Spiral of Ants is a masterpiece of a songSecret retro mode enabled. You rock!
Spiral of Ants is a masterpiece of a songGood morning, people of humbler times! This is Ivan again, communicating with you through the power of HTTP and RSS.
You probably know that I am a huge Lemon Demon fan. I especially love Spirit Phone, their latest album, released in 2016.
I could go on for hours on why I love Lemon Demon, and specifically, Spirit Phone, so much, but instead, I'll give you a basic introductions for you, readers.
"Lemon Demon is a musical project and band created by American comedian and musician Neil Cicierega in 2003 [ ... ] Lemon Demon's studio work is performed solely by Cicierega, who is the project's sole official member [ ... ] As of 2024, Lemon Demon has released seven studio albums and five EPs."
Thanks, cool Wikipedia contributors!
Spirit Phone, specifically, was released in 2016. It was the first Lemon Demon album to focus almost exclusively on paranormal-related things.
It is a wonderfully constructed album; from its pacing to its melody and lyrics, it's wonderfully written and composed. Furthermore, it is easily one of my favorite music albums ever, consisting of over 14 tracks, about an hour of content (one and a half if you count the bonus tracks!).
Other than what Lemon Demon represents to me-a world where small independent artists are the mainstream-I think there is something incredibly special about how it handles music.
Each track is carefully composed and written to give the listener goosebumps, to properly convey a message, or to tell an interesting story. Nothing gets too serious, though, as there are also many songs that are simply comedy gold that act as comedic relief.
Spirit Phone feels like a unified piece of musical art, not just a bunch of songs put together. To me, Spirit Phone is unique because it uniquely tells stories through its melodies. Stories of ghosts, stories of alien love, stories of satanic rituals, devotion, religion, and suicide—even stories of Ronald Reagan! It is simply unique and amazing.
But, among all the songs in this album, one that stands out to me is Spiral of Ants.
What are the true downsides of herd mentality? What will happen to society if it bows down to the pleasure of conformity? These and many other questions are the ones expressed by Spiral of Ants
Before I continue, I highly recommend you give it a listen. It is an amazing song, not only because of its writing, but also because of its melody and instruments.
Spiral of Ants is based on the phenomenon known as an "ant mill". An ant mill is a phenomenon in which a group of army ants, separated from the main foraging party, lose the pheromone track and begin to follow one another, forming a continuously rotating circle.
The circle is commonly known as a "death spiral" because the ants eventually die of exhaustion. Do you see the metaphor?
In my personal interpretation, this song is a commentary on how people-or, moreso, society-demand and expect you fulfill their expectation-to become homogeneous-without ever thinking about the fact it could all end in doom. But then, what? That's the main theme of the song: intent makes no difference.
Over and over The pheromones, the overwhelming harmony Consuming the colony The Circle rules your life
At the very start of the song, we can already see how powerful the line delivery is. In just four lines, the song has already established a few things:
As the song progresses, the melody and instrumentation create a unique feeling that somehow perfectly embodies the lyrics' critique of herd mentality and conformity. Neil Cicierega's vocals, although not known for being very emotive in the past, add a layer of intensity and emotion, drawing the listener into the narrative of the song.
One interesting aspect to consider I love about Spiral of Ants is how it can be seen as a metaphor for human behavior and the dangers of blindly following the crowd. The ant colony and "the circle" ruling one's life can be interpreted as a commentary on the pressures of society to conform and the consequences of losing individuality.
This line, in particular, is one of my favorites:
You are one ant.
It is only mentioned once. No drums, no trumpets, no nothing. After this line, it's just silence. In a death spiral, what are you going to do as an ant?
If you run away, you'll die anyway, and you'll abandon your mates. What is an ant going to do outside its colony? What are you going to do in your colony? But wait, you know, you're going to the spiral of ants.
The ones of your kind—they're dying; there's nothing you can do; it's over.
Overall, Spiral of Ants is a pretty cool song! You should check it out.