Members Sad Navigator Posted August 13, 2009 Members Share Posted August 13, 2009 Athena's Owl An old man blandly grinningNumber seven out of twelve His gears are always spinning With sundry, crucial plotsHis hands forever busyTying countless, useless knots With precision and with careNever tiring of his craftHe hangs his rotten snaresWhere they never fail to catchTurning each unlucky targetInto a sorry, writhing wretch Beyond the broken topsIn the blackest modern skiesWatch for Athena's owlAnd her hateful, saucer eyes Beyond the broken topsIn the black majestic skiesWatch for Athena's owlAnd her hateful, saucer eyes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted August 14, 2009 Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 I like owls. Hmm... I'm wracking my memory trying to remember what I know about Athena's owl. At first I was crossing Athena with Diana (goddess of hunting?) Anyhow... It's certainly an intriguing set up and I'm going to wrestle around with it in my mind for a while and maybe I'll even look it up... But then I got caught on the modern skies part and now I'm more confused than ever... old trap-maker... Athena... modern skies (or is this, itself, some sort of reference?) I have to say, it's an intriguing set of lyrics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted August 14, 2009 Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 This is just frustrating to read. Why are the knots useless? It seems they never fail to catch their prey. The bland grin seems to be a dead-end image, which is not a great way to start out. Throughout, it seems to demand a lot from readers without much payoff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nickfromdtown Posted August 14, 2009 Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 name it archimedes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IanAlderman Posted August 14, 2009 Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 Where'd the inspiration to write about owls come from? I'd like to shoot an owl- the owl you're talking about with my .22 lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sad Navigator Posted August 14, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 name it archimedes That's Merlin's owl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sad Navigator Posted August 14, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 Hmm...perhaps this is all more obscure than I thought. Part of the inspiration for the owl in question is the pagan object of at Bohemian Grove. Athena being the virgin goddess of goddess of wisdom/cunning, peace, warfare, strategy, handicrafts and reason, she seemed a fitting patron for this owl worshiped (supposedly) by the frightening oligarchy that secretly rules over us all, or whatever. "Modern" because it reminds the reader/listener not to consider this a as a Ren Fest piece. "Useless" because in the grand scheme, petty plots and effective snares (think the CIA) are pretty unfruitful or provide but fleeting success. "Blandly grinning" because I associate that with politicians and other officials. There's a fleeting, coded reference to the Majestic Twelve which might be what influenced the "saucer" eyes. Essentially, it's s brief rumination on the merits of Athenian virtues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted August 14, 2009 Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 Hmm...perhaps this is all more obscure than I thought. Yep. What good is being smart if no one knows what the {censored} you're talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sad Navigator Posted August 14, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 Yep. What good is being smart if no one knows what the {censored} you're talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted August 14, 2009 Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 Case in point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members missouri_picker Posted August 14, 2009 Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 associating an owl with a politician is appropriate, they wait for their prey doing nothing bit sitting there then unknowingly pounce and rip it to shreads and devoure it and then regurgitate their bones. Yep! sounds pretty right on to me;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sad Navigator Posted August 14, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 Case in point. It was a Wasteland gag. "April is the cruelest...blah-di-blah...lilacs..." Aren't you a teacher? What are you teaching? The back of the Lucky Charms box? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IanAlderman Posted August 14, 2009 Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 After re-reading your work, I appreciate it for what you're doing. I like obscure things that most people don't get on the first try. I like it even more when pagan imagery is used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhino55 Posted August 14, 2009 Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 I always associate Owls with death So to me the way I read this one is that this old dude thinks he is in control by being able to deal death to others but ultimately he can not save himself from death. Death is a constant that none of us can escape. This was true in ancient times as well as modern. This one was thought provoking and well put together. I like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted August 14, 2009 Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 Aren't you a teacher? What are you teaching? The back of the Lucky Charms box? You seem to be implying I can't understand what you're talking about because of an intellectual deficit on my part. I accept that this is a possibility. However, I'm here as a songwriter, giving your work FAR more consideration than I would as a casual music listener. If I spend 10 minutes going over your lyrics (and not so many on the LOLcat) and it's still not ringing, there is a clarity problem. Songwriting tradition holds that confusion is always the songwriter's fault--kind of a "customer is always right" thing. I don't know who your target audience is, but I can promise I'm more forgiving of self-indulgence than they will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sad Navigator Posted August 14, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 You seem to be implying I can't understand what you're talking about because of an intellectual deficit on my part. I accept that this is a possibility. However, I'm here as a songwriter, giving your work FAR more consideration than I would as a casual music listener. If I spend 10 minutes going over your lyrics (and not so many on the LOLcat) and it's still not ringing, there is a clarity problem. Songwriting tradition holds that confusion is always the songwriter's fault--kind of a "customer is always right" thing. I don't know who your target audience is, but I can promise I'm more forgiving of self-indulgence than they will be. Just busting your chops a bit. Sheesh. I was mostly on your case for not getting the "Wasteland" lolcat thing. Also, you brought up smarts -- not me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted August 14, 2009 Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 For the record, I wasn't busting your chops. I was trying to provide constructive criticism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sad Navigator Posted August 14, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2009 For the record, I wasn't busting your chops. I was trying to provide constructive criticism. I got that. But I just wanted to let you know that I wasn't really calling you dim -- just unfluent at lolcats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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