The politics of Pawns & Kings

[Dan Dando]

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[scarecrow]

"Sitting in my ivory tower
Invincible to fall
Some would say my final hour
As you scale the wall"
and
"This alliance built on fear and rage
Ends in violence if I have my way"

- Very literally a description of Trump sending his minions to "scale the wall" of the Capitol on Jan. 6.

"I swear to god, I'll find a way
To prove I still belong
I'd rather watch it burn away
Than say that I was wrong"

- Also a very literal description of Trump denying losing the election ("prove I still belong"), and how he's still falsely claiming he won the election over 2 years later.

You could be right, but I would interpret the “scale the wall” lyric in a slightly different way. To me, “some would say my final hour, as you scale the wall” sounds more like it’s coming from the perspective of a figure/leader who is under literal siege. It almost makes me think more of Denethor in Return of the King than Trump.

"Silver Tongue" is 100% about the insurrection. Like feel free to make the song your own ("death of the author" and whatnot) but it's clear as day what Myles wrote it about. And business-wise yeah, it makes sense to tiptoe around what inspired the song. Personally I wouldn't but it makes sense and it's his choice.

The only remotely "conservative" Myles lyrics I can think of are the 'salute the troops' tracks which are... definitely not among my favorites.

[scarecrow]

Been listening to Season of Promise a fair bit, and it dawned on me that the song’s message, the whole idea of celebrating and preserving knowledge that has been passed on to us, is actually quite conservative.

I don't see it. But I (a former conservative, now extremely left) have come to view American conservatism as largely about whitewashing the past and tailoring it to suit a certain, uhhhhh, agenda. So I bring a lot of bias to what lyrics are politically-charged and which aren't. It is what it is.

[scarecrow]

Has Mark stopped using his 'thin blue line' guitar strap since the events of 2020? I feel like he has. I often wonder about his politics. Feels likely pretty centrist to me, closer to Myles than his brother Michael for sure lmao.

[zazthespaz]

Been listening to Season of Promise a fair bit, and it dawned on me that the song’s message, the whole idea of celebrating and preserving knowledge that has been passed on to us, is actually quite conservative.

I don't see it. But I (a former conservative, now extremely left) have come to view American conservatism as largely about whitewashing the past and tailoring it to suit a certain, uhhhhh, agenda. So I bring a lot of bias to what lyrics are politically-charged and which aren't. It is what it is.

I don't see how preserving knowledge that has been passed onto us is a conservative ideology (or any political-oriented one for that matter).

I hadn't paid too close of attention to the lyrics, but the line "We wait for the harvest, In the season of promise" sounds like a challenge to Biden to me. As if to say, "You promised a bunch, now please deliver." As far as the rest of the chorus:
"That was sown through the ages
That brings us to see
Everything that was started
By the dearly departed
May it live on forever
For the future to be"
first thing that comes to my mind is racial disparity/inequity. The promise of equality for all has been a fight for generations (dearly departed) that needs to continue/be won (may it live on forever). Anyways -that's my quick interpretation.

[Dan Dando]

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[Dan Dando]

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[Andy92]

Yeah when I listened to Season of Promise I didn’t think it came across as political at all. Myles’ description of it seems pretty straightforward to me and aligns with my first thoughts on it. Just a song about making the world a better place than you found it by passing good deeds and wisdom along.

Silver Tongue seems to be the one on the album that’s fairly outright political to me. Sin After Sin is the other one that could be interpreted as political the easiest. But I don’t think this album is full of politically charged lyrics throughout. The songs are generally vague enough that you can interpret them about however you want to.

[gbruin]

I don't think we should always equate inspiration with purpose.

I think it's pretty clear what inspired Myles, in part because we know a fair bit about how Myles feels about various circumstances. But I am sure he was intentionally more vague in writing his lyrics to allow people the ability to apply the song to other events which may be more personal or whatever. His "t-ball song", for instance, is quite a bit more interesting and accessible because he didn't write lyrics that specifically described hitting off a tee against kids who were bigger and stronger and who threw him out at first base every time. That's why we can have these conversations.

Allegory in a format as short as a song can be hard to pull off (now singing Rush, The Trees)

[tight rhythym]

The songs are generally vague enough that you can interpret them about however you want to.

Myles has stated that this is done intentionally.

I don't think this is a political record. "This is War" screams politics by its title, but Myles has stated it's someone's internal "war" inside their head.