Because of its brevity, I will be including the lyrics of the entire song below. I encourage you to read them carefully. A link to the actual song will be included at the bottom of this blog. And now, here is "Bahamut" by Hazmat Modine:
Well, Bohemoth calls us his own
While Bahamut wanders alone
They both go out to play
On that cold and rainy day
And Bohemoth sings us his song
While Bahamut wanders along
But in the glory of this spring
You can hear Bahamut sing
Whoa-ho-ho
Are you as big as me?
Whoa-ho-ho-ho
Way too big to see
Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho
Bahamut he goes so slow
Whoa-ho-ho-ho
Too big a place to go
(Solos)
(Spoken)
The entire known universe
Floats suspended in a thin silver bowl
Which rocks gently on the back
Of an immense blue-green tortuga
And the tortuga's scaly feet
Are firmly placed on the topmost
Of seven craggy mountains
Which arise from a vast and arid plain
Of drifting, fetid, yellow dust
And the plain is balanced precariously
On top of a small thin green acacia tree?
Which grows from the snout
Of a giant blood red ox
With 50 eyes that breathes flame
The color of the midnight sky
And the ox's hooves are firmly placed
On the single grain of sand
Which floats in the eye of Bahamut
Like a mote of dust
No one has ever seen Bahamut
Some think it's a fish
Some think it's a newt
All we know is that the lonely Bahamut
Floats endlessly through all time and all space
With all of us and everything
Floating in a single tear
Of his eye
Well, Bohemoth calls us his own
While Bahamut wanders alone
When they both go out to play
On that cold and rainy day
And Bohemoth sings us his song
While Bahamut wanders alone
But in the glory of their fall
You can hear Bahamut call
Whoa-ho-ho
Are you as big as me?
Whoa-ho-ho-ho
Way too big to see
Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho
Bahamut he goes so slow
Whoa-ho-ho-ho
Too big a place to go
And now some commentary! This is a remarkably eccentric view of the concept of the universe and existence in general. But the story itself is one that is both touching and sad. Not necessarily for the poor humans in that situation. Actually they seem fine. It's Bahamut that has it hard!
The story told in these lyrics is really about the loneliest creature in existence. He is basically a giant fish that floats out in the cosmos and has no one to talk to for all of eternity. And when I say cosmos, I'm not really talking about space. Although the story does mention that he drifts about in space, I am not certain they are talking about outer space. It sounds more like "outer outer space." Space beyond space. The empty existence that exists outside of the universe of which contains the universe itself. And the only one who exists here is a lonely fish of which size is incomprehensible.
The song also opens the mind to the concept of how big is big and how small is small. Although the story seems to stop at Bahamut, it suggests that there could be an even bigger creature than even him. The problem is that, if there is such a creature, he is too big to have a relationship with the poor fish. And likewise, we can't communicate with him for the same reasons. He is simply too separated from anyone else by size. So he cries and exists in his sad state.
There is another character in the sung parts called Bohemeth. I did a little research on this one. He is sometimes simply a variant of Bahamut, but in this story, he is very likely the giant ox. There is a possibility that Bahamut can hear the song that Bohemeth is singing, but he very likely does not know exactly where it is coming from. This is also quite sad. Perhaps, he uses it as a strange lullaby to help him sleep.
I am willing to wager every last bit of myself to say that the events of this story is completely untrue. Nevertheless, it is a super cool story. It somehow manages to spark the imagination. As we hear the song, our minds travel to larger and larger places just so we can comprehend it. It is well written and fun, and Hazmat Modine's performance of it definitely gave much to its presentation. Imagination should have no bars in its attempt to create. It can take us to worlds that never existed. "Bahamut" is a good example of man's attempt to recreate the world through fiction on a brilliant scale.
If you would like to hear the song for yourself, here is a link to the official YouTube video:
https://youtu.be/n58tlDXDLO8
Thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thanks!
Fantastic song, it does indeed spark the imagination. The story itself seems to originate from man trying to fill in the gaps of unknown knowledge. Although completely untrue the out of the box thinking is exactly the kind of open-mindedness we need today.
ReplyDeleteYeah, even I know this one is untrue, but it's clearly the creativity of it that makes it fun. And the story of the lonely creature that was much too big added a lot of character to it.
DeleteThe concept is TOO BIG TO HAVE FRIENDS and it does apply to real life. Celebrities and men of power are often alone for all their celebrity or power. God realized this was HIS problem, thus, he became the Son.
ReplyDeleteI love your example of God and the Son. That adds so much relevance to the concept.
DeleteI guess this is an example of how easy it is too lose touch with everything around you. The world is big enough, we must take care not to lose sigh of what is important. Or else we will wander alone for all our days.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's interesting that you can find worldly significance to it. You aren't wrong!
Delete