"The Widow" by The Mars Volta

I was finishing up my first listen-through of "The Velvet Underground & Nico" when I was struck by a sudden urge to listen to The Mars Volta. No reason for it. The band's name just suddenly popped in my head. The Mars Volta is a band from El Paso and they were active when I was in high school and college. Since they were local, the University radio station played them quite a bit. Earlier this week, I rediscovered this wonderful, dark ballad, which I felt compelled to share to mark the lunar eclipse. Because that is something I do now.

There's something haunting about this song. The vaguely Spanish lilt to the melody. The twangy guitar and the slow rhythmic drumming. How the music comes in waves, receding as the lyrics come in soft, slowly and then rising up dramatically, to consume the listener. A lonely trumpet playing a funerary dirge, as the words hit your core. Then, of course, Cedric Bixler-Zavala's vocals infuse the lyrics with emotion - pain, desperation, contempt, envy, resignation - and that's what really makes this song feel so dark. Che Aimee Dorval sings a cover of this song. It's good, but it's not the same. There's something about the original that you just can't capture. The album version, after the last lyrics, devolves into a cacophony of noise. As the Widow succumbs to madness or so I assume.

Side note: I'm starting to see a pattern in what I like in songs lately. If it's dark and has a flamenco guitar (or a Spanish influence), I'm there. Apparently, that's my jam right now.

Look at how they flock to him

From an isle of open sores

He knows that the taste is such

Such to die for

And I hear him every night

On every street

The scales that do slither

Deliver me from?

Freeze without an answer

Free from all the shame

Then I'll hide

'Cause I'll never never sleep alone

There's this theory that the Widow is singing about Death. She sees his spectre everywhere. Death is a presence the Widow sees constantly. Though she sings about Him ruefully, she admits there's also a dark attraction she has. Some of my favorite depictions of Death are in the guise of a beautiful young man. I'm not sure where I read it but there is a fan explanation that this song is about a woman who is addicted to heroin and her drug dealer is her son whom she gave up for adoption. Or it could be that she's singing about her dead husband and remembering the early days when she was first drawn to him. Either way, there's a suggestion here that Death and her husband are one in the same. And she longs for him.

In that way, this song is strangely perfect for the upcoming Saturn-Pluto Conjunction on January 12th. Technically, we're already in the conjunction - it just won't be exact until Sunday. With the God of Death meeting the Lord of Time and Karma in his domain, the themes surrounding this conjunction are very much about doom and gloom. And imprisonment, especially the self-inflicted kind. The Widow is a label defined by Death. She can only exist after her husband - or lover - has died. Etymologically, widows aren't strictly defined by legal marriage and historically, women who lost men whom they were in love with, but not married to, were also considered widows. I think those situations are even more tragic - to lose a loved one but not have the societal standing for your grief to be adequately recognized. What happens to a man's mistress once he dies? She has to pretend she never loved him, to appear as just another mourner among the faceless funeral goers, while she dies inside. Assuming she dares to go to the funeral. Regardless, she's doomed to face the grief and pain alone. Something about the lyrics makes me think that's the case for the singer of "The Widow." Those situations make for some of the most compelling ghost stories, though. A young woman forever awaiting the return of her beloved from the War or the Sea, pacing the grounds of her estate or leaning on the rail of a Widow's Walk. It's always been a dream of mine to own a house with a Widow's Walk (but I'd settle for having a regular old balcony). Unfortunately, that's a style that's more common in expensive homes on the Eastern Seaboard, so that dream is unlikely to happen any time soon.

The Widow is also a common archetype in stories. She's a character who is both haunting and haunted. The Widow is someone to be feared, usually because she's wise, but often because she's cold and heartless. She generally has a tragic backstory. The implication is that she's unfeeling because she lost the love of her life. So if she seems reckless or ruthless in her actions, it's because she has nothing to fear. Not Justice, not Pain, and certainly not Death. She's survived the worst and now she's just biding her time until Death comes for her and she'll reunite with her beloved. The Widow doesn't care when or how or even why anymore. She is a solitary figure who is mysterious and seductive, but also a little dangerous. In a way, she's Death's match. I better stop there - this song has been stuck in my head off and on all week and it takes my mind to dark places.

Freeze without an answer

Free from all the shame

Let me die

'Cause I'll never never sleep alone

Finally, one of the greatest drummers of all time - Neil Peart (Rush) - died today. Completely unrelated to everything else I was ranting about but still worth mentioning.

"The Widow" Video

"Black Swamp Village" by The Speakeasies' Swing Band

"Black Swamp Village" epitomizes my favorite elements of old school jazz. There's a dark sadness behind the music and the words, but it builds into a frenetic pitch, subverting expectations. A perfect back drop for today's topic - occult influence in dieselpunk.

Steampunk, as a genre, is highly focused on how technological developments would play out during that era. Dieselpunk has that focus on science, to a similar extent, but there's always a supernatural element to dieselpunk, too. There is this duality that is featured very heavily in dieselpunk - light vs dark, good vs evil-type stuff - which plays well with both these elements. In the genre, science and magic are both tools that can be used interchangeably - or often side-by-side - within this greater fight for the soul of humanity. One of the comics I like to read, "The Adventures of the 19XX," features both heavily, with science often enabling or enhancing the inherent power of magic. Magic - and by extension, the occult - is perceived as ancient and natural. As such, the effects are chaotic and cannot be controlled, only harnessed - in the right context, of course.

I went to the black swamp village

Where strange people live

I saw a scrawny drunk old man

Who gave me a flask to drink

He started speakin' unusually

Sounded kinda 'of' scared

He said listen to me carefully 'cause

I'll tell you something I never tell

I went to the cemetery

Where lies my dead wife

And believe me the graves were opened

And skulls and bones raised

To understand the occult in the context of The Great War Era, you have to consider where the genre falls historically. It is encompasses the space between two of the most violent wars in human history and, during it's core years, there's a both the height of economic prosperity and depths of economic devastation. Add onto it the rising influence of organized crime and the even darker ideology of Nazism, the populace looked to ancient knowledge and intuition for solace. To be honest, the period was not unlike what the world has been like since 2001. But I digress. There are many occult influences that converged during this time period to create a veritable smorgasbord of supernatural plots within the dieselpunk genre.

During the late 1800s, Spiritualism, a movement based on the belief that the spirits of the dead exist and have the capacity to speak to the living, had gained a level of popularity across both the United States and Europe. However, during the 1920s, three distinct branches of spiritualist beliefs began to emerge. Syncretism, which involves individual practitioners being loosely organized around a central figure (usually a medium), but without a set hierarchy or set of beliefs. Some adopted elements of theosophy - such as elements of Eastern religions, astrology, and ritual - whereas others combined their spiritualist beliefs with those of their Christian faith. The Spiritualist Church also evolved during this time. The Spiritualist Church sought to put a formal structure around spiritualist practices and provided education on their methods. The third branch evolved into the early foundations of parapsychology. The Society for Psychical Research (SPR, which still exists today) sought to investigate the claims of spiritualists. Through their research, they debunked many fraudulent mediums, which were rampant during a time when people wanted to know what had happened to their loved ones in the war.

During the 1920s, there was also a growing interest in the traditions of Ancient Egypt. In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the pharoah Tutankhamun and "Tut-mania" took hold of the Western world. Fashion of the 1920s heavily featured scarab beetles, gold accents, and even hieroglyphics printed or embroidered onto various accessories and garments. Along with this interest in "desert garb" came rumors of curses and cursed objects. Tales of unfortunate endings for those who visited Tut's tomb swirled around parties. The Curse of the Pharaohs is believed to fall on anyone who disturbs the mummy of an Egyptian high-born person (especially pharaohs) and it does so indiscriminately, regardless of whether the intent was research or thievery. Several members of Carter's team died shortly after Tut's tomb was opened, adding fuel to the fire.

Finally, the first half of the 20th century saw the rise and fall of various occult and esoteric organizations, and the birth of many neo-pagan religions that still exist today. During the 1910s, Aleister Crowley began laying out the structure for Thelema and was a leader within the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), which I was very intrigued to find out has a group here in San Antonio. The Law of Thelema was formally documented in "The Book of the Law," which was published in 1904. Gerald Gardner, considered the "Father of Wicca," began formulating the foundations of his new religion in the late 1930s and through the 1940s. And Victor Anderson, founder of the Feri tradition, was also initiated into witchcraft practice during this time. It should also be noted that Rosicrucianism was very popular during this time period and several well-known writers and poets were members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, to include Bram Stoker, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and William Butler Yeats. Like the Mafia, secret societies like The Order of the Golden Dawn feature heavily as the big baddies in dieselpunk fiction that take on a more magical bent.

That's all for today. Some suggestions for dieselpunk media that encapsulates the use of occult influence within the genre are the Indiana Jones movies (because cursed objects belong in a museum!), "The Adventures of the 19XX" series by Paul Roman Martinez, "Small Town Witch: Love & Wonder" by Alex Singer and Jayd Ait-Kaci, and the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

"Black Swamp Village" Video

"Problem" by Natalia Kills

My little sister has good taste in music sometimes. Shhh....don't tell her I said that. She'll get a big head. But, I will admit that whenever we get together, I look through her playlist and steal the good shit - and there's usually a lot of it. True, she goes through these periods where she's obsessed with one particular band, so you'll run into deep pockets of The Beatles or The Rolling Stones (not that there's a problem with either of those), but overall, I'll find a few gems I've never heard before. Yes, my little sister is a musical influence to me. At least she doesn't like Dave Matthews Band, like my older sister (we don't speak of this....she knows she should be ashamed).

This particular song by Natalia Kills was something Vee shared on her Facebook page - which was probably not a good idea, since this is one of the dirtiest songs I've ever heard (if the grandparents knew how to use YouTube, they'd be shocked....shocked I tell ya). It's one of the reasons I like it. It's also a really good song to run to - a good beat, high energy, something to focus on while hitting the pavement. Scandalous club music is usually good running music.

So let's talk about why it's so dirty....she's basically telling some guy that she wants to fuck him. And how, in explicit detail. Pretty straightforward. But apparently she's a troublemaker and maybe this poor kid....isn't? I dunno - I'm a sucker for movies where the nerd somehow gets mixed up with the resident "bad girl." It's not as interesting when the roles are reversed, because that's somehow expected. Not that I would know - I've always played up the quiet, good girl routine. I don't think I'm a problem - well, maybe for some people. I dated a nice guy once - he said I was distracting him from doing his homework. And that's why it was only the one time.

Favorite verse:

I got your name

Hanging from my chain…

Don’t you wanna claim

My body like a vandal?

You got the cure

Underneath your shirt…

Don’t you wanna save this

Dirty little damsel?

Got my mink coat falling on the

Motel floor… you’re on the bed

Wolf whistling louder louder

Your lips smudging all my

Make up… kicking both my heels off

Come and pin me down

Anyway, the video has sort of this Bonnie & Clyde situation going on, only in reverse (as far as I can tell). It's as sexual as you would think it would be, considering the lyrics - phone sex in a public phone booth is involved. I thought that was an odd choice and I suspect that's probably why she gets arrested at the end. And she's walking around in underwear and fishnets. Public indecency. Although, it looks like the video was filmed in Atlantic City, so I don't know why they care. That place is already a shithole, a few half naked girls might make it a bit classier....

"Problem" Video