Yes, it's supposed to be a song expressing disillusion. The way it does is gnostic.
Those with the Knowledge know better than the rest of us, and are free from the demands of the world's illusions (like love). Check.
The original Gnostics thought material existence was flawed and even evil. Check.
The original Gnostics taught that there was a chain of creators and Aeons and whatnot. Doesn't quite match. Anyhow.
The song ties in to our strange reductionist belief that the meaning of things is always trivial; that the less beautiful/ thoughtful/ moral/ supernatural explanation is always the true one. There's no such thing as essence, only action, and only the actions that I care to monitor matter. Because I have the Knowledge.
The "operations-only" approach has its uses and strengths, but also unacknowledged limits.
Early in my UW career I carpooled for a while with a woman from our neighborhood. One week she picked up her daughter too, who was due to be married shortly. Naturally she sat in the front and chose her favorite station, which was playing Sweet Dreams. As she sat back, satisfied with her selection, I hoped it didn't reflect her attitude to the upcoming wedding. Never found out...
3 comments:
That song had struck me as the anthem of the Kibmadine, the always-chaotic-evil alien shapeshifters and mind-manipulators from A. E. van Vogt's "The Selkie".
I had always only half-listened and assumed it was mostly a dating/hookup/relationship lyric. I don't know how many 15-25 y/o's listened for any deeper philosophical message. They listen to The Hook. For example, the song "I'll Be Watching You," a stalker song, is played at wedding receptions as if it is something romantic.
Another thing that struck me about the tune was that it conveys no time for rest, just endless searching.
Post a Comment