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Little by little the night turns around.
Counting the leaves which tremble and turn.
Lotus's lean on each other in union.
Over the hills where a swallow is resting.
Set the controls for the heart of the sun.
Over the mountain watching the watcher.
Breaking the darkness waking the grapevine.
Morning to birth is born into shadow
Love is the shadow that ripens the wine.
Set the controls for the heart of the sun.
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun.
Who is the man who arrives at the wall?
Making the shape of his questions at asking.
Thinking the sun will fall in the evening.
Will he remember the lesson of giving?
Set the controls for the heart of the sun.
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun.
Counting the leaves which tremble and turn.
Lotus's lean on each other in union.
Over the hills where a swallow is resting.
Set the controls for the heart of the sun.
Over the mountain watching the watcher.
Breaking the darkness waking the grapevine.
Morning to birth is born into shadow
Love is the shadow that ripens the wine.
Set the controls for the heart of the sun.
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun.
Who is the man who arrives at the wall?
Making the shape of his questions at asking.
Thinking the sun will fall in the evening.
Will he remember the lesson of giving?
Set the controls for the heart of the sun.
The heart of the sun, the heart of the sun.
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Track duration: 09:00
"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" as written by Roger Waters
Lyrics © T.R.O. INC.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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In the first stanza I saw him meditating on his youth and early struggle against the constant burn of existence -- the attrition being enacted against all mortal beings of matter. As the "night" of nonexistence turns around, he imagines birth: trembling leaves filled with the life and light of the sun. Young and weak but strengthening, he sees lotuses accompanying the leaves, leaning on each other in yearning: humans struggling together -- codependent unions of beings trying to hold onto life by leaning on one another. And then a mantra is heard: "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun." I imagined him thinking this with a soft, surrendered chuckle as he gazes out the window, reminding himself of the coming end, and telling himself to set the controls for the heart of the sun, and ride head-on into his final outro.
He thinks further into life as notices someone "watching the watcher," that for every success out there, someone is watching. Someone is waiting. For every inch of love, there is an inch of shadow accompanying it; for every good, an evil -- every love that fizzles out brings darkness in its wake, every life that shines burns out and leaves its blood and pain right next to its smiles and joy. The man finds paradox and chaotic equilibrium in life. And again, he reminds himself, and drifts off in the fatalist thought -- imagines it for a moment, imagines "the heart of the sun" he will be venturing into. He imagines death and loses himself for a moment.
As he tires further, someone approaches him asking him questions that have already been framed for him, funneling him into a specific, pre-determined answer. Over the years, time has erected a wall through which this man hears others, as we age, we lose the fluid nature of consciousness we once had, we tend to cling to things as our idols of nostalgia decay, fade, and drift off in the current of existence. This man standing at his wall asking him meaningless questions assumes he will be alive tomorrow. As in-tune to the universe as this old man will get, he realizes just how fragile and precarious our lives are, and finds his assumption odd. He is not fazed; he simply wonders if the man understands the penultimate importance of helping another being as he sits there alone. In his last moments, his mind fades and leaves him wondering if the man before him, or any man at all, will remember how transcendent the act of helping and loving one another can be. Fixated on his departing mantra, the man drifts one last time, setting "the controls for the heart of the sun." The thought echoes as he fades away, and the calming sound of the ocean and the gulls lulls him into his one last great slumber.
HOWEVER, I suppose the meditation theory is much more of a comfort, and much less depressing.
"One inch of love is one inch of shadow
Love is the shadow that ripens the wine"
PPllllleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssseeeeee!!!!!!
"The shadow that ripens the wine" has a similar sentiment -- the process of making wine is one of decay, in dark places, another world from the springtime that nurtured the *grapes*.
Here are some examples in the lyrics describing the concept of meditation:
“Little by little the night turns around” (and)
"Breaking the darkness, waking the grapevine”
These lines refer to the meditation process, which begins with inner darkness and slowly expands to inner light. This breaking of darkness 'wakens the grapevine' which gives spiritual intoxication from it's wine.
“Love is the shadow that ripens the wine"
This is reference to feelings of love in meditation which ripen the wine (wine in spiritual poetry being a symbol of spiritual intoxication).
Other key ideas in meditation are referred to such as “watching the watcher”, and “making the shape of his question to heaven” (heaven being available when he penetrates through the heart of the sun)
If you want to hear a very good cover of this song, look on iTunes (or LimeWire, I asume) for an album called The World's Greatest Pink Floyd Tribute (it's certainly not, but there are some decent songs); The song is by Psychic TV.
I also found an extremely creepy version of this song fused with Empty Spaces, by a band called Beyond Salem. The lyrics for Set The Controls are changed a bit, which I thought made thiis cover extremely interesting. Very dark song. Again, your best bet is iTunes.
Shine On