Rorschach
Remain Sedate
Release date :
1991
Pavlov’s
Dogs
Numb
Can’t
feel
Open
wounds never heal
Bleeding
I
sense no pain
Festering
Over
and over again
Drooling
The
bell has rung
What
have I said
What
have I done
Unconscious
to the act
Not
realizing until after the fact
Everything
evil becomes serene
Drilled
in my head
What
does it mean?
Numb
Can’t
feel
Open
wounds never heal
Conditioned
to react
Without
thought
Without
tact
Bleeding
I
sense no pain
Festering
Over
and over again
Drooling
The
bell has rung
What
have I said
What
have I done
Unconscious
to the act
Not
realizing until after the fact
Everything
evil becomes serene
Drilled
in my head
What
does it mean
What
have I said
What
have I done
As it
is in the title of the song, it is almost mandatory to begin by
introducing Pavlov, whose name may be familiar to a lot of people.
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, to be exact. If you have done some
introduction class in Psychology, the name must have been mentioned.
The experiments for which he is known for by most people would be
those carried in the 1890’s, in which he researched the response of
dogs being fed. i
To summarize, he observed that dogs would associate the sound of the
assistant bringing the food to eating and would start salivating
before the food would actually be in front of them. Stimulus and
response introducing the theme of conditioning.
As for
the song, the first image presented is the one of an open wound,
bleeding. It is combined to the idea that healing should not be
expected. The claim by the interlocutor that they are not
experiencing pain spawns the question as to whether they are the one
with the wound or they are the one to have inflicted it. The
perplexity is maintained for a little while longer, as the audience
is made aware that it is a process that is repeated and that is
leaving the protagonist in some form of a state of confusion. As
though the actions were subconsciously performed. The ringing of the
bell, a direct reference to Pavlov’s experiments, has commanded a
series of actions performed.
One of
the elements that supports the idea that the pain is inflicted by the
author to someone else is the allusion to ‘tact’. If the wounds
were self-inflicted, why would tact become an issue? How does one
injure themselves with tact? By definition, the notion of tact may
imply relationship with others and a desire not to be offensive.ii
Although hurting yourself may be offensive to your body, it would be
a strange phrasing to express the idea. In this perspective, the song
could be interpreted as a realization that the interlocutor has
become desensitized to hurting others. The word ‘drooling’ may
even suggest that they have developed a desire to do so. However, the
conflict between the serenity with ‘everything evil’ and the
perplexity resulting from the actions performed indicates that the
transformation may not be complete. It suggests that the actions may
not be entirely condoned.
Having
been programmed implies that someone is behind the programming. The
identity of that person is left unkown as no clues are provided. Is
it possible that someone would program themselves through repetition?
The ringing of the bell could simply be a trigger, and not an actual
person trying to generate a reaction. The answer to that question may
reveal itself to be some form of personality test. If you believe the
source to be external, you would be the type of person who blames
others for the things going wrong in your life. If you believe the
source to be internal, you would be more inclined to blaming
yourself.
Side
note, apparently the song appears in the movie Zero Dark Thirty. As
violence and war go hand in hand, it may be a credit to the
pertinence of the song, even nowadays, even 35 years after the fact.
In
the Year of Our Lord
Blindfolded
Gagged
Planet
tied to a stake
Only
seconds remain
Dreading
the impending fate
The
firing squad aligns
An
all too familiar sight
Human
callousness and greed
Wholeheartedly
take aim
The
pendulum swings
Moving
closer to your skin
The
worst has been feared
Darkness
Closing
innocent eyes
I can
see the so called
So
called progress
I can
sense the fear
Fear
of the future
Widespread
starvation
Screaming
in poverties’ choir
The
well endowed hold a match to this funeral pyre
A
terrible imbalance
An
incredible waste
No
direct experience of famine’s taste
Caught
in the grind of the plague of humankind
These
problems are not mine
This
pain is not mine
I
don’t care if you live or die
From
whose perspective are we experiencing Planet Earth’s execution?
And, is it the physical planet that is ‘tied to a stake’? Or is
it only living beings, making this image more literal? A clue to
answer these questions may be found in the identity of the
executioners, which are identified as ‘human callousness and
greed’. The finger points to a lack of empathyiii
and perhaps capitalism, if ‘greed’ is linked to the ‘progress’
appearing a few lines apart. In this perspective, the lack of empathy
would be towards the fate of the beings inhabiting the planet because
the resources are being depleted to satisfy a desire for profit.
An
opposition is established as the event is described through the eyes
of an audience. There is a separation between the ‘firing squad’,
those on the execution line, and the witnesses. If those being
executed are members of the same group as the audience, the situation
would be a duality. If not, the situation would involve three groups.
The guilty, the force of repression for the ‘well endowed’, and
the audience. Another contrast appears in the executioners and the
famined mouths of the poverty choir. Both groups are established as
separate because they have had different living conditions. Through
this polarization, the narrator places themselves directly in the
action, although it is unclear on which side, as they say ‘I can
see the so called / so called progress / I can sense the fear’.
Moreover, later on, they refuse to share the burden of the ‘impending
fate’, expressing detachment and strong lack of interest in the
outcome of the execution. Playing a little bit of devil’s advocate,
exposing a bias and projecting a desire for the narrator to be on the
side of the underdogs, a paralel could be drawn between In the Year
of Our Lord and Pavlov’s Dogs to posit that the source of their
detachment stems from their conditioning. Therefore, the lack of
empathy signaled would not necessarely imply that the narrator are
part of the elite of the haves. As opposition is established through
the social classes of the parties involved, it is also expressed
through vocabulary, as the ‘blindfolded’ are opposed to an ‘all
too familiar sight’. In addition, the intensity of the drive from
the authority figures differs from the one of the narrator. The
former takes aim ‘wholeheartedly’, implying that they are
invested in the action taking place, but the narrator does not ‘care
if you live or die’. It is cruciality against detachment. This mix
of opposing forces establishes a climate of war.
The
portrait is one of an execution by firing squad, but it is also one
of a ‘funeral pyre’. The phrase ‘firing squad’ may be
misleading and mean that they are the ones setting a fire, and not
firing rifles. If that were so, mentioning that they are aligned
would be a very specific thing to say of a rare image.
The
theme of responsibility, if not accountability, is brought up, as the
singer states that ‘these problems are not mine / this pain is not
mine / I don’t care if you live or die’. The picture established
is a planet being executed in front of the narrator’s eyes. The
absence of emotion towards the event taking place implies more than
mere detachment. It could be that the witness believes the victims
has brought it upon themselves. It could be that the narrator has
taken actions to differentiate themselves from those being executed.
Those actions are not to stop an execution, obviously, but they may
be to not give in to ‘the grind of the plague of humankind’,
callousness and greed. It would be similar to claiming that this
burden falls upon the shoulders of each and everyone and that it is a
fight that one has to fight for themselves and no one can do it for
them. The theme of injustice is also brought up, through the
‘terrible imbalance’ qualifying the differences in life
experiences of the different groups. It is said to be unfair that a
fraction of the population experiences malnourishment while others
never have to do so.
Someone
Insecurity
No
identity
Finding
it hard to cope with reality taking over
The
greater majority
A
lack of confidence is all that I see
Someone
to confess to
Someone
to confide in
Someone
to believe in
That’s
what you seek
My
mind is mine
I
won’t partake in petty rituals for tradition’s sake
When
I’m forced to choose and that choice I make is right
I’ll
take credit
Not
some spiritual insight
Someone
to confess to
Someone
to confide in
Someon
to believe in
That’s
what you seek
On
first degree, the theme of integrity appears to be put forward. There
is a sense of modulating your own identity in order to please and
adhere to a ‘greater majority’. In a social context, it could be
interpreted as someone trying to fit in, but the friendships gained
in the process are false because they do not result in people that
will be there for you when you need to ‘confess’ or ‘confide’.
This interpretation, however, does not account for phrases such as
‘not some spiritual insight’ or ‘tradition’s sake’. What
tradition would that have refered to? Some rite of passage? Making
friends?
The
use of these two words, in combination with ‘someone to believe in’
rather hints at Religion. In that perspective, every puzzle piece
fits into place. The insecurities are the hurdles one faces, going
through life, and the ‘reality taking over’. The absence of
identity would happen when one submits to a higher power because, as
everything you do becomes in honor of some god, you forfeit
individuality. The singer’s critique becomes an hypothesis as to
the reason why people would turn to religion, which would be ‘a
lack of confidence’. The ‘petty rituals for tradition’s sake’
would refer to elements such as going to church, praying, not using
the name of the preferred god in vain, amongst other things.
It
could be argued that the theme of accountability makes another
appearance with the lines ‘when I’m forced to choose and that
choice I make is right / I’ll take credit’. The statement being
that their actions are the result of their choice, not the expression
of the will of a higher power. When every action made is in the name
of a god, that force becomes credited with the idea, the performance
and the result. As a reference and a more musical expression of that
idea, one may look at Strongarm’s Supplicationiv,
in which they say ‘a life of self sacrifice / a new creation /
devotion to purity, in the midst of light conviction / […] I
surrender all / all I am I’ve spent / spent my essence and much
more / more than this death’. This theme further establishes the
singer’s view on Religion.
Impressions
We
try to hide
Afraid
to admit
Subconsciously
A
crime we commit
Fear
of conclusions
Others
will make
Determines
what shape it will take
Feeling
cheap
Unworthy
of praise
Feeling
helpless
Don’t
surrender to feeling of incompetency
Realization
is all
Is
all that will overcome
The
powers to which we have succumbed
Prying
loose
I
don’t need your help
All I
need was to be myself
What
you see is no concern of mine
A day
will come when we will all be blind
To
what others might see as progression
All I
see is an attempt of impression
A
vicious cycle of guilt, fear, and shame is what awaits people who
attribute too much importance to the perception from others. If the
desire to live up to expectation weighs too heavily in the balance,
failure may result in ‘feeling cheap / unworthy of praise / feeling
helpless’. Adopting the strategy of leading by example, the singer
shares the way in which they were able to overcome this cycle and set
themselves free.
If the
narrator gives the impression that they have overcome the obstacle of
fearing the perception from others and, therefore, are looking back
on those who are still in the cycle, they are not witnesses passing
judgement. Rather, the stance is more similar to lending a helping
hand. A glimmer of hope echoed in the lines ‘a day will come when
we will all be blind / to what others might see as progression’.
Optimism joining the party.
Although
the use of the word ‘crime’ may simply refer to a reproachable
action, if it were indeed referring to acts punishable by law,
Impressions would become a glorification of street life. In
this perspective, the advice is to claim your crimes without fearing
the ‘conclusions’ of a jury. The sense of shame ‘subconsciously’
acting on perpetrators, pressuring them to try to ‘hide’ what
they have done is the same that is attacking their self-esteem.
Instead of developing an idea that they are ‘helpless’ and
incompetents, the alternative would be to view their resume as
‘realization’. Shedding this fear of the perception of others and
embracing their true nature is the suggested key.
The
word ‘impression’, in this context, refers to the impression made
on others and a certain anxiety resulting from concern over whether
or not that impression is positive or negative. The ‘attempt of
impression’ would be a form of objective similar to trying to
please or catering to an audience. In addition, the phrases ‘a day
will come when we will all be blind / to what others might see as
progression’ suggest the existence of a form of tradition as it
evokes a set idea of progress. Expected behavior would therefore be
perceived as progress, as it follows a path considered normal. Any
different path would be considered outside the norm.
Clenching
Change
A
matter of time
Leaving
the past behind
Trying
to relive your life
Letting
opportunities slip by
Unclench
the fist you hold so tight
Grasping
all that is gone
Get a
grip on what is to come
Don’t
let that knot come undone
A
stranglehold that can’t be helped
Turning
back will do no good
Wishing
you had it all over again
Let
it go
Look
ahead
Unclench
the fist you hold so tight
Grasping
all that is gone
Get a
grip on what is to come
Don’t
let that knot come undone
Clenching
Evolution.
Nostalgia. Routine. Familiarity. Regret. All of them elements
associated to the cycle of human life. A rite of passage on the
horizon, if one is willing to face the challenge. Time inevitably
goes by and things around individuals will change and evolve.
Repeating the same things, over and over again, perpetuates a cycle
of familiarity. Opting for the familiar choice implies that certain
opportunities remain unexplored. One can miss the past, but they can
also miss connections or miss out on experiences.
The
advice, in Clenching, could follow Horace and the expression Carpe
Diemv,
as it recommends geting ‘a grip on what is to come’ and not
letting go of it. Regret is portrayed as normal, as it ‘can’t be
helped’. While both Horace and the singer may be making the same
suggestion based on the uncertainty that the missed opportunities
will present themselves again, in the future, Clenching appears to
place an emphasis on escaping a cycle. There is a contradiction in
‘leaving the past behind’ and ‘trying to relive your life’.
As time cannot be controlled or stopped, as far as we know, the past
can only be left ‘behind’. Trying to relive one’s life would
prove to be a futile attempt to recreate moments, while each moment
created would be distinct, in and of itself (for a deeper exploration
of the subject, perhaps we call upon Buried Inside’s
Chronoclast?vi).
That contradiction may be the basis for the suggestion.
The
image relied upon for the metaphor of living in the past is the one
of a clenched fist grasping on the past. A symbolic gesture as the
fist is not holding anything because all the moments are gone. The
narrator’s tone is insistant and categorical, as they say ‘turning
back will do no good’, ‘let it go’, ‘look ahead’, and
finally ‘get a grip on what is to come / don’t let that knot come
undone’. The choice of this tone may suggest that the clenching the
title of the song refers to could be the one of new opportunities,
rather than the one holding on to the past. Tone could be the only
support to the idea that the title refers to either of them in
particular.
So
It Goes
Impervious
to horror
Abstinence
seen as an illusion
Chain-link
armor
Impeded
on by an unknown force
Pain
Pain
We
are all products of our environment
Entrapped
Unable
to decide
Yet
we sit back on our collective heels and go along for the ride
Driven
by contempt in a quagmire of lies
Forced
to consent until one dies
Thwarted
attempts to a longer life
Recourse
stems from infinite tries
So it
goes
The
setting includes an horror people have become accustomed to being
exercized by an ‘unknown force’. Resistance to it is established
as futile, as it is only an ‘illusion’. The ‘quagmire of lies’
may hint at the justifications we draw upon to clear our collective
conscience. A mecanism developed to help us ‘go along for the
ride’. The first clue as to the subject appears in the line ‘forced
to consent until one dies’. This precision hints that the horror
allowed to go on may be crime or injustice. The point being made
could therefore be that certain actions are being permitted until
they reach murder. Under this perspective, So It Goes would draw upon
the theme of legality.
The
critique states that injustice is accepted for the simple reason that
if the actions were wrong, they would have been punished by law. As
the Law is not a physical construct, it would be compatible with the
use of the phrase ‘unknown force’. It would be unknown for the
reason that it cannot be seen. However, as the concept becomes
familiar, the force would cease to be ‘unknown’. It is possible,
therefore, that the ‘unknown force’ may be the one causing the
injustice and the Law would be the ‘chain-link armor’, as the
function of the resource would be to protect the ones wearing it. As
the Law, in theory, applies to everyone, abstinence from it would
only be a belief or an ‘illusion’. Following in the same
direction, the ‘thwarted attempts to a longer life’ would refer
to imprisonment, the consequence to committing murder. The recourses
developed, for their part, could refer to jurisprudence, as
judgements draw upon past cases. The reference to Determinismvii
highlights the incapacity to act outside of the lessons derived from
past experiences. The implication of the reference to the source of
our behavior may be that the Law is only a plaster and does not
affect the cause. It may be possible to solve the puzzle of So It
Goes through a judicial lens.
Once
again, the image of the cycle is evoked in the actions allowed to go
on as well as in the allusion to infinity. It is becoming a common
theme, throughout the album, creating an effect of urgency. The
enumeration of these cycles could be compared to making a list for
the things that need to change.
Lighting
Strikes Twice
The
perfumed scent of economic stability
Dulled
the stench of burning flesh
Turned
their heads and pretended but they couldn’t hide from their blood
soaked conscience
Injecting
a plethora of green into your living corpse
You’re
dead and buried
Remain
sedate
Without
conviction
Genocidal
crucifixion
It
still occurs on all scales
Do
you feel the guilt
A
process of zombification is described through the images of a ‘living
corpse’ and a person under sedation. The zombies are not of the
brain-eating kind, however, but rather of the mindless worker type.
In the name of a healthy economy, people are burning themselves for a
cash reward. The question implied being -is this sacrifice voluntary
or forced? One of the few clues may reside in the idea that certain
people have ‘turned their heads’ and ‘pretended’, resulting
in a ‘blood soaked conscience’. Under the perspective that the
people have voluntarily submitted to this zombification, the workers
would have agreed to a job that would provide an ‘economic
stability’, but it comes with an impression of going against nature
because the conscience is affected. The injection of money would
resemble a vaccine that someone signs up for. This agreement causes
the transformation into mindless creatures spinning a wheel. Asking
them whether or not they ‘feel the guilt’ suggests that it might
not have been worthwhile.
Under
the perspective that the people were forced into becoming the living
dead lends an image of experimentation. The scientists performing the
procedure would be the ones burning the flesh of the subjects, as
well as the ones who have to live with troubled consciences. In
addition, they would be the ones allowing the payment to the workers
and those who would have made the economy so attractive.
Crucifixion
may be a crucial element in determining consent, as it was a capital
punishment, until the fourth century ADviii.
As it was a punishment, the people crucified had to be convicted by
some form of tribunal. Therefore, it was imposed.
By
relying upon both the second person and third person pronoun, a
distinction is being made the parties involved. They are the ones
turning their heads, pretending, unable to hide from a guilty
conscience, and ‘injecting a plethora of green into your living
corpse’. You would be the ones who are living corpses, who are
‘dead and buried’, who are sedated, and ‘without conviction’.
Establishing such distinction further supports the idea that consent
has not been given, and that consequences are being imposed upon one
of the parties.
When
the question is asked whether or not the audience feels guilty, the
question could be addressed to the perpetrators, as well as the
victims. If addressing the perpetrators, the aim of the question
becomes an attempt at evaluating the shamelessness behind the action.
If addressing the victims, the question could be questioning the
verdict.
No
One Dies Alone
Losing
sight
Losing
the fight
Something
done
No
one expects
You’re
looking
Looking
for an easy way out
Said
and done
You
can’t have regrets
Selfish
Your
existence has ceased
Leaving
questions
Only
you can answer
Making
all feel guilty
Guilty
for what seems nobody’s fault but your own
You’ll
need to see
Understand
what you’re doing
You’re
looking for attention
You
may never get
No
laughter
Tears
Pleasure
Fears
Battles
to be fought
Friendships
need be sought
Feelings
Good
or bad
Love
you once had
Questions
Needs
be answered
You’ve
killed yourself
Nothing
matters
No
one dies alone
It is
impossible not to think of Ringworm’s song of the same titleix,
when reading No One Dies Alone. Technically, Ringworm’s song was
released around fourteen years after Rorschach’s. The point is not
to say who did it first, but rather draw attention to the idea that
the subject of suicide has been discussed for quite some time.
Beginning
with an empathetic look at a person hurting and on the verge of
committing the irreparable, the point of view quickly turns to the
people this decision leaves behind. What sounded so understanding
turns into blame, as suicide is qualified as an ‘easy way out’,
as well as a ‘selfish’ act. An angry tone directed at the
departed also seeps through, within lines such as ‘making all feel
guilty / guilty for what seems nobody’s fault but your own’, and
‘you’re looking for attention’. No One Dies alone appears to be
a failure to communicate both on the part of the person whose
‘existence has ceased’ and those left with the guilt. On the one
hand, the person who committed suicide failed to reach out to friends
while, on the other hand, the so-called friend is taken by surprise,
as supported by the phrase ‘something done / no one expects’. It
is possible that, had communication been better, the friend might
have caught signals.
Selfishness,
in the context of suicide, has to go both ways. If the person opting
out was selfish in not thinking of the people they would leave behind
and the burden of guilt and incomprehension dropped on their
shoulders, it is not any less selfish to overlook someone’s despair
and ask of them that they should place the well being of those
friends above their own interest. In the lines ‘you’ll need to
see / understand what you’re doing / you’re looking for attention
/ you may never get’, the author appears to be clarify that the
point being made is that suicide was not the right solution to the
problem as it does not achieve the objective. In other words, what
would be the point of drawing attention to yourself if you cannot
capitalize from it because you are gone? Furthermore, the final lines
act as final nails in a coffin as they state ‘you’ve killed
yourself / nothing matters’, simultaneously indicating that the
ones who are still alive will have to learn to carry the weight or
move on and that the person who was struggling will not hurt anymore.
In
comparison, Ringworm’s No One Dies Alone adopts a similar stance,
as it also involves incomprehension in the line ‘loyalties forged
in fire / will make no sense of this’. However, while it directs
attention to the friend hurting from the departure in the line ‘you
take a piece of me with you’, the tone is less angry from the
absence of the element of blame. Variations on a theme.
My
Mind’s in a Vice (and It’s Being Cranked Real Tight)
I
don’t like the quiet
It
forces me to think
Roadblock
in my mind
Pushing
me to the brink
I
slowly lose compassion for this putrid place
I
slowly lose hope for the human race
My
mind’s in a vice and it’s cranked real tight
My
mind’s in a vice
All
the pressure is going to make me explode
The
reference to ‘the quiet’ depicts the setting as an empty room or
some place away from the city. The author is looking at the state of
the world and the impression is not conducive to creativity. Their
diminishing appreciation for ‘this putrid place’ morphs into
hopelessness and futility. The more intense this impression becomes,
the closer the protagonist approaches to a breaking point. The
inspirational ‘roadblock’ is echoed in the lack of details
clarifying exactly of what elements the singer disapproves of,
creating a circular point of view. The loss of compassion prevents
them from finding the words to express their disappointment. The
incapacity to express themselves creates the silence that has them
focusing on what is wrong, which, in turn, generates the disapproval
that is being bottled up inside. A song written about the inability
to write lyrics.
Checkmate
To
you
Life’s
a fucking game and you’re the king
Maneuvering
friends
Doesn’t
mean a thing
Now
you’re losing them
One
by one
Your
enemy approaches
He’s
got you on the run
You
won’t stick your neck out
You
won’t compromise
You
can get by on the manipulation of others’ lives
Making
them take the brunt of a force you’re afraid to confront
Now
they’re all gone
It’s
too late
Checkmate
Pawns
are gone
You’re
out of bait
Feel
it as they focus their hate
Try
to surround yourself
Your
walls are breaking
Those
you have left want to be taken
They
see you for what you are and what you have done
This
game is no longer fun
Making
them take the brunt of a force you’re afraid to confront
Now
they’re all gone
It’s
too late
Checkmate
The
title of the song refers directly to the game of chess and the song
itself describes a person using life as their chess board, using
their friends as their pieces. The comparison highlights the manner
in which the subject is disposing of each and every other piece to
block the attack from the ‘enemy’ instead of using their own
means to respond. This attitude is attributed to a fear of
confrontation.
The
point being made could be that life is not a game of chess and it
involves real people, not just material pieces. That is supported in
the idea that the pawns are able to feel hatred and their desire to
be taken out of the game after realizing the way in which they were
being used. Their ability to feel emotions differentiates them from
objects. Moreover, if a game was being played, they might not have
given their consent in being used as pieces. The subject would have
decided that some people would be manipulated so that they could
reach their own personal objectives. The manipulation was allowed to
continue only while it was ‘fun’ and the game was lost once there
were no one left to manipulate.
Using
the metaphor of a game of chess to describe some form of social
manipulation, a victim of manipulation would equal a piece being
taken out by the opposing team. A victim of manipulation could, for
example, be someone befriended only for the sake of being introduced
to other people. The victim, in this case, would be feeling good
because of the idea that they have connected with someone and they
are spending good times, together. Once they realize that the person
who befriended them only wanted to use this connection to befriend
other people, they would be left alone and the positive feelings
would be gone. This is one of the ways in which the situation could
be transposed in an image. After the veil was lifted and everyone
realized the game that was being played, the victims of this
manipulation were still on the board, which implies that they could
still be considered as part of the king’s ‘walls’, but they
were wishing or expecting to be taken out. This wish or this
expectation could translate as people tolerating someone they do not
care much about, temporarily.
In
addition to stating the difference between real life and a game of
chess, the idea that the king loses because all the other pieces are
gone implies that the king could never win on their own. Their
failure to comprehend it and realize how they were overestimating
their own capacity are both elements that cause their downfall.
Exist
The
rich reeks of beauty
Money
down the drain
The
poor ignore such vanity
Tolerating
endless pain
Why
must we compete to be the best?
Why
can’t we be content to exist?
It’s
impractical
I see
only an excuse
Like
a disease
There’s
a cure
It
just needs to be found
Death
tolls grow higher
Pulse
slowed by greed
Economic
feasability
Overpowers
the human need
Innocent
people doing their best
Why
can’t we be content to exist?
Health
is not a luxury
The
struggle of the haves against the havenots. Vanity against grit. The
reference to richness, when combined to beauty, immediately brings to
mind the idea of plastic surgery. Having money grants the rich access
to these procedures, while the poor have to remain in their body and
endure ‘endless pain’. In this perspective, the competition to
determine ‘the best’ could be in terms of looks. If an argument
can be made about the surgery and it being ‘impractical’,
however, it becomes harder to make a case for the death toll.
Addtionally, the ‘pulse’, ‘economic feasability’ and ‘need’
are all pieces that do not appear to belong to this puzzle.
The
reference to ‘health’ is the key that puts everything into
perspective. Exist would be more compatible with the idea of
healthcare. The rich are able to get treatment for whatever they
need, while the poor, on the other end of the spectrum, have to seek
treatment they can afford. If they do not have sufficient funds, they
have to tolerate ‘endless pain’. It is more than probable that
the consequences will be lethal, in some cases. Accessibility to
heatlhcare is being questioned, as the narrator asks ‘why must we
compete to be the best? / Why can’t we be content to exist?’
The
critique is also pointing a finger at priorities in developing cures
and marketability weighing more in the balance than human well being.
The lines ‘economic feasability / overpowers the human need’
imply that money is not invested in finding a cure unless it is
profitable. The opposite attitude would have been to look at the
situation in terms of ‘by any means necessary’, knowing that
people are hurting from the lack of commitment.
Oppress
Save
the oppressed
Oppressed
in whose eyes
Ours
so we’re told
Propagandized
into being the savior for those who need no help
Only
sending the delicate balance into infinite motion
A
balance of opposition that wasn’t so wrong
We
took advantage
We’ve
moved right in legal monopolies
Nothing
more
Locking
the oppressed into a corner of greed
Who
can we blame?
Ourselves
How
can we stop?
It’s
too late
Oppress
Oppress
the opposition
Blow
out of proportion
You’ve
done it so well
Taking
us one step closer to hell
Oppress
Oppress
the opposition
Cover
up your actions and all that they mean
Plow
over the rubble with an overabundance of green
Propaganda,
opposition, ‘being the savior’, ‘blow out of proportion’ are
clues pointing towards War. Not a visceral war opposing two well
established rivalvries, but rather a more subtle one, as suggested by
the covert actions. The uncertainty about the level of oppression
those saved were facing raises questions. Having to justify the
reason why intervention was necessary implies it was not all that
clear, in the first place. If said intervention results in ‘rubble’,
it hints at destruction, which, therefore, supports the idea that war
is the subject of the song.
Oppress
relies upon an image of bettrayal to question the reasons for waging
war. One of the reasons invoked to get involved in war is to save the
oppressed. Another could be to gain financial advantage. This is
supported by the references to ‘legal monopolies’, the ‘corner
of greed’, and the ‘overabundance of green’. When the question
is asked as to where the blame should be directed, and the answer is
‘ourselves’, this could be because the ‘we’ were the ones who
allowed the situation to happen, whether as the result of being lied
to or not overseeing the escalation. If the war in question is an
international one, the song could depict citizens disillusioned with
the ways their government is selecting the conflicts they get
involved in.
The
line ‘blow out of proportion’ is an idea that could allude to the
idea that perhaps, the solution to the disagreement could have been
different than conflict. For example, and on a smaller scale, when
people disagree and choose to resolve the dispute through a
fistfight. Inflicting physical damage does not make an a point become
irrelevent. It does not make things make more sense. Being the victor
of a fistfight does not make the point you were making any more valid
than it was when people were still arguing with words. When
witnessing a fistfight, some may get the impression that for the
situation to escalate to the point where conversation would not
suffice and it made it impossible for both parties to maintain
composure, it had to be blown out of proportion. Now, transpose the
idea to a scale as big as international war. The consequences are
more dire than a black eye or a bleeding lip. They are in terms of
human lives.
People
being desensitized to inflicting pain onto others, the planet being
destroyed for financial gain, people relying upon religion to justify
their actions or their way of life, the anxieties generated by life
in society, the reluctance in getting out of one’s comfort zone,
letting laws and policy makers dictate what is acceptable and what is
punishable, capitalism and the dilemma of choosing between a larger
income or a cleaner conscience, Suicide, numbness, manipulation,
healthcare, and War. Such are the elements in the picture painted by
Remain Sedate. If you take a step back and think of the state of the
world, today, would you say all of those themes are still relevant?
These are all the more reasons why Rorschach deserves an entry on
your end-of-the-year billboard from your favorite app. However, that
would barely scratch the surface, as the implication from this work
still being pertinent today would be that either things have not
changed or they have not changed enough. Assessing the progress that
was made since 1991 is a study for another time, but Remain Sedate
might be a valid starting point.
