss the fantasy of love using flight in some sort of magical ship as a metaphor for freedom and liberty. Since this ship is called the ship “Fantasii” and somehow makes dreams come true “right away,” it is most definitely intended to be a figment of dreams and fantasy.
Every thought is a dream, rushing by in a stream
Bringing life to the kingdom of doing
Take a ride in the sky, on our ship fantasii
All your dreams will come true, miles away
Our voices will ring together until the twelfth of never
We all, will live love forever, as one
Now, another metaphor is introduced, comparing the thought of being together to a life-giving stream.
In the next stanza, the lyrics return in a much lower harmony:
Come to see, victory in a land called fantasy
Loving life, a new decree,
Bring your mind to everlasting liberty
A short, slower version of the song’s main theme acts as a contrasting bridge which I quite appreciate as a break from the song’s otherwise overwhelming fast tempo. Before the listener has a chance to catch a break, the song swiftly accelerates back into its main theme and style, where it returns with the vocals one octave lower.
As one
Come to see, victory in a land called fantasy,
Loving life, for you and me, to behold, to your soul is ecstasy
You will find, other kind, that has been in search for you,
Many lives has brought you to
Recognize it’s your life, now in review
I absolutely love the key change that occurs right about here, followed by more metaphors to flight and freedom.
And as you stay for the play, fantasy, has in store for you,
A glowing light will see you through
It’s your day, shining day, all your dreams come true
As you glide, in your stride with the wind, as you fly away
Give a smile, from your lips, and say
I am free, yes I’m free, now I’m on my way
Come to see, victory in a land called fantasy,
Loving life, for you and me, to behold, to your soul is ecstasy
You will find, other kind, that has been in search for you,
Many lives has brought you to
Recognize it’s your life, now in review
Time to rate this song.
Lyrically, the song is a poetic and highly figurative expression of some sort of romantic fantasy. However, despite its elegance, it lacks any sort of deeper meaning; it merely projects the feeling of upbeat optimism Earth, Wind & Fire are known for. It explores no part of human nature; it contains no mysteries of life. For that, I give the song a 3/5.
In terms of instrumentation and its’ innovative usage of sound, viewed independently of EW&F’s other works, the song is a solid 5. In the song, we have plenty going on. There are three or possibly four vocal lines. The song prominently features a brass section as well as a string section in the background in some places, most notably the introduction. The electric piano chooses appropriate sounds; my only complaint is that the short piano solo elects not to use an actual acoustic grand. Of course, this set of instrumentation is the set of sounds used for literally every other Earth, Wind & Fire song, which have brought this song’s instrumental complexity down to probably a 2.
Finally, in terms of melodic and rhythmic complexity, the song is 5. The song’s many instruments all, for the most part, play independently. The song contains layers upon layers of melodies, counter-melodies, and accompaniments: if only the song’s lyrics could be the same! For those layers of unique and interesting melodies and rhythms, and because Fantasy contains enough depth for me to notice something new every time I listen, I feel this song deserves a 5.
In summary, this song takes a 4 1/3 on my scale when viewed independently of Earth, Wind, & Fire’s other works; when viewed from that standpoint, it takes a mere 3 1/3.
For the above reasons, I expect Earth, Wind & Fire to feature prominently in Kelvin Wang’s mixtape.
Sonata form specifies at least two, but usually three or four, movements:
Movement I, usually an allegro or similarly fast tempo, with specified format:
Exposition, with two themes; the first theme in the tonic key, and the second theme in the dominant key
Development
Recapitulation of the two themes; both themes are brought back in the tonic key
Movement II can be a Trio, Largo, Rondo, or about anything, as can following movements.
The final movement (not necessarily the third movement) is the Finale; this follows the same form as the first movement.
If this sounds slightly familiar, it should; Exposition-Development-Recapitulation sounds a lot like Exposition-Rising Action-Climax-Falling Action-Resolution. And that should be; music is in one way a reflection of a story, and that Sonata form should follow the basic premise of a plot should be no surprise. As a result, this is a perfect form in which to musically depict Gardner’s Grendel.
Of course, some artistic liberties have been taken; Sonata form usually requires the same key be maintained throughout the piece, which is obviously not possible, as Grendel has a rather optimistic beginning and a somber end.
This is a Sonata, written according to the plot of Grendel. It’s the first major piece (>100 measures) that I’ve written. I’d like to say it’s half decent. The pdf has a sheet with notes on my thoughts about its’ interpretation on the last page. Hopefully someone decides to play it at some point (playing it would make for an interesting extra credit project next year).
I. Allegro
The sonata begins with an upbeat, legato (smooth) melody — “Grendel’s Theme” — representing Grendel’s early life, running around and causing childish chaos.
The second theme to be introduced is another similarly innocent somewhat legato theme; I call it the “humans’ theme,” here, representing Hrothgar.
From here, the interesting things start. The second half of the first movement begins with development; in Grendel, the chosen development is the Dragon.
The Dragon, as a beast/monster, shares his basic theme with Grendel. Thus, his theme is Grendel’s theme sped up by a factor of two; since the dragon, at least in this part of the novel, is far more negative and pessimistic than Grendel, his theme as found in the development of this movement takes that sped up Grendel’s theme and transposes it to a minor key.
Next comes the Shaper’s theme. His theme stands out from the rest of the first movement in that it is more epic, with accented chords and fast moving eight notes. The Shaper’s theme exists purely as the second part of the development here; it will be brought back later.
After the development, recapitulation of the two main themes — Grendel’s theme and Hrothgar’s theme — begins. Grendel’s theme comes back slightly more upbeat and epic than before, thanks to purpose given to him by the Shaper:
The previous iteration of these measures featured only one note; here they have been turned into chords for a fuller, more epic feeling.
At the same time, also emboldened by the Shaper, Hrothgar feels much more epic, with chords and notes added in the same way.
II. Largo
In the first half of this movement, in F Major, the Shaper dies. He’s lived a fulfilling life; as such, the mood is quite contented and positive with a slow progression of chords, as a celebration of the Shaper’s life.
At his death, we bring back his theme:
While the pattern is different, the progression of chords (F-Bb-F-Bb) is the same.
After the Shaper’s death, artistic license is consulted for the first time. As Grendel hardly feels the same way, we instead move to the key of f minor.
This may not look much like Grendel’s theme, but his theme is hidden inside. The original theme is a subset of the notes given here; more notes are simply added on. Those looking to play this piece should keep that in mind.
The notes marked in red have been added to the original melody.
The second movement thus ends on Grendel’s sad cry (fortissimo = super loud) into the night with a satisfying thud 3 octaves below middle C.
III. Finale
Here, the tale of Grendel comes to an epic end, in the key of f minor. While the melody may not seem recognizable at first, Grendel’s theme soon shows up:
With a left hand accompaniment of repeated chords, much of this movement should create the feeling of a rapid heartbeat like one would be feeling in a battle.
Next, Beowulf’s theme enters. His theme should be played with immense precision to create an ominous feel as he enters the movement. As the second theme, his theme is appropriately played in the dominant key, which is C major, as Beowulf triumphantly enters to fight for ‘good’, whatever that means.
The staccato and two note slurs insert plenty of space between each successive note, which emphasizes Beowulf’s power silently and ominously waiting. The sforzando (suddenly loud) II7 chord that follows short after is representative of a display of such power, as when Beowulf suddenly seizes Grendel.
Beowulf’s theme is largely separate from Hrothgar’s theme; the only overlap is the progression of chords G-C-G, mirroring the earlier F-Bb-F, as G is the subdominant (up by a fourth) of C, and Bb is the subdominant of F.
Development in this part of Grendel takes the form of some interesting talk between Grendel and Beowulf, as well as some head bashing. In the Sonata, it takes the form of a quiet, legato (smooth and connected) portion.
,
(as well as some forte-piano head-bashing)
Grendel’s theme comes back in recapitulation briefly, as one would expect; Beowulf’s theme triumphantly but also more menacingly recurs in f minor. Finally, we move to the end of the sonata.
The ending to Beowulf’s theme builds up to an epic conclusion as the sonata heralds his triumph in fortissimo, then fortississimo. Gardner does have more to say, though; we haven’t yet seen the end of Grendel. As such, we end not on a full ending, but rather on a false ending. This ending holds on a fermata into the quiet true ending.
This ending is the same chorus that ends the second movement, written slower and with more gravity and openness. Do note, though, that this five measure chorus should be played in pianissimo, with an ending in pianississimo (my instruction is “play as soft as humanly possible”). At the same time, the chorus should be played with immense precision. The open chords create the gravity of the situation, as if Grendel was yelling; the softness and precision create a sense of distance. Thus, these last five measures seek to portray Grendel’s death, screaming in the distance, bleeding out with a distant, barely audible groan.
This sonata has been fun to compose; I’ve thought about it less as extra credit that happens to be a Sonata, but rather as a Sonata that happens to also be extra credit. I’ve spent far too much time on this thing, and still have parts that I’m not satisfied with, as well as random typos in the sheet music. I’ve tried to keep the entire thing at a consistent skill level, but nevertheless got away from myself and composed the third movement to be significantly more difficult than the first two.
I leave off here satisfied with what I’ve accomplished; now someone just needs to take the time to interpret and play the thing.
First, Kelvin’s post caught my attention. Despite being a notorious troll, he somehow hasn’t yet acquired a permanent nickname; in his words, “They’re just names that winked into existence.” I voiced this surprise, and suggested that he should find one in time for his graduation speech, #kelvinforclassspeaker.
Next, I commented on Vivian’s post, where I realized that not having a hobby is actually surprisingly common, and expressed my opinion that not having a hobby isn’t weird, as Vivian concluded.
Finally, I read about Kelly’s adventures at Texas Roadhouse and her remarkably well though out formula for tipping. I commented with plans to possibly maybe eventually try it out myself.
That’s all for this week. Also, I’ve been re-watching house of cards, with my newfound knowledge of the federal government thanks to gov. I’ve noticed that the series appears to take many nods from Othello: the basic premise, the scheming, the fourth-wall breaks, and the fact that we love the main character. I do hope, though, that Frank doesn’t stab Claire and subsequently get dragged away to be tortured. That would just be disappointing.
In English II, we had some random poetry project, in which we assembled some semblance of poetry and performed some rudimentary analysis. I happened to include The Second Coming by W. B. Yeats then. Now that I actually know how to analyze poetry (ish), I thought I’d give this another try.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre // A (11 syllables)
The falcon cannot hear the falconer; // A
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; // B
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, // B
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; // (ce-re-mo-ny -> ce-re-mony)
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand; // C (iambic pentameter except for first four syllables)
Surely the Second Coming is at hand. // C (iambic pentameter except for the first four syllables)
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out // (“hardly” as one syllable)
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi // (not iambic at all)
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert // (not iambic at all)
A shape with lion body and the head of a man, // (iambic hexameter)
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, // (not iambic at all)
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it // (not iambic at all)
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. // (in-dig-nant -> indig-nant)
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, // (cra-dle -> cradle)
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? // (not iambic at all)
First, some explanations:
Turning and turning in a widening Gyre / The falcon cannot hear the falconer – the falcon flies in larger and larger circles around the falconer until the falconer loses the falcon.
Ceremony of innocence – your guess is as good as mine.
Spiritus Mundi – according to Yeats, the collective consciousness
A shape with lion body and the head of a man – the Sphinx
Vexed – troubled; worried
Here, Yeats presents us with a troubling proposition of anarchy and societal collapse. His thesis is that society is unstable as it is, and societal change at the minimum is destined to occur.
The first stanza portrays this decline as a methodical destruction of society. Yeats first compares society to a rogue falcon, where the power of the falcon is precariously controlled such that the slightest deviation in society’s path — the falcon’s Gyre — can cause this order to descend to anarchy. At the same time, this decline is suggested to be an almost methodical destruction; for one, Yeats presents the existence of those with “passionate intensity” for anarchy. The organization of the first stanza completes this thesis: except for the first line, which deviates slightly, each line is in an orderly iambic pentameter, and even includes two couplets, giving his portrayal of anarchy a rhythmic feel akin to humanity marching off to its’ doom.
The second stanza shifts the lamenting tone of the first stanza to a troubled and despaired tone. The stanza begins with a repetition of surely “some revelation”/”the second coming” is at hand. This emphasis on the end of times establishes the despair Yeats’ tone; this is continued with apocalyptic imagery of an indifferent sphinx (as compared to the unwavering, indifferent nature of the sun), which also adds a troubled and traumatized component to the poem’s tone. In the second stanza, the poem’s iambic pentameter quickly breaks down, with no semblance of any iambic pentameter for several lines. This contrasts the orderly, structured rhythm of the first stanza, transitioning that rhythm into what can only be described as chaos. Here, apart from the repetition of “hand,” there is no rhyme whatsoever.
Thus, Yeats fully impresses the reader with the incoming apocalypse in its unrelenting, methodical path to anarchy.
This poem was written in 1919. Good thing he’s not completely right. At least I hope he isn’t.
I thought this was going to be a huge pain in the ass because I generally don’t eat out or buy things, but I went to Blue Baker just prior to game wars, and look who I found:
What are those? (and what are selfies)
Basically, then, we did things that people who don’t actually know each other that well but haven’t met in a while do. He asked me why I was there, I asked him why he wasn’t going to game wars, and other things – the typical friendly chat.
It might have helped that it was nowhere near their busiest time of the day (it was 5:00). Either way, he was nice, I was nice, it was nice.
I guess this doesn’t carry as much weight as it would ordinarily; I went at a slow time of the day, went to a nicer place, and met someone I knew. His attitude, though, wasn’t limited to me; he was definitely treating other customers with the same enthusiasm.
In the end, he was nice enough to make me waste enough time enjoying my sandwich that I had a stressful rest of the day when I had to make an unplanned stop at Walmart to buy things for game wars, leading to me showing up kind of late and having to run around setting things up.
During my 7th grade summer (what was that, 2012?), I attended Mathworks at San Marcos, a residential junior mathematics program. The camp had an entire 32 people; I barely made it in. As a result, when we were assigned groups of four, I was stuck in the worst group, group 8. I, however, was much better than the rest of group 8; during group p-sets, I carried the group. As a result, I hung out with people from other groups: Eric Li Phd (not actually) who casually won Mathcounts State, Daniel Whatley, a 16 year old MIT student (that one’s real) who got a paid six figure job on accident, and more (you get the idea). One day, we were joking about coming up with nicknames for people. When they got to me, Eric Li decided it would be a good idea to try to come up with the blackest name possible. Tyrone, Tyrell or Terrell? They eventually settled on Terrel. Little did they know, this name would end up sticking. For the rest of the camp, I went (not exactly by choice) as Terrell.
I went to one other camp that summer, Mathpath, where I decided I might as well keep going by Terrell just to see what happened. Thus, when they asked if we had any nicknames we wanted to go by, I said Terrell. After the initial shock subsided, people got used to it.
I expected this be finished after that summer. However, as I went to more math camps, I inevitably met people who I had met during that summer. For example, when I met Whatley at another camp, he had to get over calling me Terrel; however, he definitely didn’t, and still occasionally called me Terrell. Most recently, at Cornell in 2014, I was the roommate of someone who was in my group at Mathpath, which led to some awkward explaining.
Being called Terrell was an interesting experience; in the end, though, it demanded too much of a cleanup to be worth the fun that I got out of it.
One thing I value a lot in music is its artistic qualities. Specifically, I admire complex and unique music; to understand what I enjoy, one can consider three types of complexity in music: melodic, instrumental, and lyrical complexity.
Melodic complexity refers to the variation and innovation in a song’s melody and rhythm. Works that score high in melodic complexity use interesting and engaging features. I despise, for example, pop music that creates ‘fullness’ through an artificially full electronic sound from a monophonic composition. Works I love, like Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven don’t simply use a monophonic combination of common instruments; they use a network of multi-voice homophonic accompaniments or polyphonic counter-melodies to provide musical depth. Naturally, piano music, having the use of voice and more “full” instrumentation restricted, uses highly complex melodies (think two and three part inventions). Rhythm also falls in this category of complexity; rhythm, though, is less important. There is nothing wrong with plain 4/4; more complex time signatures and rhythms, though can score bonus points here, like Steely Dan’s Reelin’ In the Years, which, without the unusually syncopated lyrical lines, is quite ordinary and unremarkable.
Instrumental complexity concerns the use of a diverse set of instrumentation and effects. Thus, ordinary rock music with a drum set, guitars, one voice, and perhaps a piano score unfavorably, whereas studio albums utilizing a full orchestra score more favorably. Even better, though, is the use of more unique instruments: Donald Fagen’s use of a electric organ that sounds like a theremin in his album Sunken Condos, and even David Bowie playing the steam train (not an actual steam train though) in Station to Station.
Finally, Lyrical complexity is quite simply described: the lyrics have to mean something. I look at lyrics in the same way that one would look at literature; it should have multiple layers of symbolism or meaning, be well though out and include everything for a reason, and in general be a finely crafted work. Thus, I also see literary analysis of music as a good way to understand a given work and find meaning within.
My current favorite song of all time is Genesis’ 23 minute long epic Supper’s Ready, featuring a combination of all sorts of unique complexity.
Don’t just skim this 4,000 word post. Set aside 23 minutes to read this annotated and analyzed lyric while listening to the song. Even better, pull up the live version (does not have some musical details though), and get this transcription for piano and voice. Arrange this analysis on one half your screen, the sheet music on one fourth, and the live video on the remaining fourth, and immerse yourself in this masterpiece.
Supper’s Ready is divided into seven sections. We begin here, at Lover’s leap.
Lover’s Leap
The narrator finds himself in his living room watching television with his girlfriend, accompanied by soft guitars and the voice of Peter Gabriel moving along at a slow tempo. Something bothers him though: he sees his girlfriend, who he associates with homeliness and safety — “guardian eyes” — appear to change; her “guardian eyes” of reassurance and peacefulness change to something that is hardly that.
The first interesting detail occurs immediately: if you listen closely, you can hear Peter Gabriel simultaneously singing the first two verses at one octave higher, creating an unsettling feeling.
Walking across the sitting-room, I turn the television off.
Sitting beside you, I look into your eyes.
As the sound of motor cars fades in the night time,
I swear I saw your face change, it didn’t seem quite right.
…And it’s hello babe with your guardian eyes so blue
Hey my baby don’t you know our love is true.
Coming closer with our eyes, a distance falls around our bodies.
Out in the garden, the moon seems very bright,
Six saintly shrouded men move across the lawn slowly.
The seventh walks in front with a cross held high in hand.
…And it’s hey babe your supper’s waiting for you.
Hey my baby, don’t you know our love is true.
I’ve been so far from here,
Far from your warm arms.
It’s good to feel you again,
It’s been a long long time. Hasn’t it?
Next, the first biblical reference appears. The alliterated “six saintly shrouded men” with a seventh holding a cross in front clearly don’t belong to our world. Rather, they belong to Acts, Chapter 6, Verse 1:
Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to themand will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.
This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
This reference isn’t exactly obvious; it hasn’t been acknowledged by the group either — the inspiration for this part is supposed to be a genuine vision by Gabriel of his wife. Thus, I attribute the obvious parallels to the bible (they even appear to differentiate between Stephen, who holds a cross as a man of the holy spirit, and the rest) to an inadvertently direct reference when a mere biblical feeling was desired. This sets the tone for the rest of the work. In the midst of the safe and calm world of reality, of guardian eyes and city background noise, biblical visions begin to appear and invade.
From here, quiet guitars, piano, a flute, and smooth synths guide the song to a louder, more climactic section. Here, we also note that Peter Gabriel is actually quiet skilled at the flute, which is definitely atypical for the lead singer of a rock band.
The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man
This clearly isn’t talking about the real world. We have two people: the farmer, and a “fireman” who is contrasted with him. The fireman, here, is the Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man, who is the head of some sort of Scientology-like religion.
I know a farmer who looks after the farm.
With water clear, he cares for all his harvest.
I know a fireman who looks after the fire.
You, can’t you see he’s fooled you all.
Yes, he’s here again, can’t you see he’s fooled you all.
Share his peace,
Sign the lease.
He’s a supersonic scientist,
He’s the guaranteed eternal sanctuary man.
Look, look into my mouth he cries,
And all the children lost down many paths,
I bet my life you’ll walk inside
Hand in hand,
gland in gland
With a spoonful of miracle,
He’s the guaranteed eternal sanctuary man.
(We will rock you, rock you little snake,
We will keep you snug and warm.)
The GESM has fooled you all, and made you “sign the lease” to “share his peace” — things that we associate with cults above else. The criticism of “Children lost down many paths” doesn’t exactly bode well for our Narrator’s view of the GESM either, as religion is supposed to have one “path” towards salvation, and certainly not leave children to get lost. One nice detail to notice is the last two lines (“We will rock you […] snug and warm”) which are sung by a group of chil dren in the background — the children lost down many paths.
He isn’t strictly a biblical antagonist. It does, though, go against everything that the bible stands for. Thus, we shouldn’t be surprised if some biblical thing were to suddenly afflict followers of the self-proclaimed prophet, the Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man.
Note that the GESM is referred to as a “supersonic scientist.” Beyond the alliteration, this is an intriguing way to describe a scientist. What else could this mean?
Again, we go to a quiet interlude where Gabriel’s flute plays the plot onto the next section.
Ikhnaton and Itsacon and their band of Merry Men
One nice detail here is that in the official documentation of this song, Itsacon is spelled its-a-con. Also, Ikhnaton (or Akhenaton) was an Egyptian Pharaoh known for his attempt at change of Egyptian art and religion, which was quickly reversed after his death, thus making him a fitting leader for the GESM.
While the previous section was climactic and epic in scale, this part takes a fast paced, excited musical tone. This section does a really good job of creating an atmosphere of sheer chaos: every loud and full instrument available to them — guitars, drum set, electric organ, synths, and even a flute — simultaneously plays a different melody or accompaniment. See if you can identify them all (you’ll have to listen carefully to hear the more hidden instruments).
The previous section portrays the GESM’s religion as a typical religion based on one self-proclaimed prophet. In this section, the GESM’s religion does evil religion stuff.
Wearing feelings on our faces while our faces took a rest,
We walked across the fields to see the children of the West,
But we saw a host of dark skinned warriors
standing still below the ground,
Waiting for battle.
The fight’s begun, they’ve been released.
Killing foe for peace…bang, bang, bang. Bang, bang, bang…
And they’re giving me a wonderful potion,
’cause I cannot contain my emotion.
And even though I’m feeling good,
Something tells me I’d better activate my prayer capsule.
Today’s a day to celebrate, the foe have met their fate.
The order for rejoicing and dancing has come from our warlord.
These stanzas are a clear criticism of religiously motivated fighting. The ironic phrase “killing foe for peace” evokes the hypocrisy of the crusades; this verse could even be a direct reference to the crusades — “The children of the west” could refer to the alleged “children’s crusade.” Either way, this section of the song presents some facets of the GESM’s religion that are reprehensible by modern standards. “A wonderful potion” that causes fighters to be unable to “contain [their] emotion” is a euphemism for giving fighters mind-altering drugs to induce them to fight harder. Even worse, the prayer capsule, that one can activate and presumably send one’s prayers straight to god or whatever, is the kind of stuff that caused the protestant reformation. By modern Christian sensibilities, religion isn’t supposed to be a mechanized contraption manufacturing fighters and faith.
How Dare I be so Beautiful
Having gone through two louder and more epic parts, How Dare I be so Beautiful now fades to a contrasting depressing, quiet, and slow melody.
In this section (but not in the live version for obvious reasons) the accompaniment is played as an acoustic grand piano with each chord faded in and out, thus cutting out the piano’s sharp attack and smoothing the end of each chord far more than physically possible. Gabriel’s voice sounds distant, quiet, with just a bit of an echo.
Wandering through the chaos the battle has left,
We climb up a mountain of human flesh,
To a plateau of green grass, and green trees full of life.
A young figure sits still by a pool,
He’s been stamped “Human Bacon” by some butchery tool.
(He is you)
Social Security took care of this lad.
We watch in reverence, as Narcissus is turned to a flower.
Lively and peaceful imagery associated with nature — the trees and grass — that is not part of their pointless conflicts and thus full of life with the gruesome imagery associated with the dead young man. Thus, this is yet another criticism of the Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man by the narrator.
Note the reference to social security and the Greek myth of Narcissus. Social security “taking care” of this lad is a double entendre referring to the meaning of “took care of” as both a literal “looking after” and as an ironic euphemism for killing or incapacitating someone. In the Greek myth of Narcissus, Narcissus becomes so enamored with his reflection that he withers away and dies. Narcissus here is the young lad; of course, he dies by a “butchery tool” and not by forgetting to eat or drink and wither away. Nevertheless, as he dies, one can conjecture that he perhaps was paralyzed in self-centered pity over his injuries as he lay dying.
As will be explained next, I believe that this young narcissus figure is actually the narrator.
Next, things get weird in a whimsical, staccato, upbeat interlude to its more serious predecessors. With the shout of “a flower,” we’re off to Willow Farm.
Willow Farm
Willow Farm is by far the most finely detailed part of Supper’s Ready. As you listen to this section, look for the following musical details that enhance the section’s theme and meaning:
The spoken lines “Fly away you sweet little thing, they’re hard on your tail / They’re going to change you into a human being!” are spoken by two similar, but different, voices. The first line, urging the bird to fly away, is spoken by a kinder voice on the right channel. The second line, detailing what is going to happen to the bird, is spoken by a harsher voice on the left channel, complete with a witch-like giggle at the end.
When the whistle sounds at the break between the two halves of this section, you can hear “all change” in the background.
“Mum to mud to mad to dad” shifts from a roughly female voice to a male voice; “Dad to dam to dumb to mum” shifts from the male voice back to the female voice. Also, if you’re not listening from a mono audio output, you can hear the vocals move from the left channel to the right channel and back.
The words “whistle” and “bang” are accompanied by a corresponding whistle and bang.
On the live version, Peter Gabriel at this point dons a “flower mask” and does a weird dance. Music, after all, can also be a visual affair.
A flower?
If you go down to Willow Farm,
to look for butterflies, flutterbyes, gutterflies
Open your eyes, it’s full of surprise, everyone lies,
like the fox on the rocks,
and the musical box.
Oh, there’s Mum & Dad, and good and bad,
and everyone’s happy to be here.
There’s Winston Churchill dressed in drag,
he used to be a British flag, plastic bag, what a drag.
The frog was a prince, the prince was a brick, the brick was an egg,
the egg was a bird.
(Fly away you sweet little thing, they’re hard on your tail)
Hadn’t you heard?
(They’re going to change you into a human being!)
Yes, we’re happy as fish and gorgeous as geese,
and wonderfully clean in the morning.
We’ve got everything, we’re growing everything,
We’ve got some in
We’ve got some out
We’ve got some wild things floating about
Everyone, we’re changing everyone,
you name them all,
We’ve had them here,
And the real stars are still to appear.
ALL CHANGE!
Feel your body melt;
Mum to mud to mad to dad
Dad diddley office, Dad diddley office,
You’re all full of ball.
Dad to dam to dumb to mum
Mum diddley washing, Mum diddley washing,
You’re all full of ball.
Let me hear you lies, we’re living this up to the eyes.
Ooee-ooee-ooee-oowaa
Momma I want you now.
And as you listen to my voice
To look for hidden doors, tidy floors, more applause.
You’ve been here all the time,
Like it or not, like what you got,
You’re under the soil (the soil, the soil),
Yes, deep in the soil (the soil, the soil, the soil!).
So we’ll end with a whistle and end with a bang
and all of us fit in our places.
Willow Farm don’t really make sense until the end, when it’s revealed that “you’re under the soil” — now, one can make sense of this part. Willow Farm seems like some sort of psychedelic, hallucinatory experience. Line by line, it really makes no sense at all, which seems to be the intention. Thus, my guess is that this is Genesis’ interpretation of Death: whereas How Dare I Be So Beautiful is an exterior view of what then must be the narrator’s death, this section is a first person account of what dying is. So: what all does the narrator see?
Open your eyes, it’s full of surprise, everyone lies, like the fox on the rocks, and the musical box.
The fox on the rocks is a reference to the album’s cover. The musical box describes the first song from Genesis’ previous album, Nursery Cryme.
Oh, there’s Mum & Dad, and good and bad, and everyone’s happy to be here.
Armed with the observation that this passage is about death, we can conclude that the narrator has ended up in heaven.
There’s Winston Churchill dressed in drag, he used to be a British flag, plastic bag, what a drag.
Not sure what Winston Churchill is doing here, but it sure sounds odd.
The frog was a prince, the prince was a brick, the brick was an egg, the egg was a bird.
The Frog Prince is definitely a thing. Princes, however, are most definitely not bricks, as are bricks not eggs.
(Fly away you sweet little thing, they’re hard on your tail) Hadn’t you heard? (They’re going to change you into a human being!)
These next lines feel like they’re backwards. Thus, we can start to see a pattern. Genesis includes some familiar elements in their lyrics — “the frog was a prince,” witches turning things to and from animals — and turn them upside down. Right when we think we know what Genesis is describing, they show us how weird and chaotic this afterlife is.
The final stanza, as noted above, gets into the reality of death.
And as you listen to my voice To look for hidden doors, tidy floors, more applause. You’ve been here all the time,
The oddness of Willow Farm begins to become apparent. After dying, shock, disbelief, and denial are inevitable. The vivid hallucinations are over; the main character is looking for a way out — hidden doors — until the narrator (who has now shifted for some reason) confronts him with the truth.
The loud ending of this section leads to another quiet interlude featuring soft guitars, synths, and a flute solo, before a muted trumped heralds the crescendo to the loud and chaotic climax:
Apocalypse in 9/8
Here, all hell quite literally breaks loose in this modern retelling of the Book of Revelation.
In the live version, Gabriel dons a geometrical headdress seemingly reminiscent of the Geometer Pythagoras as mentioned.
Accompanying the end times, we are greeted with a unique time signature. Count the beats: this section isn’t any remotely commonly used time signature. As the title of the section suggests, it’s written in 9/8, meaning nine eight notes are in each measure. The composition, however, gets even weirder: instead of using a more simple 3 + 3 + 3 structure (the first eight note, the fourth, and the seventh are emphasized), it uses a 3 + 2 + 4 arrangement. On top of that, the melody and vocals are arranged in 4/4.
Even though only more experienced musicians will be able to keep track of this odd combination time signature and not get thrown off, you should still definitely try.
With the guards of Magog, swarming around,
The Pied Piper takes his children underground.
Dragons coming out of the sea,
Shimmering silver head of wisdom looking at me.
He brings down the fire from the skies,
You can tell he’s doing well by the look in human eyes.
Better not compromise.
It won’t be easy.
666 is no longer alone,
He’s getting out the marrow in your back bone,
And the seven trumpets blowing sweet rock and roll,
Gonna blow right down inside your soul.
Pythagoras with the looking glass reflects the full moon,
In blood, he’s writing the lyrics of a brand new tune.
This isn’t just biblical references: this is straight up a summary of the Book of Revelation. Gog and Magog causing trouble? Check. A rampaging dragon and the Beast having a bit of fun? Check. Seven Trumpets heralding the apocalypse? Check. Of course, Apocalypse in 9/8 does take some literary freedoms in retelling the Book of Revelation. Seven Trumpets somehow playing Rock and Roll (must be playing Steely Dan!) give this apocalypse a bit of a modern feel.
We noted before that the GESM was a “supersonic scientist.” Now, Pythagoras is writing a new tune. If we interpret a “supersonic scientist” to allude to music, as the GESM is trying to basically create a new world order, that music must symbolize the new world order. Pythagoras is writing a brand new tune in blood — surely this could mean only one thing: this kind of change, after all, must be made by blood and sacrifice.
We can kind of predict what’s going to happen next: the Dragon, the Beast, and the false prophet — the Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man — are going to get cast into the Lake of Fire. Gog and Magog — possibly Akhenaton and Itsacon — are defeated. In the next episode of Supper’s Ready, we clean things up. We make ends meet. No: we’ll be aching men’s feet.
As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs(Aching Men’s Feet)
At this point in the live version, everything goes black, just before the stage explodes in light and music.
The Book of Revelation continues. The narrator is out of his vision; now, he summarizes the end. Accompanied by a triumphant chorus of guitars, synths, organs, and chimes, Genesis brings us to a satisfying ending feeling.
(drum roll please ….)
And it’s hey babe, with your guardian eyes so blue,
Hey my baby, don’t you know our love is true,
I’ve been so far from here,
Far from your loving arms,
Now I’m back again, and babe it’s gonna work out fine.
Can’t you feel our souls ignite
Shedding ever changing colors,
in the darkness of the fading night,
Like the river joins the ocean,
as the germ in a seed grows
We have finally been freed to get back home.
There’s an angel standing in the sun,
and he’s crying with a loud voice,
“This is the supper of the mighty one”,
Lord of Lords,
King of Kings,
Has returned to lead his children home,
To take them to the new Jerusalem.
The narrator is finally done with his vision. Metaphorical fireworks — “our souls ignite / shedding ever changing colors / in the darkness of the fading night” — herald the triumphant end.
And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of all men slave and free, small and great.”
Thus, such is the fate of the Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man. Cast into a Lake of Fire, and his followers eaten by birds, the GESM isn’t going to be having a good time. That concludes our narrator’s vision. He sees a dystopian future and the apocalypse; he sees death from inside and out; he sees the foundation of western thought: he sees the Bible.
As the song fades out, the lights are turned off, and Gabriel holds a black light tube up like a sword, visually signifying the satisfying end of Supper’s Ready.
Musically, this song is a masterpiece, with various tempos, rhythms, time signatures, and moods. Instrumentally, their sound effects and diversity of instrumentation are impressive for a band centered around live performances. Lyrically, their song tells a story with nested and deep meaning:
This story is not just a modern retelling of the Book of Revelation; it is also the story of a relationship strengthened by a touching vision; It is an interpretation of death; It is a warning against self-proclaimed prophets. Supper’s Ready doesn’t have a single message, moral, or theme; like any literary work, it addresses many ideas — life, death, truth, lies, love, safety, religion, vision — and themes — people can do terrible things in the name of religion; we find safety in familiarity; love transcends life and death; life lies, while death reveals the truth — all these intricate and interesting.
It doesn’t matter whether you love or hate this song. Just appreciate this song for the detail and thought that it represents, as the masterpiece of art that it is.
This isn’t strictly a fear, but it is fear. I’ve been looking for an excuse to write and talk about this, and this prompt was a perfect opportunity.
(Yes, nothing to fear but fear itself is a clique. I just don’t have a better explanation. That’s also where the title comes from, in case you were wondering.)
I’ve had one recurring nightmare for as long as I can remember. Yes, at the same time, I’ve had other nightmares; other nightmares, though, occur only once, whereas this one, though, has repeated itself again and again.
There’s no easy way to characterize this nightmare other than by feeling. It isn’t accompanied by any sensory information at all: I don’t remember smelling, hearing, or touching anything, and all I see is black. It is, though, a contradicting set of feelings. I feel like I am in an out of body experience, floating above and away from myself; at the same time, I feel like my point of view is drifting into my body. Everything feels like it’s getting larger, and my body and point of view shrinking into it; one second later, I’m growing, and feel like everything is tiny, like toothpicks in my hands. I feel my body elongating and stretching, each distance — the length of my arm, the height of my torso — feeling increasingly long, but at the same time unchanged. Then, I wake up with a cold sweat, profoundly unnerved.
If everything is tiny and huge, what, then, is “everything?” What makes this nightmare odd, then, is that “everything” is nothing: it’s not that I see my bedroom getting bigger and smaller at the same time; rather, it feels like my surroundings are getting bigger and smaller, without actually seeing anything. I don’t see my body; i feel that I’m no longer in my body. I don’t see my legs and hands going further away; I just feel like they are further away, only, in an instant, for them to revert to familiar feelings and lengths.
Recently, this dream has occurred increasingly rarely — I remember it only once in the past year — there has been an interesting development: last time I had this dream, it wasn’t just a dream — it was a lucid dream. Being cognizant of this recurring dream, I tried to explore this dream of exaggerated proportions. In the end, I still saw nothing: I tried to concentrate on my surroundings and see what I could; I tried to listen and hear what I could; I tried to smell; no sensory information, however, was discernible. I woke up the same as before: no sensory information; no “thing” that I’m afraid of; just pure, primal, fear.
Thus, I conclude that this must simply be fear. I don’t see, hear, or smell anything that would induce fear; described above, it probably seems more puzzling and odd than frightening. I can almost imagine Alexander Ober sharing such a dream: cool, dude! What was that? Each contradiction, though, while deep asleep, translates to only one thing: fear.
My hypothesis on this that this dream really is just fear: the contradictory feelings and pseudo-sensory information are just manifestations of that fear. In sleep, my brain must simply interpret that raw fear as that contradicting changes in point of view.
It’s been proposed that this dream does indeed correspond to a fear: that this blackness, this contradicting mess of feelings, corresponds to a fear of confusion and the lack of knowing. It is certainly possible that my desire for knowledge, in the right circumstances, becomes an irrational fear of not knowing.
For now, though, I still have basically no idea what this dream is about. Next time it comes up, though, I’ll be sure to see how much further I can lucidly go.
Last week, I argued that CS:GO is no different from a sport in it’s following and hype. Now, I’ll cover why the game is interesting.
People ask me a lot why I find CS:GO interesting. The answer, which many people don’t understand, is that the game is hardly mindless. It has immense tactical depth to think about.
Interesting sports need to have a balance between skills and tactics: swimming, for example, is all skill and no tactics; chess, on the other hand, is all tactics and no skill. Neither of these games have a huge following of spectators; sports with a balance, though, like soccer, are interesting and exciting to watch. CS:GO obviously requires skill: moving the mouse and correct timing on movement (using the keyboard) are nontrivial, despite what some may lead you to think. My reaction time is terrible; my aim — using 800 dpi at 1 sensitivity — barely qualifies as good. That is the “mindless” part of the game. What I, in the end, am interested in is the intellectual part: the immensely deep tactics that the game offers.
At the lowest level, one studies something called “game sense.” This occurs at low levels and simple situations, usually in one-verses-one situations. For example, consider a one-verses-one with a box between two opposing players. Each player has various options. One could go left or right; one could jump and attempt to hit the opposing player while jumping; one could back off and bet on superior aim to hit the opposing player when they make a move; one could even jump over the boxes to attempt to surprise one’s opponent. Game sense, though, isn’t knowing these choices: the difficulty of game sense lies in guessing what the other player will do. This box problem has no good solution; slightly more restrictive problems, on the other hand, can. Take, for example, a one-verses-one on old de_inferno:
Imagine here that player 1 (a terrorist) has the bomb in a 1 vs 1 against player 2 (a counter-terrorist). Player 1 is seeking to plant the bomb at site A or B; player 2 is seeking to either block the terrorist, player 1, from planting the bomb, or killing the player 1 after the plant and diffusing the bomb. In this situation, a line of sight exists between the two players. As player 1, what should you do?
This is basically a chess puzzle; here, though, there exists many good choices. The naive option would be to challenge player 2 in middle, and try to win the duel. This, however, is a terrible option: as the terrorist with the bomb, you don’t have to take a fair fight. You can sneak into a site (because the counter-terrorist can only defend one site at a time), plant, and hide so that player 2 has to try to find you. One obvious option is for player 1 to make a run for site B; since player 2 is further away, player 1 should have enough time to plant a find a decent post-plant position. There, however, is a better option. Depending on how psyched-out your opponent is, one could pull off a fake: first, turn and run up banana towards b. Then, turn around, and run back up middle towards A. Chances are, as soon as player 2 sees you running up banana, they will assume you are making a run for B, and try to cut their losses by doing the same.
At the next level up, building on the fundamental unit of “game sense,” one builds round strategies. Consider this strategy– a mid-to-B execute –, based on a 2013 strategy by NiP:
We start with two players in upper tunnels, one by xbox in middle, and two on catwalk. The two tunnels players throw smoke grenades — grenades that emit vision-blocking smoke in a roughly spherical area — into the B site, creating a “wall of smoke” across the site. This is a classical indication of a B execute through tunnels; thus, at least one counter-terrorist player should be drawn in a rotation from the A site to B.
Now, we capitalize on these rotations. Two smokes are thrown by the catwalk players: one on catwalk, and one in CT, blocking vision to and from CT spawn. At the same time, the player in mid throws a smoke (the “mid-to-b smoke”) that blocks the other end of CT spawn. The rotator, between A and B in mid or CT, will likely be confused: is it an A or B hit?
Now, we capitalize on the rotator’s confusion. One of the catwalk players (4 in the diagram) jumps off catwalk into CT spawn through the smoke, aiming to catch the CT spawn players off guard. At the same time, three players (2,3,5) go through mid doors for a mid take. The players coming out mid doors should be able to trade kills; the catwalk diver, though, should be able to take out distracted players in CT spawn, thus putting the terrorist team at an advantage.
From here, the path is clear towards a mid-to-B split.
Above game sense and ‘strats,’ there is one final level: the metagame. In CS:GO, there is an economy system: players start out with a small amount of money; with every round win, each player gains a significant amount of money, and with each round loss, a small amount of money that increases on consecutive round losses. Some money is also given out for each kill. This money goes into buying armor and equipment; better weapons are more expensive, and at a high level of play, grenades, armor, and defuse kits are important. Players who do not die in a given round get to keep their weapons. Thus, economy is a huge concern in the metagame.
The “metagame” is a set script for choosing buys that most teams follow. For example, teams that lose the first round — the “pistol round” — on the terrorist side, but get the bomb plant, will “save” one round by not buying anything to use the round loss bonus to save up for a better buy on the third round: with the bomb plant bonus, enough money is saved up by the third round for a respectable buy. On the other hand, teams that lose the counter-terrorist side pistol round often choose for force-buy — use up all their money for an inferior buy — because regardless whether they saved, the counter-terrorists would have to wait until the fourth round to buy since they cannot receive a bomb-plant bonus or any equivalent amount of cash by simply completing an easier objective.
This “metagame” largely defines what teams will or will not buy during rounds depending on whether they win or lose and how many players survive the previous round. Sometimes, though, teams decide to go against the metagame. Envyus, for example, chose to buy three inferior SMGs when they could have bought superior rifles several times recently, and lost almost every round when they bought in this fashion. The metagame exists for a reason: it has developed as the ‘best’ way to play the game, so teams that go against the metagame usually aren’t playing an optimal game.
Sometimes, though, teams that go against the meta make an innovation that is, in fact, a better way to play the game, which drives the metagame forwards, contributing to the constantly-shifting nature of the CS:GO meta. NiP, for example, pioneered the SMG anti-eco: normally, after teams win a round, teams will buy the best weapons they can to prevent opponents from winning the next round and deny their opponents from having even the slightest chance of winning during a “save” round (where they buy nothing). NiP, however, chose to buy otherwise inferior SMGs the second round to take advantage of their increased kill bonus. It seems like that this would give potentially force-buying enemies an increased chance of winning; in practice, they found that this did not happen. The SMGs ripped through unarmored, saving players, and were not that less effective then proper rifles. This thus became part of the metagame: now, almost every team buys SMGs if they win the pistol round–the first round–of each half.
CS:GO thus doesn’t have any shortage of intellectually stimulating things to think about. This is why I watch professional CS:GO: it is quite simply complicated and interesting.
If you want to see some high level CS:GO professional play, the ESL Pro League finals are going on right now in Sao Paulo, Brazil. You can find the stream here, and tournament statistics here.
The Null Alephant 