THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

I wrote the following while listening to Dark Side of the Moon. It is a stream of consciousness piece. I feel it illuminates my powerful emotions stronger than conventional writing can. Feedback is always welcome.

There's not much more to say about this album. Even to say there is not much more to say is rather cliche; millions of fans and critics have said it before me, but it is imperative to me that I share my opinions on this album, which has altered the way I look at the world. I know no other way to write this review than from the point of view of stream of consciousness so that what I write is pure and organic. To spend one moment revising or reviewing any aspect of this review will stifle my creative flow and I will have forfeited my true feelings about this album to "better judgment" and, worse yet, stark self-consciousness. So, I ask for your patience in this review, for to parallel this masterpiece with words is no easy task and perhaps not even a righteous one. But, I restate, this album has changed my life. Allow me to pry out the inner workings of my mind and attempt to put the wordless into words. And please dismiss that which you see as bathos. I can think of no better way of expressing my strong feelings towards this album.

It is not that the lyrics of Dark Side of the Moon spoon-fed me knowledge or wisdom about the world. Rather, this music awakened the wisdom that was always in me, but lay stifled by materialism and selfish tendencies. Even as I write this, the fingers which I type with sting with guilt of hypocrisy for I am no perfect human. But I have realized, through this album, the most important lesson of life: the answer does not lie in the faults or successes of society, the school system, mind-altering drugs, government institutions, churches etc. The answer lies within. These things may act as a catalyst for discovering wisdom, but ultimately wisdom is a personal matter. It is not something that is given or received, but something that blossoms from within.

But the larger voices in society (words with making me cringe with embarrassment because to blame society feels so juvenile and cliche) would not agree. The larger voices say intuition is something to be tamed and only institutions can award wisdom. This is what I believed for the first 16 years of my life. Wait patiently, in desperation, for that wisdom to come to you. My days in school and at the job are all just part of an elaborate process and the wisdom will be awarded when it is all over. When I am older, this is who I will be... these are the things I thought to myself. But I had missed the starting gun.

What a revelation. Roger Waters did say that Dark Side of the Moon is an album for those who distrust society. I can no longer trust that spontaneous order has made society what it is. There are other forces at work.

And then there is death, always close yet so distant. The other world. That great gig in the sky which we long to see the workings of, to which we try to explain with words. Thank you Clare Torry. We need not words to describe death for to do so is to explain chemistry with only formulas but dismiss the work of God who had set such formulas down.

Death is the finish line, money is the vehicle. And none can disagree. Once again, embarrassment pulls me back, taunts me to revise what I have written. cellar door, James Joyce laughs, I cringe....

Silence. Okay, Side B. Turn over the vinyl.

Hisssss... Ching!

Nuclear weapons to save ourselves from them. Us and them. Me and you. It is a world of separations. Wars strike because of these separations. It feels childish to simplify at first, but then I realize it is even more childish to complicate the issue and in doing so attempt to justify it. You middle class teenager! You just don't understand world affairs! Ahh yes! This idea of killing ourselves with nuclear weapons is something that must understood now, isn't it?

Any colour you would like, sir.... I am standing behind a glass wall. A white room. I am soaring across the world, across time and space, feeling not the least pretentious. What is this brave new world? What is this absurdity. Rainbows project from nowhere like famine from beauty.... The world suddenly makes sense and I see no reason why it shouldn't.

I am a lunatic. Shame lunacy and wisdom aren't synonyms for I do find they are analogous.

Welcome to the world my friend. You are the lunatic, just like the rest of us. You are part of this strange world whether you like it or not. Somebody you will see it. You may not now, but someday when the band starts playing different tunes, when the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear, you shout but nobody seems to hear, you will realize you can not escape society. So welcome, my friend to this world which, shrouded in existential world. Living is all you can do. I'll see you on the dark side of the moon. I think it's nice....

And all that is not and all that is gone and all that's to come and everything under the

Sun

is in tune but the sun is eclipsed by the moon

There is no dark side of the moon Matter of fact it's all dark The only light we see Is that which is reflected Off the sun.

You are a piece of the puzzle. You affect the world and it affects you. You strive for the sun, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon. Pink Floyd says it best and my avant garde ramblings can not supplement such bare beauty.