Track By Tracks: THE SAME RIVER - Weight Of The World (2022)

This recording is a chapter-based and in a philosophical way concept album. The songs fulfill the vision of a world that's spinning through the wheels of confusion. Before we give a deeper analysis of the lyrics, we hope that the listener will feel familiar with this collection of moments and actions delivered by humanity during the years of the pandemic filtered through notes and words.

"Intro\\Crossing the Rubicon" is a two-part song, with the instrumental opener riff and a progression that leads to the main chapter "the passage". "Crossing the Rubicon" is a metaphorical expression for passing a point of no return. We strongly believe that society has passed this point of corruption, climate change, etc. leading to an amoral and unequal conflict where the elite suppresses the weaker. As the last line says: "This is a war? Yeah... And I'm gonna fight."

"The Oath of a Fire Bringer" is the first part of a trilogy. Inspired by the myth of Prometheus and his will to defy the Gods and give fire to humanity. Philosophically fire symbolizes the hidden knowledge of the world and the risks you have to take when you seek the truth. Defying the authority in any form is an act of resistance in terms of ethical and personal ascendance. We have to seek the "fire" and defy "Gods" if we wanna be a better society. It's an oath we have to take as individuals for the sake of ourselves and the generations to come.

"Voyage\\The Great Sea" is another two-part song. The first part ("Voyage") is life. The everlasting struggle from the day we are born 'till our last breath. The fight with our inner demons, the fear of the unknown, and the everyday effort we spent embracing the gift of existence. The second part ("The Great Sea"), is about the afterlife. In many old myths from various civilizations, the passage to the afterlife is commonly referred to as the great sea of souls. A place where unity is achieved. A place or a state in which everyone becomes the All. Musically the song is structured with the sense of a constant movement likened to the waves of a sea and the journey of life and soul concurrently.

"Weight of the World" is the title song of the album. The main reason is that amalgamate the vibes and the idea of this record into its entity. Lyrically inspired by Sisyphus, both the Greek myth and the homonym philosophical essay by Albert Camus. The absurd (finding meaning in life) is a fundamental human need. During the start of the pandemic in 2020, we found ourselves in a state of inertia and lack of will. "Weight of the World" was the firstborn child after the lockdown. A boulder we had to push even if we had to see it roll down again. As Camus says: "The struggle itself ... is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy".

"The Bounds of a Fire Bringer" is the second song of the Promethean trilogy. Is the consequence we pay for our actions. Something that we have to embrace willingly otherwise we override our choices. Sometimes our path comes contrary to others. If we believe in ourselves and our cause, even the "Gods" will have to accept our will. "Kneel to no one... Kneel to no one...".

"Remains of the Holy" are the shreds of humanism. The soul itself or better, what has been left from it. Our society is incomplete decadence and all of us behave like mad kings with no consciousness of our actions and others. The remains of our souls are the only hope to bring what is lost but the need for self-knowledge as an act of repentance is hard to achieve. The easiest thing to do is to put the blame on one another but whose gonna cast the stone first?

"The Same River" is our "first-ever" song. The homonymous is our philosophical statement as a band. Heraclitus's quote ("it is impossible to step in the same river twice") gave us a reason not to look back. We have to realize that life is a short journey and nothing is for granted. Take your chances and live. Be the river that flows because in the end nothing really matters.

"We the People\\No Friends, but the Mountains" is the outro of the album and the last two-part song. "We the people" starts with the real constitution speech. What politicians would like to say, but use fine words for manipulating the masses. For every dead child or abused woman, for all the people out there suffering from war and poverty, we stand with them as an act of resistance. We are the People! "No Friends, but the mountains" is a Kurdish proverb that is expressed to signify their feeling of betrayal, abandonment, and loneliness. We felt that is a proper title for the last part of the song, as the progression moves to " Katharsis"... When you are in the middle of a journey (especially in life), there're many fights to give. People will betray you, but the most frightened of all is betraying yourself. "Be free for this chance to be better and sing for freedom..." is the last lyric before the repentance of the proverb and the realization that we are born and die alone.

''Blow Your Trumpet" is a bonus track, lyrically summarizing the vision of this album. A metaphor from the book of revelation, in which the archangel blows his trumpet for the beginning of the end. We the People never realize that our acts have an impact on the world. As Newton describes in his third law of motion "for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction". So, in that spirit when we are confronting our decisions, it's a principle that the consequences will be unforgiving.