Annotations for City of Delusion

Lyric: And break these walls down
Annotation:
Breaking the walls down doesn’t just break the delusion, it also shows what is behind those walls. All this is not for the sake of destruction but to see beyond.

Lyric: Can I believe when I don’t trust?
 All your theories turn to dust
Annotation:
The protagonist (‘I’) is not the one building the fortress, he does not rely upon external belief systems as he doesn’t trust theories that can’t be verified and/or get destroyed with reasoning. The symbolic “fortress” crumbles under his questioning and with it, an entire city, an entire worldview.

Lyric: Touch the divine
 As we fall in line
Annotation:
Alternatively stated, corrupt institutions deviate from the path of liberation they profess to follow; exercising their influence to control the masses (“fall into line”). An ulterior motive shielded by “divine” promises. The skilful utilisation of imagery connotes the great dissonance between promises and reality and the risk associated with blind-faith. Explicitly, by reaching (“touch[ing]”) divine figures (thought to reside somewhere  ‘above’), the population is destined for a deadly “fall”.  Imagery instigated by “fall into line”.  Imagery of “touch the divine” is nicely represented by Michelangelo’s ‘The Creation of Adam’.

Lyric: Do not deny
 That you live and let die
Annotation:
This is a play on the quote “live and let live”, which means “tolerate other people so they will do the same for you.” The phrase “live and let die” suggests that mind fortresses, even related to religious systems theoretically founded on comprehension and love, actually cause intolerance and blindness to the distress of others.

Lyric: You will not rest or settle for less
 Until you guzzle and squander what’s left
Annotation:
This person will not know peace until everything is destroyed – all the theories, mental constructs, preconceptions, and fears that have been built up over the course of history. Edit: The final line could be a reference to society’s negligent attitude towards finite and valuable resources. – credit:  Chequers

Lyric: Stay away from me
 Build a fortress and shield your beliefs
Annotation:
The entire song comments on the way that ignorant people choose to “build a fortress” around their minds in order to keep their beliefs in and other people’s beliefs out. This sort of mental behavior creates an attitude of paranoia that prevents people from seeing the truth for what it is.

Lyric: I choose to hide
 From the All-Seeing Eye
Annotation:
The All-Seeing Eye is a symbol associated with the illuminati. The narrator is wary of being surveilled by the powerful and corrupt.

Lyric: And justify my reasons with your blood
Annotation:
PROPOSED SUGGESTION: When you believe in something and someone tells you – or prove you – that it’s wrong, but you are blinded by your shields, by the fortress previously evoked, then you take out the knife and put to silence those who don’t believe like you. Indeed, when you kill your detractors, there’s no one left to say you’re wrong, so you’re right. The blood is his mean to make him right.

Lyric: Destroy this city of delusion
Annotation:
The line addresses societies which are stubbornly insistent on one belief system, refusing to consider truths that deviate from their prevailing narrative. To destroy “this city of delusion” is to encourage Socratic questioning and critical thinking (i.e. to avoid blind-faith).

