De Profundis (Lifeforce part 5)

[Christopher Stewart]

("De Profundis 1" by Kate Parry Evans)

« Lifeforce » is the story of a personal catastrophe, an individual end of the world, beginning from a state of inspiration and hyperactivity, through doubt, destabilization, failure, consternation, collapse, and then on to relativisation, assessment, the return of hope, and renewal.

The story is told in non-linear time, beginning just after the collapse, and its various stages are presented as objects of an introspection which will lead to appraisal and peace and will allow the protagonist to determine their next direction.

« De Profundis » is the fifth and final movement of « Lifeforce. » I discovered the title when time came to name the various sections of « Between Worlds. » I opened my encyclopedic dictionary and started looking for words beginning with « d » in the hopes of finding five suitable titles all starting with the same letter (I already had « Dissolution » and « Dance Of The Archetypes » at that point). I stumbled upon this Latin locution which means « out of the depths of misery, » or simply « out of the depths » according to some sources, and instantly thought of the present movement, as it aptly expresses its mood of looking forward with hope after hitting rock bottom.

The lyrics have been quite harder to come up with though, as I had too many good ideas to fit in the existing musical structures. After much pondering and a lot of almost-but-not-quite-satisfactory versions, I finally decided on the words which follow below. Please note that the melodies you can hear in the clip haven't been updated to match the final phrasings.

Holding in your hands the gift of miracles
Resolving yet again to elude all misery
Far yet so close, wise yet so blind
Will you ever stop and see ?

Past endeavors were not wasted
Nor was your pain borne in vain
With you remain, all the things that you need for the way
A brand new day, every chances to show us your best
Don’t mind the rest

See that your goal is near
All that you need is here

Let the music move your body
Endow with will and way
You’re here to play, not to think of more shackles and banes
Loosen your chains, and be free to return to the game
Show your true flame

See that your goal is near
All that you need is here