Wednesday, July 6, 2011

From a Distance

It's a mysterious song. Don't you think so too? Music: 'Brian Eno - By This River'. Play it loud!
Here we are 
Stuck by this river, 
You and I 
Underneath a sky that's ever falling down, down, down 
Ever falling down.

Through the day 
As if on an ocean 
Waiting here, 
Always failing to remember why we came, came, came: 
I wonder why we came. 

You talk to me 
as if from a distance 
And I reply 
With impressions chosen from another time, time, time, 
From another time.


Is it sad music? What's it about? Why did [we] came: breakfast, see the sun going down, commit suicide or ...?

At first sight it's lyrics seem not in sync with the music. They are! According to me this song is about [Me] who becomes One with the Universe.  Moment of Eternal Now.  For a few seconds - that seem to last forever - Everything is Quiet and One. [You] are distant and not part of what I Feel Now. It's a moment of Enlightenment frozen, stuck or hidden in a song.

More on This from me: AswanAerial, THAT, Ordinary fieldstones or Cooling down

1 comment:

  1. Comment from http://blip.fm/kvstr on July 6th [Via FaceBook]
    Hi Jean. 'Alienation' has nothing to do with space aliens like 'E.T.' or 'Paul'. However, to my mind it does seem to have a lot to do with this (wonderful) song. I think the 'river' possibly represents life as experienced by people who feel isolated or alienated from it. The 'sky' falling lower each day may be death inching towards us. In the modern world, the traditional bonds of community, kinship and morals seem to be breaking down leading to individuals feeling more and more separated from those around them. As a result, they struggle to find meaning and direction and question their very existence, 'fail to remember why we came'. The last verse seems to hint at an inability to live in the present, perhaps one person is putting up protective barriers while the other is too wrapped up in the past to 'be' authentically with the other person.

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