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| Daughters > Albums & Lyrics |
Daughters can be described similarly to how Nietzsche describes the Greeks in Zarathustra, "...beautiful and accomplished, this thoroughly sane, universally envied species of man-was it conceivable that they, of all people, should have stood in need of tragedy- or indeed, of art?" This question can most definitely be raised on both ends, that being of the ancient Greek people and of the collective musical unit known as none other than Daughters. Nietzsche, through his book The Birth of Tragedy explains why the Greek civilization, a great and triumphant era of peoples, indeed invented tragedy stemming from the conflict of the Apollonian and the Dionysian spirits and why in fact Daughters indeed follows a similar pattern according to Nietzsche and his theory of art and music as a whole.
Now we must provide a short synopsis of what Nietzsche's theory embodies. When he speaks of the Apollonian spirit he conveys it as being what is "self control, and civilized, a sort of oneness that is thrown off balance by the Dionysian spirit, which embodies frenzy and intoxication, these two serve as counterbalances for one another. One can not exist without the other present in some form of the other.
When looking at the particular piece that is our topic of discussion, being that of Daughters, we must indeed take into consideration that the music, which encompass songs spanning roughly within an average length of less than a minute, still provides nonetheless a true representation of Nietzsche's aesthetic theory. When the music first starts, you can easily tell within the first few seconds that the guitars clearly seem to embody what Nietzsche refers to as the "Dionysian" spirit. It reflects constant frenzy which can be comparable to the moments of short spanning madness that comes across all of us periodically but soon leaves before it can do real damage to anyone. Contrary to the two guitars playing seemingly maddening squeals, the bass and drums seem to fit perfectly into place is that of the "Apollonian" spirit, which seems to give a structure and form to the insanity of the guitars. At first the Apollonian tendencies of these two instruments may not be apparent, but as one truly listens throughout the whole album, they are what give it the form which is so very essential to attain music of such a superb and original quality.
Last but definitely not least we come to the vocals, which according to Nietzsche, is "Apollonian" in nature, which is accurate to some extent, the lyrics that are heard on this album (which average four or five lines) shows order in its pattern over the music, but when evaluated closer one could see that its content shows clear evidence of a heavy Dionysian presence, be it that some are so crazy, they have no decipherable meaning.
Daughters, whom not only follow the musical philosophies of the epic civilization that was ancient Greece, but also follow the work ethic they embraced, by having such vigorous touring habits, the nearest one spanning nearly four months in length. Daughters seems intent on building an empire more vast than the ancient Greeks could ever dream possible.
According to Schopenhauer, "Music manifests itself as will." Nietzsche somewhat agrees with this, he refutes this general claim by professing that music can possibly represent some aspect of the will, but he feels that it is truly impossible for music to represent the "nature of the will". When it comes to the piece in question, I must say that if Nietzsche were alive today and heard this particular Daughters release, he would think twice before making the statement mentioned above. Daughters are the representation of not just the will of one, but of five, and if the true nature of will could be represented in a sense mentioned by Nietzsche, I think that this release would personify it.
In Closing, Daughters represents a true clash of the Dionysian and the Apollonian spirit in a distinct and clear fashion, with enough energy and will to make songs that are under a minute personify the relationship between insanity and order more so than anything played in the mainstream of what is considered "music" today. This representation, according to Nietzsche is, is the true absolute essence of all forms of art.
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