First, in what sense are men created equal?
Well, I like this question so much, that I will only briefly touch on the rest of your post first.
Thomas Jefferson was influenced by the social contract.
Aristotle - was he around during the time of the Oracle at Delphi? I read an interesting article the other day on how the cave there was filled with chemicals that caused really good visions. I have also read some Carlos Castaneda, and think there is something to a correlation of drugs and creativity.
As for equal, we all have the choice on which road to travel. We can be a rock, or we can be a roll.
I didn't write this, but agree with much of it. The only thing I would do differently is to say that this is not a pagan song.
Stairway To Heaven
(Page/Plant)
"There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for."
In this first part of the song Plant is discussing a woman of the
materialistic 1970's. She's obsessed with materialistic value and she's sure
that with the money and the "right" connections she can literally "Buy a
stairway to heaven," translated meaning a place in heaven after she dies.
She lives her life in complete confidence that
with the right money and influence she will get what she wants, just as she
always has in life.
"There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder."
Here, its almost like she has a slight feeling that maybe there is more to
life than material wealth and possessions. She sees the "sign on the wall,"
but is afraid to make the leap of faith and change her materialist beliefs
"cuz you (she) know sometimes words have two meanings." The line about the
"tree by the brook and the songbird" give a glimpse of the world seen in the
correct light. At one with the world and a part of nature.
"There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
and my spirit is crying for leaving,"
This is Plant talking in the first person, probably at home in England yet
craving the return to the "west" either Los Angeles (really west) or at
least the USA. He's probably thinking about his own materialistic
tendencies, all the money, women, power, and adoration available to him in
the west. He's probably wondering where his own spiritualism is in this life
he is living.
"In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who standing looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder."
While Plant contemplates the "meaning of life" (for want of a better
description) He sees the "rings of smoke through the trees and the voices
of those who stand looking." This to me represents Plant having a feeling of
past oneness with the world and nature that humans used to have. Because we
have separated ourselves from nature and the world, we hear only the "voices
of those who stand looking," kind of like the old spirits continue to watch
us in our modern world and are trying to get in touch with us, but we have
to allow them back in.
"And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter."
Here he says that our return to being at one with the world and with nature
is possible if we will only allow the belief back within us. If we "all call
the tune," we will be led from our mistaken modern materialist ways and
reexperience the innocence and sense of belonging that humans used to have.
"If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder."
Plant kind of says that this new era is dawning and if you are feeling
uncomfortable with your present situation (the "bustle in your hedgerow")
don't be surprised. The old world is trying to show the problems with our
modern day and age. He also says that "there are two paths you can go by,"
the spiritual and the materialistic, but its never too late to change your
beliefs.
"Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind."
"Your head is humming" refers to that little voice inside people that makes
them think, "Is this all there is to human life or reality?" People continue
to blindly believe that who you are and what you have is the most important
thing, but Plant is saying that this feeling that there must be more to life
than this, is "the piper calling you to join him." He asks the Lady of the
first verse, "Can't you see the answer is already all around you and you
need only listen and believe?" Its kind of like the quote from the
apocraphal Gospel of Thomas: "For the kingdom of heaven is spread upon the
earth, yet men do not see it."
"And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul."
A quick comment that by going through life ("As we wind on down the road")
our shadows are larger (or more real) than our actual souls. In other words
we are losing our spirituality and our connection to the rest of nature and
the earth.
"There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold. "
This could be referring to a different lady, or possibly the same lady as
the first verse who now has her new spiritual understanding. She wants to
"show that everything still turns to gold," but its not gold in the
materialist meaning, but rather that the most important and valuable things
in life are all around us. We only need to believe.
"And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last."
The piper's tune, of course. The little voice inside all of us trying to put
us back on the right path for spiritual enlightenment and growth.
"When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll."
As it is above, so be it below. You and the other are actually part of one
thing. We are not separate from earth and nature but are part of it, a
complete "whole" ("all are one and one is all") When one realizes this one
can "be a rock and not (have) to roll," in other words once we realize we
are all one, we will have the foundation we seek and won't feel the need to
keep looking for answers that were actually here all the long.
"And she's buying a stairway to heaven."
If we believe the lady at the end of the song is the same as the lady at the
start, only now she has awakened to the spiritual potential, it may well be
that she now understands the way to spiritual "oneness" and has indeed
figured out how to "Buy a stairway to heaven," not with money but with
understanding.
So, what are we left with? I think this song is definitely coming from what
could be called a Pagan or Nature Religion perspective, but its definitely
not Satanic. This is always what this song has meant to me, What do you
think? |
