The Lyrics Of Sky Burial
My 10 favorite lines from Inter Arma's magnum opus. |
| 1 |  | Inter Arma
Sky Burial
"Like a seance over Western Sky" - some of the best lyrics are those that sound the coolest. This phrase just rolls off the tongue, and the inflection it's
given by Mike Paparo makes it the most memorable and bad-ass six words on the entire album. |
| 2 | |
"Life / Is a fleeting shadow / That dances across forgotten fields / Only to be lost at twilight" - The most poetic way I've ever heard "life is short" come
from anyone's mouth. The imagery takes you directly to the Tibetan landscape where the sky burials would've been performed. |
| 3 | |
"All paths lead to the survival fires" - A statement that I interpret to mean that no matter where you go or what you do or who you know or why you
chose the path you took in life, it all ends in death. However, in the context of the song, this isn't something to fear, but to strive for. Death is the
release that offers complete happiness after the tumultuousness of a long and hard life. |
| 4 | |
"The Earth's infinite wisdom has taught / that our fate will not be sealed in God's blood" - create your own destiny, if you accept a life laid out for you
by others, your life will not have been worth living. |
| 5 | |
"I fear not this somber fate / I call to you oh foul beasts / I call to you oh foul beasts / Black out the sky, black out the sky / And I will close my eyes"
- Death is not to be feared, but welcomed, as it ushers in a new spiritual life. Welcoming and even striving for death is a very common theme on this
album. |
| 6 | |
"In these most perilous of times it is better / To have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hands" - Another life lesson converted to fit
the scenery of a sky burial. Actions speak louder than words. In life, you'll be remembered for what you did, not what you said. |
| 7 | |
"I have been to the end of the earth / I have been to the end of the waters" - The glory of this line is in the way it is delivered. The rumbling music
underneath this lyric exudes pure intimidation. |
| 8 | |
"Is this a savior / Culled from chaos? / Or a pariah / Born from disgust?" - This one is fantastic to look at on the written page. The poeticism of these
four lines is great because of the interplay of the sound of these words together, and because of their curtness. |
| 9 | |
"Far past the skylines of cities / Fading into ruination / Far past the threadbare flags of nations / Spiraling into entropy" - Sort of takes a stab at how
much stock we put into the advancements of technology and the building of empires. At some point all of our progress will lose its meaning, and we
will realize that life in its simplest form is what in the end we will strive for. |
| 10 | |
"'Look at yourself' she said. 'Your only companion is the dust that clings to every inch of your being. It canvases your face, your hands, your scars.
The dust brings you a solace you've never known before. But someday the rains will come again. They'll rinse you of your companion. They'll once
again reveal your scars. You fear this. Your scars remind you that past is real. You must overcome this, you must continue westward. But tonight, I
beg you, stay with me and we will count the fires raging among the clouds. We'll unlock the secrets of this ritual.'" - This needs a movie written
around it. |
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