Alistair_Carson
05-29-2006, 10:02 PM
What's always struck me with this song is how the instrumentation paints a picture that vividly depicts the lyrical theme. And it all has to do with the sweet and simple rhythms.
Take for example the beginning, where the guitar does the "chugga chugga" riff. Then the vocals come in on a slightly different beat, overlapping the ends of the guitar's repetition (even beginning on a secondary beat of the guitar). AND THEN the bass joins in playing on yet another different rhythm (the best way I can describe this is a richochet-like emergence). Three distinct rhythms syncing up at the beginning and end of each measure.
And then I re-thought the lyrics. Without re-entering into all the vast interpretations that have been produced, I think it could be summed up in the one line of "Shine down upon the severed until the two become one". In other words, coming together. Merging into one unit.
Then I re-took a listen to the instrumentation. When each instrument begins (guitar, drums, vocals, then bass), each one's rhythm is decidedly different. As the song progresses however, the bass and the drums begin to merge (around the time "pray like a martyr/father dusk to dawn" occurs).
And then the talkbox solo: Here, the guitar wanders off and experiments another rhythm one final time, like the stubborn child refusing to cross, before finally succumbing into the one united, headbanging groove with the bass and drums. All in sync. All together. All merged into one.
I all can do is simply smile at the sheer genius of this song.
Take for example the beginning, where the guitar does the "chugga chugga" riff. Then the vocals come in on a slightly different beat, overlapping the ends of the guitar's repetition (even beginning on a secondary beat of the guitar). AND THEN the bass joins in playing on yet another different rhythm (the best way I can describe this is a richochet-like emergence). Three distinct rhythms syncing up at the beginning and end of each measure.
And then I re-thought the lyrics. Without re-entering into all the vast interpretations that have been produced, I think it could be summed up in the one line of "Shine down upon the severed until the two become one". In other words, coming together. Merging into one unit.
Then I re-took a listen to the instrumentation. When each instrument begins (guitar, drums, vocals, then bass), each one's rhythm is decidedly different. As the song progresses however, the bass and the drums begin to merge (around the time "pray like a martyr/father dusk to dawn" occurs).
And then the talkbox solo: Here, the guitar wanders off and experiments another rhythm one final time, like the stubborn child refusing to cross, before finally succumbing into the one united, headbanging groove with the bass and drums. All in sync. All together. All merged into one.
I all can do is simply smile at the sheer genius of this song.