Friday, March 2, 2012

Underdog Week: Finale

     Dary!  Legendary!  Tonight's song is my favorite one at this point in time.  Our band tonight is..

Chevelle
I have been listening to these guys for years.  They are a Chicago based band that was originally formed by three brothers.  After a couple of CD's there was a split and one brother left the group.  The remaining members have kept that reason to themselves the best they can.  Their newest CD is entitled "Hats off to the Bull." It is their 6th studio album and is a great example of how their musical style has refined itself.  They are very conscious about keeping all of their albums sounding the same, and they keep a unique feel to each CD.
     Tonight's song is the title track from the album, and thus is entitled "Hats off to the Bull." The metaphor of bullfighting plays perfectly into underdog week.  I'm sure most people know about the true nature of bullfighting.  It isn't anything like this what i remember seeing in cartoons.  I remember watching Loony Toons as Bugs Bunny gallantly defends himself from a big bully of a bull.  Through much comic mischief he is saved from the bull.  Real bullfighting is much more barbaric since we don't see the blood or any real injury in those cartoons.  For years I thought that all matadors did was wave a cape at a bull and dodge his horns, but the truth is rather horrifying.  WARNING: THE NEXT PART OF THIS BLOG CONTAINS PICTURES AND A VIDEO THAT ARE OF A VIOLENT AND GRAPHIC NATURE.
     
They are stabbed multiple repeatedly
The eyes of a victim
In the end they are killed 

     Bullfighting is flat out slaughter of bulls.  It is done for sport for the fans yelling in the stands.  In my opinion that there is no glory in ganging up on an animal and slaughtering it for pleasure.  Chevelle uses the metaphor to speak about how we treat each other.



All our needs put together
Don't bleed on their own
You paid for an eyeful
So behold the bull
Why can't I look up, out in the clearing
Tell me what's there below, end over end
While he's safe for the moment, guess what I'm learning
He's never safe from the crowd

So hats off to the bull
No giving up
Either way, it makes ya mad
Well some of us
Hats off to the bull, keep giving all
What ya say we make amends

To be monumental
Could mean the beyond
The simpler the treasure
Means the higher the cost
Well as for the ending, damn right I'm learning
You might ask for the door, end over end
Well I hate how the clouds hide
The gasps from above

So hats off to the bull
No giving up
Either way, it makes ya mad
Well some of us
Hats off to the bull, keep giving all
What ya say we make amends

Find your challenge, suffer miles
Colors gray, he brings them out
Don't mind the challenge, suffer miles
A little shallow, if I don't say

Hats off to the bull
His time ain't up
Bitter hell in the lion's den
For some of us
Hats off to the bull
The sun won't set
Till the pain and the final breath

So hats off to the bull
No giving up
Either way, it makes ya mad
Well some of us
Hats off to the bull, keep giving all
What ya say we make amends

Hats off to the bull, no giving up
Hats off to the bull, keep giving all

Hats off to the bull, no giving up
Hats off to the bull

     There is a lot of powerful imagery in the lyrics of this song.  The opening is no exception. "All our needs put together Don't bleed on their own You paid for an eyeful So behold the bull." The idea is that the person who is being treated like the bull has been purposely put there by their oppressors and they have made some sort of investment in their "prey".  The video showed a brief clip of the happy pastures that the bulls spend most of their time in, but being released before the crowd is the beginning of its swan song.  The underdog has no other choice to fight, and the odds are stacked so heavily against him that he has little hope of surviving.  I've seen and experienced the taunting of the bull.  If someone is weird and doesn't fit in the persecution and torment starts.  Its all for fun, but it is never fun for the underdog.  Beholding your quarry being brought down low makes you feel lifted.  That is one more person that you are better than, and if you were the so called "matador" you receive accolades from the group of bullies.  

     Chevelle is giving an ode to the underdog.  The metaphorical bull has no friends, freedom, or voice. This song is there call out in their name.   From what I've heard they are even specifically referring to government and the way our economy is continuing to go downward.  

     This is in many ways a continuation of last nights underdog call.  There is a lot of oppression of people by groups.  This song has a continuous theme of fighting back and not giving up.  "Hats off to the bull, no giving up Hats off to the bull, keep giving all" The video even shows how the bull continues to struggle and fight.  It gives everything that it can to fight back, and sometimes they hit home and score one for the underdog.
Unfortunately for the underdog the torment is constant and relentless. "His time ain't up Bitter hell in the lion's en For some of us Hats off to the bull The sun won't set Till the pain and the final breath" The oppressors keep stabbing away tearing at your vulnerable spots until you just can't take it anymore.  They bleed you dry and then move one as if everything was alright again.  In the end no no matter how much the underdog strives they lose a lot of battles.  Without encouragement or support of some kind they are likely to succumb, much like the bull, to the torment and lose all of the fight they have within them.

     The last lyric that I want to pull out comes at the end of the second verse.  "Well I hate how the clouds hide The gasps from above." The injustice is great and the idea of the oppressive crowds is blind to how horrific the whole ordeal is, and they can't see the reactions that occur in heaven.  They just continue demanding the blood of the innocent to be spilled to the satisfaction of their dark desires.

     This is how underdog week ends.  I thank you for coming along this journey with me through rants and raves.  I just wanted to share a what I have begun to hear from those around us.  There is a great need for love in this world, and we each have the opportunity to make those around us feel loved and appreciated no matter who they are.  The underdogs aren't a helpless group by any means.  They are strong.  The problem is that they are greatly mistreated, and their value is overlooked. 

     And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30, 31.

Happy Sabbath everyone!

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