IN: A Chorus Line

[jeriendhal]

"Don't feel ashamed about the question, youngling, it's something everybody asks before they fledge, or at least think about. I know the idea of demonic bands doesn't make a lot of sense, but you have to understand it's a bit of a metaphor, just like the Symphony. Oh don't look at me like that, just settle back and listen."

"Been earthside yet, youngling? Ever been inside a church when they're doing services? Yeah, I know some of the stuff they say is Truth will make your little head spin, but it's worth your time, just to hear the choir sing. Because here's the thing about choirs. Even the crappiest, most off-key choir can have a bit of true beauty about it. You know why? Because individually, a human's voice could screech on your ears like claws on a blackboard, but together, with others, their voice will blend in, find a natural harmony, and turn into something wonderful. Get a bunch together that actually all know what they're doing... What, you never cried in a church before? Same goes for other kinds of group music: singalongs, Bantu war chants, Tuvan throat singing. The individual's errors are smoothed out, because the group supports him."

"Now a band, a band is a different animal altogether. A demon is someone who's lost their nature, or never had it in the first place. They're cut off from the true Symphony, and even listening to them speak, much less sing, is something that makes my teeth ache. Tone deaf, the lot of them."

"Now, have your teachers let you listen to that newfangled human music called Rock & Roll? Good, that'll help. Contrary to some earthside beliefs, it's not "The Devil's Music" but for our purposes it'll serve well enough. An indidual demon can't, or rather won't, hear the true Symphony. So he's got to make a substitute, and that substitute is himself. The calls for individuality in most rock music isn't just a coincidence. Demons are screaming out into the darkness, not working with the Symphony but forcing it to listen, to twist to his own beliefs. It's no coincidence that the current generation of demons arriving earthside are taking to heavy metal iconagraphy like ducks to water. The average heavy metal band sounds like a bunch of steel girders tossed into a cement mixer. It's horrible, but there can be a sort of hypnotic beauty in all that pain and alienation. But most of the time it's just awful, and weak, and scared, if you truely listen closely. Though if you should ever hear a demon singing, that sounds actually pleasant, more Chuck Berry than Marilyn Manson? Latch onto the fellow and don't let them out of your sights, they're Redemption bait for sure."

"Anyway, that's why, when it all comes down to the end, we're going to win. Because when we're together, we can truely sing."

Comments

[jrcubindy.livejournal.com]

Now that's good.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :)

Jazz

[p-o-u-n-c-e-r.livejournal.com]

There exists a Winton Marsalis quote on jazz I can't track down on Google for exactitude ... but to paraphrase, he suggests that jazz is the essense of freedom -- everybody making his own music, everybody clamoring for the big solo in the center spotlight, and yet everybody aware and trying for the magic that only arises when every bit from everybody somehow comes together...

Re: Jazz

[wavemaker.livejournal.com]

So Jazz is the ideal balance between the two... the human balance. *grins widely* Mind if I borrow that for my Transhumanist basically-White Sorcerer character? ;-)

Re: Jazz

[library-cherub.livejournal.com]

No this is the type of music that demons use in their pep-talk as an example of why individuality is the only real option. They still use choral music as an example of the angelic option but concentrate on the fact that everybody has to be in tune and they need 'conductors' and 'leads' (read God and the Archangels) to function.

"And that, squib, is why we'll win, because we can think for ourselves, make music that comes from our soul and don't break down at the first sign of individuality"

Re: Jazz

[effrenata.livejournal.com]

Heehee. Well, my human character can borrow the same argument for her own purposes. Individuality is a human value too, after all. And since humans don't have demonic resonances, they don't feel automatically compelled to impose their individuality on others, so they need not suffer the same levels of conflict and disunity that weaken demonic society. Demons, after all, need "conductors" and "leads" (Princes and Lucifer) in order to cooperate at all, while humans can form more democratic groups and cooperate voluntarily. (My character tends to be something of a Human Supremicist, too -- secretly, at least. But, well, Sorcerers tend to be that way.)

I'll note, too, that there was an Angel of Jazz on the Brass & Steel mush (now closed, alas.)