Imperium II
Embracing Impermanence: Current 93's Poetic Reflection on Life's Transience
Lyrics
How can there be pleasure?
Questioning the possibility of pleasure in a distressed context.
How can there be joy?
Raising a similar question about joy amid a troubled world.
When the whole world is burning
Highlighting the paradox of seeking joy in a world undergoing destruction.
What joy is there in this body
Questioning the happiness in the current physical state.
Seeing these discarded bones
Observing discarded bones, possibly symbolizing mortality and decay.
Scattered here and there
Describing scattered bones, emphasizing the fragility of life.
Where they were tossed upon the ground
Reflecting on the random and indifferent nature of life and death.
Through the same moment of the night
Referencing a moment in the night, possibly representing the fleeting nature of existence.
Humans first emptied in the womb
Exploring the beginning of human life in the womb.
The journey of their life to death begins
Highlighting the journey from birth to death as a fundamental aspect of human existence.
Once gone there is no turning back
Emphasizing the irreversible nature of death.
At daybreak many people are seen
Observing the transient nature of life with the contrast of daybreak.
At evening one is gone from sight
Noting the inevitability of people disappearing as night falls.
At evening many people can be seen
Reflecting on the cyclical nature of life and death.
Next morning one is gone from sight
Highlighting the recurring pattern of people coming and going.
Nights are long when one can't sleep
Expressing the discomfort of sleepless nights.
The road seems long for those exhausted
Describing the weariness of those on a long and challenging journey.
Life's obliterated so soon
Commenting on the brevity of life.
Some die when they are in the womb
Enumerating different circumstances of death, including prenatal.
Some on the ground where they were born
Highlighting the variety of places where death occurs.
Some die just as they learn to crawl
Emphasizing the vulnerability of those just beginning to experience life.
And some just as they learn to walk
Pointing out the fragility of life in its early stages.
Some die old and some die young
Contrasting the different ages at which people may die.
Some in the very prime of life
Noting the unpredictability of death even in the prime of life.
All people pass away in term
Stating the inevitability of everyone passing away.
Just like the fall of ripened fruit
Drawing a metaphor between human life and the fall of ripe fruit.
As all ripe fruit always falls and rots
Linking birth and death in the natural cycle of decay.
So all who are born by their deaths destroyed
Asserting the destructive nature of death for all who are born.
Collection in the end dispersed
Describing the dispersion of individuals in the end.
Whatever rises must also fall
Expressing the inevitability of rise and fall in life.
All meetings end in seperation
Stating the universal truth that all meetings end in separation.
The final end of life is death
Summarizing life's finality with death.
Sorrow arises from all beauty
Asserting that sorrow arises from all beauty.
From all beauty arises fear
Connecting fear to the appreciation of beauty.
When all beauty is given up
Suggesting that relinquishing beauty eliminates sorrow and fear.
Neither sorrow nor fear exist
Conveying the idea that letting go of beauty leads to a state without sorrow or fear.
And the law is Imperium
Introducing the concept of Imperium as a governing law.
Imperium, imperium, imperium, imperium
Repeating the word "Imperium" for emphasis, possibly signifying its importance.
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