In-depth analysis: Be. (Inglés - requiere traducción)

http://www.suxession.com/blog.php?b=14 escribió:BE demands a lot from its listeners. There is no doubt that the album is philosophically pretentious. In order to enjoy this album, you simply cannot have a concrete view of what God is. I know of Christians, Jews, and Muslims who hold this album very close to their heart. But if one's view of God is so solidly formed from their religion that they are unable to consider new interpretations of God, then BE is not for them.

In a nutshell, BE describes a theoretical symbiotic relationship between Man and God. God creates man in the image of himself to find out who he really is. Man lives with respect and fear of god for many centuries. Man is empowered by science and forsakes God, using science to acquire knowledge and power rather than looking to God. Man uses science to create a new god-like being with artificial intelligence. Corruption and greed lead to the demise of man, and brings the dutiful parent, God, down with it. All that's left in the end is Man's god-like creation... Nauticus.

The album is divided into five chapters: Prologue, Anime Partus, Machinassiah, Machinageddon, Machinauticus, and Deus Nova Mobile. It's important to be aware of, but I will refer you to the Wikipedia article for the translations and division of chapters.

The album opens up with the monologue of one particularly significant character in our story: God.

I AM...

Perhaps I was always
Forever here...
And I just forgot
I imagine Eternity would have that effect
Would cause a certain amount of drifting
Like omnipresence would... demand omniabsence.

Most interestingly, the character of God is portrayed as being who just discovered his own existence. Has he been there forever, or was he just born? Although musically, Anime Partus is seemingly devoid of anything stimulating at all, it sets the stage for the tale of man portrayed in BE.

Deus Nova, or New World, reflects God's attempt at finding out who he is. Invited in by the warm but tense crescendo of the acoustic bass, the perceptive and guiding clarinet, and the ominous piano. The tension is released as the drums and guitar kick in while the narrator lists off each year stating and its respective world population. Starting in 10,000 BC with a mere 1 million people, and ending with 2,000 AD: 6,080 million people.

But why does god create all these people in the image of himself?

They all carry shards of the whole
Together they become me
I see them interact, develop
I see them take different sides
As were they different minds
Believers of different ways, and different gods

I think they will teach me something.

A tribal drumbeat segues to the next scene. In Imago (Image), early man craves knowledge and experience. The act is divided into four seasons: Springtime for awakening, Summer for curiosity, Autumn for ego and pride, and Winter with anger and a taste of fate. Daniel's bardic voice takes you back in time. The overall mood of Imago is cheerful, but with strong foreshadowing of what is to come.

Pluvius Aestivus, or Summer Rain, is an all instrumental piece topped off with a lovely piano solo by Fredrik Hermansson. A gentle rain cleanses all that may be imperfect in the world. Man, after all, was created in the image of God, and has a strong self identity but can be forgiven as long as he is aware of the bigger picture.

Lilium Cruentus - (Crimson Lily) - The title paints a picture of a beautiful lily tainted red with blood. Man was young and naive, but with time he is forced to deal with unpleasant things that were hidden from him in the past. Studies have shown that human beings are one of the few species that is aware of their own limited time to live.

Musically, Lilium Cruentus is phenominal. The shifts in lyrical and musical tone reflect the widely accepted model for dealing with grief. It begins with denial: our character is submersed in a dream with his loved one until he realizes that she is in fact dead.

It's like you've been lost and now you're glad to see my face
But as you sit down my confusion turns to distress
Not knowing how to let you know that you are
Dead
(I wake up sweating)

Then anger takes over, as he realizes all the icons such as the cross and the flowers are only meant to cover up the truth.

Under the icon's weight the old thoughts lay
Under the cross so still and pale
The flowers usher the stale breath of Death away

He then begins asking questions and looking for sources of comfort.

But I need to be strong
I need to be brave
I need to put faith in something
How could I live on
Not hoping we will meet
Again
Some day?

This is where the interesting relationship between Man and God is nurtured. Man turns to God for answers that he could never learn by himself. If not for God, how could we deal with the death of people close to us? Things that may have drastically altered our world view when we were young have simply no affect on us after we've become so jaded by loss and tragedy.

Earth to Earth, Dust to Dust
A verse we know too well
Like a nursery rhyme
Just in reverse
'Cause we are all the little tin man
With hearts like little tin cans
And as we line them down with tears
Over the years
They inevitably turn
To rust...

Although it's hard to decypher from the lyrics, Nauticus (the Latin word for Sailor) is an unawakened artificially intelligent space probe created by men with foresight to realize that their existence on Earth may not be sustainable. This song has a feel of drifting, remniscent of African American slaves chanting work songs in the field, not knowing if they'll ever know what is like to actually exist as independent beings. Drifting through space, the music echoes the guilty consciousness of this anawakened beings creators.

Dea Pecuniae, "God of Money", portrays the human organism at his finest. Take all of the greed, corruption and lust of humanity and pack it into one fine specimen and the result is none other than Mr. Money, the narrator of Dea Pecuniae. Divided into three acts, Dea Pecuniae is a story in itself.

Part I: Mr. Money (Introduction of our Star!!!!!) The curtain officially rises at the end of Nauticus, with a crude and embarassing monologue from Mr. Money himself. The song itself starts with the broadway-esque Mr. Money ranting and raving about how he puts so much effort into making people believe he's living the dream when in reality his success has only caused suffering for everyone less fortunate than him.

Got Three Mercedes 350, two Ferraris
I Could have bought a Third World country
With the riches that I've spent
But hey
All modern economics claim that I deserved
Every single cent

The other character in Dea Pecuniae is the Goddess of Money herself. She sings an enticing song to anyone who is willing to hand over any remaining tidbits of humanity that society hasn't already stripped from them:

I'll get you the sexy cars
And a taste of divinity
A glimpse of the Stars
Immortality
But then Vanity
Will leave you dried and scarred!

With Part I's conclusion we've become quite friendly with Mr. Money and Dea Pecuniae. Part II brings an interesting twist to the story: Will the humanity in Mr. Money prevail and convince him to bring his selfish ways to an end? Permanere gives Mr. Money some time to reflect on what he really wants in life.

But then when it's silent
And the lights from the bars go down
I need comforting
'Cause somewhere there deep inside
Feelings of loss arise........

And I hate to lose!

Enter: Part III. Exit: Doubts. I Raise My Glass is a wordy, hilarious rant from the man at the top about how ridiculous Capitalism is and how it benefits only the wealthiest. There's no analysis or interpretation necessary, Daniel is simply stating the obvious truth about Capitalism. How can you not love this?

And so I raise my glass to all of you
who really believe that I get paid for my big responsibility
To all of you who suck it up and pay my debts
To all of you who think that my lifestyle does not affect the environment
Or the poverty
Well, maybe not more than marginally anyway
Good for you!
And you know what?
Here's to you...
And I raise my glass, to those of you who give their piece of the cake
for free, for me to throw in the face of democracy
For those who help making solidarity ideologically untrendy
And charity individualistically idiotic, unsmart and characteristically bendy

Dea Pecuniae would be perfect for Broadway. Imagine the chorus singing in the background, dancing servants bending to every one of Mr. Money's desires. The song is a beautifully articulated manifesto of the evils of capitalism.

It's also important to point out that at the end of Nauticus, if you listen carefully to the radio broadcast in the background while he's having his exchange with the woman, Mr. Money is actually being interviewed in the background by a reporter regarding his decision to cryogenically freeze himself. He decides that he does not want to be waken up until Man discovers the secret to immortality.

Emotionally, BE makes a brilliant transition here. What could possibly follow the ridiculously sarcastic showtune, Dea Pecuniae? None other but the incredibly compassionate, down to earth instrumental: Vocari Dei, or Messages to God.

Early in 2004, Pain of Salvation reached out to their fans and asked them to contribute to BE by recording their actual prayers and messages to god. There is not one word spoken that is even the slightest bit insincere or forced. The simplicity of the background track and the cohesion of the voiceovers with the orchestration is simply beautiful and incredibly touching. Even now after listening to this album for three years, it's hard not to feel for these people who are reaching out and asking questions to their difficult god.

Hey God,
This is Gambillo.
I just called to thank you for being with me when my life seemed to fall apart. You carried me through my darkest hours and I'm very grateful for that.
Thank you.

I've prayed every day for weeks now, why won't you answer my prayers?
Prove to me in some way or another why I should continue to pray.
I have faith in my friends and family, isn't that enough?

(Nota de Woda.: Para la transcripción completa de Vocari Dei, click aquí)

In Vocarei, man asks many difficult questions. Why are horrible things such as 9/11 allowed to happen? How come loved ones pass away? Faith only lasts for so long, and it's becoming more and more evident in our society today. Just as the fire and brimstone pastors have been saying, our society is definitely leaning toward Godlessness. The zealousness of the conservative Christian movement attempts to overcompensate for everyone elses' lack of belief, but more and more people are looking to science instead of God.

http://www.suxession.com/blog.php?b=14 escribió:
The next track, Diffidentia (Mistrust), shows mankind's increasing contempt for God. The two voices, Imago (the Image of God, or Man), and Animae (God), have a final confrontation. Notice the reference to Deus Nova: I created the world to be an image of myself, of my mind. It seems that God's experiment has gone slightly awry.

You created a golden cage for you sheep
A stage too wide and deep for us to even see the play
But hey
You know what they say about catching the bird
But you can't make it sing?
You lose the bird the second it loses its wings
Just like I reckon you will lose your herd
To choirs of "I am, I am, I am"
And mountains and mountains of money and things!

While Man has been asking God all of these questions for thousands of years, what they do not realize is that he is not some omnipotent being: He was a curious, young creature trying to discover his self identity. This vulnerable, broken Animae admits to the failure of his experiment. There is no way that narcissistic beings created in the image of himself could ever live together and help each other.

Man is shattered
I am shattered
My shards have become shards of their own
Pieces of pieces, impossible to put back together
Spending their lives seeking a context they were always a part of
And so, they leave the context
And we shrink
I fade...

Searching for yourself is like looking for the house you stand in
How could you possibly find it?
It's everywhere
It's all you know
And there are no other points of reference

Nihil Morari (Nothing Remains) is told from the perspective of Man just as he realizes how many mistakes he's made and the world is collapsing around him. Nobody knows exactly what caused the downfall, the various tidbits of newscasts displaying human corruption.

Musically, Nihil is one of my favorite tracks on the album. Starting with a chilling, repetitive bass riff, Man's timid and pained voice confesses that there is nothing left because of his actions. As the song transitions to regret, anger sets in, and the bass riff is reiterated with guitar power chords and an incredibly syncopated drumbeat.

The orchestra is given a chance to shine as the newscasts relay various tragedies that have happened across the world to our ears. Mans regrets are quietly chanted over the broadcasts.

The true beauty in this piece comes from the chaos of everything going on in seemingly different directions. The flute crescendos with a ridiculously fast riff, the drums switches from single to double to quadruple time, the violins contribute with their high pitched woman-about-to-get-stabbed-in-shower-in-horror-movie-wailing, climaxing up to an incredible peak, and then it all starts over again. Simply beautiful.

To all the wounds that we inflict to this world by being "free"
We love this world to death
Purchasing our lifestyles with our lives
Defending our momentarily nations
With the loss of our priceless earthly home

I'm sorry!
For the things we did and did not do
Forgive us; the fools that rushed ahead without a clue
I am sorry
Please forgive us
For this human lack of humanity
This evolutionary travesty
This tragedy called "Man"
...called "Man"...

Narrator: 2,050 AD: 9,104 Million people

Latericius Valete: A beautiful instrumental echoing the quiet after the storm.

Narrator: 2,060 AD: 1.2 Million people...

Omni begins with more newscasts of pollution, nuclear warfare, corruption, greed, and natural disasters. The last remnants on earth look to the being they've created: Nauticus, as their only hope. Perhaps Nauticus will find a new inhabitable place to live and create a new breed of humanity.

I see us in you Nauticus
Came so late but I pray
At the last light of day
There might still be a chance
To save this beast of clay

With humanity cleansed from Earth, our hero Mr. Money wakes up from his cryogenic freeze. Realizing that there is nothing left for him the world now that the people he had power over are now dead and gone, the pangs of regret and the awakening of his latent guilt strike him hard. He sings, in Iter Impius (Wicked Path):

I woke up today
To a world that's ground to dust, dirt and stone
I'm the king upon this withering throne
I ruled every forest, every mountain, every sea
Now there're but ruins left to rule for me
And... you see, it beckons me;

Refusing to abandon his hard earned kingdom, Mr. Money realizes he has no choice but to stay in the remains of earth and die alone. The emotion in Daniel's voice is unparalleled as Mr. Money bitterly admits that he rulse nothing but ruin.

I will stay on my own
On this bloodstained throne
I rule the ruins and wrecks
And the dirt and the dust and the stone
I'm the ruler of rage rod and rust
And the rattling of bones
Ruler of ruin...

Nauticus II has truly amazing instrumentation. The clock-sounding harpsichord introduction is swallowed by a powerful bass chords. The orchestra follows just a moment behind with a full and gratifying sound. The singer in this track is none other than Nauticus - the space-aged artificially intelligent probe sent off to carry on the mission of man after his own demise. Just awakening, Nauticus isn't quite sure what to make of his own existence, and begins wondering what he is. He displays the same naiveity and innocence shown in Imago, but understand he is more than Man. He is Nauticus.

I feel every mountain
I hear every tree
I know every ocean
I taste every sea

I see every spring arrive
I see every summer thrive
I see every autumn keep
I see every winter sleep

For I am every forest
I am every tree
I am everything
I am you and me
I am every ocean
I am every sea
I am all the breathing "BE"

Nauticus finds himself in the same situation as Animae did in the beginning of our story. He doesn't know who he is or where he came from, but he does know one thing...

I am!

And with this, the cycle is complete. God created man to discover himself. Man gave up on God who could not give him the answers he needed. Man created his own God through Science. Before the God awakens, Man is gone and the God is left on his own, knowing nothing except that he exists.

It's important to point out that the "God" characters in this story are completely fictional, and are used solely to analyze the behavior of man. The concept itself could even be described as ridiculous, but still the story paints a very clear picture of every facet of man's relationship with God: faith, questioning, doubt, and denial.

BE exige mucho de sus escuchas. No hay duda de que el álbum es filosóficamente pretencioso. Para poder disfrutarlo, no se puede tener una opinión concreta de lo que es Dios. Sé de cristianos, judíos y musulmanes que llevan este disco muy cerca de su corazón. Pero si la opinión de uno sobre Dios está tan sólidamente formada desde su religión que es incapaz de considerar nuevas interpretaciones de Dios, entonces BE no es para ellos.

En resumen, BE describe una relación simbiótica teórica entre el Hombre y Dios. Dios crea al hombre en su propia imagen para descubrir quién realmente es. El hombre vive con respeto y miedo hacia Dios por muchos siglos. El hombre se fortalece con la ciencia y abandona a Dios, utilizando la ciencia para adquirir conocimiento y poder en vez de mirar hacia Dios. El hombre usa la ciencia para crear un nuevo ser parecido a Dios con inteligencia artificial. La corrupción y la avaricia llevan al hombre hacia su fin y en el proceso, arrastran al padre obediente, Dios. Todo lo que queda al final es la creación “divina” del Hombre… Nauticus.

El álbum está dividido en cinco capítulos: Prologue, Anime Partus, Machinassiah, Machinageddon, Machinauticus y Deus Nova Mobile. Es importante estar al tanto de las traducciones y las divisiones de los capítulos, pero los refiero a Wikipedia para ello.

El álbum empieza con el monólogo de un personaje particularmente significativo en nuestra historia: Dios.

I AM...

Perhaps I was always
Forever here...
And I just forgot
I imagine Eternity would have that effect
Would cause a certain amount of drifting
Like omnipresence would... demand omniabsence.

YO SOY...

Quizás siempre estuve
Por siempre aquí...
Y sólo me olvidé
Imagino que la Eternidad tendría ese efecto
Causaría cierta cantidad de distanciamiento
Como si la omnipresencia... exigiera omniausencia.

Lo que es más interesante, el personaje de Dios está presentado como alguien que acaba de descubrir su propia existencia. ¿Ha estado ahí siempre, o acaba de nacer? Aunque musicalmente, Anime Partus parece carecer de algo siquiera estimulante, monta el escenario para la historia del hombre representado en BE.

El sonar de un tambor tribal da paso a la siguiente escena. En Imago (Imagen), el hombre primitivo ansía obtener conocimiento y experiencia. El acto se divide en cuatro estaciones: Primavera para el despertar, Verano para la curiosidad, Otoño para el ego y el orgullo, e Invierno para la ira y una probada del destino. La voz de Daniel te lleva atrás en el tiempo. La atmósfera general de Imago es alegre, pero con un fuerte presagio de lo que está por venir.

Pluvius Aestivus, o Lluvia de Verano, es una pieza completamente instrumental, coronada con un hermoso solo de piano de Fredrik Hermansson. Una lluvia agradable limpia todo aquello que pueda ser imperfecto en el mundo. El hombre, después de todo, fue creado a imagen de Dios y tiene una identidad propia fuerte, pero sólo puede ser perdonado mientras esté al tanto del panorama completo.

Lilium Cruentus (Lirio Carmesí). El título pinta la imagen de un hermoso lirio manchado de rojo con sangre. El hombre era joven y naïve, pero con el tiempo es forzado a lidiar con cosas poco placenteras que le habían sido ocultadas en el pasado. Estudios muestran que los seres humanos son una de las pocas especies que están conscientes de su propio tiempo limitado para vivir.

Musicalmente, Lilium Cruentus es fenomenal. Los cambios en el tono lírico y musical reflejan el modelo ampliamente aceptado para lidiar con el dolor. Comienza con la negación: nuestro personaje está sumerjido en un sueño con su amada hasta que se da cuenta de que en realidad está muerta.

It's like you've been lost and now you're glad to see my face
But as you sit down my confusion turns to distress
Not knowing how to let you know that you are
Dead
(I wake up sweating)

Es como si hubieras estado perdida y ahora estás feliz de ver mi rostro
Pero cuando te sientas mi confusión se convierte en desesperación
Sin saber cómo hacer para decirte que tú estás
Muerta
(Me despierto todo transpirado)

Luego la ira se apodera de él al darse cuenta que todos los íconos, como la cruz y las flores sirven sólo para cubrir la verdad.

Under the icon's weight the old thoughts lay
Under the cross so still and pale
The flowers usher the stale breath of Death away

Bajo el peso del icono los antiguos pensamientos yacen
Bajo la cruz tan quieta y pálida
Las flores conducen el viciado aliento de la Muerte afuera

Luego empieza a preguntar y a buscar fuentes de consuelo.

But I need to be strong
I need to be brave
I need to put faith in something
How could I live on
Not hoping we will meet
Again
Some day?

Pero necesito ser fuerte
Necesito ser valiente
Necesito tener fe en algo
Cómo podría seguir viviendo
Sin tener la esperanza de que nos encontraremos
De nuevo
Algún día?

Aquí es donde se cultiva la interesante relación entre el Hombre y Dios. El hombre recurre a Dios en busca de respuestas que nunca podría aprender solo. Si no fuera por Dios, ¿como podríamos lidiar con la muerte de todos aquellos cercanos a nosotros? Situaciones que pueden haber alterado drásticamente nuestra visión del mundo cuando éramos jóvenes no tienen ningún efecto en nosotros después de quedar tan desgastados por la pérdida y la tragedia.

Earth to Earth, Dust to Dust
A verse we know too well
Like a nursery rhyme
Just in reverse
'Cause we are all the little tin man
With hearts like little tin cans
And as we line them down with tears
Over the years
They inevitably turn
To rust...

Polvo al polvo, cenizas a las cenizas
Un verso que conocemos demasiado bien
Como una canción de cuna
Sólo en reversa
Porque todos somos el pequeño hombre de hojalata
Con corazones como pequeñas latas de hojalata
Y mientras las alineamos con lágrimas
Con el paso de los años
Inevitablemente
Se oxidan…

Genial, sobre todo para los que masticamos el inglés sin sentirle el sabor.

xDD