Many of us have music we feel makes up the soundtrack of our lives. Even my father knows precisely what music would play in the film based on his life. I, myself, have had many random songs that represent whole swathes of my mundane experiences, simply because I loved them at those times. But I also have had a few I've purposely elevated into mantras; music that I not only love, but that says something I really need to keep in my head as I go through tougher times or times of change. I've even posted about one before.
But for the better part of the past year, there has been an entire library of these mantra songs accumulating from one single band. As electronica, VNV Nation's sound may not be for everyone (and indeed there are a handful of their songs that are so violently house-music-y and slightly repetitive that I never listen to them a second time), but many of their songs are flabbergastingly inspiring and beautiful. For me, since I like electronic music when it is as intricate as a symphony or has compelling bridges and change-ups (or whatever the proper music terms are for these variations in the music), I find much of the music inspiring in its own right, but the lyrics push it beyond a lot of music today. The band's very name speaks to their view of a grander scale - the VNV standing for Victory, Not Vengeance.
Their songs capture every part of the human journey, from those times we feel lost or insignificant to the times we struggle to better ourselves and our world and reach to whatever lies beyond. And it is these that I am continually trying to remind myself to heed, to live by, to embrace in my own journey. Suffice it to say that I could narrate an entire film - beginning, middle, plot twist, and end - with VNV's music, and it would be a story with which many, many people could identify.
So I felt it was high time I share some of these. A few snatches of lyrics and a few songs that continue to blow me away, to bring tears to my eyes, and to inspire me, not only to feel differently about my life, but to seek the light. I hope they inspire you, too.
"And if rain brings winds of change, let it rain on us forever." ~Solitary
"I don't want you to change, for all the hurt you feel. This world is just illusion, trying to change you." ~Illusion
"Lay down your greastest burden
Relinquish that which has control of you
And let yourself through
Though it seems the past and future look the same
Suffice to say you're still here
Though the past, the unwanted memories, are holding onto you
All the power in the universe conspires to carry you." ~Carry You
"We possess the power
If this should start to fall apart
to mend divides, to change the world
to reach the farthest star
If we should stay silent
if fear should win our hearts,
our light will have long diminished
before it reaches the farthest star." ~The Farthest Star
"Forget your fears. And want no more.
At first light lay proud foundations.
Sense the greatness that before you unfolds.
Seek no more for hollow answers.
Answers that lay within you all along.
Farewell to dawns seen through saddened eyes.
Farewell to pasts to sorrows chained.
Forget your fears and want no more.
You will be strong and want no more.
You'll be adored. You will have everything.
You will be strong and want no more.
Forget your fears. You will have everything.
And want no more." ~Firstlight / Arclight / Lastlight
"How many years since you found yourself
Staring at an endless sky?
Unaware of yourself
Who you are and where you're going
Only living
Only breathing
Losing all sense of time
The most fragile of things
Captivates and embraces you
Surrender and be witness
To this rarest of moments
You live within the sense
Of the order of things
What is truth
What is important
What defines you
No need to fear
No need to worry
About years that passed
About time you lost
Live seconds as a lifetime
Time it does not matter
You live within the sense
Of the stillness of time" ~Endless Skies
"Before me plays the endless film
Relentless splinters I recall
Each living thing breathes life
Only sentiment remains
To liquid born, from patterns formed
The sand descends with blind intent
Where the river takes me will in time be revealedI cannot turn my feelings down
Beyond my means to turn my thoughts around
Expressed in every word I will ever speak
Brighter than all the stars combined
More than the waters, earth and sky
All that I wish and all that I dream
Above the waves with my hands raised
Dare the wind, lay claim to me
Knowing somehow none could take me
Watching the sun come up in vain
The only reason I can find why I remained
The need to leave the point I came to again and again
It didn't matter how hard I tried
It took so long to claim that I knew how
Or what it meant to let go of this
To ever say goodbye
Call it destiny, call it fate
Chose my direction, running forward
Each life to learn anew, whatever may come
I cannot turn my feelings down
Beyond my means to turn my thoughts around
Expressed in every word I will ever speak
Brighter than all the stars combined
More than the waters, earth and sky
All that I wish and all that I dream
No creed on earth can replace or provide
In my darkest hour, the comfort I'd feel
Leading me to see I can be more than I expect of me
My beginning and my end
The first and last air that I breathe
More than the sum of everything that I will ever be." ~Arena
"Find it in you, raise your eyes
Look beyond the place you stand
Towards the furthest reaches
And to the smallest of things
The sound you are hearing
Is the symphony of what we are
Revelation will not come
With heart and mind closed and divided
No need of sun to light the way
Across the ages, we have reigned as we endured
Through the storm fronts we will ever surely pass
To stand as never ending light
Throw away the mantle
Awake from your uncertain hesitation
No way to describe or equate the feeling
No end to what is at your command
A million thoughts run through you
Concentric circles, ever greater
But you have always known
That this is not all there is
To your questions there'll be answers
Let there be, let there always be
Never ending light" ~Perpetual
"The carousel begins to slow, I take my chances
So far removed, I fail to see
The recklessness I've shown in all my words and deeds
The good in other souls I never fail to see
Can you see the light
As far as the eyes can see
From this point above the world
Where mortals dare their destiny
As it radiates, may I witness open-eyed
Let me remain where there is light
In want of courage
It is a shield for me
In want of hope
It reassures and carries me
As it radiates, may I witness open-eyed
Let me remain where there is light
Letting go was never easy
Risking all for what I wanted, never needed
Deliberated whether I should serve the cause of greater things
As we moved worlds apart
Can you see the light...
The greatest words would still fail me now
These emotions I cannot describe
I want to be where I don't need to hide myself
And remain there until the end of time
The gods play games with mortal hearts
As the carousel goes 'round
As I looked on,
I saw the crowds who gathered walk away
Can you see the light..." ~Where There Is Light
