Updated 9/22/22
So I am obsessed with a closet play by Lord Byron called Cain: A Mystery. In short it's like Paradise Lost but for Cain, where he and "Lucifer" hang out and travel the Cosmos and discuss philosophy. It paints the God of the Bible in a rather dark light and puts the serpent of Eden as the hero of the story. Probably nothing too unheard of for people who listen to this type of music haha. Well, I wrote my own modernization of this story and listened to a Soen Playlist throughout that I obsessively refined into basically a concept album. (Slightly on the spectrum here, I know it sounds crazy but I've done this all my life haha, it's fine.) Just wanted to share that playlist, plus all systems at work are down lol.
Cain: A Mystery by Soen
Gods Acre: prologue of Adam reminiscing about the Fall and their cursed life exiled from Eden tilling the soil. "Please forgive me my mistakes, I guided us into this place, A god forsaken land where nothing grows."
Secritarian: Cain criticizing God with sarcasm and questioning him. "Let the skies rain On the weak and the fallen, Let them reach faith And be saved by your glory."
Vitriol: Cain complaining and wishing for more from life. "There will be another storm, We will stay here in eternal rain. All the years I'll hold in cold, Was it meant always to be here with you? All I want is to find a reason, a cause. Something real, something here, A reason, a cause, Always."
Orison: Lucifer coming to teach and travel with Cain, then waltzing off into the Cosmos. "In your eyes, I Could see a loathing for the truth, You are burning within... Under the cross, The revelations of a narcissistic mind, Harboured resentment for the joys of, humankind, Under the cross."
Thurifer: the angels trying to sway Cain away from Lucifer, and in the end Lucifer telling Cain to "Stand on your own, be your meaning, be your healer".
Penance: Lucifer explaining to Cain that death is nothing to fear and that all the misery of this life has a superior if you can brave it into the next. "Shaded veils hide your perception, shooting nails into the heart. Still your mind, your soul, will find peace."
Koniksas: Cain pondering what he learned from Lucifer and speaking with his brother Abel. "You are walking like your father and you see it through his eyes. I’ve been reading all your markings you have always tried to hide. Set aside your feelings, like you’ve seen them locked inside, unconditionally so steadfast, how a mother’s always right."
Pluton: Cain kills Abel. "When the moment passed here silence thundered across the plains. Heavy hearts that ache to hear you say that it is not too late. Given no chance to forgive me, left to absolve an illusion. Beneath the surface I sense how I am growing older, Holding the pieces you left like a last intervention."
Paragon: Cain mourning Abel and leaving home. "Step into this Somber storm Endless walk Seeking home. Winds of yearning Clouds of harm Aching haze Soon be gone."
Covenant: Cain formally joins Lucifer. "Freedom lies in your own desires, freedom lives in your will. Nothing’s left as we’re reaching higher, lust is thicker than sin."
Deceiver: Cain's initiation over the millenia. "In the waters of sin I will drown my awareness of you. You have always been there, Covering the sun, Aching in my chest."
Martyrs: Continued. "Shepherd of the elite, guiding light of vain, idol of its prey. Give your servants hope while they beg for change and so they’ll obey… We are made for dreaming, for wandering the earth for what we have is all we need. Framed inside a system made to praise the tame, a leash to keep our will restrained."
Antagonist: Cain begins gathering followers. "I break my bread with the thieves, I share my wine with the villain you fear, To be cursed by the ones you revere. The weak and the bullied we are, The tyrant is feeding us crumbs from his hand, Celebrate a disheartening life."
Dissident: "followers" become a full blown movement. "Use your head, Break away from this, Don't trust in a scale unfairly leveled. Ask yourself, Do I need to stay, Or am I restrained by my possessions? Wake us up, Free us from our fate, Give us something real to fight for. Break us out, from reality, Rescue us from domination."
Rival: Continued. "The sanctions that you force on us, asphyxiate the overcome. Despair is built within our house, breeding the weak to feed the strong. The thoughts you feed you can’t restrain, they’ll turn to you and be your bane. For all I had, vanished. My hands will burn your walls. This is who I am, fallen. Commander of the lost."
Opal: Cain leads his people against God in a final confrontation. "Time will show Throwing your own Into the fire, Vengeance comes. One day we’ll form a tidal wave, Come rushing all over and Come tear down this wall of lies until nothing remains. Turn away, beware don’t be led astray By vultures that turn our temples to a house of trade."
River: Cain reminisces about their family, not happy at their downfall but sad they couldn't rise to more, acknowledging he'll see them someday beyond death, even if only after the end of the Universe. "All these words that I left unspoken I will say when I meet you again, I see you but I can't feel your presence, I feel you but you're fading away."
Ennui: Cain confronts Adam and spares his life, making him an exile. "Doubt will exhaust your hope, Fearing your dreams will be washing away, I know you will have no regrets, you’ll never say I wasn’t there. All that you really want is me to come to you. I will be there, to stand before you face to face, my strife has brought me home."
Lotus: Epilogue. "Where you walk, what you dream, measures who you really are. Turn to your friends, let them face the one you mirror. And the demons that now rest on your side, they will leave you on your own."
Image art by me