In my previous post, I talked about the band "Theatre of Tragedy". Their album Velvet Darkness They Fear has a song "And When He Falleth..." the lyrics of which are featured here. A discussion follows...
"Be my kin free fro carnal sin,
Bridle the thoughts of thy Master."
"There hath past away a glore fro the Earth;
A glore that in the hearts and minds of men,
Men demented - blindfolded by light,
Nourisheth as weed in their well-groomed garths."
"Might I too was blindfolded ere,
"The quality of mercy and absolution,
Tho' years have master'd me
Whence cometh such qualities?
A masque of this to fashion:
Build thyself a mirror in which
Seer blest, thou best philosopher!"
Solely wanton images of thy desire appear!"
"'Tis the Divine Comedy -
"'Tis the Divine Tragedy -
The fool and the mocking court;
The fool and the mocking court;
Fool, kneel now, and ring thy bells!
Fool, kneel now, and ring thy bells!
We hold the Earth fro Heaven away."
Make us guffaw at thy futile follies,
Yet for our blunders - Oh, in shame;
Earth beareth no balm for mistakes -
We hold the Earth fro Hell away."
[Dialogue:]
[Male Voice]
That cross you wear around your neck;
is it only a decoration, or are you a true Christian believer?
[Female Voice]
Yes, I believe - truly.
Then I want you to remove it at once!
- and never to wear it within this castle
again! Do you know how a falcon is trained my
dear? Her eyes are sewn shut. Blinded temporarily
she suffers the whims of her God patiently, until
her will is submerged and she learns to serve -
as your God taught and blinded you with crosses.
You had me take off my cross because it offended....
It offended no-one. No - it simply appears
to me to be discourteous to... to wear
the symbol of a deity long dead.
My ancestors tried to find it. And to open
the door that separates us from our Creator.
But you need no doors to find God.
If you believe....
Believe?! If you believe you are...gullible.
Can you look around this world and believe
in the goodness of a god who rules it?
Famine, Pestilence, War, Disease and Death!
They rule this world.
There is also love and life and hope.
Very little hope I assure you. No. If a god
of love and life ever did exist...he is long since dead.
Someone...something rules in his place.
[sung:]
"Believe? In a deity long dead? -
I would rather be a pagan suckled in creeds outworn;
With fairytales fill'd up in head;
Thoughts of the Book stillborn."
"Shadow of annoyance -
Never come hither!
...And when He falleth, He falleth like Lucifer,
Never to ascend again...
Never to ascend...again"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The song as I perceive it is a kind of play with two characters talking to each other. It starts with the girl calling out to all those who listen to join her (be her kin) and be against the carnal or cardinal sins. She asks the listener to bridle or improve or to decorate the thoughts of the Master, referring to God. The male voice calls out speaking of the Light. He says that there has passed from Earth a glore that has been in the hearts and minds of men and have made them lose their minds. This Light has blinded people and has taken over their well nourished garden of thoughts like a weed. He goes on to narrate that he too was once blinded by the Light but the years have matured him and made him his own master. He calls out for a masque to be made with a reference to the blessed seer being the best philosopher. I take these lines to mean that he is calling himself a seer: the one who has seen the Absolute Truth (that being that there is no God) and asks a masque to be fashioned like himself for men. In the background the girl sings praises of God's qualities of mercy and being the absolute one who can liberate from guilt and punishment. She asks (in all probabilities to the man) as to where do these qualities come from and asks the listener to build for himself a mirror in which the images of his desire appear (which I take to mean confession).
Then the duo correspond in antagonism. The girl calls it the Divine tragedy while the man calls it to be the Divine Comedy. They describe the scene of a Prince or a King sitting on the throne with the courtiers surrounding him and a jester or a buffoon (popularly called a fool; fools were present in courts to provide entertainment) is facing the court. The fool is asked to kneel and entertain so that everyone laughs out in fits of laughter at his follies or foolish acts. However, the girl notices that it is in fact not the fool who is being laughed at for it is shameful to think of all the blunders that we are doing (referring to the Satanic King or Prince who is in this scene.) She says that this Earth has no balm for mistakes or that once a mistake is done, then there is no balm or soothing thing to soothe or heal the wounds of that mistake (yet again making a reference to the Satanic and barbaric thoughts of the King or the Prince). The duo says that they hold the Earth. However, the girl shuns away from Hell while the man embraces Hell.
What follows after this is a dialogue from the movie "The Masque of The Red Death" which was made based on the story of the same name by "Edger Allen Poe". (I will come to it in a little while).
The man asks the girl as to why should he believe in God who is long since dead? He says that he would prefer to be a pagan believing in the creeds of the out of date world (basically meaning that he would rather believe in Satan than God). He says that the minds of men are full of fairytales and he makes a reference to the Bible saying that the thoughts are stillborn that is to say rather static and according the the Book (The Bible) and that the men are not ready to embrace the thought that their Master is dead and Satan rules in his place. The girl ends the song by banishing all such thoughts and asking the "Shadow of Annoyance" (the man and his beliefs) not to corrupt her. She says that when such people and their beliefs fall, they fall like Lucifer (the fallen Angel sometimes also referred as Satan) never to ascend or arise again.
In the entire discussion I have referred to the King or the Prince. One might wonder why so. Well, as mentioned above, the dialogue portion is from a movie and the movie is based on a story. So I read the story and found that the song can be better interpreted keeping that backdrop in the mind. So in my next post I am upoading the story so that it becomes clear to you as well...
