Immortal?

We continue our journey into the Immortal? World. According to Clive, the central theme of the album is that people think that they are here for a reason, that they’re chosen somehow. This manifests itself in many ways, through religion, for example, or the idea that an UFO is going to pick us up. The album also deals with the possible dangerous consequences of (too) strong convictions. Maybe this explains the question mark in the album title. Is immortality attainable for us at all? Or are we fooling ourselves?

This main thread of Immortal? is epitomized beautifully by the dedication that Clive has given the album:

And where will you find Immortality?

Kneeling in misery?
Making endless reassurances, lost in naivety?
Standing up, looking up?
Conjurers hoaxers exploiters killers occultists volunteers?
Hatred or love leading you?
Submerged in lifelong kudos?

Perhaps you have already found it!

Everybody seeks immortality in his own way. Who has the right to say that one particular way is the right one for everyone? You have to believe in it yourself, that’s what matters. The concluding sentence is a bit mysterious. Maybe we have found immortality by listening to the album?!

Just like in Moviedrome, this text also contains a ‘hidden message’. Clive thanks his cats on every album he makes. Nevertheless, the ‘thank you’s’ in the Immortal?-booklet are very short. The ‘thank you’ is hidden: the capitals (excluding the first and the last sentence) are the first letters of the names of his cats. In the booklets of the earlier albums, you can find this familiar line: Kim, Merlin, Sulu, Chekov, Holly, Silk.

The title of the opening track is very clear: Chosen. Both the strength you can draw from the idea that you are immortal somehow and the negative aspects are featured in this lyric. It has the perspective of a group of people who feel they are chosen and who, though they look like everyone else, are immortal:

We live amongst you
In the guise of mortal men
You’ll never see us in the crowd

Don’t judge by appearances, in the end they are a tight group, united by their common beliefs. This makes them anonymous, no more than a member of the group (faceless followers):

Imagine you can tell us all apart
From prophecy or old wives tales
Or from the warnings of a singular birthmark
But these are merely all false trails

Their whole life is aimed at a higher purpose, all they do is wait for the moment this purpose will be realized:

We only look towards 
What purpose we’ve been sent
And wait until the time is now

This reminds of the news items that appear regularly about collective suicides by occult sects, under the conviction that this will bring them to their destination.
Thus, we have reached the reverses of (too) strong beliefs. You run the risk of becoming passive, unable to think critically or to look any further than the confines of your beliefs – you become a slavish follower:

The faceless followers knelt in prayer
Near whited sepulchres and lightly coded software

Freedom of speech - But we have no voice
Freedom of spirit - But we have no choice
Given no help - To meet these demands
Given no help - It's out of our hands

Never turn around never look behind
Got to turn the water into wine

White sepulchre, besides it literal meaning of white plastered grave, also signifies hypocrite. The way to immortality that is being offered may appear very attractive, it may not be what it seems. You are being lured with fine promises, you are being challenged to make the jump:

Take a leap of faith if you want to find out
Better hold on tight if you want to know how
Take a leap of faith if you want to find out
You have been chosen!

And then you are trapped:
Wisdom spat from the whirling chair
Shaking the bars when they stop and stare at me

This is more or less the same purport as that of Moviedrome (see Moviedrome article). In this song, the masses blindly follow the powers that control all on the promised road to progress and prosperity (‘Blind to the cause we’ve been selected for… Elected for’) and then they are trapped (‘Prisoners forever in the Moviedrome’). 

The theme of leaders and followers and of being caught in the grip of a leader is a recurring topic on the album and The Butterfly Man also shows this. It is a song about an evil power who hunts for human souls. Just like some people collect butterflies, he collects souls. Just when you are weak, when you are overtaken by strong feelings of loss, victory, anger or hate, he strikes. At that moment you are vulnerable, susceptible to his seduction, to the redemption he pretends to offer, and he is able to catch you easily:

He waits in the dark for lives, misguided and wrecked
The catcher of innocent souls
He’s proud of his human collection
Of losers who give up the chase
Of winners who fail to look round
He creeps up behind the fallen and blind
They’re gone! With hardly a sound

He takes pleasure in this and is proud of his varied collection (The catcher of elegant souls/Extravagant souls/Belligerent souls). Once you have succumbed to his seduction, there is no turning back. Only then you realize that you are trapped:

The warning signs come far too late
By then he’ll have captured your soul

The Butterfly Man himself, however, is also trapped in his habit:

‘I’ve been here for so long
Don’t even know what my purpose ever was
I don’t even know where I belong
Through the years I’ve been waiting
Even time has lost its meaning
Don’t even know where I belong’

‘Can’t ever turn from this path
Don’t even know what alternatives there are
Perhaps I wandered too far
I’ve been here for so long
Don’t even hope for an end to all of this
I have no choice but to carry on’

A certain belief or a certain conviction is something that you can draw strength from, but you can also be trapped in it and you have to be aware of that risk. In other words: keep your mind open to other ideas. If you happen to have any, I would love to hear them!

By: Erik Beers