Search the Archives
As the semester draws to an end, I’d like to leave you guys with a song that speaks volumes about a predicament many of us find ourselves in.
As an English and Journalism major, my majors are not supported by my parents. Their main complaint? It’s not profitable. Even in my classes, I am constantly reminded by professors and speakers that one does not enter these career paths for money.
I am often tempted to just opt out and change to a major more financially stable. I love my comforts just as anyone else and I want to be able to afford to live a nice lifestyle.
And then a song like this comes along.
This song’s message struck a chord with me and I hope it does to anyone out there contemplating a major change for money.
Scroll on down to see what Alex and Brian have to say about their song, ‘Two-faced Savior.’
See y’all next semester and stay strong my fellow majors! 
• What inspired the lyrics to the song? (Personal experience or observation?)
Alex: A little bit of both. Financial gain plays such a large role in human motivation. I’ve known so many people to sacrifice what they love for fear of it hindering their ambitions of financial gain. College is a great example; you see people choosing majors for money rather than passion . The lyrics of this song describe a man whose stifled childhood dreams come back to haunt him.
Brian: I agree. Definitely a combination of the two. All of us are in college despite desires to be making a career out of this band. In that respect we can sympathize with the character of this song. Most of it would be observation, though, because while we’re still in school we are still actively pursuing our dream of music while we watch other people (neighbors, peers, coworkers) piddle their lives away without pursuing anything but a buck.
• The song has a storytelling element to it (characters, plot, etc) is there a reason why you approached the song this way?
Alex: The album itself is a story. This song establishes the conceptual direction of the album.
Brian: We chose to make the album itself a story because it lays in line with the theatricality we let seep into every aspect of the band. We find that kind of thing more entertaining and enjoy creating it more than just a compilation of songs. Making the song (and ultimately the album) a story also helped influence us to make some new and fun creative decisions such as using a computer keyboard for the percussion.
• Why the phrases, “The Corporate Corpse” and “The Warrior Child”?
Alex: “The Corporate Corpse” describes a man whose life is not his own, but one belonging to a societal blueprint that regiments people’s lives around financial stability and mundane routine. “The Warrior Child” describes a boy with a militant Peter-Pan-complex who battles ideals of corporate enslavement and promotes lifestyles characterized by the pursuit of dreams. I want to clarify that Crumbling Arches is not anti-corporate; we are simply using these topic as a vehicle for the themes in the album.
Brian: The corpse is dead because he has stopped pursuing his dreams and has become nothing but a hollow shell of a man. Life can do that to you if you don’t fight it. Our character has given up and taken the easy road to a menial desk job. The warrior child is still fighting. Nobody wants to live and die in a cubical.
• Why title the song ‘Two faced Savior’? Who is the two-faced savior?
Alex: If I answered that question, it would reveal a turning point in the story.
• Near the end, the child gains the upper hand and chokes the corpse? Why choose the word ‘choked’?
Alex: It isn’t literal; it indicates that the child was effective in convincing the corpse that he was suppressing his dreams and living a life of stagnation.
Brian: The corporate corpse was upset, all choked up. Like that one song from Grease…
• Could you describe how you decided on the melody, the pace, the instruments for the song?
Alex: This song is a lot more spacious and soft than the body of the album. Conceptually, the soft, unhurried pace of the album parallels the scarcity of dynamics in the protagonist’s life. The song picks up when the corpse begins to understand the stagnancy in his life.
Brian: We chose to make a computer keyboard the main percussion because the song takes places in a cubical. As the song begins you can hear the ringing of a telephone, people talking, the sound of a fax machine, and other office sounds to reinforce the setting.
• How does the song fit in with the rest of your concept album?
Alex: It is one of three narrative ballads that help to simplify the story.
Brian: It introduces the main character, themes, and conflict of the story. Like any good narrative should.
• Is there a certain aspect of society you are targeting or commenting on with this song?
Alex: The song is targeting the human tendency to replace dreams with practical goals. It is targeting a general lack of faith that unorthodox dreams can and do materialize.
• Who is the song directed to?
Brian: Anyone and everyone who has wished they could do something but held back for any reason at all. It’s meant to call out everyone on their timidness, and to give them an opportunity to recognize if they are pushing their own dreams aside in the name of practicality.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
RSS 2.0
