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Aristotle's Lantern

from The Sleepy Hollow Years by Sleepy Hollow

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about

Along with La Femme Arme and (the as-yet unrecorded) Song of Taliesyn, I wrote this when I joined Sleepy Hollow, but it wasn't until the Legend sessions that the band finally learned it. Definitely one of my more prog-metal extravaganzas with it's shifting time signatures(mostly in 7/8) and keys (mostly in E Phrygian) and four-part canon in the center. I later orchestrated this for the Castle Rock Orchestra, as my Opus 1.

Lyrically it's a reflection on being part of the information age, but having much of the information be unreliable. It seems more relevant than ever, now, but was actually written before the internet became so prevalent, when I was working at a bookstore and realized so many self-help and political books were rather questionable.

lyrics

All the wisdom of the world
is now at your fingertips
Grasp the fruit of knowledge that
Hangs within your reach
Read what foods are best for you
and how you can find true love
Let TV and magazines
Show these books to you

News scans life's grand picture and
Gives us the important facts
Several billion tales are told
Tell us which ones count

No more need to look around
Or learn through experience
Open up your eyes and ears
Hear the guru's words

The love expert tells me the difference between men and women
How to find romance and make the passion last
Did you know that he is now on his third marriage?
I'd rather trust one who made the first one work

The foods that I heard last year were the best ones for me
I just read in this book, I should avoid them the most
How can it be these diets are thoroughly tested
Yet every year proved wrong by further research

This news story I see tells me of a racial riot
Another case of a quite disturbing trend
But this time I was there - both sides were of mixed race
The reporter in haste just threw in his favorite slant

What is the basis of you being an expert
That all the world shall hang on your words?
Could it be that we rely on experts
That know no more than you or I do?

Words you read in books attest to the power to
channel the logic in reader's minds
But, this is not truth if the logic runs false
or is based on unfounded assumptions, so

You must think for yourself and just do your best
knowing no-one holds absolute wisdom, and
Yet, within every mind there flickers the flame
to illuminate truth in our daily life

credits

from The Sleepy Hollow Years, track released October 31, 2010

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Matt Schwarz image

Matt Schwarz Bridgewater Township, New Jersey

Matthew H Schwarz moves between (and combines) the musical genres of classical, progressive rock, traditional and original folk, and heavy metal. His main instruments are guitar, harp, and flute. Sheet music can be found at www.sheetmusicplus.com/publishers/matthew-h-schwarz-sheet-music/3006990. ... more

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