Sunday, July 15, 2018

You Can’t Stake Your Lives on a Savior Machine. (Hold Back The Night)

"Through the ruin of a city
stalked the ruin of a man."
Commissioned by Aleph Null


There were two men, both doctors of technology and science. For the whole of their lives, they had lived to see their parents suffer and die in a system of cruelty and pain we call Capitalism. The men, one passionate and full of light while the other wily and duplicitous, forged a plan to save the workers by building an army of robots to do the backbreaking work for them. No more will man need to die in the mines.

But the wily doctor had a far grander scheme. A scheme he would tell but one person prior to its completion: a woman named Emily Stanton. But she loved the lightness of his companion’s touch. So in a fit of passion, the wily doctor framed his lighter companion for the murder of Emily Stanton. With him on the run, the wily doctor was able to build a utopia of his singular vision on the bones of those who were too weak to deserve such a utopia. It is a utopia of leisure where all are able to live without suffering and pain… so long as they obey their betters.

One man, a lad named Joe, grew weary of this brave new world the wily doctor caged the people in. While escaping the robots that patrol the streets looking for undesirables unable to afford to live in the utopia above, Joe comes across a man once filled with light. He was a broken man, filled with guilt over letting such a cruel and wily fellow kill the one he loved. He cares not to save the world that has had is chains switch from the unknowable hands of capitalism to those of the wily doctor, but of suicidal vengeance. There is nothing left to love, so there is nothing left to save.

Nonetheless, the two set out on destroying the infrastructure of the once light doctor’s acquaintance’s utopia. But it’s a trap. Systems like that of the wily doctor’s, much like that of the old capitalism is not killed by mere terrorism. It consumes the act to make itself stronger. The act allowed the cage called utopia to tighten its grip. Remove the pretense. Bear its teeth and consume its people.

Despondent over the realization that his was “fucked,” the doctor who only wanted a better future, who thought that people could better themselves if they never had to work again, whose sins were seeing only the chains of mining while missing the chains of capitalism and the fascism festering within the utopian ideal of “white saviors” and “let the smart people run things,” this man contemplated suicide. As a bit of closure, he read the last words Emily ever wrote to him. She begged him to save the world. He didn’t smile; he hasn’t since she died, he might never smile again. But there was resolve in his being, and the doctor named Thomas opts to save the world.

His first attempt was so disastrous that he decided to never try again.

Years pass, and the doctor lacking in light has a second son. He tells stories of his first son, of how he tried to save the world, but was met with only indifference. How the wily doctor took the lad away from him. The doctor without light does not wish that for his son. And so, they stay locked away from the rest of the world, and watch from the outside while it dies.

The second son, like many children, rebelled against his father. Surely, he reasoned, if the people were motivated, they would rise up against the wily doctor and unshackle themselves from their chains. The good doctor pleaded with his son that he doesn’t have to do this… that his plans for a better future will fail. The people won’t fight for a better future. Don’t end up like your brother! The son replied that he won’t die like him and left before his father could say another word.

Unlike his father and his brother, the second son started out by rallying the people towards revolution. A revolution will never succeed if it’s just a single voice or even a straightforward conductor. The people need to be involved or everything falls apart. They fought tooth and nail against the robot army of the wily doctor until only one soldier remained: a lone centurion, shrouded in darkness. The second son, not knowing who the centurion was, leapt to fight the servant of the wily doctor. But light shone upon the centurion, revealing him to be the son’s brother.

He hadn’t died, you see. He was turned to believe in the cause of the wily doctor after the people refused to save him as he tried to do for them. For they didn’t want to be heroes, they didn’t even want someone to save them. They just wanted a martyr, “One who moves along the line of least reluctance towards a desired death.” And so, the centurion turned against the people and towards the wily doctor. The words of his brother confused the second son and, in a fit of passion, he killed his brother. The last words of his brother were of what heroes truly are. Not dragon slayers nor martyrs nor even those who help, but simply those who know they are free.

Grieving for his brother, the second son flees from the people as they try to console him, leaving them defenseless as reinforcements come to slaughter them all. Like father like son.


The song opens with the clicking of a clock. Or perhaps not a clock. Maybe it’s the innards of an old machine ready for decommission. Suddenly, guitars and drums burst into the soundscape, galloping like bulls chasing fools.

When I was young, couldn't stand to believe it
Somewhere there was a sun left to shine
Now my heart won't be still till I've seen it
Won't be still till I've made it mine
The voice is feminine, unlike the previous narrators who have all been male. Her words talk of how the world was before the reign of the wily doctor. But not of the chains that allowed the doctor to rise to power nor the people who lived in there. But rather something beautiful that no longer exists in the world of the wily doctor: the sun. It is a rather deadly creature, something of immense light but that which will burn those who get too close. And yet, viewed from the distance of the planet earth, there is a beauty and warmth to the ball of destruction. Something the cold and wily doctor would never allow. For frozen utopias reject chaotic things with contradictions and implications. It’s more orderly to keep things the way they are.

There’s a fear, can’t be seen, it surrounds me
As afraid of the dark as the light
Was a time, long ago, these were safe streets
Now I’m the only one that keeps it alive
Keeps me alive!

The time the streets were safe most likely refers to the period wherein the wily doctor had his murder bots stalk the streets and kill the rebellious, the undesirables, and those who don’t matter. Of course, this is not the only interpretation. An alternative could refer once again to the time before the wily doctor. The fear, after all, refers both to the dark and the light, indicating that it is afraid of the change offered by embracing both. The liberation of light necessitates accepting the great power and responsibility of being free whereas the cage of darkness is essentially what Zapffe refers to as “anchoring” (“One Nation under God with Families, Morality, and Natural Birthrights for all”). The singer says the word “OOOOHHHH!” twice before the next lyric.

But I know a hero will come

The problem the female singer faces isn’t just the society trapped within the clutches of a wily doctor, nor the capitalistic beast still lurking within the margins of this place they call utopia, but the fact that she doesn’t believe she can be a hero. Indeed, no one can. It’s not that they want a martyr, but that they can’t conceive of a hero as anything but a martyr. How many stories are out there where the hero dies for his people? Where the only solution is to go down with the ship. Indeed, the story as a whole exemplifies the speaker’s believed inability to be a hero as the main pushers of the narrative thus far have been men (and white men at that). Indeed, the centurion’s exact last words were “If these people… tell this story… to their children… as they sleep… maybe someday… they’ll see a hero… is just a man… who knows he’s free.”

There’s a face that I’ve seen in the windows
There’s a face of a stronger man
When I turn as a leaf when the wind blows
Blown away as the will in his hands

The stanza is most likely referring to the wily doctor as it is his will that controls the city. (Indeed, this is the only portion of the song that refers to this third party. The rest are talking to someone else. More on him in a bit.) While he is a “stronger man,” he is not necessarily a good one. Much like his formerly light counterpoint, he is removed from society and uses his will to control the city. There is an indication that he is losing grasp of his control, especially after the fall of the centurion. Though there remains not enough information to confirm this.

You’ve been fed what they’ve wanted to feed you
You were bled of the will to survive
Now you’ll stand just as long as they need you
But you’re the only one that keeps it alive
Keep you alive!

The “you” in this stanza is a you (pl), indicating that the speaker is trying to get the people to rise up. The speaker realizes the nature of the system and the cruel joke of it: we made it up. It’s not some distant God that requires us to suffer for its pleasure. It’s just an arbitrary set of numbers and equations that determines who lives and who dies. The only reason we keep following it is because it’s all we’ve ever known. We’re as afraid of the light of socialism as we are of the dark of fascism. Perhaps I was misguided in my despondency in her claims about the need for a hero. Perhaps she is the hero who will come.

But I know a hero will come
And the night, the night will be torn apart
And I know he won’t fight alone
And the spark that we carry will turn the dark into
A flame, a fire, a light

Evidentially not. There is a bit of optimism in this passage of course. One of my favorite actors of all time once said “Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame.” And while more could be asked of the gendered nature of the quote, the sentiment feels right with the song. History is full of “Great Men,” which is to say the people History deems as important. The truth of the matter is that there are countless other people working in the background. Forgotten people whose impact greatly change the course of things. They are those who died nameless in the grand scheme of things, those who stole plans for doomsday weapons, fought with their lives for a righteous cause, or took a bullet that would have hit the hero. As said before, revolutions require more than one person to change things. Otherwise, they just return to the way things were with only a larger pile of bodies.

There must be an end to the darkness…
There must be an end to the darkness…
There must be an end to the darkness…
There must be an end to the darkness…
No one will come
This city is dead.

This is not sung by the female speaker but instead by a ghostly choir. There’s a mechanical quality to the first line sung, as if sung by the ghosts of the fallen army of the wily doctor as opposed to those who fought him. More human voices join in on the second line. The awful truth of the cruelties of life is that all tend to be victims of its cruelties. The act of performing violence on others can be just as traumatic as being violently beaten. The final lines then are perhaps the most pessimistic of the entire song. There is no one coming to save the day. No hero(es) to realize at the last minute that they are free. The cage of modernity is too overwhelming to allow people to realize its obvious flaws can be overcome. Everybody dies.

But all of your heroes are gone
And the blood that they spilled is on my hands
A darkness will blot out the sun
Not a thing could be done with so few men
That a hero couldn’t do

The singer has once again changed, this time to the masculine voice of the second son. The failures of the past revolutions seem to be preventing him from working with the female singer in bringing about a revolution. What’s the point, he thinks, if it only brings about more pain and suffering while returning to the point it was at before the revolution even begun? Heroes can’t bring about material social change on their own, so why bother when no one else will. Why persist when we’re fucked? There is, however, a bit of optimism hidden within the second son’s words. Consider the second to last line “Not a thing could be done with so few men.” When this all started, when the centurion went up against the wily doctor and fell, there were no followers. There were no people willing to fight for their freedom. Now, there’s a few. It’s not much. It’s probably not even enough. But it’s a start. A forest doesn’t grow overnight.

When the voice from the shadows calls you
When the wind whips past your ears
Will you stand when the weight is upon you?
Or will you go to your knees in fear?

We return to the female speaker. This is more straightforwardly propaganda to get more and more people to rise up. Though, it should be noted that both the female singer and the second son sing the final line. Perhaps her words are getting through his pessimistic malaise.

There’s a chance, though I know it’s a long shot
And the city is out of time
All forgot if the heart stops beating
‘Cause you’re the only one that keeps it alive
God, keep it alive

At last, the song explicitly states the nature of the world they live in. We’re the only ones keeping the system we live under alive. We could lift our chains off at any time, but we choose, consciously or otherwise, to remain within them. But we’re also not alone. We have each other. We can rebuild a better city than the one of the wily doctor or the one that let him rise in the first place. It might end in failure, we might very well be fucked, but the important thing is that we try. The singer gets another two “Ooohs.”

The next portion of the song is a bit difficult to parse, as all three sets of singers sing over one another. From what I’ve been able to parse, the second son is acting as a counterpoint to the female singer’s optimism, pointing out that there’s no one else left to hold back the night. But at the same time, he joins her in declaring the need to do so. To save the world from the cruelty of darkness.

For the sake of competion, here is the conversation as best translated (bolded text is sung by both):

Female singer: But I know a hero will come
Second son: And all of your heroes are gone
FS:Someone’s got to
SS:No one left to
Bring back the light

FS:And I know he won’t fight alone
SS:A darkness will block out the sun
If we can’t
Find a way to
Hold back the night

FS:But I know a hero will come
SS: And all of your heroes are gone
FS:Someone’s got to
SS:No one left to
Bring back the light

FS:And I know he won’t fight alone
SS:A darkness will block out the sun
If we can’t
Find a way to
Hold back the night

FS:But I know a hero will come
SS: And all of your heroes are gone
FS:Someone’s got to
SS:No one left to
Bring back the light

FS:And I know he won’t fight alone
SS:A darkness will block out the sun
If we can’t
Find a way to
Hold back the night

However, more interesting are the lines sung by the choir:

We can hold out past the endless dark
All a fire needs is a single spark.

If we were to assume that it is true that great men are forged in fire and it is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame, it would follow that heroes are not necessarily great men. They are the lesser men who inspire the greatness of people to burn their chains. They’re stories that make us better people. We may not be able to live up to the mythology we’ve made out of them; few ever live up to their ideals. But then, an idea can’t be killed as easily as a person. They might not work for everyone, or even more than one person. But for that one person, it’ll change them forever.

If just one person believes in you
Deep enough, and strong enough, believes in you…
Hard enough, and long enough,
It stands to reason, that someone else will think
“If he can do it, I can do it.”
-The Muppets, 1990

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