Aside from the Ringo book I mentioned earlier – and that the Didact took John to task about the lack of sequels – I wanted to delve deeper into the Cruxshadows song “Eye of the Storm.” Actually, I’ll be going through a lot of their songs that I enjoy, and while the order will generally be somewhat chronological, in the order I ran into them more or less, this will be an exception. On the Goth spectrum they’re more dance, less whiney, “Darkwave”, and so closer overall to the Sisters of Mercy than Bauhaus – though Peter Murphy’s Deep is an album I still play. Rogue’s voice can take getting used to, some of the lyrics can come across as pretentious poetry, and they certainly layer greek myth and religious symbolism almost as heavily as Sabaton does warriors and warfare. They also play violins.
But why start here? After all, my first exposure was Winterborn, courtesy of the inimitable authorial crack output of John Ringo.
First of all, I had the chance to run into Rogue, the lead singer, at Dragon*Con in Atlanta years back. He was a very relaxed, open, and chill dude. I ended up chatting for a fairly long time – and am glad that no-one else was hitting him up for autographs at the time – specifically about this song.
It didn’t hurt that the dancers were hot in a goth-faerie kind of way.
The concert was fantastic, including a killer rendition of Immortal.
It’s a long song so I’ll include the full copy at the end.
There are a number of ways you can take the opening – both secular and religious. It certainly isn’t in conflict with the concept that God would not give you a test greater than you are able to handle if you but trust in him.
The trials you now are facing,
They are not greater than your will,
For there is nothing under Heaven,
You cannot overcome.
See the door that lies before you,
And know – this too shall pass.
The confrontation of your fears,
In strength drawn from the past.
Skip forward a few stanzas
I believe in what I fight for,
And I have paid for it with pain.
I am here because my contributions,
May help turn this fate away.
And all who stood by and did nothing,
Who are they to criticize?
The sacrifices of others-
Our blood has bought their lives…
Ahhh.. head-exploding goodness. I believe in what I fight for…. While a lot of their songs can be as pedastalizing as any pop bands, they certainly get the “warrior sacrifice” thing – a reason John became huge friends with them (and was at Rogue’s wedding…). Most notably, echoing Roosevelt’s “man in the arena” – And all who stood by and did nothing, Who are they to criticize?*
*
Belief. Kratman of the Carrera novels based an entire spinoff in the Posleen universe, The Tuloriad, the entire point of which was the need to bring religion to a religious war. To believe in something that gives you the will to fight. Having the swiss guard stand and fight with pikes, not so much echoing but rhyming with the last stand of the guard in 1527 with better results, was a bonus.
I believe in what I fight for. Let that roll off your tongue. Civilization. Western values, and free men. Leftists no longer believe in the civilization that gave them birth, and will no longer fight for it.
There is no love untouched by hate,
No unity without discord.
There is no courage without fear,
There is no peace without a war.
There is no wisdom without regret,
No admiration without scorn.
There is strife within the tempest,
But there is calm in the eye of the storm…
In no real universe with humans will we ever be without anger, without hate, without fear. Even trying is damn near the definition of insanity. If we don’t have scorn, how can we even have admiration? How does it have meaning? Without something to be afraid of, where can there be courage?
Without the negatives, how can we choose the positives?
The pages of our history,
Are written by the hand,
With eyes and ears and prejudice,
Too far removed to understand.
And so the heroes of the ages
Are stripped of honesty and love.
To make them seem less noble,
And hide what we can become.
Once, in the days of Herodotus, those who wrote history, who spoke of battles and war, were the educated class, and thus also the ones who kept their armor, stood in a phalanx, and marched with spear and sword. They knew the sound of a swordblade scraping on teeth.
Most modern historians know no such thing. They have avoided the battlefield and think themselves better for it. Morally better. And they look with disdain at those who have fought. And not having fought, not having gotten in the cage, in thinking it was lesser, they strip our heroes of all that is noble. They wallow in the gutter and tell us there are no angels, that we cannot touch the divine.
Incidentally, it was these paragraphs I specifically talked with Rogue about.
If you find the courage within you,
To face the path ahead,
It matters not the outcome,
If what you will gain instead,
Is a heart deepened in the knowing,
That experience carves the soul,
And the very thing that empties you,
Shall surely make you whole.
Even failure can teach you, if you are willing to get back up and try again, to learn, instead of hide. In the Nietzschean sense, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Eye of the Storm by The Cruxshadows
The trials you now are facing,
They are not greater than your will,
For there is nothing under Heaven,
You cannot overcome.
See the door that lies before you,
And know – this too shall pass.
The confrontation of your fears,
In strength drawn from the past.Where the silent voices whisper,
‘Find the course that is your own,
And however great the obstacle,
You will never be alone.’
For I have watched the path of Angels,
And I have heard the Heavens roar.
There is strife within the tempest,
But there is calm in the eye of the storm.In fragments of an instant,
The chaos has returned,
And all that was left to sentiment,
Beneath the banner burned.
And as that voice was slow receded,
Into echoes, memory,
My doubts were re-ignited,
And fear awakened from it’s sleep.I believe in what I fight for,
And I have paid for it with pain.
I am here because my contributions,
May help turn this fate away.
And all who stood by and did nothing,
Who are they to criticize?
The sacrifices of others-
Our blood has bought their lives…This is the moment of truth,
At the point of no return.
Place faith in your convictions,
As boundaries start to blur.There is no love untouched by hate,
No unity without discord.
There is no courage without fear,
There is no peace without a war.
There is no wisdom without regret,
No admiration without scorn.
There is strife within the tempest,
But there is calm in the eye of the storm…The pages of our history,
Are written by the hand,
With eyes and ears and prejudice,
Too far removed to understand.
And so the heroes of the ages
Are stripped of honesty and love.
To make them seem less noble,
And hide what we can become.This is the moment of truth,
At the point of no return.
Place faith in your convictions,
As the boundaries start to blur.There is no love untouched by hate,
No unity without discord
There is no courage without fear,
There is no peace without a war.
There is no wisdom without regret,
No admiration without scorn
There is strife within the tempest,
And there is calm in the eye of the storm…There is no love untouched by hate,
No unity without discord
There is no courage without fear,
There is no peace without a war.
There is no wisdom without regret,
No admiration without scorn
There is strife within the tempest,
And calm in the eye of the storm…There is no love untouched by hate,
No unity without discord.
There is no courage without fear,
There is no peace without a war.
There is no wisdom without regret,
No admiration without scorn.
There is strife within the tempest,
And there is calm in the eye of the storm…If you find the courage within you,
To face the path ahead,
It matters not the outcome,
If what you will gain instead,
Is a heart deepened in the knowing,
That experience carves the soul,
And the very thing that empties you,
Shall surely make you whole.Where the silent voices whisper,
‘Find the course that is your own,
And however great the obstacle,
You will never be alone.’
For I have watched the path of Angels,
And I have heard the Heavens roar.
There is strife within the tempest,
But there is calm in the eye of the storm.
