The Cruel Angel's Thesis
I'm planning on writing some more on Evangelion, so just to start off I thought I'd post the lyrics to its main title song.
Part of the reason why I'm posting this is because I've just finished watching the film, The Prophecy. A very interesting concept. Definitely explores the underside of Christian mythology (and not underside like, The Da Vinci Code style) which I will not read completely until AFTER I've seen the movie). The appeal of its concept is similar no doubt to the appeal of Preacher comics. It either stains something which is supposedly be unstainable ("wait! I thought Gabriel was the light of the lord's sky who watches over me while I pray at night! [sniff] [sniff]) or it in a way completes something which demands to be completed.
Dore's plates for The Divine Comedy kind of hint at this. While the Paradiso sections are glorious and beautiful to look at, the bodies themselves demand something more. Do these bodies sit there, waiting for the end of our world alone? Does this entire universe truly sit in wait for what happens here on earth? While no doubt appealing in a Star Trek kind of way (Q episodes in particular, where there is a flurry of statements like "man alone in the universe" or "of all the creatures in the universe, man alone..."), it is unsatisfactory for despite any pleas to man's greatest, the fundamental religious trauma that we live with is that, as Martin Luther (kind of) said, rather than man being God's greatest creation, man is the shit that fell out of God's ass.
This is probably why Dante had it in mind that upon reaching a certain level, speech would no longer be used, but instead people would mentally communicate, thus washing the heavenly bodies of the stain or imperfection which language always leaves (and modernist thinkers such as John Locke labored to contain). But the bodies themselves, remain, and mark this heaven as something which is not truly beyond us. And so therefore we secretly desire the gossip of this world, the fueding that no doubt takes place, or more so the jealousy that arises. Far from men taking jealous glee in this Empyrean of angels and stars waiting for them, there is a far more perverse and therefore potentially enjoyable experience in having angels fume and stew over how they who were once above all else, now sit beneath us, who are as Christopher Walken says in The Prophecy, "monkeys." This is the object that sits at the center of both The Prophecy and Preacher, basically the opposite of NERV's mantra from Evangelion, "god is not in heaven, and all is right with the world."
An interesting tangent, but anyways, here's the lyrics:
The Cruel Angel's Thesis
Like an Angel without a sense of mercy
Rise young boy to the heavens as a legend
Cold winds, as blue as the sea
Tear open the door to your heart
But unknowing you seem, just staring at me
Standing there smiling serenely
Desperate for something to touch
A moment of kindness like that in a dream
Your innocent eyes as yet have no idea
Of the path your destiny will follow
But someday you'll become aware of
Everything that you've got behind you
Your wings are for seeking out
A new future that only you can search for
The cruel angel's thesis bleeds
Through a portal like your pulsing blood
If you should betray the chapel of your memories
The cruel angel will enter the window of your soul
So, boy, stand tall and embrace the fire of legend
Embrace the universe like a blazing star!
Part of the reason why I'm posting this is because I've just finished watching the film, The Prophecy. A very interesting concept. Definitely explores the underside of Christian mythology (and not underside like, The Da Vinci Code style) which I will not read completely until AFTER I've seen the movie). The appeal of its concept is similar no doubt to the appeal of Preacher comics. It either stains something which is supposedly be unstainable ("wait! I thought Gabriel was the light of the lord's sky who watches over me while I pray at night! [sniff] [sniff]) or it in a way completes something which demands to be completed.
Dore's plates for The Divine Comedy kind of hint at this. While the Paradiso sections are glorious and beautiful to look at, the bodies themselves demand something more. Do these bodies sit there, waiting for the end of our world alone? Does this entire universe truly sit in wait for what happens here on earth? While no doubt appealing in a Star Trek kind of way (Q episodes in particular, where there is a flurry of statements like "man alone in the universe" or "of all the creatures in the universe, man alone..."), it is unsatisfactory for despite any pleas to man's greatest, the fundamental religious trauma that we live with is that, as Martin Luther (kind of) said, rather than man being God's greatest creation, man is the shit that fell out of God's ass.
This is probably why Dante had it in mind that upon reaching a certain level, speech would no longer be used, but instead people would mentally communicate, thus washing the heavenly bodies of the stain or imperfection which language always leaves (and modernist thinkers such as John Locke labored to contain). But the bodies themselves, remain, and mark this heaven as something which is not truly beyond us. And so therefore we secretly desire the gossip of this world, the fueding that no doubt takes place, or more so the jealousy that arises. Far from men taking jealous glee in this Empyrean of angels and stars waiting for them, there is a far more perverse and therefore potentially enjoyable experience in having angels fume and stew over how they who were once above all else, now sit beneath us, who are as Christopher Walken says in The Prophecy, "monkeys." This is the object that sits at the center of both The Prophecy and Preacher, basically the opposite of NERV's mantra from Evangelion, "god is not in heaven, and all is right with the world."
An interesting tangent, but anyways, here's the lyrics:
The Cruel Angel's Thesis
Like an Angel without a sense of mercy
Rise young boy to the heavens as a legend
Cold winds, as blue as the sea
Tear open the door to your heart
But unknowing you seem, just staring at me
Standing there smiling serenely
Desperate for something to touch
A moment of kindness like that in a dream
Your innocent eyes as yet have no idea
Of the path your destiny will follow
But someday you'll become aware of
Everything that you've got behind you
Your wings are for seeking out
A new future that only you can search for
The cruel angel's thesis bleeds
Through a portal like your pulsing blood
If you should betray the chapel of your memories
The cruel angel will enter the window of your soul
So, boy, stand tall and embrace the fire of legend
Embrace the universe like a blazing star!
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