The Cauldron

Many people will know the story of Salem. Children coming down with fits and spasms led to a wave of accusations, ending with around 20 people hanged, and many more condemned, for being a witch. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of events that should not have happened, and highlight what happens when you boil down mutual paranoia, and absolute lack of authority and law. Despite witch trials being a thing of the past, and in 2001 the victims of the Salem Witch Trials were cleared of charges, this idea of justice remains prevalent in society today. Most notably in social media. We look to dehumanise and punish those who do wrong our ideas and beliefs.

Jon Ronson looks at this in the excellent So You've Been Publicly Shamed, in the incredible power of groupthink in the lawlessness and swathes of paranoia living within Twitter, Facebook and other social media. Before his book there was very little analysis or even consideration of the problems that arise from this mob mentality. But now there is more and more awareness of the 'witch-hunters', with people becoming more moderating of their own community. Remaining wary of the mob.

I'll take this opportunity to quickly plug the brilliant new Radiohead single Burn The Witch, which appears to make a critique of groupthink.

Despite this increased awareness and understanding of groupthink, very little has actually changed. Much with the awareness of the tragedy of the witch trials, we continued to pursue the mob mentality. By comparison  we still pursue witch-hunts, we desperately look for a victim to dehumanise and punish for their crimes - this time the people warning us against just that. Remember the scientist who landed in hot water, after his probe landed on an asteroid, because he was wearing an inappropriate shirt. He was forced into an apology by the ruthless pursuit of him online. But then something strange happened. The people who were defending him were attacked by his original 'hunters', but some of the original hunters were even attacked by the people defending the scientist. It all resulted in a mess of accustions, with every side condemnable. We might reach progress in society, but we will often fall back on what is instinctively human.

Every Album Tells A Story: Fisherman's Blues

The Waterboy's 4th album is one of my personal favourites, continuing Mike Scott's everlasting love of the water, following This Is The Sea, and their self-titled debut. Fisherman's Blues continues the 'big music' motifs Scott brought in 1983, but five years after their debut they bring an epic. An album that I view as an incredulous and extraordinary story.

We begin with a man telling us of his greatest desire: to leave everything behind, and find some job to be one with nature, being a brakeman on a train, or perhaps he could become a fisherman. He tells us that when he rides on the train, and when he becomes the fisherman (Which of course he will do! He promises!)  he'll be "loosened from bonds that hold him fast." Despite this apparent liberation, the protagonist tells us the day will be "fine and fateful". It will be a decisve day in his life, but he fully recognises it may not be the romantic picture he painted in his head. It could be the decisive day of his downfall: maybe psychologically, financially, or even death. Proclaiming this romantic image and claiming it is fateful is a recognisable image across drama. From Romeo and Juliett to A Streetcar Named Desire, desire and danger are heavily interconnected. The same is true for our protagonist. Despite not revealing his motives for leaving everything behind, and only his plans, he reveals an awful lot about his own character. A hopeless romantic. 

So now he tells us what's been up. It's a girl. A girl he's been pining over, and one whom he just doesn't quite understand. He loves being around this girl, but she lies, and curses, and he goes to another planet seeing her kiss, or when he kisses her himself. But he refuses. He tells her that they can't be lovers. They've broken up, and they're dirtying one another's name. They tear each other's world apart, the remnants are filled with "People scrambling, like dogs for a share." Despite this, the horrid world they've made for each other doesn't compare to how ruthless, how brutal they each had to be to do it to one another. Our protagonist is realising the real horror of what he's done, and he continues to his withdrawral. He gets on his unknown boat, and goes on his way to an unknown world. He's going somewhere, anywhere, away from here. All we know is his intention. He needs a spiritual journey, and a moment of clarity. "We're turning flesh and body into soul."

We cut ahead in time. And now the protagonist is being spoken to. Maybe by a comrade on his travels, or someone he's stopped to ask for directions. Either way the advice given to him here is unmistakable. In his pursuit of liberation from the horrors he left behind, he's told "It's nothing to do with anything that's real." and he just needs to "Believe in it and it's true." It becomes pretty generic advice from this stranger. Essentially saying to fake it till you make it, and that it gets better eventually ("You will live to see a sea of lights"). 'Just come an have fun' says our protagonist's acquaintance, and 'Get yourself along to the world party!" This somewhat meaningless, and often touted advice does nothing for our protagonist, and he moves on. 

We return to our protagonist's romantic fantasy, apparently fulfilled. He finally has his sweet thing with him. Someone to love as they stroll though misty gardens and jump the hedges. It is a lighter more uplifiting tone of music too, but he appears to have left behind this romantic fantasy, He says he's done wondering and ready to dig in, never going to 'read between the lines' again. In the process of finding what he wants, he loses his drive to go on these journeys. Suddenly we see a shift in perspectives. He has reached his goal, but is all that he wanted the journey?

Now our protagonist tells us of his past. Now he's reconciled with all his past lovers. We learn that with all his loves, he thought of they would be forever, but it ended after a while. Now the lover he is with now, he's sure he's with his soul mate. They will marry one day, and live their lives together until death does them part. But it is clear he still wishes for his romantic image of getting away from everything - to be the fisherman again. He tells us these epic but concise stories of his past loves about the adventures he once had. "It started in Fife, it ended in tears" and "I fell for her one summer, on the road..." The song even ends on a more melancholic tone. He knows he loves his partner, and he gives her a bang on the ear with it, but it is clear he yearns for his journeys of old. He still values the journey, but will himself go again? As he did before, leaving a lover for the journey.

In seeking of reassurance, our protagonist goes out in search of an old friend. This is a friend who doesn't have the best reputation. "I don't care what he did with his women, I don't care what he did when he drank." This is a man our protagonist trusts. A rough cut man, but who helps him when he needs, and clearly has given him advice before. For the first time though, our protagonist can't find him. He's nowhere to be seen, and now our protagnist must make a decision on his own conscience.

One night, lying in bed, he asks a troubling question. "When will we be married?" Going so far as to say that she's got her eye on another man. Our protagonist is deeply troubled. He's primed to destroy this relationship. Another. In this apparently futile pursuit of nature and the great outdoors, our protagonist is ready to leave his life behind again. Eventually, his toxic nature towards his partner has taken a toll, and he just doesn't understand. Suddenly the story has filled with a dramatic irony. Our protagonist hasn't realised how destructive he was being to his relationship. Now, he doesn't understand why "You ain't calling me to join ye" and he'll do everything to "make you stay", but he'll "cry when ye go away."

With his soul mate gone again, our protagonist reaches a position of introspection. He tells the child, the young person to come away to the water. "The world's more full of weeping than you'll ever understand". The moment of clarity he set out for at the beginning appears to have finally come. "The world is full of troubles and is anxious in its sleep." He realises what he truly is, making the comparison to wandering water. Much like Mike Scott, our protagonist clearly has a love of the sea and the ocean. He needs to be stolen away by the sea once and for all. To stop hurting himself, to stop hurting others, he needs to be stolen away, to the sea, in solitude. He may not like it, but he convinces himself it is the only way. Although the first track may be the title track, this song is the true Fisherman's Blues.

Finally, we end in a distinctively ambigous moment. Singing This Land Is Our Land. It is either a jubilation of finally being at peace, or depressing melancholic moment on bitter resentment, towards himself, and his lovers for forcing him to leave the land.

Death Sentence

The one greatest limit to human productivity in all of history has been Man's mortality. The matter of fact is that if we can crack the code of immortality, we can crack the code of the problems that come with it. All of a sudden, man-hours are at levels unheard of. 151,000 people die each day. 55 million a year. That's a huge amount of production that can be harnessed by society even further. Solving crippling illnesses suddenly becomes a very quickly approaching reality. It goes even further than this though. Out of nowhere, defunct systems across all walks of life find solutions. Such a huge amount of more people working an producing more can progress the human race in a way that has never been seen before. With this productivity, even the problems that come with overpopulation can be solved.

Except we aren't immortal, we die, and we don't have insane amounts of production per person. But we do face a problem paramount to any other - overpopulation. The sense of impending doom this century has been startling. Global warming has displayed the very real possibility that humans will one day no longer roam this planet as its self-proclaimed owners. The Limits To Growth is book that details the use of a computer to predict the effects the concept of infinite growth has on a finite system. It's credibility is highly questionable, but it is undeniable that a stable equilibrium cannot be achieved if we continue life in the same way that we are living it. 

Billenium is a brilliant short story by James Ballard addressing overpopulation, and follows two protagonists in a world with increasingly less and less space. The population of this world is somewhere near 20 billion, and the atmosphere is one of dystopia. When we look at overpopulation under a dystopian light, it becomes an incredibly frightening reality. When we look at dystopia, they tend to be evil or at least morally questionable things that can be stopped - totalitarian governments, mind-control or eugenics. We don't think of natural, unstoppable things like overpopulation. It's funny that we dont see that in truth, the greatest danger is not the outsiders, or the extremes. It's what we have accepted to be the norm, We accept population growth, but unchecked, it could bring about the end of civilisation itself.  

limits to growth

The Great Outdoors

Today, I vaguely remembered a show that was on BBC Four some years ago. All I remembered was that it was about rambling, and the neighbour from Friday Night Dinner was in it. After some googling, I found out that this show was called The Great Outdoors. It's a gentle, British comedy that focuses on Bob (Mark Heap) and his walking club including his friend Tom, daughter Hazel, and challenger to his leadership - Christine (Ruth Jones). I watched all three 30 minute episodes today, and at the end, it left me feeling sad, desperate and lonely. It was a horrific sinking feeling that I just didn't understand.

Now I know what I want.

Bankrupt On Conviction

A problem that arises in many situations of grief, angst and hardship is one of withdrawral and resistance. It may not be a withdrawral from interaction in the literal sense, but a withdrawral from interaction in any meaningful sense. Many people will be hurt, but go about their day as if nothing happened, but in their interaction something is importantly and noticeably different. Their interaction would be isolated, as if their colour is lost in some void of meaning, and all that comes out is the autonomous. monotonous spiel that they would deal out at a networking event. This type of withdrawral isn't viceral, and usually passes with time. Despite this, the people experiencing it are often determined that it will not end, and those on the recieving end are frightened of the same prospect.

Withdrawral is a concept that should also be applied to self-esteem and confidence. Sometimes, people will withdraw from confidence, and be accepting of whatever comes their way. They don't see the need to resist, or confide in themselves, and go about their day. Their social interactions will stay the same. But they'll be far more accepting, of everything. No partisan. No beliefs. They may think so, but in truth they know they have none. No convtictions. With this comes acceptance of insults, aggression, compliments and ideas. It is a withdrawral from conviction. For better or for worse. Strife has plagued the people for all existence, but a self-imposed withdrawral from conviction is a vicious cycle of low self-esteem and worthlessness. Not fighting back - and not doing so because they;'re accepting of the fight. Withdrawral from conviction is not as obvious as complete social withdrawral, and not as overt to the observer as withdrawral from meaningful interaction. Withdrawral from conviction plagues people for their lives, as their environment will seemingly shape around them to only further enforce this withdrawral. Withdrawral from conviction is like a piece of dritwood floating down a river, evrery now and then being pummeled as the current drives it into the bed.

Favourite 50 White Stripes Songs: Numbers 5-1

5. Icky Thump - Icky Thump

The first single from their last album: Icky Thump. Upon first listen it seems nonsensical. An apparently random series of mashes on the synth Jack pulled out of his ass, under lyrics that have been taken from a hat. Surely the only interesting thing is the trademark White TM riff. But no. Soon you begin to appreciate the bit where it sounds like you spilled something on your keyboard, and that bit where Jack smacks his forehead on the synth. It's a glorious conglomeration of the White Stripes that is progressive for them. Yet it is punctuated by that dirty, rusty riff that forms the core of the song, as well as the in your face lyrics. The change of pace into the, chorus, lets say, gives Meg a moment to posture, and crash into a wrath of cymbal-snare hell. Everything appears to be in its right place in this song. It's a rap. Lending from Beck and The Goodies, Jack goes on to exclaim about anti-immigration views that "you can't be a pimp and a prostitute too!" This cements itself in my top 5. 

4. Seven Nation Army - Elephant

The riff of the century! The song that immortalised the White Stripes. From the football stadiums to the Egyptian revolution this simple, mind-bogglingly brilliant riff has reached every part of society. Up there with the legendary Another One Bites The Dust and Whole Lotta Love, but Seven Nation Army seems to go further. Maybe it't because of the digital age, but everyone knows the riff - whether they've heard the song or not! It's a truly remarkable thing. And the glorious irony of the subject matter - Jack telling people not to gossip (perhaps about his and his sister's divorce certificate) becomes their most famous song. It builds and it releases. It gives a fantastic little solo. What more could you ask for?

3. Catch Hell Blues - Icky Thump

Whenever the slide comes out, I know I'll love it when it's coming from Jack White. What greater brilliance is there than throwing your hand along a fretboard and hearing a beautiful smooth transition of tones. Catch Hell Blues though is in a league of its own. We start with White musing to himself, (probably about Jimmy Page or something) as if he's being caught off guard. Then we start to get into the song. He plays it muted at first, and leaves a tremble in his voice, drawing us to his guitar being released, and suddenly the song is full. Meg opens up her hand and crashes down before pulling all back. Short, stacked chops of the guitar play, building upwards. Then the whammy gets stamped, and Jack calls for us to catch him. Nothing short of excellence. This is one of the most brilliant songs to sing a long to aswell, belting out the 'oooh' is one of the most satisfying things you can do.

2. Ball and Biscuit - Elephant 

Surely there's enough twelve bar blues in the world? Well then that means Ball and Biscuit is a song of defiance. What a fantastic song too. It starts with a simple little riff, it ends with that same riff too, as if nothing had happened in between. Jack's charming voice tells us to have a ball and a biscuit with him. Drugs, sex, whatever that may be, he says it in such a way that we just can't resist. We join him into a brilliant solo, lined with whammys and ear-bleeding notes, yet it's all within his fingertips. His solos in Ball and Biscuit are a controlled frenzy. They second half of the last solo just takes me to another planet. It's a surprise every time I hear it, how perfect it is. He knows exactly what sound he's going to make before he makes it, he knows exactly what we want to hear before we hear it. It's a modern marvel that keeps on giving. Just don't try singing along.

1. Death Letter - De Stijl

I did say I love a bit of slide guitar. To me, this is the ultimate White Stripes song. The center-piece of De Stijl: Death Letter. Firstly, what a badass name. I mean holy shit first time I heard it I thought it's gonna be mental. But it was far less metal than I expected. Instead it was a moment of clarity. The slide flows so effortlessy in the song, in perfect complement to each word Jack says. And the sentiment of it! It's a wonderful tragic message that will resonate with me forever. "The gal you love is dead" and "Hugging the pillow where she used to lay" are lines delivered in such a brilliant way by Jack that I forget it's a cover sometimes. The solos are like greyhounds chasing a rabbit. But they catch the rabbit, tear it to pieces and find there's nothing left, ending in Jack's melancholic puddle of self-pity. And it sounds fucking brilliant. 

Well, it's been fun guys. I'll probably do some more of these, maybe The Raconteurs as well as other, non Jack White associated acts. For now though, thanks for reading.