Steamroller (Juggernaut part 4 - revisited)

[Christopher Stewart]

(« Wilesco D36 steamroller » by Morn)

« Steamroller » is the fourth chapter of « Juggernaut. » In the storyline of the suite, it represents the apex of pain, and the metanoia.

The instrumental is one of the most busy pieces of music that I’ve written up to now, and features a personal record for odd meters with an organ riff in 23. It is intended to hit hard and convey a feeling of inexorable mercilessness.

I have no plans to augment the composition with vocals at this point, but here's the poetry I wrote to complement the music.

how have i slipped this time
how have i missed the mark
no reason nor a rhyme
i am left in the dark

how did i end up here
when all was flowing well
what have i failed to hear
why did you not foretell

you've pushed me didn't you
you've tripped me i recall
you've crushed me i hate you
and by anger i fall

forgetful of the threat
now i cry like a loon
and my fault i regret
moonchild on a full moon

i may have crossed some lines
that i must have misread
oblivious to the signs
i ended up misled

too caught up in the run
too hungry for the fruits
in striving for the sun
i neglected the roots

though the lesson is hard
there's comfort in process
and so i raise my guard
and resume my progress

i can't go wrong for long
that you course-correct me
i am blessed by your song
musical sympathy

whenever i do need
proof of divinity
this caring i do heed
restores my clarity

·

« Juggernaut » is a suite which clocks in at a little under 18 minutes and comprises six chapters.
The composition was originally inspired by a most painful experience involving a rented house shared by six young and not-so-young adults, unannounced extensive renovations, and frictions and miscommunications of all sorts. It’s intended to illustrate the hamartia/metanoia principle :

« Missing the point. Yes, hamartia which meant missing the point, missing the mark. Now that got translated as sin. And repentance was metanoia, meaning a transformation of the mind, and got translated as pain, right? Penitence, repentance. The point is that repentance is merely to understand that you missed the mark, you see? (laughter) Therefore evil is missing the mark, basically. It is confusion, right? Its ultimate source is the kind of confusion I described about thought. » - David Bohm, Unfolding Meaning