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The Violet Burning - The Story of Our Lives:
Liebe über Alles, Black as Death and The Fantastic Machine
by Jocelyn Aucoin
It's that ache in your heart.
That place inside you where all the stuff collects and collides like junk in a drawer.
Except it's not junk. It's real and it matters and it's the matter that makes you. It’s that ache that makes you want to fight and surrender, scream and sigh. It's decaying and it's beautiful and it's full of these awkward opposites. So full that sometimes you don't understand. You can't understand.
But then someone or something comes along to give it shape, a voice. Someone whose ability to capture this space is so pure, so precise, that it springs hope within us and legs to stand on.
Something like The Violet Burning.
The Violets (affectionately called) have been making music under the direction of creative mainspring, Michael J Pritzl, since 1990. A prolific songwriter, Pritzl's story is one of endurance, endurance manifested in a plethora of albums and relentless touring throughout the US and Europe. Endurance resulting in an absolute rabid
following of fans. Though Pritzl has surrounded himself with different musicians through the years, the music has never been compromised and the fans keep coming back for the powerful, guitar-driven rock The Violets never fail to deliver. This time that rock is enlivened with the drumming virtuosity that is Lenny Beh. A stunningly emotive addition.
Nothing proves The Violets bring the rock better than their latest effort, their 9th full-length studio album, The Story of Our Lives: Liebe über Alles, Black as Death and The Fantastic Machine, an audio triptych of sorts. The album's 34 songs are divided into three parts: Liebe über Alles, Black as Death and The Fantastic Machine. Although asunder, the album rages with rock and drips with beauty, all the while shaking it's figurative fist at a digital age wherein, despite the abundance of material available, artists still feel beholden to the 10-song album format restrictions of the past.
The Violets didn't feel this restriction and because of that, The Story of Our Lives is not just an auditory experience, it is a multi-sensory aesthetic experience. These songs didn't take a week to write or two days to record. The artwork wasn't thrown together in an hour in Photoshop. This is a complete body of work that began as a spark of an idea and has now been seven years in the making. In this way, it defies the unspoken and mediocre standards of today, offering up an incredible sonic experience in addition to a riveting lyrical journey.
And the journey is a familiar one. In fact, it reads like some of the greatest novels ever written. The Fantastic Machine sets the tone for this journey as "Where It All Begins" climbs from a pensive, pretty melody to an all out blur of frantic guitars, over which "my heart and soul are wired in!" it screamed wild and breathy. It's the definition of epic, and songs like “Machine Beat Sabbatha” and “Imminent Collapse” follow suit, allowing the listener in on the chaos that's brewing in the heart of our character. “The Letting” and “Leaving” tell a quieter story, one that will course through your veins with their beautiful sadness. And in the end, our character leaves The Fantastic Machine behind, giving up on a life that has been selling him lies.
Black as Death picks up where this sadness leaves off, descending on ears like a bat out of hell--an almost mindless storm of sound and distortion. “My Name is Night” is case and point of this, heavy and teeming with Sabbath-like drumming. “Maelstorm” expands into this chaos, the entropy of its opening guitars hitting like the explosion of tides. Pritzl's delicate falsetto dancing atop the water. And then there is “Rock Is Dead”, which exists not only as the definition of pop song perfection, but shows our character gaining strength. Shivers run down your spine when he screams, "I'm going on, going on!" "In Ruin" leaves a sweet taste in our mouths with it's swirly delays, rhodes bells and sweeping cello.
Enter Liebe über Alles, The Story of Our Lives' graceful and exquisite counterpart. Our character has chosen death, but now lives to continue his journey home. A beautiful relenting, “Mon Désir” is honest in both melody and lyric as Pritzl’s broken voice sings, "All I want is you." "Arc" has a driving rhythm that climaxes with an explosion of spirited strings. "I am coming home!" The dreamy and romantic ballad, "I Caught Fire", is encased in a haze of fuzz guitar, pulsing drums and the descending piano, "…in all the songs of men and angels, if I have no love, I'm blank." And finally “through a life, blessed and cursed, love and only love goes on and on…” the true rest of “Liebe über Alles” and the final acknowledgement that our character has made it home.
This is not just another album by another band. This is a realization. A realization that this story--the struggle and the heartache, feeling lost and so alone--belongs to each one of us. It’s the way we feel when we are sad and broken and it’s the way we feel when we are so complete and content, at home and at rest within ourselves and with others and with “The Lord of Song.” It’s knowing we’re not alone in this big, messed up machine of a world. It’s the hope of “every corner of our heart and soul” being made for someone who loves us more than we will ever understand.
This is the story of our lives.
The Violet Burning is Michael J. Pritzl, Daryl Dawson and Lenny Beh. THE STORY OF OUR LIVES: Liebe über Alles, Black as Death,and TH3 FANT^5T1C MACH1N3 was written and recorded by Michael Pritzl at Nowhere, CA studios (various closets, garages, entry ways, and bedrooms in Southern California) and features Eleanor Beh on Cello and Jeff Schroeder of Smashing Pumpkins (lead guitar on 3 songs).
The Story Of Our Lives was released digitally at thevioletburning.com March 5, 2011. The triple album will be coming worldwide one part at a time via iTunes, Amazon, and other online digital resellers throughout 2011. The triple album will also be available in it’s physical, beautiful, limited edition, 80-page packaging via thevioletburning.com beginning April 4, 2011. The Violet Burning are now planning US and European tour dates.
-Jocelyn Aucoin – 2011
Lord Rescue Me
The Violet Burning Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh Lord, rescue me
May I sing this holy song?
Let my words be true
All I have, I leave behind
I follow after you
Oh Lord, rescue me
Lead me to your promised land
Guide me from above
Pull me from the avalanche
Draw me from the flood
Lord, rescue me
Oh Lord, rescue me
I fall onto my knees, where the earth and sea do meet
I lift my hands to praise your name
Oh Lord, rescue me,
Oh Lord, rescue me.
Wash me in your sacred stream (rescue me)
Let your mercies spill
Grant my heart your lasting peace (rescue me)
Let it be your will
Oh Lord, rescue me
Oh Lord, rescue me
May I sing this holy song? (oh Lord, rescue me)
Let my words be true
All I have, I leave behind
I follow after you
Follow after you
The Violet Burning's "Lord Rescue Me" is a song of supplication and surrender to God. The lyrics call on God to rescue the singer and lead them to the promised land. The song opens with a plea to be rescued, and is repeated throughout the verse and chorus like a mantra. The singer desires to offer a holy song and true words to God. They acknowledge all that they have to leave behind and pledge to follow God, who is the only one who can rescue them.
The second half of the song moves from a focus on being rescued to a focus on God's mercy and peace. The singer desires to be washed in God's sacred stream and to have God's mercies spill over them. The song ends with a declaration of intent to follow after God, implying that they trust that God will rescue them and guide them to their promised land.
One interesting interpretation of this song is that it can be seen as a prayer for salvation or redemption. The repeated pleas for rescue suggest a desire to be saved from something, while the focus on God's mercy and peace suggests a longing for spiritual healing. The metaphor of being washed clean in a sacred stream reinforces this idea.
Overall, "Lord Rescue Me" is a powerful song that expresses a deep yearning for divine intervention and guidance. Whether interpreted as a prayer for salvation or simply as a cry for help, it is a moving plea for the presence of a higher power in our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Lord, rescue me
The singer is calling upon the Lord to rescue them from their current circumstances.
Oh Lord, rescue me
A repeated plea to the Lord for rescue.
May I sing this holy song?
The singer asks for permission to sing a holy song.
Let my words be true
The artist desires honesty and sincerity in their speech.
All I have, I leave behind
The artist is willing to let go of their possessions and past in order to follow the Lord.
I follow after you
The singer is dedicated to pursuing a life following the Lord.
Lead me to your promised land
The singer requests guidance to reach a place where the Lord has designated as a special blessing.
Guide me from above
The artist wants the Lord to be their guide from heavens.
Pull me from the avalanche
The artist seeks intervention from the Lord to be saved from an overwhelming and dangerous situation.
Draw me from the flood
The artist wants the Lord to save them from the overwhelming flood they are facing.
I fall onto my knees, where the earth and sea do meet
The singer gets onto their knees in a physical location where the earth meets the sea.
I lift my hands to praise your name
The artist raises their hands in benevolence of praising the Lord's name.
Wash me in your sacred stream (rescue me)
The singer begs the Lord to cleanse them with a purifying current of the sacred stream while rescuing them.
Let your mercies spill
The singer asks the Lord to let his mercies overflow and flood them with grace.
Grant my heart your lasting peace (rescue me)
The singer prays for their heart to be supplied with the Lord's everlasting peace while being rescued.
Let it be your will
The artist submits to the Lord's all-encompassing will and guidance.
Writer(s): Michael Pritzl
Contributed by Adeline N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.