My Acolyte Journey: 2014.37

Never Catch Me
Flying Lotus. A song in the good old tradition of "trying to find the biggest words I know and stringing them together in the vain hopes of sounding intellectual." Now, I'm no poet. Trust me; the closest I get to poetry are awful half-attempts with lilting meter and no rhyme or pattern. But when you include lines like

Curiosity, animosity, high philosophy like the prophesied meditation

 and gems like

no coincidence you been died

I'm not inclined to believe your dedication to your art. AND THEN on the other hand, there is a theme running through this piece. (Hopefully, Stephen didn't rage quit before this line) I'm feeling the ideas, rather than seeing them outright. The author is either awful or coy, because I think he's talking about an environment in his head, but the imagery isn't specific. I do like

Step inside my mind and you'll find--

as a prelude. It does introduce me to the idea that this is an internal monologue. If that's the case, and the song deals with the author's headspace, the line

I've got mind control when I'm here; you're gonna hate me when I'm gone

is much, much more ominous in tone. Is he preparing to live beyond his consciousness? Is there some disease or degeneration that will leave him physically functional, but mentally absent? Or am I trying to find meaning where there is none, desperately hoping to give the author more credit then he's due? I hope not. Seriously.

Vandalizing these walls only if they could talk

is too beautiful to be wasting on a random pseudocombination of words. Plus, since I poo-pooed the music the first time through, I think the words must have something to offer, right?
But the music video.
It's just the right amount of joyous and frenetic and somber. It's just the right mix of sir-reverence and true humility in the face of death. I can't believe I would ever listen to this song again, but I would watch the music video. I would show it to a friend. I would talk about why the director chose children (extreme sadness) and (extreme joy) why fill a video about death with energetic dance. I would want to push the metaphors around my head to see how they roll. I would re-examine the characters to categorize them. I would have to wonder why the "choir" in the balcony seems to exist in some half-state between the children and the mourners. I would watch the music video again, but . . .
I wouldn't buy this.