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about
This was an epic instrumental piece, which could possibly have remained so, until Janette - inspired by the cyclical feel of the musical themes - focused on an image, which really caught her imagination. That of the Ouroboros - the emblematic serpent of successive cultures, with its tail in its mouth. It became a bit of a wormhole that Janette disappeared down, tracing the many representations and interpretations of the Ouroboros over the centuries.
It symbolises the concepts of, to name a few, the cycle of birth & death, renewal, creation through destruction, infinity, and cosmic harmony. The wealth of imagery - from earliest known Egyptian shrines, through Greek, Hindu and Norse mythology, from Medieval to Renaissance alchemy, to Jung's psychological archetype in the early 20th Century - was a rich seam to mine!
Janette quotes Helton Godwin Baynes' 1940 study of schizophrenia, mentioning the Ouroboros as representing "our psychic continuity with the immemorial past" (He was a friend & translator of Jung). And she paraphrases a part of George Wither's interpretation of the "Figure of the Snake" from his publication, "A Collection of Emblemes, Ancient and Moderne", 1635.
The maxim "One is All, and by it All ..." at the very end of the lyrics takes us almost back to the beginning - from the Chrysopoia, a pictorial alchemical papyrus from the 3rd Century AD. It felt a fitting way to end a never-ending quest.
Artwork by Janette Kidd.
lyrics
Ouroboros
We all are born, we all have died
the genome sequences decide
Our feet are bound, our hands are tied,
the Serpent’s coils constrict and glide
We’re figures on a Thaumatrope - a spinning danse macabre
Victims of a running joke - “l’arbre n’est past un arbre”
No running from your archetype
Don’t let yourself believe the hype
that pits the dark against the light
Day will dawn and fade to night
The worm consumes, the womb gives birth
and life goes on, for what it’s worth
Our psychic continuity with immemorial past
Far off beyond the range of thought
the feedback loops its own accord
consuming all things with slow power
Glinting scales, its mouth devours
the comet’s tail and all the stars,
all stories and all who you are return and then re-integrate
after all disintegrates.
She coils around the Tree of Life,
vague memories of Adam’s wife
flit through her ancient, reptile mind
The guilty lies-of-old unwind and spill in never-ending rings
which echo half-forgotten things
that constantly change shape and form
till, from herself, she is reborn
Ouroboros got you by the tail!
And you think you’ve found the Holy Grail
Time and time again you’re doomed to fail
Just let the cycle run and you return
turn …. turn …. turn
Follow the figure of the snake, encircled thus, expression make
of revolutions and of things that wheel about in endless rings
there ending where they once began and shall again perfection come
and help to show the Mystery of that Immense Eternity
There is eternal unity - no him, no her, no you, no me
inherent in all that would be
You wave your arms – You think you’re free
One is All and by it All
And for it All ……
And if it does not contain All
then All is Nothing
Bite the apple….. Bite the tail
And you think you’ve found the Holy Grail
Time and time again, you’re doomed to fail
Sliding further down the wormhole
Ouroboros got you by the tail
And you think you’ve found the Holy Grail
Time and time again you’re doomed to fail
Just let the cycle run and you return
turn …. turn ….. turn
credits
from The Three Body problem,
released June 19, 2021
Music by Alternative Communication
Lyrics by Janette Kidd
Produced by Brian Kidd & Alternative Communication
David Reid: Guitars.
Janette Kidd: Bass guitars; lead and backing vocals; organ.
Brian Kidd: Guitars; guitar synthesizers; e-bow; percussion and drumbox programming.
Alternative Communication is based in Perthshire,
Scotland.
We began in 1980 at University as
friends with
common musical interests. We composed our
own music, self-releasing 3 albums until the group disbanded in 1985.
David A. Reid (solo artist) and Brian and Janette Kidd (Not for Pussies) continued to
compose and record until, in 2019, they reconvened....more
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