Let's start a nice new thread about ... what lyrics are about.
In this thread we can focus on DD, fresh in every1's memory
I start : "The Enemy"
In this thread we can focus on DD, fresh in every1's memory
I start : "The Enemy"
What lyrics are about : Damage Done
- Thread starter Aeonstream
- Start date
er... I forgot
The Enemy
To remain objective
to a closer call
Secretly rejected
and to mediocrity fall
caught on the downslopes of life
the patted shoulder remembers
the elbowed side resists
Encircled ad nauseum
an enemy to define ourselves
an enemy to refine our hate
Encouraging on the negative scale
Bent out of shape is the measuring norm
In words and in writing
No one knows my enemy like I do
A social repellant
(not) merely an adversary
lost to the falling words
Kept the last of all
understood glances
to work against
The Enemy
To remain objective
to a closer call
Secretly rejected
and to mediocrity fall
caught on the downslopes of life
the patted shoulder remembers
the elbowed side resists
Encircled ad nauseum
an enemy to define ourselves
an enemy to refine our hate
Encouraging on the negative scale
Bent out of shape is the measuring norm
In words and in writing
No one knows my enemy like I do
A social repellant
(not) merely an adversary
lost to the falling words
Kept the last of all
understood glances
to work against
"The enemy" is my favorite song off DD but I never gave it much thought lyrically - it's mostly a song I can *feel*. I promise I will put some of those tiny wheels in my head to the task and tell you all what comes out of them, the poor things.
h
h
seventi
Viva Lonliness!
The enemy is about hating your own thought so much that you later start hating yourself...or something in that way.
rahvin
keeper of the flame
i spent some time pondering about "the enemy". it's one of the hardest songs on dd, when it comes to lyrics, since the material provided is both scarce and cryptic, as if it was hinting at the unsaid.
after focusing on this latter feature of the song (its apparent wanting to hide something) i reasoned this might as well be the way this track addressed its main topic. ultimately, i get the impression the author is talking about the fear of fear, and a wicked social mechanism that forces us to refrain from undertaking any actions that might prove hurtful or put us in a position of disadvantage. we are so scared of inadvertently triggering an unpleasant reaction from our social partners that we remain stalled and uncapable of moving in any direction. this generates frustration, alienation and the desire to shut down all potentially harming relationships, but it also fulfills our need to create a firmer ground where we think we know who's on our side and who is not.
what we maybe fail to see is that the real enemy is the fear to face the things that keep us in check and we desperately try to avoid, to the point of turning away and stop mentioning them at all.
to remain objective
to a closer call
the beginning of the song is already the heart of the matter, because imo it's all about standing still, so there can be no progression in what is being said from start to finish. these two lines seem to state that all the effort on our part - hence the emphatic position of this concept - is put on nullifying our instinctive reaction to stimuli. even when something tries to get closer, and nothing is said about its intentions (they might just be for the better, who knows?), our first commandment is to avoid missteps of an emotional kind. we stand our ground, we do not concede or even acknowledge the possibility that something might break our shells bringing peace (remember "i brought you fires"?).
secretly rejected
and to mediocrity fall
caught on the downslopes of life
here is an explanation of both cause and effect of our stance, and - always in the name of fixity - they're like a snake eating its tail. we assume we've been rejected and not deemed worthy of anything good life might have to offer. we fall back to a state of apathy, sliding down a slow spiral that does not really change our ambiguous motion/stillness state, like a posterboard to entropy. once again, our feeling useless and without the edge needed to switch the turn of events in our favour, rejection seems unavoidable and we're sure to imagine it, if it's not really there, next time we're summoned to something higher. as i stressed before, this is just some perverted alchemy in our heads and not the substantial structure of reality, of which nothing is said in the song - as is often the case in damage done, mostly revolving around modifying, submitting, destroying, manipulating and being manipulated by what is real.
the patted shoulder remembers
the elbowed side resists
this is clearly in reference to the fear of making a move. we spend a lot of time thinking about the consequences of our actions, this sometimes leaves no room or time for action at all. the literal meaning of this beautiful metaphor (that what is done to people's benefit will be remembered and what is done to people's harm will make the others untrustful and suspicious) is meant to suggest two or three things i find particularly interesting.
first, it evokes the ghost of indecision: can we take the chance to be disliked by someone, or are we just here to please and try to net out some sympathy for ourselves? in our lack of self-assurance, we proceed with extreme caution and often avoid doing anything at all.
secondly, the lines could be interpreted in reference to ourselves: how suspicious and doubtful we are of what other people might look for in us? is this our "final resistance" against uncertain vibes that might overwhelm us? and how much of our history are we carrying along with us with every "new" relationship? if our sides have been elbowed way too much, maybe we see them all as enemies.
lastly, i'm intrigued by the more "philosophical" implications, about what individuals instinctively feel for each other and what lies beneath. if we have established rules in our society on the fact that every single act on our parts leaves a thin layer upon which new actions and relations are built, then the butterfly effect is not only a physical reality (in short, small events cause bigger and bigger ripples that create wider turmoil), but also a psychological one!
encircled ad nauseam
an enemy to define ourselves
an enemy to refine our hate
unable to face the problem in a straightforward way, too scared of the consequences and the revelations this may produce, we circle around and around, eyes fixed to our elusive objective, without having the guts to confront an unpleasant truth or icy rejection. as in every situation where things revolve one around another (and many more do this in a complex society) there comes up the issue of losing identity. without lines defining the boundaries, i am lost in my pointless sliding down the spiral along with all of you, and we are eventually the same shapeless matter. this is why, while i stare at the tangled mess of worries numbing my senses, i have to set some difference between us. and what better "dividing line" than casting all the blame and frustration to you, my cause of concern? you become the enemy because i have to be on my side, and i have to be separated from you, and you're certainly not on my side right now. eventually the fucked up emotions revolving around the situation need to be focused to be cast out of my system. deciding that you are the enemy helps me concentrate all thoughts and feelings on hating you, incidentally sparing me the annoyance of having to hate myself for my lack of will and my helplessness.
encouraging
on the negative scale
this seemingly redundant wording for "discouraging" actually hides a subtle difference. the evil mechanism of shunning actions and blaming the outside world depicted above is not exactly just a put-off when it comes to building new relationships. it actually feeds on itself and promotes its own refining and increasing. this is pretty obvious when you think about the old saying that "violence breeds violence". pointless hate and retaliation usually encourages more fear, resentment, and general over-simplification of situations in "good vs. evil" stereotypes.
bent out of shape
is the measuring norm
in words and in writing
noone knows my enemy
...like I do...
what could be a hint of common sense, or even merely a statistical value for what there really is to be frightened of, is crooked and distorted by the common practice of taking a step back and resorting to the easier choice of demonizing the source of our fears. the more we give in to apathy, the more every smallest uncertainty about the outcome of our interactions will likely be ascribed to some "enemy" in action. this is a subtle and clever observation, if i may say so, since this very practice is widely diffused among cults and sects all over the world, whose members are given totemic personas to blame for everything that goes wrong, and the more they grow accustomed to resort to this easy solution for issues hindering them, the more they fall prey to the "common cause" syndrome, down to why the traffic light is red when they reach the crossroad or why they caught a cold in november.
and the rules society sets to define enemies and find scapegoats whenever a shade of doubt arises are so deeply carved in our minds that we recognize (or assume we recognize) the enemy in specific spoken and written words. anybody trying with a call for higher stakes, trying to raise our level of consciousness, or just trying to get closer to what we feel and why, is singled out for things he/she said or wrote, as if we knew that straying from the code (i "indifferent suns" here) is the peculiar characteristic of all that is evil and menacing for us.
a social repellant
[not] merely an adversary
as an effect of all of this, society falls apart, disgregated in a million units that still survive on their own, because the will to actually confront and destroy the so-called adversary never prevails over carelessness.
lost to the failing words
kept the last of all
understood glances
to work against
again, an example of how the preposterous method of identifying an enemy works: the last words - possibly said in anger or frustration or desperation or hopelessness - are the only ones that count. we never pay attention to what is being said as long as the words are unable to actually reach something under our surface, but as soon as something poignant or opinionated comes up, we only stick to the threat we imagine it implies and cease conversation. with casual glances it's more of the same stuff: we are not unable to understand or take part in what others try to convey to us without words, but we feel it's our obligation to thwart their path and disarm the danger we see inherent in everything that scratches the surface.
did you really read all the way to here, or were you just peeking at the last line to see how it ended?
rahvin.
after focusing on this latter feature of the song (its apparent wanting to hide something) i reasoned this might as well be the way this track addressed its main topic. ultimately, i get the impression the author is talking about the fear of fear, and a wicked social mechanism that forces us to refrain from undertaking any actions that might prove hurtful or put us in a position of disadvantage. we are so scared of inadvertently triggering an unpleasant reaction from our social partners that we remain stalled and uncapable of moving in any direction. this generates frustration, alienation and the desire to shut down all potentially harming relationships, but it also fulfills our need to create a firmer ground where we think we know who's on our side and who is not.
what we maybe fail to see is that the real enemy is the fear to face the things that keep us in check and we desperately try to avoid, to the point of turning away and stop mentioning them at all.
to remain objective
to a closer call
the beginning of the song is already the heart of the matter, because imo it's all about standing still, so there can be no progression in what is being said from start to finish. these two lines seem to state that all the effort on our part - hence the emphatic position of this concept - is put on nullifying our instinctive reaction to stimuli. even when something tries to get closer, and nothing is said about its intentions (they might just be for the better, who knows?), our first commandment is to avoid missteps of an emotional kind. we stand our ground, we do not concede or even acknowledge the possibility that something might break our shells bringing peace (remember "i brought you fires"?).
secretly rejected
and to mediocrity fall
caught on the downslopes of life
here is an explanation of both cause and effect of our stance, and - always in the name of fixity - they're like a snake eating its tail. we assume we've been rejected and not deemed worthy of anything good life might have to offer. we fall back to a state of apathy, sliding down a slow spiral that does not really change our ambiguous motion/stillness state, like a posterboard to entropy. once again, our feeling useless and without the edge needed to switch the turn of events in our favour, rejection seems unavoidable and we're sure to imagine it, if it's not really there, next time we're summoned to something higher. as i stressed before, this is just some perverted alchemy in our heads and not the substantial structure of reality, of which nothing is said in the song - as is often the case in damage done, mostly revolving around modifying, submitting, destroying, manipulating and being manipulated by what is real.
the patted shoulder remembers
the elbowed side resists
this is clearly in reference to the fear of making a move. we spend a lot of time thinking about the consequences of our actions, this sometimes leaves no room or time for action at all. the literal meaning of this beautiful metaphor (that what is done to people's benefit will be remembered and what is done to people's harm will make the others untrustful and suspicious) is meant to suggest two or three things i find particularly interesting.
first, it evokes the ghost of indecision: can we take the chance to be disliked by someone, or are we just here to please and try to net out some sympathy for ourselves? in our lack of self-assurance, we proceed with extreme caution and often avoid doing anything at all.
secondly, the lines could be interpreted in reference to ourselves: how suspicious and doubtful we are of what other people might look for in us? is this our "final resistance" against uncertain vibes that might overwhelm us? and how much of our history are we carrying along with us with every "new" relationship? if our sides have been elbowed way too much, maybe we see them all as enemies.
lastly, i'm intrigued by the more "philosophical" implications, about what individuals instinctively feel for each other and what lies beneath. if we have established rules in our society on the fact that every single act on our parts leaves a thin layer upon which new actions and relations are built, then the butterfly effect is not only a physical reality (in short, small events cause bigger and bigger ripples that create wider turmoil), but also a psychological one!
encircled ad nauseam
an enemy to define ourselves
an enemy to refine our hate
unable to face the problem in a straightforward way, too scared of the consequences and the revelations this may produce, we circle around and around, eyes fixed to our elusive objective, without having the guts to confront an unpleasant truth or icy rejection. as in every situation where things revolve one around another (and many more do this in a complex society) there comes up the issue of losing identity. without lines defining the boundaries, i am lost in my pointless sliding down the spiral along with all of you, and we are eventually the same shapeless matter. this is why, while i stare at the tangled mess of worries numbing my senses, i have to set some difference between us. and what better "dividing line" than casting all the blame and frustration to you, my cause of concern? you become the enemy because i have to be on my side, and i have to be separated from you, and you're certainly not on my side right now. eventually the fucked up emotions revolving around the situation need to be focused to be cast out of my system. deciding that you are the enemy helps me concentrate all thoughts and feelings on hating you, incidentally sparing me the annoyance of having to hate myself for my lack of will and my helplessness.
encouraging
on the negative scale
this seemingly redundant wording for "discouraging" actually hides a subtle difference. the evil mechanism of shunning actions and blaming the outside world depicted above is not exactly just a put-off when it comes to building new relationships. it actually feeds on itself and promotes its own refining and increasing. this is pretty obvious when you think about the old saying that "violence breeds violence". pointless hate and retaliation usually encourages more fear, resentment, and general over-simplification of situations in "good vs. evil" stereotypes.
bent out of shape
is the measuring norm
in words and in writing
noone knows my enemy
...like I do...
what could be a hint of common sense, or even merely a statistical value for what there really is to be frightened of, is crooked and distorted by the common practice of taking a step back and resorting to the easier choice of demonizing the source of our fears. the more we give in to apathy, the more every smallest uncertainty about the outcome of our interactions will likely be ascribed to some "enemy" in action. this is a subtle and clever observation, if i may say so, since this very practice is widely diffused among cults and sects all over the world, whose members are given totemic personas to blame for everything that goes wrong, and the more they grow accustomed to resort to this easy solution for issues hindering them, the more they fall prey to the "common cause" syndrome, down to why the traffic light is red when they reach the crossroad or why they caught a cold in november.
and the rules society sets to define enemies and find scapegoats whenever a shade of doubt arises are so deeply carved in our minds that we recognize (or assume we recognize) the enemy in specific spoken and written words. anybody trying with a call for higher stakes, trying to raise our level of consciousness, or just trying to get closer to what we feel and why, is singled out for things he/she said or wrote, as if we knew that straying from the code (i "indifferent suns" here) is the peculiar characteristic of all that is evil and menacing for us.
a social repellant
[not] merely an adversary
as an effect of all of this, society falls apart, disgregated in a million units that still survive on their own, because the will to actually confront and destroy the so-called adversary never prevails over carelessness.
lost to the failing words
kept the last of all
understood glances
to work against
again, an example of how the preposterous method of identifying an enemy works: the last words - possibly said in anger or frustration or desperation or hopelessness - are the only ones that count. we never pay attention to what is being said as long as the words are unable to actually reach something under our surface, but as soon as something poignant or opinionated comes up, we only stick to the threat we imagine it implies and cease conversation. with casual glances it's more of the same stuff: we are not unable to understand or take part in what others try to convey to us without words, but we feel it's our obligation to thwart their path and disarm the danger we see inherent in everything that scratches the surface.
did you really read all the way to here, or were you just peeking at the last line to see how it ended?
rahvin.
Wolfman Von Jones
The trouble with you
Miolo
pie king
Silentjohan
Cornered within
@rahvin: I read it all and i'm very impressed. You have quite a big vocabulary, haven't you?
Seriously though; I enjoyed your analyze and suddenly the song got more interesting..
Seriously though; I enjoyed your analyze and suddenly the song got more interesting..
rahvin
keeper of the flame
/me bows to silentjohan.
thanks mate, but it'd be more fair to say i'm a wordy, long-winded dick.
rahvin.
thanks mate, but it'd be more fair to say i'm a wordy, long-winded dick.
rahvin.
dwarves have to compensate - they use long words because they are short. this is a general rule that tolerates no exception 
aside from pleasantries, i would like to add something - i think the song's also about deciding you hate some particular group, social or personal stereotype, etc just to unwind; all in all, those kinds you decide to label the enemy are a projection of your own self. so, say you go around all day saying "those fucking my pals should all be dead" - really, it's just something that comes from your need to smash everything around you, nowt to do with any trait of behavior of black people. that's the remaining objective to a closer call part: when you have strong emotions it's far easier to turn them into arrows (...) against a category that bears no connection at all to those emotions than check with yourself and conclude that no, africans have no blame whatsoever if your girlfriend sleeps with some other *white* guy
now, seriously, i think it's about constructing your own system of friends and foes, without relationship to reality, and acting upon this construction.
h
aside from pleasantries, i would like to add something - i think the song's also about deciding you hate some particular group, social or personal stereotype, etc just to unwind; all in all, those kinds you decide to label the enemy are a projection of your own self. so, say you go around all day saying "those fucking my pals should all be dead" - really, it's just something that comes from your need to smash everything around you, nowt to do with any trait of behavior of black people. that's the remaining objective to a closer call part: when you have strong emotions it's far easier to turn them into arrows (...) against a category that bears no connection at all to those emotions than check with yourself and conclude that no, africans have no blame whatsoever if your girlfriend sleeps with some other *white* guy
now, seriously, i think it's about constructing your own system of friends and foes, without relationship to reality, and acting upon this construction.
h
Chapeau to all you guys
really interesting .
@rahvin
I guess I was lucky to choose an interesting one
really interesting .
@rahvin
I guess I was lucky to choose an interesting one
Miolo
pie king
Now I read all rahvin's analysis and I'm really impressed, by the analysis itself and by the way you exposed it. The first time I read The Enemy's lyrics, some of the ideas you wrote about flashed into my mind, but I would never ever have been able to express them so clearly. Now I can understand the song better. Thanks
Miolo
Miolo
|ngenius
Little Grasshopper
@Miolo: Rahvin's just a bot remotely commanded by Hedon-klas when touring.
|ngenius (A self-commanded robot)
|ngenius (A self-commanded robot)
Miolo
pie king
Thank you Rahvin!
Once again you have proven a valuable member of this forum and an entertaining one at that. I am truly grateful for your insights and I realize now that I am not merely writing these things for myself. There are a few of you out there and it pleases me to no end..it´s you guys I am writing for.
Thanks again
Mikael
Once again you have proven a valuable member of this forum and an entertaining one at that. I am truly grateful for your insights and I realize now that I am not merely writing these things for myself. There are a few of you out there and it pleases me to no end..it´s you guys I am writing for.
Thanks again
Mikael
Silentjohan
Cornered within
congratulations to you rahvin!
You've been blessed with credit from the almighty Mikael!:hotjump:
You've been blessed with credit from the almighty Mikael!:hotjump:
