Off and on, this poem has been in
the works for roughly a year or so, simply because I didn't want to rush the
work. In this poem, I'm personifying music as my girlfriend.

First of all, there's the seemingly "irregular" rhyme-scheme. It may not seem
like it, but I avow that there is order in the chaos (or, as the great and
mighty Tool once put it, "beauty in the dissonance"). The stanzas are supposed
to represent different time signatures (respectively: 4/4, 12/8, 6/4, 9/8,
15/16, 11/8, 4/4). The two 4/4 sections are not counted in the rhyme scheme,
which is based on drumming motions, such as double-bass, or "double-kick drum"
for those of you jazz-students who are not familiar with metal, combined with
sticking, as well as accenting. The rhyme scheme is as follows: ABB-CDD-AEE-BFF
/ GHI-JHI / KLLKM-KNON / PQQP-RR-STST-UUVVV / WXXW-YZZ-ÅÖÅÖ

The opening and closing stanzas are in pretty basic blues styles. I don't think
that I have to explain this, but just in case, there it is.

Then there's the 12/8 section. First and foremost, "Ongaku" is Japanese for
"Music". I was born in Vancouver, Canada, which has a huge population of asians.
My family and I left Vancouver for Los Angeles when I was 4, but this was not
before I'd gotten a feel for Chinese and Japanese classical and folk music
through various friends of my family and my general surroundings. Thus, East
Asian music was the first of the such with which I was really familiar, and it
shaped my perceptions of music to come. "För alltid" is Swedish for "forever"
(lit. "for all-time").

Then in the next few lines, I talk about her "hair". These are really musical
barlines. The "decorations", "some sharp, some flat, but many natural", are just
those: sharp notes, flat notes, etc. Her showing the world the way to universal
peace is my thinking a bit on the power of music. I think that wars are stupid
and that we should all stop fighting and get along. Racism, sexism, nationalism:
all that is just complete and utter bullshit. When we were making fire, hunting
for food, or just all-around trying to survive, you do really believe that
anybody cared about who was crossing the 22nd parallel or whatever crap it is?
Whether the kings of Ruritania, Freedonia, whatthefuckia or whatever were at war
to collect taxes from their carnal equals just doesn't matter! We're all human,
and we're all equal. I think that if we can just forget our differences and
recognise the fact that we really are all in the same boat and unite in music,
the world would be a much better place. Am I a dreamer? Maybe I am, but we
weren't always at war with ourselves. We need to learn to get along. Music is a
powerful force, and if we'd all just learn to be cool to one another through
music, we'd be a lot better off. Anyway, back to the comments:

Then there's the section, "an I might have...it just the same". First, "an" is
Middle English for "if", but you'll find both in Middle English texts. "An" is
somewhat hypothetical, as in, you know that it's one way, but wish that it were
another, and "if" is completely hypothetical, as in, you have no idea how
something stands, but just for arguments' sake, here's one scenario. Anyway, if
I had one wish, it would be for music to be made flesh, it doesn't really
matter. Jimi Hendrix had a similar line in "Manic Depression" ("music, sweet
music, I wish I could caress and kiss"). This isn't a reference to Jimi, but
just to point out that he did it, simply because I love Jimi Hendrix. In a way,
it might actually be better that music stays music, as if she were made flesh,
then she would die, and that would truly be a tragedy.

In the 6/4 section, it opens, "The earth's four seasons rageth on while hers are
calm". This is a reference to William Shakespeare's "Sonnet #18" ("Rough winds
do shake the darling buds of May / and Summer's lease hath all too short a
date"). That sonnet, in case you don't know, was basically about how this
particular woman was so much better than even the nicest Summer day since nature
is so fickle. The sonnet finishes saying that so long as the writing lasts, then
the lady's beauty will last. This is basically Shakespeare being a smart-ass.
Now, what does all this have to do with this poem, you ask? Glad you asked!
Music is always reliable, always trustworthy, far moreso than the fickle nature
which has no true credibility at all. Also, the phrase "four seasons" is, of
course, a reference to Vivaldi.

About the section on men and dogs trying to fool her: many will try making fake,
bullshitted music, but that never really lasts. Honestly, how many of us today
remember Frankie and the Dreamers, Nelson, or the such? Yet, we still remember
Wagner, Pink Floyd, et al. Why? Because they were real! 40 years from now,
nobody will ever remember Limp Bizkit, but Radiohead will still have a name.

In the 9/8 section, there's a section about resting on the grass and going out
to eat. This is basically me with my trusty portable CD-player. This is, of
course followed by more musical references ("Hall of the Mountain King" is
Grieg, "In the Court of the Crimson King" is the debut by King Crimson, who are
another one of my favourite bands, and "hearbreak hotel" is, of course, as you
well know, the King, Elvis Presley). Then there are the 4 areas of classical
music, brass, string, woodwind, and percussion. This is then followed by
Beethoven ("...moonlight. Sonata[s]...").

In the 15/16 section, there's the section, "from rivers and oceans to the
mountains of might". ...and Oceans are an Avant-Garde Industrial Black Metal
band from Finland, and "Mountains of Might" is a song by The Immortal, a Black
Metal band from Norway. There's the mentioning of "silv'ry lips". This is the
rim of a silver trumpet, and her "nails studded black and white" are, of course,
the keys of a piano. The sine-wave reference is, of course, the sound itself.
One question which I know for a fact will arise is "what's 'philosophastry'?"
Again, glad you asked! Philosophastry is feigned, faked, or falsified thought,
philosophy, or intellectualism. It's a really, really, really, REALLY fucking
RARELY used word, but it had the meter, intonation, rhyme, and meaning that I
wanted, so, in it went!

The line "She sees the unseen, she hears the unheard, and she knows the light of
day" is a reference to what I firmly believe is the greatest song ever made,
that being Green Carnation's "Light of Day, Day of Darkness". In addition to the
title, there's a line in the song that goes "I see the unseen, I hear the
unheard". "Valkyries' fall" is, of course, a reference to Richard Wagner's "Ride
of the Valkyries". "Such a lonely woman" is a reference to Ornette Coleman's
"Lonely Woman", which was a very progressive and experimental jazz song. It was
very dissonant, but still has beauty and flavor.

(don't worry, there's not much left to go! You can do it!!!)

Now here we are at the Foreign Language 101 part of the commentary! Get out your
pads and pencils!

The Finnish section is a rearrangement of lines from Värttinä's "Maahinen Neito"
(which means "Earth Maiden"). The section:

Minkä tiesivät minusta kuinka kummana katsoivat
Minkä tiesivät minusta kylä kumuna sen kertonee
tuuli tuimana taittelee julma juoruja laittelee
Minkä tiesivät minusta kuinka kummana katsoivat
kun ei korjattu kesällä viime talvena tahottu

means

What did they know of me, staring at me strangely,
What did they know of me? A witch, says the village,
and the gossip goes further, a sharp wind spreading it.
What did they know of me, staring at me strangely,
unharvested in summer, unwanted in winter?

(right now, I'd just like to take this moment to give my thanks to my dear,
close friend, Katri Pellikka, who read the Finnish text to make sure that it
wasn't just a rambling string of words, since I copied and pasted from the
official Värttinä homepage http://www.varttina.com/recordings/iki/lyrics/
intending to keep the same meaning that it had in its original form, so, Katri,
thank you very much!! Everybody thank Katri! Hurray!!)

With this reference, I'm trying to say that as many people as there are who love
music, many of them and still many more still don't fully understand her and her
ways. There's also the title, "Earth Maiden", which I felt was very fitting of
music, as she seems to be a part of the earth and us all herself. "But why in
Finnish?" you may ask? Out of all the musical scenes in the world, my favourite
is that of the North, particularly Sweden and Finland. Roughly half of my
favourite bands are Northern, and I've developed a huge interest in the music
scene of Finland lately, which, by the way, started with Värttinä. Okay, so
they're not very representative of the Finnish scene as a whole, but still, they
fucking rule!

Now, for Swedish 101!

Hon är nära oss alla och vi alla har hört hennes sång
och damens sångröst är så mäktig att, det kan höras för lång.
Alltid är hon min flickvän och vi älskar varandra igår, i morgon, och nu.
För alltid dem som gråtar ska hon stilla.
Ja, jag vill leva, jag vill dö, med och vid min fru.
Ja, jag vill leva, jag vill dö, med och vid min Kvinna!

meaning:

She's close to all of us and we've all heard her song
and the Lady's voice is so powerful that it can be heard at great distances.
She's always my girlfriend and we love each other yesterday, tomorrow, and now.
Forever, those who weep shall she soothe.
Yes, I will live, I will die, with and by my wife.
Yes, I will live, I will die, with and by my Woman!

I wrote this in Swedish because Swedish music was my introduction to the
Scandinavian music scene, which, by the way, started with Opeth. The last two
lines are taken from and inspired by those of the Swedish National Anthem, "Du
Gamla, Du Fria" (meaning "Thou Ancient, Thou Free"), which is actually the same
line repeated:

Ja, jag vill leva, jag vill dö, i Norden
("Yes, I will live, I will die, in the North")

After all this explaining, I don't thing that I have to explain the Swedish
section any further.

Again, I'd like to thank Katri for proofreading the Finnish text. I'd also like
to thank another really good friend of mine, Steve Kim, for conversational
purposes since when I was beginning to run short on inspiration, I called him up
and we discussed the nature of music. We talked about a lot of musical matters
that never ended up being in the poem, but I'm grateful nonetheless, and last
but certainly not least, I want to thank Lady Music. She's cast her spell over
me and so many others for so long, and will continue to do so for many eras to
come.

Anyway, I hope that this clears up any confusion that might be in the air (and
possibly create some more! HA!!)

Hope you all enjoy!

04/07/2005

Author's Note: This is my explanation for my poem "My Woman". Hope it clears up any questions you may have.

Posted on 04/08/2005
Copyright © 2024 Kourosh Taheri-Golvarzi