I would very much like to read or write a novel inspired by this song. I have a feeling I would really enjoy such a piece of literature.
I'm thinking the seer, the prophet, and the wise man are most likely the same person. I don't think the wise man and the mad man are the same person, though. I think the mad man is the son who from his mother's love is estranged, and who marries his own precious gain. He becomes a tyrant perhaps, and the wise man is the one who attempts to lead his people to safety from the clutches of the mad man, whose madness is like a flood.
In the first stanza, the speaker tells of the wise man, who foresees the coming of the "storm" of the mad man.
In the second stanza, the speaker goes back to an earlier time and tells of the wise man when he was younger, first receiving the power of foresight. I think it is also implied that the mad man received the same ability, but instead of becoming wise (like the other man), he went mad.
The third and fourth stanza return to the wise man, but with a greater sense of understanding for his words. Now that the threat of the mad man has become imminent, the people have begun to believe the wise man's prophecies, and they are willing to take his hand and quicken to the new life.
The fifth stanza tells the story of the mad man's youth, and how he, like the wise man, received the ability to see the future. But unlike the wise man, he became mad, and his visions were filled with nothing but cynicism and death. He was estranged from his family, and loved only the power he later gained, but only death will be his dowry.
Stanza six is where the wise man begins leading his people in exodus to safety.
Stanza seven is the wise man remarking to himself on the people who have come flocking to him. They are a diverse group of people, a human zoo.
Stanza eight is a decree by the mad man, when he has realized that his people are fleeing from him. He proclaims that he will kill them all.
The vocal overlays in the middle are representative of the wise man's doubt and growing fear that he will not be able to save his people from ruin. I think perhaps his prophecies were only linked to the mad man, and he cannot foresee his own destiny.
The ending is unclear. I think that either the mad man wipes out the wise man's followers, and as the wise man lies dying he tries to assure the survivors that love is still the answer, or else the mad man loses all of his power and the people are vindicated, but the wise man begins to go mad as well, haunted by the sound of the mad man's laughter even after the mad man has died.
I would very much like to read or write a novel inspired by this song. I have a feeling I would really enjoy such a piece of literature.
I'm thinking the seer, the prophet, and the wise man are most likely the same person. I don't think the wise man and the mad man are the same person, though. I think the mad man is the son who from his mother's love is estranged, and who marries his own precious gain. He becomes a tyrant perhaps, and the wise man is the one who attempts to lead his people to safety from the clutches of the mad man, whose madness is like a flood.
In the first stanza, the speaker tells of the wise man, who foresees the coming of the "storm" of the mad man.
In the second stanza, the speaker goes back to an earlier time and tells of the wise man when he was younger, first receiving the power of foresight. I think it is also implied that the mad man received the same ability, but instead of becoming wise (like the other man), he went mad.
The third and fourth stanza return to the wise man, but with a greater sense of understanding for his words. Now that the threat of the mad man has become imminent, the people have begun to believe the wise man's prophecies, and they are willing to take his hand and quicken to the new life.
The fifth stanza tells the story of the mad man's youth, and how he, like the wise man, received the ability to see the future. But unlike the wise man, he became mad, and his visions were filled with nothing but cynicism and death. He was estranged from his family, and loved only the power he later gained, but only death will be his dowry.
Stanza six is where the wise man begins leading his people in exodus to safety.
Stanza seven is the wise man remarking to himself on the people who have come flocking to him. They are a diverse group of people, a human zoo.
Stanza eight is a decree by the mad man, when he has realized that his people are fleeing from him. He proclaims that he will kill them all.
The vocal overlays in the middle are representative of the wise man's doubt and growing fear that he will not be able to save his people from ruin. I think perhaps his prophecies were only linked to the mad man, and he cannot foresee his own destiny.
The ending is unclear. I think that either the mad man wipes out the wise man's followers, and as the wise man lies dying he tries to assure the survivors that love is still the answer, or else the mad man loses all of his power and the people are vindicated, but the wise man begins to go mad as well, haunted by the sound of the mad man's laughter even after the mad man has died.
If you write this novel, I will be your great fan!!
If you write this novel, I will be your great fan!!