Supercollider

Before the CERN super collider was started up there was much wringing of hands about what might happen. Some scientists actually suggested we don't know what we're doing and that we might actually set off a reaction that could destroy the world. A similar argument was often made during the Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer later quoted ancient Indian scripture to describe himself "I am become death."

This song, I believe, has several voices - that of the scientist watching the colored lights, that of the concerned citizen (trust in the moment) and most important of all the voice of the "thing" exposed during that fraction of a fraction of a billionth of a second after the particles collide. It is that thing that puts the shadows back into their boxes. It is that thing that is opened and welcomed into the world for a fraction of a second. And it is that thing that sees angels hanging over the balcony.

Angels, according to Zoroastrian/Judaic/Christian and Muslim beliefs, often watch what we humans do and in this case they are so fascinated to see if we will destroy ourselves that they are not just watching passively but hanging over the balcony of heaven to watch.