On Babylon
I launched another round of extra-potent salt sprinkling on 100,000+ Assyrians earlier today and fell asleep on my chair again. I felt better after catching some sleep and pulling the Lord knows how many consecutive all-nighters in recent weeks. I have never worked this hard in my entire life, and to my massive annoyance, I’m not getting paid, but I’m also unable to stop. Life stopped making sense after I took that leap of faith in China less than five months ago. Feel free to reach out if you know because I don’t. Thanks.
I took the following screenshot when vibing with Lady Gaga, and noticed Nabucco, Act III: Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves in my recently played list. My Spotify Liked Songs playlist currently stands at 3,178 which started with 300+ back in late August last year when He came. It would be an understatement to describe my musical taste as random, and I go the full range from Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Tchaikovsky, to the soundtrack of The Greatest Showman and She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain, which I added to my playlist after the talented pianist Michael played it for a centre exercise when I was training at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. I just googled the traditional folk song, which I was initially informed to be children’s music. Still, I exceptionally annoyingly just learned from Wikipedia that the song was derived from the Christian spiritual known as “When the Chariot Comes” and the OG ostensibly refers to the Second Coming of Christ and subsequent Rapture.
Once again, fuck me. I started the above paragraph thinking I was only going to discuss what I found by pulling the thread that is Nabucco, Act III. Dude is extremely not subtle nowadays and doesn’t mind letting me know to my face. I have a lot of random classical music in my playlist due to my dance training and I sometimes appreciate music without words so that I don’t have to think or reason. I cannot remember why or where I picked it up, but it caught my eye earlier because of my chitchat regarding the Hebrew language with ChatGPT for my post on Revelation 13. However, I just discovered that Nabucco is an Italian-language opera and the lyrics are surprisingly in Italian. And you can read about what the Canadian Opera Company has to say concerning the random piece of classical music in a language that I had no bloody idea what they were blabbing about since I added it on 15 Oct 2024. Oh, fuck me, again. I will explain after the quote.
Canadian Opera Company
Verdi’s hymn to freedom
Nabucco’s most well-known musical moment is “Va, pensiero, sull’ali dorate” (“Fly, thought, on golden wings”), better known as the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves. The chorus is a dramatisation of Psalm 137, which begins with the words “By the waters of Babylon, we sat down and wept” and was also famously associated with the African-American struggle for freedom (most notably quoted by the abolitionist Frederick Douglass in his 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”).
“Va, pensiero” was adopted as an unofficial anthem by the burgeoning Italian unification movement—known as the Risorgimento—and was performed spontaneously by the mourning crowds at Verdi’s funeral. A choral performance of the piece opened the Metropolitan Opera’s 2001 season, 11 days after the destruction of the World Trade Center.
Go big or go home
Blood-and-thunder melodrama calls for a cast to match the epic proportions of the story, and Nabucco doesn’t stint here. In this production, the chorus is expanded to include 82 singers who portray both Babylonian soldiers and Hebrew captives, for whom over 200 costumes have been designed. Supplementing the musicians in the orchestra pit, additional instrumentalists play offstage. Capped off by some of opera’s greatest voices, the combined effect is one of ferocious emotional force that you most certainly won’t want to miss!
The chorus was about Psalm 137 and I just checked Spotify when I added the other song Rivers of Babylon by Boney M right before I started writing about this post. Turns out, Spotify is indeed good enough to make me hallucinate about a deity now. Anyway, I’m just going to leave you with some screenshots and quotes about what other people said on some random stuff and you can interpret them however you want as usual. That’s what everyone does anyway, lean on their own understanding rather than hear what others have to say and try to comprehend things from their perspectives or even let them finish their sentences.
He just told me to go big or go home. For the first time in my life, I think I have both reason and righteousness on my side, because I have Him by my side, and His name is Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour.
If you want to know whether things are that bad, then all I can say is even though I bitched and moaned about unbelievers a lot, the worst comes from the fact that I have met theologians and pastors who would rather believe I have gone insane than I have encountered the God as described precisely in the bestseller they spent their entire professional career on. I guess that’s what drug (money) addiction does right? It can turn a hobby or something you love with all your heart and soul into doubt and frustration. I got my hand on my first bestseller in late July last year, and I probably would have been on 4 figures now if I didn’t go bankrupt. Probably can only get the view counter on my posts to 4 figures until we burn Babylon down.
Enough is enough with this godlessness nonsense. We have done nothing except ruin everything and turn the world into a loveless, desolate and barren hell. He turned me into a 5-year-old that can withstand the rejection and betrayal of everyone I once (somewhat) trusted in life including my parents. I did not expect that when I had £30k a month rolling into my bank account last year. Please do let me know if you can spell the word miracle, I have seen people spell it wrong with variations including but not limited to craziness, insanity, mental illness and megalomaniac. Thanks.
Sons of bitches, time for your curtain call.
Edit: I kinda just realised I was being a hypocrite and didn’t take the log out of my own eye first. I realised from a normal person’s perspective that I must be demonstrating pride by making my previous income known. Like I stated repeatedly in prior posts, I’m an eccentric guy and it’s something I knew growing up and was informed by people around me of the same opinion. I have wondered my entire life what’s wrong with me and I seriously hate attention or when people stare at me. I learned that I don’t value money the same way people around me do in the last 15 months. That’s partly because I slack off and procrastinate a lot even when working four remote software engineering jobs and I felt like I was cheating and stealing from my employers the whole time. The other reason is my biological father was and in some sense still is a quarter-billionaire, but I tend to learn from father figures and he’s 5 years ahead of me on the bankruptcy side quest. The family business had been struggling long before I even left China for the UK. I started taking care of myself within a year of arrival and it’s been 11.5 years since I arrived in London. Just FYI, my Father is loaded for real, and this is me boasting and He is my pride.
Psalm 137
How Shall We Sing the LORD’s Song?
[1] By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
[2] On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.
[3] For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
[4] How shall we sing the LORD’s song
in a foreign land?
[5] If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!
[6] Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!
[7] Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations!”
[8] O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us!
[9] Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock! (ESV)
Luke 4:16–30
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
[16] And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. [17] And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
[18] “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
[19] to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
[20] And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. [21] And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” [22] And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” [23] And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” [24] And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. [25] But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, [26] and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. [27] And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” [28] When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. [29] And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. [30] But passing through their midst, he went away. (ESV)
The Beautiful Dream - George Ezra
[Verse 1: George Ezra]
What a beautiful dream
I think I’ll stay a while
Won’t open my resting eyes
Caught off guard in between
Twilight was rocking me
Could not hear the symphony
Is the grass of Eden overrated?
The grass of Eden overrated?
Somewhere off in the past
Morning is calling me
I missed it deliberately
Is the grass of Eden overrated?
The grass of Eden overrated?
[Chorus: George Ezra]
No one else
Is such a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream
No one else
Is such a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream to me
[Verse 2: George Ezra]
With your fingers ablaze
You’ve got that hunger now
Take me, I’m going down
Underneath the debris
I’m calling out to you
Do with me what you choose
Is the grass of Eden overrated?
The grass of Eden overrated?
[Chorus: George Ezra]
No one else
Is such a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream
No one else
Is such a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream
No one else
Is such a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream
No one else
Is such a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream to me
[Bridge: Florrie, George Ezra]
Oh, can’t hear me now
Oh, not going away
When you wake up
I’ll be around
When you wake up
I’ll be around
No one else
Is such a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream
[Chorus: George Ezra & Florrie]
No one else
Is such a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream
No one else
Is such a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream
No one else
Is such a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream to me
Such a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream
Such a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream to me
We Are the Champions - Queen
[Verse 1]
I’ve paid my dues
Time after time
I’ve done my sentence
But committed no crime
And bad mistakes
I’ve made a few
[Pre-Chorus]
I’ve had my share of sand kicked in my face
But I’ve come through (And I mean to go on and on, and on, and on)
[Chorus]
We are the champions, my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
‘Cause we are the champions
Of the world
[Verse 2]
I’ve taken my bows
And my curtain calls
You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it
I thank you all
But it’s been no bed of roses
No pleasure cruise
[Pre-Chorus]
I consider it a challenge before the whole human race
And I ain’t gonna lose (And I mean to go on and on, and on, and on)
[Chorus]
We are the champions, my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
‘Cause we are the champions
Of the world
[Outro]
We are the champions, my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting till the end, oh
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
‘Cause we are the champions
Hunter - Galantis
[Intro: Hannah Wilson]
Mm-mm-mm
[Chorus: Hannah Wilson]
I am the hunter, I am the great unknown
Only my love can conquer
I am the, I am the hunter (I am the hunter)
I am the hunter, into the wild, we go
Give up your heart, surrender
‘Cause I am the, I am the hunter (I am the—hey)
[Verse 1: Hannah Wilson]
We’ve been on this road
To a place that, one day, we’ll know
Adventure to the other side (I am the, I am the)
Searching high and low for the treasure deep in your soul
The fortune teller’s always right
[Pre-Chorus: Hannah Wilson]
Got them red eyes in the night
Like a panther, outta sight
Gonna sing my battle cry
‘Cause I am the, I am the, I am the
[Chorus: Hannah Wilson]
I am the hunter, I am the great unknown
Only my love can conquer
I am the, I am the hunter (I am the hunter)
I am the hunter, into the wild, we go
Give up your heart, surrender
‘Cause I am the, I am the hunter (I am the—hey)
[Post-Chorus: Hannah Wilson]
I am the (Mm-mm-mm)
I am the (Mm-mm-mm, hey)
I am the, I am the (Mm-mm-mm)
I am the (Mm-mm-mm)
I am the, I am the, I am the—
[Verse 2: Hannah Wilson]
Strangers wild and free
Through the flames, you’re all that I see
A force you, that you can’t deny (I am the, I am the)
Hear my calling
Lock and load, come running to me
Dancing through the midnight (I am the, I am the)
[Pre-Chorus: Hannah Wilson]
Got them red eyes in the night
Like a panther, outta sight
Gonna sing my battle cry
‘Cause I am the, I am the, I am the
[Chorus: Hannah Wilson]
I am the hunter, I am the great unknown
Only my love can conquer
I am the, I am the hunter (I am the hunter)
I am the hunter, into the wild, we go
Give up your heart, surrender
‘Cause I am the, I am the hunter (I am the—hey)
[Post-Chorus: Hannah Wilson]
I am the (Mm-mm-mm)
I am the (Mm-mm-mm, hey)
I am the, I am the (Mm-mm-mm)
I am the (Mm-mm-mm)
[Outro: Hannah Wilson]
I am the, I am the, I am the
I am the, I am the, I am the hunt-
I am the, I am the, I am the
I am-I am, I am-I am, I am-I am
Hunter
