Miss a Day – Two to Play! (Dream Theater – “Wither”, and Queen – “Innuendo”)

Nothing yesterday, but I double the portion today. The first video is still fresh from the editing room: Dream Theater and “Wither” from their latest and current, Black Clouds & Silver Linings. While we are dealing with a very emotional and introvertive/introverted song here, it retains a hue of funny-ness on its emotional margins – especially after the rickrolling of “Wither” by a guy named Neil McDougall earlier this year. But go and see for yourselves, don’t just take my word for it.

Turn it on, turn it on. Let the feelings flow
Close your eyes, see the ones you used to know
Open up, open up, don’t struggle to relate
Lure it out, help the memory escape

Still this barrenness consumes me
And I feel like giving up

So I wither, and I render myself helpless
I give in, and everything is clear
I break down, and let the story guide me
I wither, and give myself away

Like reflections on the stage
The world’s what you create

The second video for tonight is one of the last Queen videos (if not the last) produced while Freddie was still alive. It’s yet another song that belongs to my category of “better shut up and listen”.

While the sun hangs in the sky and the desert has sand
While the waves crash in the sea and meet the land
While there’s a wind and the stars and the rainbow
Till the mountains crumble into the plain

Oh yes we’ll keep on tryin’
Tread that fine line
Oh we’ll keep on tryin’ yeah
Just passing our time

While we live according to race, colour or creed
While we rule by blind madness and pure greed
Our lives dictated by tradition, superstition, false religion
Through the eons, and on and on

Oh yes we’ll keep on tryin’
We’ll tread that fine line
Oh we’ll keep on tryin’
Till the end of time…
Till the end of time!

And the video? It gives me goose bumps each time I see it. Q. W3ary out.

A Vidclip a Day: Dark Tranquillity, “Lost to Apathy”

If we are to ever get anywhere at all, we must not succumb to apathy, or to any of its allies. That’s the brief, pointed, and very straight-forward message contained in Dark Tranquillity’s “Lost to Apathy” (from Character, 2005).

so overcome with pointless tears
to test pain receptors
nothing matters ever here,
put up a noncreation
these eyes will never see,
covered up from reality

look at the shell that is you:
empty, fragile, weak
soon the battle is over,
lost to apathy

the unknown world that you deny –
no priority
cannot fail if you never start,
how predictable
i want to know: where did it end?
for madness to start;
you’re always the sceptic
but never the part
introvertive/nondescriptive,
it matters not – not

look at the shell that is you:
empty, fragile, weak

look at the shell that is you:
empty, fragile, weak
soon the battle is over,
lost to apathy

To cut a long story a bit shorter here: those who care fight, and those who don’t usually rot. Now, I guess it’s also possible to change the world by being apathetic to almost everyone and everything, but rarely does that result in something genuinely helpful. More often than not, that kind of change only leads to more destruction and tears. So the message, I find, is quite clear. Here come the messengers, too. I’ll leave you in their capable hands. Q. W3ary over & out.

A Vidclip a Day: Queen, “I Want It All”

Earlier this week, I was wondering: which good old band haven’t I abused yet to install in my crazy rag-tag collection of music videos? The full answer, of course, consists of umpteen names, but one came to me immediately as a bolt of proverbial lightning out of the blue: Queen! So here comes Queen’s “I Want It All”, from The Miracle (1989).

Listen all you people, come, gather round
I gotta get me a new game plan,
gotta shake you to the ground
Just give me what I know is mine
People do you hear me – just give me the sign
It ain’t much I’m asking if you want the truth
Here’s to the future – for the dreams of youth
I want it all (give it all), I want it all,
I want it all – and I want it now
I want it all (yes I want it all), I want it all (hey),
I want it all – and I want it now!

This number has all of what I’m looking for in a fighting song: the gravity, the upright feeling, the determined smile it puts on faces, and, most of all, the unbreakable spirit. No wonder it has become an anthem for rights and equality used by various groups around the world. Listen well, and keep up the good fights. Q .W3ary out.

A Vidclip a Day: Meshuggah, “New Millennium Cyanide Christ”

Some people like to combine the seriousness with the wild fun in every imaginable way. Meshuggah belong to that camp. To prove it, I’ve chosen the video for “New Millennium Cyanide Christ” from Chaosphere (1998). This will either make you laugh for half an hour, or bring you a headache and the resolution never to listen to Meshuggah, ever again.

I’m A Carnal, Organic Anagram.
Human Flesh Instead Of Written Letters.
I Rearrange My Pathetic Tissue.
I Incise.
I Replace.
I’m Reformed.
I Eradicate The Fake Pre-Present Me.
Elevate Me To A Higher Human Form.
The Characters I Am,
Made Into A Word Complete,
Then I’ll Be The New Norm.

Self Inflicted Fractures.
I Replace My Bones With Bars;
Aluminum Bleeding Oxide;
The Drug Of Gods Into My Pounding Veins.

The song tells the sci-fi tale of a new poisonous machine god, but the video tells a completely different story. Don’t miss the sunglasses head-bang, the stuffed animal jumps, the new millennium miniaturised ball-point microphone, and the immortal air guitars and drums. And also don’t complain I didn’t warn you because I did. Q. W3ary out.

A Vidclip a Day: Paradise Lost, “The Rise of Denial”

Today, a very fresh clip from a fresh album on a very un-fresh but quite important topic: denialism. Sadly, lots of people around the world tend to suffer from this particularly dangerous psychological condition. Some deny the existence of AIDS. Others, the globally changing climate that will be soon freezing and/or frying us. Yet others refuse to accept that evolution is a fact. This list can go on and on; here’s how Paradise Lost sum things up in a more abstract and personal way:

In a dream despite
The air we breathe
Serenity

Grip the dead hands of the last
Detritus invades
Indefinite the consequence
For you endeavour
To aggravate uncertainty
A rise of denial
This passion won’t forgive,
And ill fortune tears you down

All that’s been ignites
Suppressing me
Serenity

Some would do anything to get a sense of manicured and pedicured tranquillity, a feeling of profoundly artificial respectability and propriety. That’s what this video is about. And it may all start on a very personal level, but it ends, way more often than not, with the things I listed above, and even some worse than those. People who live under the spell of denialism need to be awoken. Go see the wake-up call. Q. W3ary out.

A Vidclip a Day: Suffocation, “Cataclysmic Purification”

For all working people all over the world, Monday is the epitome of a Very Bloody Day. It’s the day that brings yet more endless work and replaces the calmness of the weekend with stress, insomnia, and frustration. It sounds as bad as an apocalypse of sorts, that’s why today I have an unexpectedly positive post-apocalyptic song for you – by a good old death metal band.

Indigenous events plague
first light of wisdom
the 4th world will end
and the 5th will begin
Cataclysmic changes
will soon be upon us.

Disillusion
The world will be set on fire
the great day of purification
Upheaval
period of worthy change.

Suffocation have been around since the end of the 1980’s, and that is quite some time for a death metal band. Nonetheless, this period does include a four-year hiatus (1998-2002), after which they returned fresher and even stronger than before. This song comes from their most recent album, Blood Oath, which came out in July. Enjoy it, and prepare for the post-apoclyptic future. Q. W3ary out.

A Vidclip a Day: The Devin Townsend Project, “Coast”

Devin Townsend is a very emotional, proficient and versatile musician. His recent idea to release four largely dissimilar albums within the space of approximately two to three years has already produced two remarkable collections of songs. This song comes from the first album, Ki, released in May of this year. To get inside the concept, read the lyrics first:

The way it goes, is the way it goes.
I’m all right to go
The way it goes, is the way it goes.
I’m all right to go
So go…
…you go.

They took their things and headed for the coast
Denied of all in life they needed most
Loves forgotten child
born into the wild

Come to the coast, come to the coast, come to the coast
it will find you…

The fallout from the California glow
Toronto’s frozen over this every man should know
I’ve forgotten now
Won’t you show me how?

Coast.
Go.

Run away, just run away from here.
Just run away, just run away my dear…
‘Cause love’s forgotten child…
So go into the wild
…Come.

Somebody took me away…something controls me…
Somebody took me away…something controls me…
Somebody took me away…something controls me…

It seems to be a sci-fi piece, but is it one really? And in such a case, what does it have to say? I’m not giving away anything. After you see the clip, you’ll know. Q. W3ary out.

A Vidclip a Day: Korn, “Coming Undone”

Since it’s Saturday again (so quickly? damn!), here’s a dancey tune from Korn. Half-serious, half-joking, the video does its job quite well, as the inner world of the protagonist falls apart.

Keep holdin’ on when my brain’s tickin’ like a bomb
Guess the black thoughts have come again to get me
Sweet-bitter words unlike nothing I have heard
Sing along mocking bird, you don’t affect me

That’s right: deliver it to my heart
Please strike – be deliberate

Wait, I’m coming undone
Irate, I’m coming undone
Too late, I’m coming undone
What looks so strong, so delicate
Wait, I’m starting to suffocate
And soon I anticipate
I’m coming undone
What looks so strong, so delicate

Korn have always been quite good at navigating the ruins of the mad/sick/hurt human mind, and this is no exception. The difference is that, at least in this song, they do it in a very groovy, move-your-body manner. Have a look, and have fun. Q. W3ary out.

A Vidclip a Day: Primus, “Southbound Pachyderm”

Several days ago, while I was sifting the video tubes of the interwebs for Primus’s “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver”, I stumbled upon this graceful piece of theirs. Since I have little time – got to do one video per day, remember – there’ll be no imagery and no extensive elaborations this time. I’ll just say that it’s a song against poaching, and for good old big grey smelly cuddly smiling noisy long-memoried elephants – and other friendly animals exhibiting similarly endearing pachyderm characteristics. Primus rarely fall back into this kind of resolute, calm mood, so enjoy it while it lasts. Q. W3ary over & out.

A Vidclip a Day: Sanctuary, “Future Tense”

There are songs that render me speechless, and set my every nerve on fire. This is one of them.

What do you see on the news when you watch T.V.
War in the name of God, or a playground killing spree
Politicians promise you the world, and a preacher cries
All he ever wanted was your money, and a bitch on the side
What went wrong? Did society twist him?

What do you see in the center of the public eye
Rock stars on smack, and a serial killer fries
Radicals blame suicide and murder on our from of art
Brainwash the youth, you know they claim we all play a part
What a shame that they can’t think for themselves

Past tense to future tense, let history unfold
So ends a decade now what will the nineties hold
You know we’re verging on the edge of an age
Then another century will turn the page

What do you think they will say when they look back on this
Were the eighties just a time of spoiled innocence
We leave our legacy like dust in the sands of time
Let’s hope the seeds we plant can carry the weight of our crimes

Past tense to future tense let history unfold
And when we’re old and gray these stories will be told
You know we’re verging on the edge of an age
Then another century will turn the page

We sail an ocean, a sea of doubt
Sceptics make no sense, can’t work things out
I’ll choose optimism, scream its name
Look to the future, a burning flame

Past tense to future tense let history unfold
So ends a decade now what will the nineties hold
You know we’re verging on the edge of an age
Then another century will turn the page
Turn the page!…

I should only give background info here. This was written by Sanctuary, a late 1980s metal band from Seattle, out of whose ashes rose the entity Nevermore. The lyrics very much reflect the end-of-the-decade feel in 1990 when the album which this piece opens, Into the Mirror Black, was released. Still, they can relate quite effortlessly to our time – and you’ll be more easily convinced after you see the very telling video. I’m going to let you do exactly that. Till later: Q. W3ary over & out.