Life is But a Dream – A7X

As promised, here is the supplemental post containing my thoughts specifically on Life is But a Dream.

In case you didn’t read the related post, The Rocky Road to Music, I am no expert on music. I am getting my little feet wet in exploring the world of music, and these are my thoughts on the songs in Avenged Sevenfold’s new album, Life is But a Dream. I haven’t looked up the meanings of the songs, I don’t know the first thing about music, and I am by no means what you would call a “fan.” I just like their music, and this is what came to mind when I listened to this album.

So without further ado, my thoughts on Life is But a Dream.

Overall themes I noticed throughout the album were surrounding a good night, dreams, and awakening. Which is unsurprising because of the title, but I wanted to point it out because it is significant in my perception of the album. But I’ll get into that after I go into each song.

Game Over – The sound of the acoustic guitar and the theme of this song reminds me of Nothing Else Matters by Metallica, my favorite song by them. The line, “It occurs to me that I don’t belong here anymore” stood out to me. It holds a lot of ambiguity and can apply in a few different ways. It can be interpreted in a dark way, suggesting that the speaker does not wish to be alive anymore, which would fall in line with what is typical for Avenged Sevenfold. But it could also mean that the stage of life the speaker is in is no longer holds the space necessary for their growth. It could also mean that the speaker has outgrown this level of consciousness. Or it could mean all of those things.

Mattel – This song feels the most classically Avenged Sevenfold, in my opinion, in terms of the sound. In fact, parts of it remind me of Shepard of Fire, which might be considered a quintessential A7X song. The metaphor was not only spot on but fun, and I enjoyed the word play carried throughout. M Shadows’ very distinct voice seemed emphasized in this one, and that made me smile. I have some fond memories of Julian imitating him when we were together; not everything in the relationship was bad. A few good things remained, and I am happy that this is one of them.

Nobody – OK I will admit that when I first heard this one, I was super annoyed with the same guitar sound that kept coming back. Orion kept playing it over and over, and it annoyed the hell out of me. Thankfully, that is behind me now, and I LOVE THIS SONG!! It’s incredible. The lyrics are once again ambiguous. For those A7X fans who love to hear about death and macabre topics, this song fits the bill. But it could just as easily be talking about death of the ego, which I find much more compelling. The line “return to the boundless” about sums up the song, and quite possibly the entire album. The instrumental bit at the end is reminiscent of a band I also like called Marillion. I could listen to this one on repeat a dozen times.

We Love You – The discordant first few measure is chaotic and confusing, which is what this song is meant to represent; the utter contradiction and counterproductive effect of the thoughtless forward motion towards success. What came to mind for me at first was the pressure placed on children by parents, teachers, society, and peers. As the song went on, I thought of the constant pressure from society to gain, produce, succeed, driving individuals into misery in order to reach the goal.

And then I started to hear something else, something that I don’t know to be true, but that I could imagine being the case. From the perspective of the members in Avenged Sevenfold and others like them who are in the spotlight, success is a double edged sword. On the one hand, their dreams come true. On the other hand, they face constant scrutiny, judgement, pressure. In a way, they are trapped by their own success because they have to “do what works” to stay successful. Or they signed a contract for X number of years and are bound by it. By the end of the song, “We love you” sounded to me like the screams of adoring fans who build up the success of artists but who can turn on a dime and tear them down too. What a precarious and suffocating position to be in.

Cosmic – I had to listen to this twice on my first pass through the album because once just wasn’t enough. At first, I didn’t get it. I thought the first verse was suggesting some kind of twin flame reincarnation BS. But then I realized it’s not about that at all. It’s about something more along the lines of consciousness, the human spirit, the essence of life, the energy of every particle in the Universe. When the heart rate monitor beeps morph into electronica into the final reprise, I found myself considering how unquestionably beautiful life is. And I mean all life, not just life as we understand it.

The molecules that make up my body have made up millions of other things in the span of their existence. These molecules are ancient and timeless, and somehow they come together and magically become something infinitely complex and tragically fragile. But they go on when it’s time. An atom in my body could have been in the body of a mastodon or a volcano or a plesiosaur. Or the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs or the sword of a soldier or a cockroach or the leaf of a nightshade. It’s endlessly fascinating and absolutely beautiful, and I could listen to Cosmic on repeat for hours.

Beautiful Morning – I wasn’t entirely sure about the meaning of this one. Death and ascent are mentioned, once again invoking thoughts of both physical and metaphorical death. However, since walking on water is mentioned, it clearly is referencing Jesus Christ and his ascent after death. To what end, I don’t know. It seemed to suggest that religious people are consumed by their own religion, which I can get behind. Meaning aside, I enjoyed the jarring time signature changes, and I loved the Beatles homage. The sound of the song reminded me of the disjointed nature of dreams, and I really appreciated that.

Easier – “It’s easier / to just walk away. / I know you’ll see brighter days / along the way.” I wasn’t entirely clear on this one either. A couple of things came to mind. One, it sounded to me like a nod to the ELO, which I definitely liked. Second, I wondered if this was a tie in back to the line in Game Over about no longer belonging. Sometimes it is easier to let go and move on to the next stage of life than to fight change tooth and nail. Sometimes, it feels like I’ve invested too much into something to walk away, and in the end, I walk away anyway, and life is so much better for it. This is what I would consider an “easy listening” song, which I can’t imagine is a coincidence. It’s nowhere near classic A7X, but it doesn’t have to be. I like this one.

G – My initial reaction: “I have literally no idea what just happened.” They’re making fun of God and how humanity is basically his computer simulation. Right? I don’t know. This one is so out of left field. It doesn’t strike me like the others do, but I also appreciate that they’re doing something different with this one (and the next two).

(O)rdinary – OK this one I liked much more than G. At the end of G, he says he’s going to try robots instead because he effed up the first try. And this song is from the point of view of an artificial life form. It really reminded me of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation, which I love love loved. (For anyone who doesn’t know who Data is, I’m sorry for how much you’re missing out on. My only recommendation is to go watch yourself some Star Trek.) It also reminded me thematically of a song by atPunk called Therefore I Am. Overall, (O)rdinary is a fun song, and I like it.

(D)eath – Quick note on these titles. The whole G-O-D thing feels a bit forced. The songs sound nothing alike, and I can’t really find the connection between this song and the other two. The first two are clearly connected, but I had trouble seeing how this one fits in. Am I missing something?

Having said that, I do really like this one. Once again, we have the concept of death, and it is ambiguous. The speaker dreams of jumping from a ledge, and it could be interpreted as someone who is suicidal. Yet the leap may not have been for the purpose of physically dying. Or even if it was, it morphed into the exploration of consciousness beyond what we understand as “life.” The song made me think of astral projection and the separation of consciousness from the physical body. In this light, death takes on an entirely new meaning. I loved the drama of this song as well. It sounded like a movie score to me. In the beginning, it reminded me of a Kdrama with melodramatic music. Then later on, there was a lot of big band brass that brought movie action sequences to mind. It is once again a very different sound, but it worked with the song.

Life is But a Dream – I love this song. It is entirely instrumental piano, and the emotion it evokes is delightful. It’s whimsical and sad and the slightest bit eerie. Every time I listen to it, I want it to last longer than it does. I feel a wide range of emotions listening to it, and none of it is uncomfortable; it feels perfectly natural, even the odd, eerie feelings. To me, this ties back to Cosmic and the exploration of human consciousness, which of course includes our emotions.

Emotion is so hard to understand when you break down our existence into our basic building blocks. How can inorganic protons, electrons, neutrons, neutrinos, and what have you create atoms and molecules that combine to create organic compounds and even intangible things like emotions?? But I don’t have to understand their origin or how they came to be to experience them. (I’m sure it all just comes down to math. It all eventually does. Mathematics is the language of the Universe.) And I love how the music in this song pokes whatever it is that needs poking in order for emotions to be created and felt.

So circling back around to what I said right out of the gate about good night, dreams, and awakening. There is a group of people known as the Toltec, and much of what they teach is that our entire lives are a collective dream that we are all dreaming. We have the power to create the dream to be whatever we wish. It is much more complex than I can represent, but from what I understand (which could be totally wrong, so do your own research), when we are bound to the collective dream, our consciousness is clouded as we hear the voices of everyone else. But when we awaken and can rise above the fog, then we can exist outside of the collective dream and create a dream of our own.

A lot of what this album talks about is thematically tied, in my opinion, to these concepts. When we awaken from the dream, we are able to mold our consciousness differently. Awakening takes different forms, and exploring societal pressures/norms/habitually accepted ideals (aka the collective dream), the way this album does, is one avenue through which to do so. Introspection is required as well, and I think Avenged Sevenfold takes the listeners through their own personal journey of doing so. I love the exploration of the self even as the A7X unit as a metaphorical self, a pocket within the larger dream. This album is clearly not their “normal” sound or subject matter, and they have explored who they are as a band exclusive of the external definition placed on them by the expectations of the music world.

I am thoroughly impressed. And I want to explore more music like this. Please and thank you, Universe.

**READ ME (please)**
Two things!

One, please note that the names of everyone in this blog have been altered to protect the people I write about. My main goal is to explore my experiences and my growth, not air anyone’s dirty laundry out. Any likeness to people you know in real life are probably coincidental. (I mean what are the chances? It’s a pretty big world!)

Two, the thoughts and opinions I express in this blog are merely a result of my personal experiences to this point in my life. If there is anything I have misrepresented, overlooked, or have a blind spot for, feel free to leave a comment or email me at contact@livingbetween.net. (Yes, this includes typos. Let me fix my typos, please!) All I ask is that you always remain respectful.

Talk soon!
– Lynda –