I was picked up and then dropped off in a culture counter-clockwise turned around[1]Oblique commentary on the betrayals of supposed “counter-culture” of the ’60s, as we’ve detailed before. Also, as the title to Hugh Nibley’s final book reminds us, the … Continue reading
Dug a hole in Southern Carolina,[2]How you know this band is Canadian; because who state-side would ever call it “Southern Carolina”? took me straight to China safe and sound[3]Those of us who’ve lived in Rexburg before certainly understand the appeal of getting to someplace as far away as China as fast as possible (Hot Hot Heat was the same band who also released the … Continue reading
Donated my map to the lost and found[4]In retrospect, 2005, the year of this album’s release, was right on the cusp of the last era when one could still plausibly rely solely on a map; the dawn of the GPS on every smartphone was … Continue reading
While working for a common cause I only got a kamikaze state of mind[5]The desire to live for and serve others in a common cause comes in collision with the desire to also die and sacrifice one’s self entirely, which gets to one of the central tensions in … Continue reading
This self defeating meeting of the minds is eating what was once so hard to find
But right then the clouds parted in the sky
The horizon took us all a little by surprise, by surprise[6]“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” -1 Corinthians 2:9
Watch the sky[7]“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” -Matt. 24:42
And as the howling winds subsided,[8]Per Revelations 7:14, only those who have passed through tribulations—here represented by the howling winds—will be saved. As the late Jefferey R. Holland once taught, Eternal Life is not cheaply … Continue reading the locals ran out[9]Implicitly a tropical milieu, which would not only hold obvious appeal to the frozen denizens of the Great White North, but also symbolic of the warmth of God’s love and fellowship we feel in … Continue reading all waving their hands[10]The opposite of “the love of many shall wax cold” would indeed be “Hot Hot Heat”, come to think of it. and singing:
Welcome to the island of the honest man[11]This track is at heart an innate yearning for Zion–THE PURE IN HEART–that holy city of Enoch taken up by God into his bosom, where we will be separated from the lies and frauds of this … Continue reading
Do what you want – there is no need to impress us[12]Ezra Taft Benson, citing C.S. Lewis, famously declared in General Conference that Pride does not take pleasure in merely having, but in having more than others. That is, Pride, the universal sin, is … Continue reading
Welcome to the island of the honest man
We don’t believe in what the big people tell us[13]Joseph Smith once said in Nauvoo that “Great Big Elders”–those men who long thought themselves more capable and intelligent than the Prophet, and so resented him–had long been … Continue reading
Wait here – stay here[14]It is Interesting to note that in spite of how obviously more attractive this tropical island of warmth and human kindness is than our own world, the locals still have to invite the pilgrim to … Continue reading
I was picked up and then dropped off in a culture counter-clockwise turned around
Rolled a pair of dice in Paris that got me to paradise[15]Further confirmation that this song expresses a yearning for Paradise and Zion. all safe and sound
Stole my temper back from the lost and found[16]We must not lose our temper if we are to inherit paradise; as Alma 38:10 reads, “Bridle all thy passions that ye may be filled with love.” Love alone, after all, the pure love of Christ, … Continue reading
No longer needed to be seated on a sinking ship just waiting there to drown, there to drown
Jump off now[17]“O Babylon, O Babylon, we bid thee farewell…”
And as they lead us to their village, a thousand voices all started to sing out loud:[18]What will it be like to finally see the City of Enoch descend from the clouds, so that we can fall upon each other’s necks and weep in gratitude? How many thousands of voices will we hear on … Continue reading
Welcome to the island[19]Isaiah 11:11 speaks of redeeming those “from the islands of the sea.” There’s a certain strain of LDS apologetics that reads this as an allusion to the Lehites in Pre-Columbian America, which … Continue readingof the honest man
Do what you want – there is no need to impress us
Welcome to the island of the honest man[20]Seriously, I recently attended an academic conference at the University of Hawaii-Hilo, where the plenary speaker—a big native Hawaiian woman with a big personality to match and an Ed.D. from … Continue reading
We don’t believe in what the big people tell us[21]Perhaps this is also all why we sometimes never feel more at home than when we are on vacation.
Wait here – stay here
From the sunrise up above to the sunset below, they all sing[22]“If ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” -Alma 5:36
Welcome in, welcome back,[23]A reminder that, in the words of Wordsworth, “On trailing clouds of glory we came…” We existed before we were born, and if we attain the Celestial Kingdom, it will simply be us … Continue reading well come on let’s go
And all the people on the island they already know why they sing
Welcome in, welcome back, well come on let’s go
From the sunrise up above to the sunset below, they all sing
Welcome in, welcome back, well come on let’s go
And all the people on the island they all want to show why they sing,
why they sing, why they sing, why they’re singing[24]The urgency of this song is the same urgency we should be feeling in our rapidly passing mortal probations, both to maximize our … Continue reading
Welcome to the island of the honest man[25]When you remember that 2005 was in the thick of the invasion of Iraq—another blood soaked catastrophe that was based entirely on flagrant lies and dishonesty—then you can also understand the … Continue reading
Do what you want – there is no need to impress us
Welcome to the island of the honest man
We don’t believe in what the big people tell us[26]And it’s certainly not like the flagrant dishonesty of the “big people”—nor the urgent yearning to somehow get as far away from them as quickly as possible—has ebbed or abated in the … Continue reading
Welcome to the island of the honest man
This is the island of the honest man
Welcome to the island of the honest man
This is the island of the honest man
Wait here – stay here
I was picked up and then dropped off in a culture counter-clockwise turned around.[27]“For the course of the Lord is One Eternal Round…” -1 Nephi 10:19; Alma 37:12; D&C 3:2
References
| ↑1 | Oblique commentary on the betrayals of supposed “counter-culture” of the ’60s, as we’ve detailed before. Also, as the title to Hugh Nibley’s final book reminds us, the course of the Lord is “one eternal round.” |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | How you know this band is Canadian; because who state-side would ever call it “Southern Carolina”? |
| ↑3 | Those of us who’ve lived in Rexburg before certainly understand the appeal of getting to someplace as far away as China as fast as possible (Hot Hot Heat was the same band who also released the radio hit “Middle of Nowhere” on this same album). |
| ↑4 | In retrospect, 2005, the year of this album’s release, was right on the cusp of the last era when one could still plausibly rely solely on a map; the dawn of the GPS on every smartphone was nigh. What other things that we take for granted now will one day pass away, suddenly, at once, in an instant? Are not all things passing away as we speak? Must not the heavens and the earth pass away? |
| ↑5 | The desire to live for and serve others in a common cause comes in collision with the desire to also die and sacrifice one’s self entirely, which gets to one of the central tensions in Christianity: we are supposed to pick up our cross and follow Him, yet we also absolutely cannot abrogate the sacrificial role of Christ for ourselves, for He tread the winepress alone. He alone never got the lamb in the thicket. What manner of men are we supposed to be? Even as He is–except in the most important thing of all. Maybe it really is true after all that the last good Christian died on the cross. |
| ↑6 | “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” -1 Corinthians 2:9 |
| ↑7 | “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” -Matt. 24:42 |
| ↑8 | Per Revelations 7:14, only those who have passed through tribulations—here represented by the howling winds—will be saved. As the late Jefferey R. Holland once taught, Eternal Life is not cheaply bought. |
| ↑9 | Implicitly a tropical milieu, which would not only hold obvious appeal to the frozen denizens of the Great White North, but also symbolic of the warmth of God’s love and fellowship we feel in direct contrast to these latter days, when “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” -Matt. 24:11-12 |
| ↑10 | The opposite of “the love of many shall wax cold” would indeed be “Hot Hot Heat”, come to think of it. |
| ↑11 | This track is at heart an innate yearning for Zion–THE PURE IN HEART–that holy city of Enoch taken up by God into his bosom, where we will be separated from the lies and frauds of this world. Hugh Nibley once said that though honesty is highly prized in this life, it will not be valued at all in the Celestial Kingdom, for the simple reason that everyone there will have it. Ultimately, this yearning to flee to an island of honest men is a yearning to turn from the things of this world and seek for the things of a better. |
| ↑12 | Ezra Taft Benson, citing C.S. Lewis, famously declared in General Conference that Pride does not take pleasure in merely having, but in having more than others. That is, Pride, the universal sin, is fatally infected by a toxic desire to impress others. On a certain level, we all know this already; but it’s one thing to know it, but quite another to be converted and live it. But we will need to be converted to this mode of thought, because Heaven is a place where we will no longer need to impress others. By contrast, our current world of endless influencers jockying for fame is a hell of our own making indeed. |
| ↑13 | Joseph Smith once said in Nauvoo that “Great Big Elders”–those men who long thought themselves more capable and intelligent than the Prophet, and so resented him–had long been his bane. In this he taught true doctrine, for are we not supposed to be as little children, and humble ourselves if we are to be exalted, for the first shall be last and the last shall be first? Here too is another paradox of the faith: that in order to become big people ourselves–even as the Gods–we must first let ourselves be small, even acknowledge ourselves less than the dust of the earth. |
| ↑14 | It is Interesting to note that in spite of how obviously more attractive this tropical island of warmth and human kindness is than our own world, the locals still have to invite the pilgrim to “stay.” It’s like how the fruit of the Tree of Life in Lehi’s dream was sweet above all, yet still there were those who returned, ashamed, to the Great and Spacious Building. You finally escaped! Why would you ever willingly go back?! But then, the scriptures also have somber words about the tendency of dogs to return to their vomit… |
| ↑15 | Further confirmation that this song expresses a yearning for Paradise and Zion. |
| ↑16 | We must not lose our temper if we are to inherit paradise; as Alma 38:10 reads, “Bridle all thy passions that ye may be filled with love.” Love alone, after all, the pure love of Christ, is the only way we can become as the Gods and inherit Zion ourselves. |
| ↑17 | “O Babylon, O Babylon, we bid thee farewell…” |
| ↑18 | What will it be like to finally see the City of Enoch descend from the clouds, so that we can fall upon each other’s necks and weep in gratitude? How many thousands of voices will we hear on that great day? |
| ↑19 | Isaiah 11:11 speaks of redeeming those “from the islands of the sea.” There’s a certain strain of LDS apologetics that reads this as an allusion to the Lehites in Pre-Columbian America, which might seem like distant islands compared to Eurasia; yet given the widespread LDS presence in Polynesia, it could also refer to actual islands. Given the immense amounts of sincere love these island peoples are known for, they are already far closer to the Kingdom of Heaven than those of us from more “advanced” economies. We are the ones who must conform to them, not the other way around. |
| ↑20 | Seriously, I recently attended an academic conference at the University of Hawaii-Hilo, where the plenary speaker—a big native Hawaiian woman with a big personality to match and an Ed.D. from Harvard—was introduced by the moderator not with the normal summary of her CV as at most such conferences, but with a heartfelt song sung in Hawaiian a capela. In almost any other context it would’ve been awkward and cringe, but it was sung with such open and unabashed love, that it was absolutely captivating. At the end of the song, he reverently placed a Leigh over her neck, which she humbly bowed to accept, and then they touched foreheads together with eyes closed, in sincere affection.
I had never seen anything like it at an academic conference before—but then I realized I’d never seen anything like it just in general, including Church. It was then that I remembered that my mission president was also born and raised on Oahu—and he was one of the most loving men I’ve ever met. It’s not just the warmth that makes these islands paradise; they are filled with love, which makes them honest—for lies are based in fear, but perfect love casters out all fear—and hence not far from the kingdom. |
| ↑21 | Perhaps this is also all why we sometimes never feel more at home than when we are on vacation. |
| ↑22 | “If ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” -Alma 5:36 |
| ↑23 | A reminder that, in the words of Wordsworth, “On trailing clouds of glory we came…” We existed before we were born, and if we attain the Celestial Kingdom, it will simply be us returning home, not arriving someplace strange or new. Moroni 7:48 assures us that when we see Christ, we will know Him–as someone familiar, that we have always known, because we have–as he is. |
| ↑24 | The urgency of this song is the same urgency we should be feeling in our rapidly passing mortal probations, both to maximize our more-limited-time-upon-this-earth-life-than-we-usually-care-to-acknowledge, but also to flee Babylon and embrace Zion in these latter days, for we know not the day nor the hour. |
| ↑25 | When you remember that 2005 was in the thick of the invasion of Iraq—another blood soaked catastrophe that was based entirely on flagrant lies and dishonesty—then you can also understand the intense yearning and urgency of this song to get to someplace honest for a change. |
| ↑26 | And it’s certainly not like the flagrant dishonesty of the “big people”—nor the urgent yearning to somehow get as far away from them as quickly as possible—has ebbed or abated in the slightest in the 20+ years since this song came out… |
| ↑27 | “For the course of the Lord is One Eternal Round…” -1 Nephi 10:19; Alma 37:12; D&C 3:2 |