“There are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who do not” – Robert Benchley

It seems I’m about to make myself into one of those that do, or does.  Some people search for meaning in a song, some search for no more than relaxation, time out, a calming surface ocean-side view.  No deeper meaning necessary.  Personally, I sun and surf.  I sometimes like to find deeper meaning if a song really shines, other times I’m in amongst the toe-dippers and not so bothered by my lack of understanding.

I’ve sometimes sought the answer to the puzzle and mystery of a particular song, only to be slightly disappointed with the true source of inspiration or original meaning.  I do like the idea of songs having individual and personal meaning to me, and I feel they still can continue to do so, even after the artist explains things or gives solid hints.

Without wishing to “spoil” it for those of you who do not wish to know the meaning or gist of the song I wrote for the Ghost K original soundtrack, I’m giving you the chance to stop reading right now, to look away, to go google about Mr Splashy Pants or call your Mom….you know you never call her.

For those of you who do wish to know the meaning, or at least the gist of the song.  One name, J. Robert Oppenheimer.  If you’d like to read more about him, please refer to the excellent Wikipedia article I’ve since discovered.

I’m not going to break down the individual lines of the song, I find those kinds of analysis a bit tedious and academic.  It’s probably more interesting for you too, now knowing what you do about the song, to piece it together in your head and figure out where I was coming from with each line.  As a hint: try to imagine what it was like as “a small boy” (or child if you’re a girl) and what possibly Oppenheimer thought himself, both of himself and his outlook on the world.  Consider him as a young scientist with optimism and vision, an innocence, idealism and naivety.   Then consider him as an older and man.  Having achieving one of the most important breakthroughs in modern science and military weaponry, to “shout so loud” as to inflict a blow of such brute force it brought about an immediate surrender.  It’s well documented he later realised the real true cost of the Atom Bomb and had difficulty coming to terms with it.  Presumably political and military figures manipulated things throughout the notorious Manhattan project?  It’s scary stuff.

So that’s the gist of the song, at least the thread from which it’s woven.

I hope you enjoy it, thanks to on Youtube for re-discovering the song, and my good friends Ghost and CDK for composing the original soundtrack upon which my ccMixter remix was originally built.

« »