Interpretive Statement:
My intention with the piece was to demonstrate what is going
through Job’s head as he hears God’s speeches about Behemoth and Leviathan.
While we hear very little from Job in response to these speeches I wanted to
take what we know about Job and imagine from his perspective what it would be
like to hear the speeches from God as a response to everything that has been
said and done.
It begins with the sounds of a storm meant to
be reminiscent of the whirlwind from which we hear God’s speeches. After just a
few seconds of the storm the listener hears a drum bringing a sense of ominousness
to the piece and a sense that there is more going on than just a storm. Next a
church organ begins playing a somewhat dark chord progression bringing the
first bits of melody into the piece and the first interval one hears is a
dominant seven which is intentionally used to bring a sense of intensity. This
initial chord change also has no major or minor nature to it, this was done on
purpose so that the piece would not necessarily feel sad or happy from the get
go but would rather maintain a sense of intensity without giving any sense of implicitly
happy or sad “feeling” just yet. I also wanted to use an organ to conjure
images of the “Cathedral” God that one thinks of as inhabiting cathedrals with
their elaborate paintings and giant organs. The alternative would have been an
intense synthesizer which would have provided a certain cosmic aesthetic but
which would have detracted from the more natural tone I wanted and would have
not provided the same cathedral imagery. Finally a slow semi distorted banjo
arpeggio begins acting as the “voice” of God. I was torn between the use of an
electric guitar and a banjo but ultimately decided the banjo provided a more
“earthy” aesthetic and since the speech comes to Job from a natural space (the
whirlwind) as Job is sitting in the earth (dust and ashes) I found that to be
more appropriate.
What nearly interrupts this intense
and earthy speech from God is a frantically arpeggiated octave mandolin which
moves back and forth between two minor chords and is meant to imply the chaos
that Job feels as he considers what God has already said to him and realizes
that perhaps this God is not who Job thought he was. After a few measures we
hear the first words as Job realizes that he has “said too much and [has] not
fallen on deaf ears.” What follows Job’s first stanza is a rather sorrowful
mandolin solo, which ends with a single repeated note in a somewhat arrhythmic
style meant to feel like almost like hitting one’s self in the head with the
palm of their hand. This somewhat self-flagellating close of his first stanza
is meant to show that Job has realized the foolishness of some of the things he
has said.
Job’s second stanza is set against
the same backdrop of frantic mandolin and is intentionally a little quieter.
This time he quotes God’s words about Leviathan back to God but this time with
a sense of reverence and fear highly mixed. In chapter 41 God has painted
Leviathan as the most terrifying creature the earth has seen and says that no
one reaches their hand out with hook, spear or any other weapon against
Leviathan and that no one “dares upon the door of his mouth.” My intent was to
show a shift from simple acknowledgement of Job’s own foolishness to him
showing a degree of reverence as he considers Leviathan’s grandeur and realize
that God’s is even larger.
Job’s third stanza shows yet
another change in tone but one that is more drastic and, relative to what has
already been said by him, rather unexpected. I decided to speak this stanza
rather than sing it because I wanted to it to be understood as the most plain,
straightforward speaking and expression Job does. He tells God that he has only
spoken “his perception of the truth.” This statement is my way of saying that
Job is simply calling it as it feels and trying to be honest with God. One
might argue that throughout the biblical book he takes this to unfortunate
extremes, but I personally find his honesty admirable and as such wanted to
honor that in this song. The closing line of this stanza is easily my favorite
line of the whole song: “if you can’t handle the way I see you, perhaps you
should show me yourself differently.” This is meant to say that if God really
does not believe that Job is painting an accurate picture or if he doesn’t like
what Job is saying about him then perhaps he should operate differently in
Job’s life. The statement is made with a hint of defiance that is meant to
reflect his ten plus chapters of speeches that precede the brief humble one we
find in chapter 40.
The next section of the song is
meant to sound like a third party has joined in to the conversation (maybe
angels, maybe the earth itself or the creatures on the earth) and this third
party asks what is likened to behemoth, the monster of the sea (Leviathan), and
the glory of the Lord. Each statement is primarily meant rhetorically and is
intended to point to the fact that both God and the beasts have unimaginable
strength and are far above human comprehension. Behemoth is represented by a
deep intense drumbeat that is meant to imitate what the footsteps of a large
running creature would sound like. Leviathan is represented by a highly
distorted guitar riff played in an Arabic scale which, to western ears, provides
a sense of intensity and a sense of mystery and I believe Leviathan is quite
intentionally represented as both of these things. Finally, God is once again
represented with the Cathedral organ but this time with an intense, whirling
tremolo effect to suggest the whirlwind idea again and also to give the organ
an aggressive sound.
After this we hear the voice of God
for the first time. I modified my voice pretty heavily to make it sound particularly
deep and authoritative but tried to avoid making it sound unnatural. When God
speaks it is not with any clear emotion, which I think is true to what his
speeches in Job are like. He states, as in chapter 39, that he knows “where all
are born and where they go to die” and that he knows the ways of behemoth and
Leviathan. I liked the idea of saying “all” not only because God mentions a
diverse array of creatures in his speeches but also because I wanted there to
be some sense that Job was included among the ones that God “knows.” He also
states that he holds the only cord that could keep “them,” the beasts, down. As has been pointed
out God never says anything about his justice, goodness, mercy etc. in his Job
speeches. He simply states that he is quite knowledgeable and quite powerful.
However, I think Job also received some degree of comfort from the divine
speeches and as such I gave God a pleasant major melody but over somewhat
intense minor and dominant seven chords. This is meant to maintain a sense of
God’s strength (via the intense chords) but is also meant to show that God is
not necessarily infuriated at what Job has said.
The closing piece, which is the
last verse and the portion that fades to the close, shows Job with some slight degree
of satisfaction. I wanted the piece to have a sense of closure to it while
still leaving some questions open in much the same way that the book does. Thus
the closing phrase as the song fades “will you revive me?” This is absolutely a
fair question for Job to ask when the chapters I am tackling come to a close
because God has yet to actually address what has happened to Job. While I felt
at times like closing with a cliché four chord progression felt a bit too much
like forcing a happy ending into the song, there is also some sense in which
the book of Job does close with a very happy ending as Job gets all his
children back (in the form of new children) and all of his possessions are
replaced two fold. It could be seen as a somewhat awkward end to the book and
maybe an awkward end to the song but I hope it provides the feeling I am going
for.
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