MUSES
Chorus
Invoke the muses,1 I will
Make the music I feel
Win or lose it, I’m still calling
I’m calling their names
Verse 1
I’m like a troubadour. 'Cause even Jesus spoke in metaphors2
I’m bringing things to the culture that they’re not ready for
Be assured, my master plan’s a step ahead of yours
Jared Leto, This is War, the card count’s fifty-four, with Jokers
Like Joaquín, I’m rising like a Phoenix now3
Keep your bullshit opinions, 'cause I don’t need ‘em now
Even now, my net worth is something I won’t speak about
Could flex on my success, but I don’t even need the clout
Hear me out, ahead of time like the Prime Mover4
Entrepreneur, they gon’ watch my maneuver
Singer-songwriter, producer, superman and Lex Luther
One man band. Now I’ve been planning for the future, man
Onto newer frontiers, blood sweat and tears
Reaping what I’ve sown, but I’ll be sowing seeds for eighty years
I face fear, I’m on display like a souvenir5
Space pioneer, now watch me shooting through the stratosphere
Verse 2
I was born heavy, yeah I’m war ready
From Queens to the Queen City6 like the mercury they call Freddie7
It’s all petty when they said my thoughts were all pennies
I played the game, take the fame, I made it already
Feed my family with this music, do you understand me
Invoke the muses, I’m just using all the tools they hand me
Stretch my hammy, run the race8 but never chase the grammy
Don’t bet your life on validation they gon’ up the ante9
You’ll lay awake10 without a nuanced take
These days are crazy, man, but you want sane
A new John Wayne. The grit to spit what you won’t say
Life is pain. I'm Abel now, but you want Cain.11 So listen
Embrace the weight of the world to watch it take off12
You’re still human, ain’t no solutions only trade offs13
Wield the sword.14 To stay soft won’t pay off
If motion isn’t chosen15 then you’ll never shake the snakes off
1 Muses, In Literature, “O Muses, O high genius, aid me now!” - Dante’s Inferno (Canto II)
2 Mt 13:35
3 On the last two lines: Jared Leto is half of the band, Thirty Seconds To Mars, who released an album called “This Is War” in 2009. A deck of cards has 54 cards, including the two jokers. Both Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix played The Joker in their respective films (two jokers).
5 Jn 3:14
6 Matt was born in Queens, NY, and later moved to Charlotte, NC (the Queen’s City)
7 Freddie Mercury from Queen
9 See work by Jonathan Haidt on the effects of social media, including The Anxious Generation
10 Phil 4:7
11 See “Cain and Abel: The Hostile Brothers” by Jordan Peterson
12 Mt 16:24-25
13 A warning against utopian ideas. “There are no solutions, only trade offs” - Thomas Sowell
14 Ep 6:17
15 “The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience. A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it.” - Frank Herbert’s Dune. Other imagery includes: the idea of the “flow state”, the Bronze Serpent (Num 21:6-9), Christ becoming sin (2 Cor 5:21), and more.