I posted about Warrel Dane's passing an epicly long post the other day. He was my favorite living male vocalist. I am not quite certain who the living person is yet that might gain my attention.
Anyway, I was listening to the song This Godless Endeavor today and it is pretty epic in every single way possible. The musician ship is second to none. The lyrics are awesome. The vocal performance is stellar.
I wanted to share a post just on this song. I'll give you links to a studio version of the song and put the lyrics in this post after that. Then I will provide a live version that a lot of people on youtube have been reacting to. This won't be a post beyond simply that. It's the weekend. :) I may add some comments in the lyrics.
This Godless Endeavor - 8:57
And on the open road we came to a sign
For it was foretold that the weak would inherit And nothing would change
Here we are at the crossroads, standing face to back
Still afraid to see our eyes I feel helpless and alone, trapped on the third stone
I really like the Third Planet from the sun reference in the "trapped on the third stone"
Godless are we
Godless are we
Sitting here sideways on a cold stone floor
My guitar gently bleeding and wanting more
When I heard a sound come rapping, Tapping on my door
As a guitarist those lyrics resonate heavily with me... great imagery
Hello, I'm happy to meet you
In your confidence is it safe?
Sit down I'm happy to greet you
To feed your greedy dog at the edge of the stage?
But before, before you slam the door
Tell me when, tell me why, tell me what this fucking life is for
We fly through this godless endeavor
We try to explain the black forever
I feel helpless and alone, trapped on the third stone
I feel permanently stoned, this godless endeavor the only cage I've known
That imagery and how it is put together I think is outstanding
Our organic equation has shown it's flaw
Can we agree to disagree on the concept of god?
As I lifted up my brother he said to me
"Abandon naive realism, surrender thought in cold precision"
Warrel referred to his brother in the song Brother on his Solo album, and from that I gathered his brother died from cancer, or at least he did in that song.
I feel empty and deranged, denied one last epiphany and ushered from the stage
Brilliant
Thou shalt not question, the role of science is not to eliminate god
As alternative gods multiply science stands accused of theocide
Consume, conform
No words necessary for that
The children sitting in the trees, they turn to laugh at me
They tell me that I'm insane, but in my mind I know I'm to blame
Alone within my lunacy, dementia fills the void within me
No testament, prayer or diseased lament can heal my wounds
They are so discontent
I have many different images that vie for a position in my mind when I consider those words.
All the faithful fall onto their knees
And praise the priests of industrial disease
Makes me wonder if any of these guys read Theodore Kacyzinski's Manifesto
We contemplate oblivion as we resonate our dissonance
In godless random interpretation
The universe still expands, mankind still can't understand
How to define you, so hide your face and watch us exterminate ourselves over you
Welcome to the end my friend, the sky has opened
Listening to this song made me think that Warrel Dane (Vocalist) now has the answer to some of the questions that weave throughout this song. Some day so shall we all.
Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor [Live] - 9:19
For this song we of course have the master Jeff Loomis (Guitars), but he is also joined by Chris Broderick(Guitars) who is also phenomenal. I believe some people have mentioned they are surprised a black hole did not form due to the weight of their combined epicness.
EDIT: For those of you interested that may have missed it I did a very lengthy post on Warrel Dane the other day when I learned of his death. Here is a link to that post if it interests you.