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Wide & precise

Started by SwissCow, Wed, 2005-01-26, 15:59:58

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SwissCow

What I like with Arena and their music, is that the lyrics are both "wide" and "precise" to both understand more or less the meaning behind the words, and still they let you understand the song with your own way of believing or disbelieving (in God, in an afterlife, or whatever else). And this is, I think, something quite special, and rare enough to mention it.

You can listen to one track or another, and still find many different interpretations of it, while it delivers the same kind of message. I have read some interpreations of The Visitor album (stating for example that the Visitor was God, that the songs were talking about apostasy & return to God, etc.). They all offer interesting points of view. At the same time, before I read them, I had my own understanding of those songs that were not - I think - inferior to these reviews; and this understanding was the fruit of my way to listen to them, through my belief's glass.

Am I the only one feeling this way ?

Bye !

Peter

Agreed.

I, for example, believe that the Butterfly Man must be the devil. He's being described as the 'catcher of souls' and having a human collection, but himself again being trapped in a sort of timeless situation that he can't escape from, kind of like a victim himself.
Arriving somewhere, but not here....

SwissCow

I see things the same way : the Butterfly Man is certainly a mention to the devil. It would be interesting to have another point of view : what else could he be ? In Moviedrome, I see the same reference to the devil : "We invited him in and offered no defense, and with every given soul, he reaches for his throne. He has the face of an angel, etc.", knowing that in the Bible, the devil is described as an "angel of light"...

Actually, most of Arena's songs have a clear reference to the Bible or mythology. And somehow, I think that most of the people like this spiritual side of that music, and still being able to interpret it in their own way.

kmorse

I can't disagree with the thoughts on "Butterfly Man." I also couldn't help but think of the serial killer in "Silence of the Lambs" or John Fowles' book, "The Collector."

What do you folks think "The Crack in the Ice" is? I've pondered that one a time or two.
I'm falling.....Falling down again!

Peter

As I'm not a native English speaker, lyrics like 'Crack in the Ice' are way out of line of interpretation for me... Would be interesting to hear others' thoughts, though....
Arriving somewhere, but not here....

Gollum

I always thought of The Butterfly Man as a feelling rather than a "character", "person", or... well, anything with its own personality. In ither words, I see it as a "trap" inside people, in wich they may fall in certain situations. I don't know, some kind of metaphorical interpretation, a personification of a side of our own minds.

PS: I realiase now... everything I said could apply to the Devil too :P
La vergüenza de haber sido y el dolor de ya no ser

Constable Hogweed

I have always seen "the Butterfly man" as the devil too. Before the fall, The devil as Lucifer was described as the most beautiful of all the angels. The beauty of the butterfly in appearance, with the twist of his personality ( Catcher of innocent souls etc ) as well as other clues have brought me to that conclusion.............But who knows? it could be about Jake the pegs lost sock on an island of evil marmalade jars...........Sorry about that, i shall go to bed now. :-[ ;D

SwissCow

Gollum's point of view is also interesting. A feeling ? Why not !!!  8)

I also agree with Constable Hogweed about the parallel with Lucifer. Actually, it seems to me that in quite many Arena's songs, the devil is directly or inderictly mentioned. So is God, actually. Let's take a more recent song : "Opera Fanatica". Do you remember some ot the last word ?

You try to live without me by your side;
you try to live without me now but I
I will always be there,
Just a single breath away;
And I, I will always be there,
I will share your fate again.

Kind of making me thing of God again (some may think of the devil, maybe...).

About the Crack in the Ice, I read an interpretation that was stating that the whole album was talking about someone becoming a disbeliever, but kind of "meets" again God at the end. So logically, the Crack in the Ice could be the doubt period : "I defy you to stand, on the crack in the Ice, with the Power of you Hands, on the crack in the Ice". Kind of a metaphore of the doubts shaking the whole nice "block" of beliefs ? ;)

To be thought upon...

Bye !

PS: For those who haven't yet notice - and you must be but a few - my native tongue is not english either, so please, be patient with my mistakes.

kmorse

SwissCow,

Don't apologize. Your English is much better than my Swiss.

And that's a fair interpretation of "Crack in the Ice," in my view.
I'm falling.....Falling down again!

Peter

But does someone stand on the ice with their hands?
Arriving somewhere, but not here....

kmorse

"Does someone stand on their hands on the crack in the ice?"

I would define that as pretty risky behavior
I'm falling.....Falling down again!

gelert

Quote from: kmorse on Mon, 2005-01-31, 16:52:52
"Does someone stand on their hands on the crack in the ice?"

I would define that as pretty risky behavior

Almost as risky as standing on the ice, slipping, and getting ice in the crack...  :o ;D
Internationally Affiliated Member of the Federated Union of Conundrums, Kudos, & Eccentric Dialogue, featuring the Scantily Clad Radii Of The Ubiquitous Meniscus - our motto "Time flies like an arrow - fruit flies like a banana"

Draddi

#12
I'd rather think of the Butterfly Man as the Death, not the Devil. The Grim Reaper, catching all the souls of the Dying, because in Death all Souls are innocent whilst him being trapped in his "job" without any chance of escape (Is it obvious that I have read Pratchett's Discworld too ´many times ?) So, same interpretation than Peter just a slightly different conclusion.

Quote from: gelert on Mon, 2005-01-31, 18:38:49
Almost as risky as standing on the ice, slipping, and getting ice in the crack... :o ;D
That would be then considered the first cool a****le, I have ever met, right ? ;D
Hope I got that right, gelert... ;)

gelert

Nice one Draddi - cool assh*le, hehehe...

...reminds me of that joke involving 370HSSV 0773H...
Internationally Affiliated Member of the Federated Union of Conundrums, Kudos, & Eccentric Dialogue, featuring the Scantily Clad Radii Of The Ubiquitous Meniscus - our motto "Time flies like an arrow - fruit flies like a banana"

Draddi

Quote from: gelert on Sun, 2005-02-06, 02:44:59
Nice one Draddi - cool assh*le, hehehe...

...reminds me of that joke involving 370HSSV 0773H...
just when I was happy to get the crack joke right, you give me that one..... :D
....that went way over my head...please help me out here, gelert. I don't know that one.

Peter

Quote
After numerous rounds of: "We don't even know if Osama is still alive", Osama himself
decided to send George Bush a letter in his own handwriting to let him know he was still
in the game. Bush opened the letter and it appeared to contain a coded message:

370HSSV-0773H

Bush was baffled, so he e-mailed it to Colin Powell. Colin and his aides had no clue either
so they sent it to the FBI. No one could solve it so it went to the CIA, then to the NASA,
then to the Secret Service.

With no clue as to it's meaning, they eventually asked Britain's MI-6 for help.
MI-6 cabled the White House: Tell the President he is holding the letter upside down!
Arriving somewhere, but not here....

Draddi

Quote from: Peter on Sun, 2005-02-06, 11:14:54

Duh !!! Thanks Peter   ;D
ok, I should have gotten that one....but I got a pretty good excuse....it's fairly hard to turn the Monitor upside down  ;)

gelert

Quote from: Draddi on Mon, 2005-02-07, 02:09:55
...it's fairly hard to turn the Monitor upside down...

Drink more beer...it'll turn upside-down, without you having to lift a finger...  8)
Internationally Affiliated Member of the Federated Union of Conundrums, Kudos, & Eccentric Dialogue, featuring the Scantily Clad Radii Of The Ubiquitous Meniscus - our motto "Time flies like an arrow - fruit flies like a banana"

Peter

Well, gelert, that's actually a state in which you will never see ole' Draddi in.....
He had the guts to not even share a drink with me on his wedding ;)

Prolly because I played a trick on him.... *cough*
Arriving somewhere, but not here....

gelert

Quote from: Peter on Mon, 2005-02-07, 19:51:52
Well, gelert, that's actually a state in which you will never see ole' Draddi in.....
He had the guts to not even share a drink with me on his wedding ;)

Prolly because I played a trick on him.... *cough*

NO, NO, NO, PETER....you CAN'T leave it there without telling ALL of us.....

'fess-up...
Internationally Affiliated Member of the Federated Union of Conundrums, Kudos, & Eccentric Dialogue, featuring the Scantily Clad Radii Of The Ubiquitous Meniscus - our motto "Time flies like an arrow - fruit flies like a banana"

Peter

Well, we have an annoying usus here in Germany to 'kidnap' the bride sometime during the party. What I did. Hell, was the boy mad at me....
Arriving somewhere, but not here....

gelert

In Sweden it is a bit of a custom for the groom to be kidnapped and whisked off somewhere for his stag night,  which usually lasts all day and all night rather than the typical British stag night where you all arrange it beforehand go out get drunk and hire a stripper.

The Swedes do it different.. The groom has no idea until he gets nabbed.. He might be dressed up in something crazy... and go do something funny...and then the fun starts!

This particular guy is a keen sailor and when he was kidnapped for his stag night they pasted a false "skippers-beard" on him and put him at the helm of a 60 foot yacht and let him be skipper for the day...

Much beer and fine food was consumed. But nothing... nasty happened to him at all...

In the evening when they got back on land and were getting cleaned up for the night club... they all had a sauna as is customary in Sweden....

Imagine the grooms horror when he walked into the sauna where his naked buddies were waiting for him and then to notice that best mate number one had no pubic hair ...

neither did friend two ...
nor three ...
or four...





Now go back to the mental image of "they pasted a false 'skippers-beard' on him"....!
Internationally Affiliated Member of the Federated Union of Conundrums, Kudos, & Eccentric Dialogue, featuring the Scantily Clad Radii Of The Ubiquitous Meniscus - our motto "Time flies like an arrow - fruit flies like a banana"

Peter

Eeek, that's funny. Should've asked you earlier :)
Arriving somewhere, but not here....

Appelmoes??

Yuch! ;D

Isn't that a story that should have been posted in the 'Hair'-topic?
For some good reading visit:""Fluffy Kittens of DOOM"!

My drawings on MySpace


gelert

Quote from: Appelmoes?? on Mon, 2005-02-07, 22:29:05
....should have been posted in the 'Hair'-topic?

LOL...  :)
Internationally Affiliated Member of the Federated Union of Conundrums, Kudos, & Eccentric Dialogue, featuring the Scantily Clad Radii Of The Ubiquitous Meniscus - our motto "Time flies like an arrow - fruit flies like a banana"