Hey LP’s,
Recently I’ve been listening to a band by the name of “A Perfect Circle” quite more often than usual. One factor that I think is responsible for this new found interest, is that I recently found out his Mother, Judith had died in 2003. I had known that his mother was crippled when he was young, but the death of his mother was quite shocking (pissed at myself that it took 7 years for me to come across this fact).
Maynard James Keenan (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
You may be asking yourself, “Why of all things, would his mothers’ death be the cause of the sudden interest?”. Well, simply put, when I hear of tragic stories such as this, I often try to put myself in the person’s (in this case, Maynard’s) shoes, and try to reflect on how brutally painful it would be to lose your mother. My mother is still alive and (somewhat) well, so I cannot say I fully understand what he went through, but no one can. The only person who knows fully what his thoughts, actions and words were regarding his mothers’ death is Maynard himself.
The feeling I got from all of this wouldn’t have been as strong, if he hadn’t written songs reflecting past moments with his mother. I will go into detail about a couple of the songs regarding his mother.
A Perfect Circle – Judith
Lyrics: http://www.sing365.com/music/Lyric.nsf/Judith-lyrics-A-Perfect-Circle/D0DE682FF5444125482568FE00332AC6
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTgKRCXybSM
Discussion: The song was primarily about his mother becoming crippled (song was named after her), and the fact that her faith in god was not shaken by the tragedy. He held a lot of anger because of this, and this song was just one way of expressing it, for example;
“He did this, took all you had and Left you this way, still you pray, never stray, never Taste of the fruit, never thought to question “Why?”
Keep in mind these are my own interpretations, and should not be considered pure fact, but the lyrics above seem clear, the God she loved and prayed too would do such a thing as cripple her, and knowing this full well, she still followed her faith to the end.
“It’s not like you killed someone It’s not like you drove a hateful spear into his side Praise the one who left you broken down and paralyzed He did it all for you…”
According to Keenan (and other sources) Judith was a kind and caring Christian woman, who would be an inspiration to those around her, yet she was struck down by the one she praised. It was not as if she did something as to “earn” what happened to her.
That wraps up the first song, but before I proceed with the second song, let me explain the story behind it (this fact is what drove me to write this).
According to sources, his mother was on life support at the end of her life, she was undoubtedly in extreme pain. He had to come to the conclusion to pull the plug that kept his mother alive, which (for any of us) would be very traumatizing, and difficult to deal with.
A Perfect Circle – Orestes
Lyrics: http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Orestes-lyrics-A-Perfect-Circle/055D1AFF9BB9DBB148256BD600052074
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XtG5SGL0Xw
Discussion: This song was supposedly written about the battle he had to go through with pulling the plug on his mother. I cannot clarify that this is a fact, but the lyrics seem to clear the smoke, for example;
“Gotta cut away, clear away Snip away and sever this Umbilical residue,Keeping me from killing you”
That to me seems to represent the chord that in which was keeping his mother alive.
“Give me one more medicated peaceful moment”
It’s as if he is referring to the last moment(s) he had with his mother on her deathbed, and that he just wanted those last moments of silence with her to happen to be able to let go of her.
The Effect
Now, I have to admit, upon discovering this fact about his mother, and utilizing it with the lyrics to these specific songs, I began to cry, but who wouldn’t? Only someone without a soul would not at the very least feel sadness when discovering what Maynard had to go through involving his mother. Hell, I still do cry when I hear these songs, the reason? Perhaps the thought of losing your only mother in such a way as to having to pull the plug, and thus ending her existence.
The Question
Now let me ask my (very few) readers, if you were in the position that Maynard was in, being…
your mother is on her deathbed, silent, in pain. Being her son (or daughter depending on person reading this) you have to make the decision regarding her life.
Would you accept your mothers fate and pull the plug, or would you try to keep her around so she can have as many days on this Earth as she can?
My Answer
Well, whether you like it or not, everyone dies, that is the simple truth, but when dealing with a bond such as between a mother and son, the choice would be very complicated, and would have many things to effect your decision. As stated before, my mother is still alive, but if I was put into this situation..Well I really don’t know. If it was in her best interest as to pass on as soon as possible (if she was in pain, etc) then I would do what was best for her, but the simple fact that you would go through life thinking, “I killed my mother, I’m responsible” would be something difficult to carry with you.
The Fact
Now look, even though you may be the one to give the order to pull her plug, it does not mean you should feel guilt, or responsibility. You were simply doing what was best for your loved one, and I’m sure if they are able to see you now, that they wouldn’t want you to feel any pain at all for doing what you did. The action of keeping that loved one in your thoughts (and to keep them on your mind) I’m sure would prove to be just what that person expected of you.
Well, another simple fact is that I’m nineteen, which I’m sure to many of you would rob me of my opinion because I “don’t know anything”, which is somewhere close to the truth, do I really know how it is to pull the plug from a loved one? No, I don’t, but I know enough to say that losing a loved one (in any condition) can be traumatizing and could possibly take years (if ever) to get over. The one thing I noticed about death, is that it seems to bring out the good in the people around the one dying. Death (if the situation fits) allows us the opportunity to forgive the individual of any past problems and vice versa, it’s a depressing time, yet an optimistic one as well, for the overwhelming emotions of losing the person causes you to try and apply an extra-positive outlook to cope.
I appreciate Maynard’s work, his lyrics are deep, creative and hard-hitting, all while metaphorically used. If you do happen to like the few Youtube videos I used, please expand your knowledge of his music further by checking out his work in “A Perfect Circle”, and his other bands, “Tool” and “Puscifer”.
While researching this, I came across this page which held a few facts regarding Maynard and his mother;
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3187
Bottom line – Even in death, there is birth, a birth to a new beginning, a birth to a new outlook, a birth to a new…life.
Peace folks, much love.