prologue
[THEATRE] Lyrics
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Fire dances madly
Enough to drive a man insane
Who's that approaching
Steadily encroaching
Should I fight or should I feign
His eyes run red
Searching for bloodshed
No one beside me
Enemies before me
I have no choice
I must take aim
Janus takes my hand amidst the chaos
And I can't find any reason not to trust
Lights flashing
Explosions all around us
What is this hell that I have awoken in
What do we fight for
My icy grip upon your throat will see you to your grave
What are we fighting for
Self-preservation's taken over
I can see your bleeding eyes
Running silent all the while
Unhappy with the crime yet apathetic all the time
Leaving destruction as we push forward
Is there freedom from this cycle
Is there hope for something more
What do we fight for
The thunder in my voice will see you to your grave
What are we fighting for
Self-preservation's taken over
I can see your bleeding eyes
I am lost in a world I do not understand
Forced to choose sides in a war that seems unending
I step forward anxiously
Fear of facing tragedy
I feel the power inside of me
Time to start this fantasy
What do we fight for
This fire in my heart will see you to your grave
What are we fighting for
Self-preservation's taken over
I can see your bleeding eyes
The song Prologue by [THEATRE] tells the story of a man who finds himself in an unknown and chaotic world. He is surrounded by darkness and fire, and does not know who to trust or how to act. He is soon joined by Janus, who takes his hand and guides him through the chaos. The man is torn between fighting and feigning, but ultimately chooses to take aim and fight for self-preservation.
The lyrics depict a struggle for survival and the search for meaning in a violent and unpredictable world. The repeated questions of "What do we fight for?" suggest a sense of confusion and uncertainty about the purpose behind the violence. The use of violent imagery, such as "my icy grip on your throat" and "the thunder in my voice," adds to the intensity of the song and evokes a sense of danger and fear.
Overall, Prologue by [THEATRE] is a complex and thought-provoking song that explores themes of violence, survival, and the search for meaning in an unpredictable world.
Line by Line Meaning
Darkness surrounds me
I am enveloped in darkness, unable to see anything around me.
Fire dances madly
There is a raging fire that is moving erratically.
Enough to drive a man insane
The intensity of the fire is enough to make someone go insane.
Who's that approaching
I see someone coming towards me.
Steadily encroaching
They are steadily moving closer to me.
Should I fight or should I feign
I am unsure whether I should fight or pretend to be harmless.
His eyes run red
The person approaching me has red eyes.
Searching for bloodshed
They seem to be looking for a fight.
I feel that we've met before
I have a sense of familiarity with this person.
No one beside me
I am alone in this situation.
Enemies before me
I am facing my enemies.
I have no choice
I feel like I don't have any options.
I must take aim
I need to prepare for a fight.
Janus takes my hand amidst the chaos
Amidst the chaotic situation, Janus takes my hand.
And I can't find any reason not to trust
Despite the chaos, I feel like I can trust Janus.
Lights flashing
There are flashing lights around us.
Explosions all around us
There are explosions happening around us.
What is this hell that I have awoken in
I feel like I'm in a terrible, nightmarish situation.
What do we fight for
I question the reason why we are fighting.
My icy grip upon your throat will see you to your grave
If I grip your throat, it will lead to your death.
Self-preservation's taken over
My instinct to protect myself is taking over.
I can see your bleeding eyes
I can see that you are injured and bleeding from your eyes.
Running silent all the while
We are running quietly through the chaos.
Unhappy with the crime yet apathetic all the time
Although I don't approve of the crime, I generally feel indifferent towards it.
Leaving destruction as we push forward
As we move ahead, we are causing destruction in our wake.
Is there freedom from this cycle
I wonder if there is a way to break free from this repetitive cycle of violence.
Is there hope for something more
I question whether there is a possibility for a better future.
The thunder in my voice will see you to your grave
The power and intensity of my voice has the capability to lead to your death.
I am lost in a world I do not understand
I feel lost and confused in this new world I find myself in.
Forced to choose sides in a war that seems unending
I am compelled to choose between two sides in a never-ending war.
I step forward anxiously
I move forward with nervousness and apprehension.
Fear of facing tragedy
I am afraid to confront the possibility of tragedy.
I feel the power inside of me
I sense an inner strength and power within me.
Time to start this fantasy
It's time to begin this imagined reality.
This fire in my heart will see you to your grave
The passion and intensity in my heart has the potential to bring you to your death.
Lyrics © DistroKid
Written by: Ryan Willard
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Greg McNeish
My favourite movie prologue is one that you mentioned (and showed) in passing but didn't get into: Jurassic Park. It accomplishes so much in a delightfully short amount of time. That the cinematography is absolutely perfect certainly helps (as it does throughout the film, which I contest is Spielberg's masterpiece).
In a movie that will take HALF its runtime to become the monster survival flick we know and love (the iconic shot of the T-Rex roaring beside the cars, the first full-body look at a predator in the film, comes EXACTLY 50% of the way through), and will consist mostly of philosophical speeches and discussions, the prologue does ALL the heavy lifting of establishing genre to prepare us for the incredibly slow-paced build. Jurassic Park simply would not function without the prologue hanging over our heads to remind us that dinosaurs are enormous, terrifying beasts that can kill and eat us almost without trying, if given the chance. It's that knowledge that allows us to get behind every single one of our protagonists as they lecture Hammond on precisely why and how this is a colossally bad idea. It's the counterweight to all the majesty and wonder that fills the first half of the film, as we bask in the magic of seeing dinosaurs in all their glory, paired with possibly the greatest film score of all time.
All of that - ALL of that - is balanced by a couple dark minutes in the rain, where we see just the eyes of a single raptor for only a second, as a man is slowly pulled into a giant box, while a minor character screams "SHOOT HER!"
That's the tension. That's why the power outage works. Why the lawyer running to the outhouse and abandoning the kids works. It's why the ripples in the water works. We've understood the REAL danger behind the facade the whole time, because we saw it in the prologue.
In case you hadn't guessed, Jurassic Park is my favourite movie XD
Writer Brandon McNulty
Positive note I want to add about Batman v Superman (SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING):
BvS begins and ends with a death/funeral. This helps bring the movie full-circle, which works in that regard.
Dennis Castello
I see the failure of the BvS prologue as a failure of editing, not writing or directing. Watching it the first time in the cinema it was clear to me that the message the prologue was trying to convey was that Bruce Wayne, an adult man in his 40s, is still having nightmares about the murder of his parents, it's still affecting him on a daily basis. The nightmare scenes should have been much shorter and punchier to make this clear. All they really needed to be were flashes and moments before he woke up in a panic and we would have gotten the message very clearly. My guess is that the editor wanted to cut it down, but lost this fight with the director.
Writer Brandon McNulty
@Dennis Castello That’s actually a great take. Your way would’ve worked much better
HaalandFilms
@Dennis Castello I had no issues with the length of the nightmares, I feel they got the message across pretty easily.
There is technically only one long nightmare and the one that is a vision of the future, the other ones are fairly short
Warren Blyth
I think the point of the BvS prologue is to show how broken bruce wayne was by his parents falling. He says something about "things that fall stay fallen... on earth." it's all setting up his broken contrast to perfect unbreakable superman.
And it leads right into bruce running into 9/11 to save his corporate "family." (This is what breaks him and kicks off his unreasonable rage at superman. if he was so angry at the accident that killed his 2 family members, what happens to his sanity/reason when superman accidentally kills dozens of his surrogate family? It's his worst nightmare)
(+lex luthor's comments on the flipped painting also echo this idea of the lie that comes from above)
Marcilla Smith
The thing to remember about a prologue, I think, is that it's not part of the first act, it's the opening act.
What I mean is that giving a local prop comic a short set to open for Carrot Top would work fine, but let the comic go too long or try to have them open for a metal band, and it's like what are you thinking???
Galantski
The Dark Knight has easily one of the most memorable and near perfect openings, as it combines action, crime, shock, chaos, betrayal, all to introduce the psychotic, anarchic, master villain Joker in a prologue that doesn't wear out its welcome, coming in at just around five minutes.
MajorMlgNoob
Inglorious Basterds similarly introduced its villain in a very effective way, though the scene is a bit longer as it's mainly dialogue
Writer Brandon McNulty
Yep, love Dark Knight's prologue. Gripping stuff
c4tubo
Agreeing that it's excellent, it's not really a prologue. That scene is part of the main story, the beginning of it actually.