How These (Cyroshell) "bionicle Songs" Relate To Bionicle

[fishers64]

(Okay, I guess it is time for me to stop stringing Windrider along and to post this topic )For those of you not in the know, the band Cyroshell was paid by Lego to do some songs about Bionicle; at least, these songs appeared in commercials and Bionicle.com. On the surface, they have nothing to do with Bionicle; you actually have to think about it.So here’s how I think it relates to Bionicle, and if you have a better explanation, there is that reply button. :)I’m going to look at “Closer to the Truth” and “Bye Bye Babylon” to start, seeing as these are the most cryptic, and if you have any others you want to interpret or me to look at...*points to above comment about reply button*:Closer to the Truth (2008): (Link to Listen to This Song)

Destiny

Is hard to meet

It’ll hunt you down somewhere along the way

Don’t you see?

We’re meant to be

The prodigies that came to show the way

But I don’t wanna rule the world alone

None of us can make it on our own

I’m screaming but I cannot hear a sound

The suffocation slowly comes around

Loneliness

Eating me inside

It’s burning me alive

I'm traveling in my mind

And flying through a thousand lonely souls that cry

in swamps of evil lies

We’re closer to the truth now

Take me home

Don’t believe

It’s dark to see

When the sun has left you at the end of day

Suddenly

It’s hard to breathe

Resting in the trenches won’t you say?

Loneliness

Eating me inside

It's burning me alive

I’m traveling in my mind

And flying through a thousand lonely souls that cry

in swamps of evil lies

We’re closer to the truth now

Take me home

Take me home

Take me home

Take me home

Take me home

The songwriter seems to be talking about both Mata Nui, the Toa Nuva, and the Matoran universe as a whole in alternating segments. The first stanza seems to be a general applicatory to statement to all of the characters in 2008.The second one ‘prodigies’ appears to refer to the Toa Nuva. Once you come with the characters that are the ‘prodigies’, you have the solution to the puzzle. The problem with using the Toa Nuva as the meaning for ‘prodigies’ is the line immediately afterward. I don’t recall any of the Toa Nuva having any designs on universal domination.Instead, I consider ‘prodigies’ to be a blanket term for all the members of the Matoran universe. This entire song rings true in Mata Nui’s voice, him talking to the members of his own body and them talking back. For example, in line 3 Mata Nui is saying to the members of his body “We’re the prodigies, but I don’t want to rule this world alone anymore.” The chorus seems to go into how Mata Nui is so lonely, how his dreams (if we go by the canon) are filled with mental interior travel. Greg did say that Mata Nui was aware of what was going on inside of him while he was asleep, so that fits. “We’re closer to the truth now” is actually the “cry” of the lonely souls inside Mata Nui’s body, as is the last four lines.Bye Bye Babylon (2009): (Link to Listen to This Song)

Release

Let me take on eternity

Taking one more step and let it rip through me

I'm building up my nerve

So you can wish me well

Be sure I will be there

From pride we'll fall

Bye bye, Babylon

Was reaching for the sun

Depraving everyone

So don't you know?

You don't belong

Bye bye, Babylon

Now scattered you will run

Left burning in the sun

Prepare to be...

Bye bye, Babylon

... be gone

Unseen

The prime obstruction is facing me

Wanting to retreat but you won't let me be

I'm calling for belief

Be sure I will be there

And you will fall

Bye bye, Babylon

Now scattered you will run

Left burning in the sun

Prepare to be...

Bye bye, Babylon

... be gone

Bye bye, Babylon

... be gone

Bye bye, Babylon

... be gone

This song is more ambiguous. The application comes down to the meaning of terms:Strict Music Video Application:Babylon=Bara MagnaMe = Mata NuiPrime Obstruction = ScopioIf you go with this, this is Mata Nui’s general rant of disgust against Bara Magna. He doesn’t like it, and he wants out. Slightly off character for him, but fine.Core War Application:Babylon= Spherus MagnaMe = Element LordsPrime Obstruction = Great Beings/Element LordsIf you go with this, the Element Lords sing the verses while the Great Beings sing the chorus.Mata Nui versus Makuta Robot Battle:Babylon= MakutaMe = Mata NuiPrime Obstruction = Makuta, of course.This song would be sung before the battle, but the meaning would be applied the actual fight. The whole thing would be sung by Mata Nui as a personal theme song against Makuta, giving the whole thing a ton of personal meaning. “From pride we’ll fall” would refer to the savage nature of the fight; “Unseen” would refer to the fact that Mata Nui cannot specifically see the Makuta on Bara Magna, but he knows that he is there. This is the best application, I think.And of course, there is always this interpretation :Babylon = BionicleMe = LegoPrime Obstruction = Cantankerous Bionicle fandom.

[Aanchir]

I think that, rather than the Cryoshell songs trying to tell any part of the BIONICLE story, their connections to the story are purely thematic. "Bye Bye Babylon" obviously uses "Babylon" to reference Bara Magna as a civilization shattered by its own pride. I don't, however, think that any of the perspectives of the song are meant to relate to particular characters or plot events. Which IMO is good, because it makes the song applicable outside BIONICLE-- it could just as easily be a song where a person castigates a person close to them (a lover or the singer's family, for instance) for their pride and promises to leave.Closer to the Truth, similarly, connects not to individual characters but to the themes of the 2008 story: the idea of a "final battle" and of uncovering mysteries about one's past. Like Bye Bye Babylon, which evoked a desert with lines like "left burning in the sun", imagery is as important as thematic connections-- this one obviously ties to the story's setting with "swamps of evil lies". However, again, the song is not meant to be from any particular character's perspective, nor is it meant to reference any character's specific struggles. Rather, the song is simply meant to evoke the idea of a person (the singer) feeling lost and looking for answers. It evokes a feeling of adolescence, or at least unfulfilled adulthood, with the idea that although the person feels "closer" to the answers they seek, they also feel more lost and alone than ever before. And while this can be compared to the Toa Nuva in the 2008 story, at the brink of their destiny but facing their most dangerous foes yet and forced to come to terms with secrets about their own past, the song is more widely applicable than that, and other than the thematic similarity isn't obviously from the Toa Nuva's perspective in particular.In truth I like the Cryoshell songs in the context of BIONICLE simply because they can (with some effort) be applied to characters in the story, and when you do so it ascribes a deeper emotional aspect to that part of the story. But while they're far from generic pop songs like Ninjago's theme song The Weekend Whip, they are also not "ballads" meant to tell the actual BIONICLE story from a character's perspective, and to treat them as such assumes a greater insight into the story than Cryoshell probably had. More likely they were given a description of the setting for imagery purposes, a brief synopsis of what the year's story will be about, and little more than that. For instance, the Element Lords were probably not known to Cryoshell when writing "Bye Bye Babylon", but they likely were told the setting would be a post-apocalyptic desert planet, and that insight would have likely been enough insight to write the song about a person trying to break free from the people and situations holding them back.

[the last chronicler]

I have to say that I agree with your statements, fishers, except that Aanchir is correct in the case of Babylon, I feel. Although there are parrellels between it and Bara Magna, the name comes from a very different story and has different implications.On the other had, I remember very distinctly that inside sources did say that Closer was very strongly related to the Bionicle story, and the parrellels are more than just coincidence. One of the key factors being the "take me home" element, which suggests Mata Nuis need to return to Spherus Magna. Also, may I suggest, based on the statement in-song about the force of destiny, that the prodigies are not the Nuva being spoken of, but the leaders that Makuta and Mata Nui "meant to be".

Edited March 21, 2012 by the last chronicler

[Rarity]

Interesting... It never really seemed to click when I listened to the songs, but it does make sense now.

[Mare Tranquillitatis]

Interesting... It never really seemed to click when I listened to the songs, but it does make sense now.

Ditto.----- Lord of the Rings -----Titles: Dark Lord, Lord of Mordor, Lord of Gifts, Lord of Barad-Dûr, Lord of the Earth

[Dralcax]

Well... Closer To The Truth sounds more like a Fullmetal Alchemist song.

[Klak]

Interesting perspectives. For a while, I took "Closer to the Truth" to be something from Krika's perspective. I knew that each had their own reference to the Bionicle storyline, though. "Creeping in my Soul" is obviously about the Barakki. As for "Bye Bye Babylon", I think Aanchir kind of got it right. Still, there were great perspectives in this topic. Maybe you were right!Oh, and the last "cantankerous" interpretation is dead wrong.