About the series

TIPS: You won’t have to read the introduction “About the series” next time if you don’t feel like it. You’ll just have to start reading from after the introduction. Not all posts will be structured like this one though, besides the introduction… 

Source: Dukascopy TV – Switzerland – Video interview of Marko Saaresto, Poets of the Fall, posted on Facebook on August 15th, 2017

As inspiration seems to dry out, or just seems to be on hold for something new to come by, Marko Saaresto always manages to put a new spin on the meaning behind an album. As it happens, I am, of course, talking about Clearview. I said it before, I cannot pick a favourite song from that album unless I can say that Clearview is my favourite song. Anyway, by the end of the interview from Dukascopy TV (see video above), Marko sums up what Clearview is about according to his feelings:

“Clearview is a clear view on things that you are unclear about basically, because […] it’s really, simply said it’s about asking. If you think you know something, that’s fine, but if you know you don’t know something, how do you get a clear view? It’s by asking. So, that’s basically what it’s about. But that’s a, I think also, a very big topic that we could really talk, like, a lot.”  – Marko Saaresto, August 2017 (transcript by Yours Truly)

So, if you’re getting fed up with my writing on the subject, don’t kill the messenger, take it up with Marko instead.? I am not responsible for the way my mind works for it’s got a mind of its own, and I have no say in it. Be that as it may, where do you go from a theme as wide as “how do you get a clear view? It’s by asking.” to writing the songs that will actually illustrate that theme? This is somewhat a mystery to me, and as much as I’d like to uncover it in these series, I cannot promise that I will succeed. I’ll sure try though. Hope you’ll like the self-imposed challenge and let me know what your own thoughts are.

Episode 1 – Drama for Life

Music – Down memory lane

I remember when I first listened to Drama for Life. I was at my parents’ place in the South of France, on summer vacation. I was waiting for the release of the new album’s first single. I was very excited on the day of the actual release. I sat on the terrasse, it was mid-morning and already very hot. I switched on my iPad, plugged in my noise cancelling headphones, cranked up the volume as much as my ears could tolerate and started listening/watching avidly to the Drama for Life lyrics video. The first notes put a huge smile on my face which did not leave me even after the song had ended. I was completely hypnotized and did not even hear the cicadas symphony that was going on under the hot summer day. I was so excited I could not sit still on my plastic chair. My fingers were drumming on the table following the rhythm of Jari‘s drums and Jani‘s bass. Chills took hold of my body when Olli played his solo and I never saw my father coming. I was so much in the song that when he put his hand on my shoulder, I jumped and screamed like a crazy person. Good stuff! Pressed repeat…

The voice

There is something deep happening every time Marko Saaresto starts singing… always magical. I pay particular attention to the intonations, the way he pushes the notes, high or low, to communicate the words/feelings that he wrote and how much he uses his famous vibrato that sends me to a place where nothing can actually distract me from the emotions he brings forward. I cannot say that about many singers… and since he is at the top of my favourite singers’ list, he’s got the award for that very special ability. Besides his incredible and powerful voice, it also matches his lyrics to perfection, obviously. I am a Poets of the Fall enthusiast and I have praised them often enough for you to understand what I mean.

Drama for Life to the Clearview theme

I wrote about the official video for Drama for Life in my post Drama for Life – new potf official video, so I won’t repeat what I said then, except this: Should we embrace the madness within to feel complete? Is this how we would be able to get a clear view of who we truly are? It does make sense actually. It is rather clever to start with this idea because, in order to enjoy life to the fullest, one needs to fully grasp oneself to better understand others and see them for who they are. Therefore enabling ourselves to interact with the world in a way that we will comprehend, even if we do not always agree with it. Deep thoughts… Embracing the madness within would be like:

Perfect, near fatal headlong dive
A blueprint for life, blueprint your life

I used to write and discuss personality types with fellow bloggers from The Wakefield Doctrine. It was rather fun, but after a while, I realised that I was getting obsessed with it and forgot what really made me tick. So I stopped but never forgot. It is very enlightening and somehow it could be the silver lining of getting a clear view on people.

The first step to getting a clear view on things is to know oneself. I am not sure one can do that just once. I believe that it is a lifetime learning process and time might actually help one to acquire a deeper insight as it goes. In other words, with time one would get a clearer view on things and people, thus making life really interesting and exciting.

In a pre-formatted world, where we are told what to eat – or not eat – what to wear, how to behave and what to think, there is not much space left for self-reflection. We still have free will and all that, but the way our society is turning against us at times, most of us choose the easy way. Depending on whether you’d rather be yourself than a pre-established “doll” or “poster-boy”, the challenge of getting to truly know yourself could be pretty daunting. Fortunately, and this is just my opinion, more and more people are getting tired of being bossed around like children. I am not certain that this has spread to the masses, but I am fairly optimistic about the fact that, at least the new and future generations are taking better charge of their own intellect and spirit. So, there is hope…

Take away the madness within and you set yourself up to experience a lifetime of drama; embrace it and you might just either enjoy the drama or eradicate it from your life. There is no right or wrong answer, only an endless set of possibilities, it’s up to you. Marko never says to whom you should ask when you don’t know something, therefore, we can safely assume that Drama for Life is also about asking yourself… staring at the looking glass, reaching within, facing oneself… not being afraid of asking, no matter the answers that might come out.

“If you know you don’t know something, how do you get a clear view? It’s by asking.” – Marko Saaresto

One more interesting idea that came to my mind. Your power lies in your name… I’m watching a lot of Japanese animes, and one finds almost always such a concept in the stories that are told. If you give your name freely, you are giving away your power… or, just like in the amazing Spirited Away” by Hayao Miyazaki, if you give your name, the person whom you give it to will be able to control you, own you. In the saga, Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (which I am reading for the third time), “Casters” (for the uninitiated, they are some kind of witches) get their true names when they get their powers. Why am I telling you this? At the end of the first verse from Drama for Life, Marko sings the band’s name:

we’re poets of the fall

They are not giving away their power, and are not being controlled or owned by anyone,? that is not what I mean to say. They are claiming their power… far-fetched? Probably, but this song is about embracing who you truly are. They cannot say something like that without applying it to themselves first, they’d be hypocrites and they are all but. I must conclude, or this post will last forever.

So, the first step to getting a clear view… be you… TRULY YOU, warts and all!

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Until next time! ?