Sat, 23 Feb 2008
Artificial Light
This is the first song on the first album of theirs I ever heard.
I discovered Rainer Maria through eMusic.com. Back in 2000 or 2001, I was upset that it seemed the only ways to enjoy digital music either involved breaking copyright law (Napster and friends) or handing lots of money to an evil set of corporations (buying new CDs). I heard of eMusic through They Might Be Giants; they put all their music on this "all you can eat" music subscription service. "Fine," I said to myself, "but is there any other music worth staying on this?"
I found the albums A Better Version of Me by Rainer Maria and The Process of Belief by Bad Religion. With those two albums, I thought to myself, I can find a home for myself in the music on this website.
So this is the first song on that 2001 Rainer Maria album. I read a review while listening, and it pointed out the band's intelligence: "No one defies artificial light," the song begins.
I'll cut all your wires
I never cared
Cut all your wires
What can be there? It's dead.
I used to hear, "What can be there instead?" While the review I read praised the band for using the word "anathema" in an opening song, the review failed to mention that they don't use it right! It should be, "Why is this technology anathema to me?" Of course, they compromise with history in performance and sing it that way. (-:
Gosh, writing substance is harder than I thought. Anyway, I like this song because it's about resistance; not in a violent way, but in the self-reflective way of, "What if I stop doing things the way everyone else does?" After all, if only she could get away from it for a while, she "could always breathe [it] back in."
You don't have to be the same as everyone else. You're free to re-imagine the world, and if you can limit your interaction with the world to those parts you agree with, then try doing that. You can always breathe back in.
You can listen to the song if you have it, and you can read the lyrics on the Rainer Maria website.
P.S. The blog doesn't have comments yet. I know, I know; I'm working on it.
UPDATE: Here's a link to the song.
