Wednesday, July 31, 2013

James Michener analysis - part 3: Ancestry of Native Americans; societal breakdown

CATEGORY: BOOKS

We begin this post by reviewing the dispute between Mormons and conventional scientists, regarding the ancestry of Native Americans (i.e., American Indians). The making public of this dispute, along with general societal breakdown, are designed to help certain high-ranking Mormons, along with other conspiratorial parties, in establishing their Zion, i.e., their 'paradise'.

The Book of Mormon is one of the four books of scripture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was first published by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1830 in Palmyra, New York.

Beginning with the title page of the online Book of Mormon that appears on the LDS dot org website:[a]

The Book of Mormon

An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi

Wherefore, it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites — Written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; ...

...

Picking up again at the introduction,[b]

Introduction
The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel.

The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C. and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians. ...

...

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The Book of Mormon (in the portions quoted above) states that the Lamanites "are a remnant of the house of Israel", and that "they are among the ancestors of the American Indians." These statements, taken together, serve as a basis for the modern-day belief of some Mormons, that the American Indians are descended from Israelites. What we need to do is to see if any scientific evidence exists, that either supports or refutes the historical authenticity of the Book of Mormon, regarding its claim for the American Indians' Israelite ancestry.

Some researchers, such as anthropologist Thomas W. Murphy, argue against the claim of Israelite ancestry of the American Indians. In the abstract for one of his journal articles, Murphy states, "The Book of Mormon claims that the principal ancestors of the American Indians came from the ancient Middle East, an historical assertion now repudiated by [mitochondrial DNA] evidence."[c]

Some of the arguments based on DNA research were disputed by David G. Stewart, in a 2006 edition of FARMS Review :

"In recent years, some critics have alleged that research demonstrating considerable homology between modern Native American, Mongolian, and southern Siberian DNA, as well as a seeming lack of homology between modern Jewish and Native American DNA, provides conclusive proof that the traditional Latter-day Saint view of Native American origins is false. Some Latter-day Saint defenders have attempted to explain the data by invoking limited geography theories proposing that Nephite and Lamanite activity was restricted to a small area in Central America and that any trace of "Israelite" DNA was lost by intermixing with larger indigenous groups. A closer examination demonstrates that modern DNA evidence does not discredit traditional Latter-day Saint beliefs and that the views of critics are based on nonfactual assumptions and unsupportable misinterpretations of genetic data."[d]


Followup of genetic claims in the media
A 2006 article written by William Lobdell and published in the Los Angeles Times, stated, "For Mormons, the lack of discernible Hebrew blood in Native Americans is no minor collision between faith and science. It burrows into the historical foundations of the Book of Mormon, a 175-year-old transcription that the church regards as literal and without error."[e]

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Since some Mormons believe in the American Indians' Israelite ancestry, and since some of these Mormons are currently (i.e., in recent times) arguing in favor of this theory (as indicated by the ongoing dispute over the issue),[f] then it stands to reason that some Mormons (e.g., at least some of the very high-ranking members of the Mormon Church), are still pursuing the agenda laid out in the Articles of Faith, insofar as they are still hoping to establish a new Zion (that is, some sort of 'utopia'), composed, in part, of the members of certain American Indian tribes (as already mentioned, these Mormons are now working alongside other evil parties, to establish the new Zion). Part of these Mormons' reason for arguing the American Indian ancestry issue scientifically (and publicly, to at least some degree), is to help convince the Indians themselves that they are in fact descended from Israelites, and thus to make them willing participants in the plan to establish 'paradise'. Arguing in favor of the Israelite ancestry within the context of debates with conventional scientists, would do more to convince the Indians of the theory's veracity, than if the Mormon scientists only tried to persuade these Indians directly. Of course, it would also lessen the likelihood of the Indians getting suspicious about the motives of the Mormons involved. Involving scientists in the debate, combined with coverage of the debate in various mainstream media sources, makes things appear to the general public as if the issue is of mainly academic interest. However, certain Mormons are hoping that there will come a point in time, when a sufficient number of Indians have accepted these Mormons' ideas regarding the Indians' Israelite ancestry as true, so that the Indians will more willingly participate in the establishment of 'utopia'.

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Certain evil conspiratorial parties (evil hermaphroditic Jews, certain high-ranking Freemasons and Mormons, and other parties), have been working to cause general societal breakdown, such as by dismantling the basic family unit, and by creating a general state of chaos, so that the remainder of the populace, i.e., all those not destined to inhabit the new Zion, will lack any sort of unifying principle or strength of character, and thus be easier to 'herd', maintain surveillance over, and control, placing them in a state of subjection. One very effective way to contribute to societal breakdown is to remove the father from the family unit, both literally (via processes such as no-fault divorce), and effectively, by taking away fathers' authority and status (for example, via denigration of them in the popular media). (According to the National Center for Fathering, "[C]hildren from fatherless homes are more likely to be poor, become involved in drug and alcohol abuse, drop out of school, and suffer from health and emotional problems. Boys are more likely to become involved in crime, and girls are more likely to become pregnant as teens."[g])

One way in which the status of fathers can be weakened, is by undermining men in general, for example, by framing men's tendency to be self-sufficient as if it is problematic (i.e., "He doesn't know when to ask for help."). This is not to say that no one ever needs help, but generally speaking, a society composed primarily of non-self-reliant individuals is going to be less able than a fit society, to resist those bent on destroying it.

The popular and news media, being largely controlled by the evil parties, not only help keep the public addicted to change, resulting in discord among successive generations, but they also cover news and other issues in a polar, 'oppositional' manner: Black versus white, men versus women, etc. The purpose of this is to sow discord, i.e., to divide up society into opposing factions, so as to take away our ability to recognize, and fight against, that which Kubrick and Michener believed to be the real threat, that is, the planned establishment of Zion/New Jerusalem and the subjection of the general populace. The basic idea is to weaken our ability to fight back as a unified force, by getting all of us at each others' throats. "United we stand, divided we fall."

The planned establishment of Zion/New Jerusalem will be further discussed, later in this analysis.


a. The Book of Mormon, An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. Title Page. Website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Intellectual Reserve, Inc. Web. URL = https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/bofm-title?lang=eng.
b. Ibid., Introduction. URL = https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/introduction?lang=eng.
c. Murphy, Thomas W. "Genetic Research a 'Galileo Event' for Mormons." Abstract. Anthropology News 44.2 (2003): 20. Web. URL = http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2203607.
Murphy's article was was published several years before the wording in the Book of Mormon introduction was changed, from "principal ancestors" to "among the ancestors"; the latter phrasing in what is used in the current LDS dot org online version of the book, that was quoted above.
d. Stewart, David G., Jr. "DNA and the Book of Mormon." FARMS Review 18.1 (2006): 109–138. Web. URL = http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1446&index=7.
e. Lobdell, William. "Bedrock of a Faith Is Jolted." Los Angeles Times. 16 February 2006. Web. URL = http://articles.latimes.com/2006/feb/16/local/me-mormon16.
f. There is a page on the LDS dot org website called 'Book of Mormon and DNA Studies' here. The posting on this page lists footnotes citing items dated as recently as the year 2013. The fact that this page exists is itself evidence, that the dispute over the issue of the (supposed) Israelite ancestry of American Indians, is currently ongoing.
g. National Center for Fathering, "The Consequences of Fatherlessness". pp. 1, 2. Web, n.d. URL = http://www.fathers.com/statistics-and-research/the-consequences-of-fatherlessness/.


    

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

James Michener analysis - part 2: The Articles of Faith

CATEGORY: BOOKS

     

Above left: James E. Talmage (1862-1933). [Image from the Wikipedia 'James E. Talmage' page, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.] Above right: Joseph Smith (1805-1844). [Image from the Wikipedia 'Joseph Smith' page, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.]


The Articles of Faith: A Series of Lectures on the Principal Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an 1899 book by James E. Talmage about doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The name of the book is taken from the LDS Church's "Articles of Faith", an 1842 creed written by Joseph Smith.

Smith's "Articles of Faith" became part of the LDS Church's scriptural canon in 1880 as part of the Pearl of Great Price. In 1891, when the First Presidency of the LDS Church asked Talmage to produce a work of theology that could be used in church schools, Talmage decided to use Smith's Articles of Faith as an outline of his work. He first delivered the material that he would organize into a book, in a series of lectures in 1893 at Latter-day Saints' University in Salt Lake City, Utah, which Talmage was the president of at the time.

First published in 1899, Talmage's work is composed of 24 chapters. The first edition was published by the LDS Church, and has gone through over 50 English-language editions. It has also been translated and published in 13 other languages. The book continues to be published today by Deseret Book, a publishing company owned by the church.

Like Talmage's later work Jesus the Christ, Articles of Faith is today regarded as a Mormon classic. For many years, Articles of Faith and Jesus the Christ were among the few non-scriptural works that full-time LDS Church missionaries were asked to study. However, Articles of Faith is no longer part of the approved missionary library.[a]


In the below are quoted certain parts of the Articles of Faith that show the LDS Church's thinking behind their former plan, to get the Lost Tribes of Israel together, by assembling certain North American Indian tribes all in one place, as part of the goal of establishing Zion. (As we will see later in this analysis, the current plan, established by certain high-ranking Mormons working with other parties, is to build Zion at a different location than that indicated in the Articles).

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THE ARTICLES OF FAITH

A SERIES OF LECTURES ON THE PRINCIPAL DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
BY DR. JAMES E. TALMAGE; WRITTEN BY APPOINTMENT; AND PUBLISHED BY THE CHURCH.

The Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1899.

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
143495
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
1900.

Entered According to Act of Congress,
in the Year 1899,
By James E. Talmage,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.


...
LECTURES ON THE ARTICLES OF FAITH OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

LECTURE 1. INTRODUCTORY.
...
LECTURE V. FAITH AND REPENTANCE.
Article 4.—We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are (1) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; (2) Repentance; * * *
...
15. Faith Essential to Salvation.— Inasmuch as salvation is attainable only through the mediation and atonement of Christ, and since this is made applicable to individual sin only in the cases of those who obey the laws of righteousness, faith in Jesus Christ is indispensable to salvation. But no one can believe in Jesus Christ, and at the same time doubt the existence and authority of either the Father or the Holy Ghost; therefore faith in the entire Godhead is essential to salvation...
...

LECTURE XV. THE BOOK OF MORMON.-(Continued.)
Article 8.— * * * We also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
...
V. CORROBORATIVE EVIDENCE FURNISHED BY MODERN DISCOVERIES.
...
30. III. Concerning the Advent of at least One Division of the Ancient Americans from the East, probably from Asia; and their Israelitish Origin.— Confirmatory evidence of the belief that the aboriginal Americans sprang from the peoples of the eastern hemisphere is found in the similarity of record and tradition on the two continents, regarding the creation, the deluge, and other great events of history...
...
39. IV. Concerning the Common Origin of the Native Races on this Continent.— That the many tribes and nations among the Indians and other "native races" of America are of common parentage is very generally admitted; the conclusion is based on the evident close relationship in their languages, traditions, and customs. "Mr. Lewis H. Morgan finds evidence that the American aborigines had a common origin in what he calls 'their system of consanguinity and affinity.' He says, 'The Indian nations from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Arctic sea to the Gulf of Mexico, with the exception of the Esquimaux, have the same system. It is elaborate and complicated in its general form and details; and, while deviations from uniformity occur in the systems of different stocks, the radical features are in the main constant. This identity in the essential characteristics of a system so remarkable tends to show that it must have been transmitted with the blood to each stock from a common original source. It affords the strongest evidence yet obtained of unity in origin of the Indian nations within the regions defined.'"
[Here a footnote is added:] (Baldwin's "Ancient America," p. 56; see citations of conclusions regarding the characteristics of aboriginal Americans by Bradford, in the same work.)
...
NOTES.
...
7. Survival of the Hebrew Language among American Tribes.—"It is claimed that such survivals are numerous in the religious songs and ceremonies of many of the tribes. A number of writers who visited or resided among the tribes of the northern continent, assert that the words Yehovah, Yah, Ale, and Hallelujah, could be distinctly heard in these exercises. Laet and Escarbotus assure us that they often heard the South American Indians repeat the sacred word Hallelujah."— Elder George Reynolds, The Language of the Book of Mormon.
...

LECTURE XVII. THE DISPERSION OF ISRAEL.
Article 10.— We believe in the literal gathering of Israel, and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes, etc.
...
20. The Lost Tribes.— As already stated, in the division of the Israelites after the death of Solomon, ten tribes established themselves as an independent kingdom. This, the kingdom of Israel, was terminated, as far as history is concerned, by the Assyrian captivity, 721 B. C. The people were led into Assyria; and later disappeared so completely that they have been called the Lost Tribes. They seem to have departed from Assyria, and while we lack definite information as to their final destination and present location, there is abundant evidence that their journey was toward the north. The Lord's Word through Jeremiah promises that the people shall be brought back "from the land of the north," and a similar declaration has been made through Divine revelation during the present dispensation.
...

LECTURE XVIII. THE GATHERING OF ISRAEL.
Article 10.— We believe in the literal gathering of Israel, and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes, etc.

1. The Gathering Predicted.— Terrible as was the chastisement decreed on Israel for their waywardness and sin, amounting, as it did, to their dissolution as a nation, and to a virtual expulsion from the sight of the Lord's favor; fearful as has been their denunciation by Him who delighted to call them His people; through all their sufferings and deprivations, while wandering as outcasts among alien nations who have never ceased to treat them with contumely and insult, when their very name has been made a hiss and a byword in the earth;— they have ever been sustained by the sure word of Divine promise, that a day of glorious deliverance and blessed restoration awaits them.
...
NOTES. 1. Gathering Now in Progress.— The Latter-day Saints "are building up stakes of Zion in the Rocky Mountain valleys, and in this way are fulfilling predictions of the ancient prophets. Isaiah hath it written, 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem' (Isaiah ii, 2-3). It is remarkable how minutely the Latter-day Saints are fulfilling the terms of this prophecy: 1. They are building the temples of God in the tops of the mountains, so that the house of the Lord is truly where Isaiah saw it would be. 2. The Saints engaged in this work are people gathered from nearly all the nations under heaven, so that all nations are flowing unto the house of the Lord in the top of the mountains. 3. The people who receive the gospel in foreign lands joyfully say to their relatives and friends: Come ye, and let us go up to the house of the Lord, and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths."— Roberts' Outlines of Ecclesiastical History, p. 409.
...

LECTURE XIX. ZION.
Article 10.— We believe * * * That Zion will be built upon this [the American] continent, etc.
(material inside square brackets in original).
...
15. The Book of Mormon is explicit in foretelling the establishment of Zion on the western continent; but the precise location was not revealed until after the restoration of the priesthood in the present dispensation. In 1831, the Lord commanded the elders of His Church in this wise:—" Go ye forth into the western countries, call upon the inhabitants to repent, and inasmuch as they do repent, build up churches unto me; and with one heart and with one mind, gather up your riches that ye may purchase an inheritance which shall hereafter be appointed unto you; and it shall be called the New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High God; and the glory of the Lord shall be there, and the terror of the Lord shall also be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion."
[Here a footnote is added:] (Doc. and Cov. xlv, 64-67; read further, verses 68-71.)

16. Later revelations called the elders of the Church to assemble in western Missouri, and designated that place as the land appointed and consecrated for the gathering of the Saints. "Wherefore this is the land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion." The town of Independence was named as "the center place," and the site for the temple was designated, the Saints being counseled to purchase land there, "that they may obtain it for an everlasting inheritance." On August 3rd, 1831, the temple site thus named was solemnly dedicated by the prophet, Joseph Smith, and his associates in the priesthood. The region round about was also dedicated, that it might be a gathering place for the people of God.

17. Such, then, is the belief of the Latter-day Saints; such are the teachings of the Church. But the plan of building up Zion has not yet been consummated. The Saints were not permitted to enter into immediate possession of the land, which was promised them as an everlasting inheritance. Even as years elapsed between the time of the Lord's promise to Israel of old that Canaan should be their inheritance, and the time of their entering into possession thereof,— years devoted to the people's toilsome and sorrowful preparation for the fulfillment,— so in these latter-days, the Divine purpose is held in abeyance, while the people are being sanctified for the great gift, and for the greater responsibilities associated with it. In the meantime, the honest in heart are gathering to the valleys of the Rocky Mountains; and here, in the tops of the mountains, exalted above the hills, temples have been erected, and all nations are flowing unto this region. But Zion shall yet be established on the chosen site; she "shall not be moved out of her place," and the pure in heart shall surely return, "with songs of everlasting joy to build up the waste places of Zion."

18. But gathered Israel cannot be confined to the "center place," nor to the region immediately adjacent; other places have been and will be appointed, and these are called Stakes of Zion. Many stakes have been established in the regions inhabited by the Latter-day Saints, and these are to be permanent possessions; and thence will go those who are appointed from among the worthy to receive possession of their inheritances. Zion is to be chastened, but only for a little season, then will come the time of her redemption.

19. That time will be appointed of God, yet it is to be determined according to the faithfulness of the people....
...
[b]

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As stated in part 1 of this analysis, the action in part of Michener's Centennial is a partial 'microcosm' for what he believed the Mormons are currently doing, in order to establish Zion. This will be discussed as the analysis proceeds.


a. Wikipedia, 'Articles of Faith (Talmage)'. Web, n.d. URL = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articles_of_Faith_(Talmage).
b. James E. Talmage. The Articles of Faith, first edition (1899). Google archived public domain book. pp. 2, 98, 110, 281, 291, 296, 300, 304, 307, 326, 338, 341, 355, 356, 363-365. URL = https://archive.org/stream/articlesfaithas00talmgoog#page/n0/mode/2up.


    

Monday, July 8, 2013

The Steely Dan Lexicon - part 1: Analysis of 'Only A Fool Would Say That'

CATEGORY: MUSIC

[Image at left from the Wikipedia 'Can't Buy A Thrill' page; "Cant buy a tcant buy a thrill" [sic][a], licensed under fair use via Wikipedia.]









Welcome to the Steely Dan Lexicon. Buttons at the bottom of each post enable navigation through the parts of the analysis.

Any fan of Steely Dan, a successful jazz/rock band who released their first album, Can't Buy A Thrill, in 1972, can verify that there is hardly a single song written by band members Donald Fagen (vocalist and keyboardist) and Walter Becker (guitar), which doesn't leave the listener baffled as to its full meaning. The song Only A Fool Would Say That, appears on the album Can't Buy A Thrill. In the first three parts of the Steely Dan Lexicon, we will be analyzing the lyrics of this song.[b]

Only A Fool Would Say That (henceforth: Only A Fool) has the appearance of being an 'answer song' to John Lennon's hit song Imagine (released in 1971), with references to Lennon, and the band which he was formerly a member of, the Beatles,[c] placed throughout (links to the lyrics of Only A Fool and Imagine are provided at the bottom of each post in this analysis). In Lennon's song, the narrator calls himself "a dreamer", and speaks of a (supposedly) idyllic world in which there are no wars, and no separate countries or religions. Only A Fool starts out on a dismal note - "A world become one / Of salads and sun / Only a fool would say that." The "world become one" is a reference to Imagine's narrator's 'utopia' ("And the world will be as one"), and "salads" is a reference to Lennon's own vegetarianism. "Fool" here is a reference to the Beatles' hit song The Fool On The Hill (1967), with Imagine's narrator being the fool for proposing an ideal world.

Only A Fool continues, "A boy with a plan / A natural man / Wearing a white Stetson hat." "Natural" refers to John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, appearing nude on the cover of their Two Virgins album (1968); and, it is also a reference to the concept of a natural man who lives a virtuous, uncomplicated existence - this fitting with Imagine's notion of an ideal world.


Only A Fool Would Say That
Listen on YouTube
Lyrics (scroll about half way down in the separate window that opens)

Imagine
Listen on YouTube
Lyrics


a. Cover for the album Can't Buy A Thrill by the artist Steely Dan: The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the label, ABC, or the artist(s) who produced the recording or created the cover artwork.
b. Steely Dan consisted of other members, in addition to Fagen and Becker, at the time that Can't Buy A Thrill was recorded, but these two men have been the only steady members, from the time the band was founded up through current day. In essence, these two are the band.
c. The Beatles no longer existed at the time Lennon recorded Imagine.

All song lyrics in this post are believed to be used in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Fair Use Act (Title 17 U.S. Code).




Sunday, July 7, 2013

The Steely Dan Lexicon - part 4: Donald Fagen's 'The Nightfly' album - rel. to '2001'

CATEGORY: MUSIC, MOVIES; CONTAINS SPOILERS!!

This post consists of a list of observations on the meanings of the lyrics to some of the songs on Donald Fagen's 1982 album, The Nightfly, and how they relate to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Certain items in this post will be best understood by those who have read the analysis of 2001 on this blog.


         

Above left: The cover of Donald Fagen's 1982 album, The Nightfly.[a] Above center: Italian explorer Giovanni Battista Belzoni.[Image from the Wikipedia 'Giovanni Battista Belzoni' page, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.] Above right: The camera 'eye' of A Space Odyssey's HAL computer.

The Nightfly album lyrics here

Songs on The Nightfly album
1. I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World) (listen on YouTube): According to the NASA IGY page, it was from the IGY (International Geophysical Year) rocket and satellite research that the US developed its space program. Therefore, it is not completely surprising that the lyrics in this song have to do with 2001: A Space Odyssey's (fictional) voyage in space.

I.G.Y. begins with the lyrics, "Standing tough under stars and stripes / We can tell / This dream's in sight." The way that Fagen, the song's vocalist, says, "We can tell", sounds similar to the words 'we count down'; this, taken together with "stars and stripes", is a reference to Discovery One, the spaceship in A Space Odyssey, and to the fact that it is a United States spaceship. It is aboard Discovery One that the two main characters in Kubrick's film, astronauts David Bowman and Frank Poole, are voyaging toward Jupiter. "This dream's in sight" is a reference to how a portion of Kubrick's movie depicts a dream David Bowman experiences, and to how the movie is dominated by visuals ("sight"), with relatively little dialogue. In the verse of I.G.Y. that reads, "Under sea by rail", "Under sea" refers to the fact that part of Bowman's journey on Discovery One, is symbolic of the three days that the biblical prophet Jonah spent in the belly of a whale.




Top left: A Space Odyssey's Discovery One spaceship, viewed from the rear. Top right: Frank Poole (left) and David Bowman, aboard Discovery One. Above left: By the point in A Space Odyssey pictured here, Bowman is the only living man left aboard Discovery One. Bowman is here about to leave Discovery One in an EVA pod, symbolically depicting the biblical Jonah (represented by Bowman) being vomited out from the whale's belly, the whale here being represented by Discovery One itself. Above right: This room appointed in Louis XVI-style is part of a dream Bowman experiences, late in A Space Odyssey.


The I.G.Y. lyrics that say, "Get your ticket to that wheel in space / While there's time", are to be interpreted as follows: The "wheel in space" is a reference to the round, rotating space station from A Space Odyssey, and the "ticket" being referred to is a movie ticket - to A Space Odyssey. The lyrics that read, "The fix is in / You'll be a witness to that game of chance in the sky", refer to how the odds are stacked against Bowman and Poole, who have been set up to fail in their mission to Jupiter, by mission control on Earth and by HAL, the Discovery One on-board computer. These lyrics are also a reference to the billiard ball 'metaphor' in A Space Odyssey ("game of chance"): Frank Poole, wearing a yellow spacesuit, is hit by the white EVA Pod, which looks like a billiards cue ball, and which is here under the control of HAL. This attack sends Poole drifting off into space. In the British-style version of billiards known as blackball, the object balls (the balls to be pocketed) are solid red and solid yellow.




Above left: The round, rotating space station from Kubrick's film, orbiting Earth. Above right: Frank Poole and his EVA Pod go careening off into space, after Poole has been struck by the pod (which is here under HAL's control). Note that Poole is wearing a yellow spacesuit.





Above left: In accordance with the above-mentioned billiard ball metaphor in A Space Odyssey, David Bowman wears a red spacesuit. Here, he is getting ready to perform a repair on Discovery One's communications satellite antenna. Above right: The rack set-up for the billiards game known as blackball.[Image from the Wikipedia 'Blackball (pool)' page, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.]


The lyrics, "A just machine to make big decisions / Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision", are a reference to the computer ("machine") HAL, who has control over almost all aspects of Discovery One's operations. HAL is intelligent enough to make decisions. However, he has been intentionally wrongly programmed for the mission by scientists on Earth, who have evil intent, so "just" and "compassion" in the I.G.Y. lyrics are being used sarcastically.


"We'll be eternally free yes and eternally young" is a reference to the end of A Space Odyssey, when the 'starchild' (the fetus inside an orb of light, shown at left) is born (thus "young") - with "eternally free" being spoken sarcastically, since the reality is that in A Space Odyssey, one thing being symbolized is Kubrick's prediction that we'll eventually be controlled by certain evil parties (elite elite hermaphroditic Jews, certain evil high-ranking Mormons and Freemasons, and certain other groups, as detailed in the Space Odyssey analysis).



2. The Nightfly (title song) (listen on YouTube): The lyrics at the very beginning of the song, "I'm Lester the Nightfly / Hello Baton Rouge", indicate that the D.J., Lester, is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but he (voiced by Fagen) later says, "With jazz and conversation / From the foot of Mt. Belzoni ", and Mount Belzoni isn't in Louisiana, it's in Mississippi. The fact that Lester is 'fooling' us about his geographical location, is a reference to how the Space Odyssey Jupiter mission, which is being broadcast to audiences on Earth, is designed to fool these audiences, in the sense that not all of the mission is actually being broadcast from Discovery One - some of it is being televised from the above-mentioned space station. Also, the way Fagen says, "foot of Mt. Belzoni", makes it sound like 'foot-in-mouth Belzoni'; Giovanni Battista Belzoni (shown in the center screencap at the top of this post) was famously clumsy. "So you say there's a race / Of men in the trees": The second verse here can also be heard as, 'Of men in latrines', which is a reference to Heywood Floyd preparing to use the zero-gravity toilet in A Space Odyssey (by reading its instructions).










Heywood Floyd reads the instructions for the zero gravity toilet in A Space Odyssey.



3. Ruby Baby (Fagen's cover of the song originally performed by The Drifters) (listen on YouTube): The use of the word "Baby" in the song's title, and the use of it in the lyrics as well, are references to Kubrick's 'some women are childlike' theme in A Space Odyssey. The verse, "I'm gonna steal you away from all those guys", is a reference to Kubrick's 'women is space as prostitutes' theme in the same film. Note that The Drifters originally released Ruby Baby in 1956, before Kubrick's movie was released; but nevertheless, Fagen included the song on his album and intends for the lyrics, as he sings them, to be the references to Kubrick's film as described.







The fact that this stewardess takes small 'baby-steps' as she walks around the circular passageway in the lunar lander spacecraft in A Space Odyssey, is meant by Kubrick to be a metaphor for the idea, that certain women are childlike. (see YouTube video here).


a. Image from the Wikipedia 'The Nightfly' page; "Donald Fagen - The Nightfly", licensed under fair use via Wikipedia. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the label, Warner Bros., or the artist(s) who produced the recording or created the cover artwork.


All song lyrics in this post are believed to be used in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Fair Use Act (Title 17 U.S. Code).








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All Wikipedia content on this blog, and any edits made to it, are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Marcus Aurelius's Meditations - from Wikisource (except where otherwise noted); portions from Wikisource used on this blog are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Saint Augustine's Confessions and City of God from Wikisource (except where otherwise noted); portions from Wikisource used on this blog are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Saint Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica from the 'Logos Virtual Library' website (except where otherwise noted), compiled and edited by Darren L. Slider; believed to be in public domain.