I keep seeing this, and it gets more and more annoying every time. Look into the word Jambi! Whether you want to go with the Indonesian province (backed up in the song by the feasting sultan on the king's mountain view withering away while presiding over a divided kingdom; which is the most compelling portion of provincial Jambi's history) or the Pee-Wee genie (supported by all that talk of wishing and a possible storyline involving Maynard and his son), you must recognize that the word is pronounced "Jom-bee," and not "Jam-bye." Even absent an in-depth analysis from MJK about the original, intended meanings of each, individual song; I think that we can all agree that Maynard's lyrics are steeped in meaningful fortitude. It is thus a stretch to me that he would intentionally mispronounce Jambi in a song that references so vividly its true, historical tragedy. To do so would almost devoid the powerful meaning of this subtext, and that seems contrary to Maynard's implied, lyrical ethos.

To reiterate past posts of mine, I do not believe that the song is solely about the indigenous struggles of provincial Jambi. It is my belief that he is using this historical epic as a reference to his more personal epics. By telling the story of Jambi, he provides a basis of comparison upon which to view his own struggles. His feelings of loss for his mother; his fear of experiencing that again with his son- or perhaps completing a cycle by perpetrating it upon his son; both of these struggles are brought into light in connection with this story. By comparing a large-scale atrocity that affected so many to his own demons, he lends his struggles a grander degree of significance. While in the inverse comparison, the parallels between his struggles and the struggles of so many lend the tragedy of Jambi a more personal nature- putting a face on a distant statistic.

The result is a profound duality between the tragedy of the many and the tragedy of the few. In essence, I believe that what is offered here is a statement that all tragedies, great and small, are equal and connected. They share, at root, dividing forces that do not value an intrinsic unity- and lack this value to the detriment of all humanity. Sometimes these forces are a natural element of the universe in which we live (as with Maynard's loss of his mother), and sometimes they are perpetrated by the arrogance of mankind (as with Dutch imperial actions in Indonesia, or as Maynard might- maybe??!?- view his rockstar lifestyle in relation to his son). Whether these forces are inevitable or the result of the choices people make, in the end each tragedy belongs to every one of us. It is inherent upon every one of us to proclaim our unity and stand behind our proclamation with our actions. Thus he leaves us with this:

Breathe in union, So, as one, survive
Another day and season.
Silence legions: Save your poison
Silence legions: Stay out of my way

Profound, but it is certainly not outside the grasp of Maynard to lay such dichotomy upon us.

Sorry to melodic9, I don't mean to single you out, you are one of many who share this opinion. And on that note, sorry to all of you who share that opinion, as I am aware that my initial tone is quite flamey. I was frustrated at the begining, but if I can't read my own post . . .

It's all about the unity.

Breathe in union.