Clerestory annoted lyrics
TELEMETRY 5: CLERESTORY(1)
Where the light burns a little brighter
Where the shadows dance on the walls (2)
Where holy men hide their holy secrets
The sacredness of life is sold (3).
Standing under gold and silver(4)
I see(5) the procession rise
Seated in his thrown of power (6)
He (7) proceeds to close his eyes.
They (8) try but the stone has broken (9)
They try but the ceiling falls (10)
They try but there's no momentum
They try but don't we all. (11)
na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na,
na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na (12)
(1) Clerestory- a form of window, opening or row of windows characteristic of the basilica form of Christian church design.
Prior to the rise of Christianity in Europe the basilica was generally used for government buildings, the early Christians adopted the style as it distinguished their churches from the temples of the previously dominant Pagan religions. Basilicas were generally long rectangular buildings that were often divided into two arcades flanking a central hall; these were separated by the pillars that were necessary to support the roof and the clerestory level was generally above those pillars. Diagram. Such windows allowed a large amount of light to enter the building with out piercing the thick outer walls, as until the rise of the gothic style it was difficult to build large buildings with large windows due to problems of structural support.
The basilica form of architecture has been linked with Egyptian architecture, for example this design by Palladio is based on Vitruvius’ description of an “Egyptian Hall”. The clerestory level rests above the supporting pillars. This photograph is of the Assembly Rooms in York, England which is an almost exact recreation of Palladio’s design.
(2) Describes a place that it different to the surrounding terrain, which draws the observer/narrators attention, it seems to be a special or important place, as it is brighter than everything else.
(3) Suggests some form of temple or holy building.
(4) This could mean several things, 1. that the observer is within the building he is describing and it has a silver and gold roof, 2. that the observer is beneath the sun and stars- this makes sense if we remember that the ‘Telemetry’ is being transmitted by the Angel IV, which is a satellite, if the satellite is the observer/narrator then it would logically be viewing these events from above, 3. with different punctuation it would suggest that the ‘procession’ is standing beneath gold and silver, probably referring to the building.
(5) If the Angel IV is the observer in this song it is possible that it is seeing the events through the clerestory windows, as the word ‘clerestory’ is used only in the title not in the song its self.
(6) This maybe a play on words/pun- "To be
"thrown of power" to me would indicate a state of
having been cast (out?) by the powers that be.
Considering the rest of Telemetry may be the story of
the fall of the angels, this could be a reference to
the way in which all the powers of this world, wiht
all their power, are merely the off-casts of the True
Throne of Power. (God)" thanks Melody.
(7) Who? The song ‘Clerestory’ follows the songs ‘Jackal-Head’ and ‘Prometheus’, the he could be a reference to the Egyptian Gods listed in ‘Jackal-Head’, including the vague “...and one God is this in all life.”, or possibly to Anubis the jackel-headed God of the Dead- this is suggested by the catastrophic events described in the following verse. Otherwise it maybe a reference to the narrator of ‘Prometheus’. Whomever it is referring to the figure is clearly one of power, the leader or possibly god of some religious order.
(8) Once again it unclear who the observer/narrator is referring to, it maybe the ‘holy men’ or the ‘procession’ mentioned earlier in the song but it is ultimately unclear.
(9) The Rosetta Stone perhaps- a failure to properly translate Egyptian hieroglyphs? The whole album seems to suggest the Egyptian gods existing on Mars so this reference seems to possibly suggest that mistranslations have hidden the truth from the modern world.
(10) This seems to describe the collapse of the building that contains the procession and the important figure. Possibly, it is the clerestory ceiling that is collapsing. This verse seems to describe a general entropy and collapse.
(11) Not sure what this means either.
(12) This appears to just be a wordless chant.
