The Barriers of the Soul
“Le temps détruit tout.”
I first encountered this ominous line at the ending (or the beginning, since the movie starts at the ending and plays backwards) of the Gaspar Noé film, “Irreversible,” starring Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel.
“Time destroys everything.” What an eerily true statement. All things, living or not, will eventually be destroyed by time. Living things will die. Color will fade. Mountains will erode. Continents will drift apart and sink. It might take days, years, millennia, or eons, but eventually everything will wither away and get destroyed by the immortal Father Time.
Relationships and friendships are not immune to the obliterating powers of time.
My song, “The Barriers of the Soul,” is about that. It's about a relationship that went awry over time. The barriers of the soul were slowly being built, brick by brick. There’s no particular reason that forced the relationship to deteriorate; it simply happened over time.
This is a very real topic many people can relate to. Divorced couples. Estranged families. Best friends that don’t speak to each other. More often than not, you will hear the same reason for what happened to their relationship, and it goes something like: “I don’t know what happened, but we slowly drifted apart over time.”
Musically, I’m wearing my influences on my sleeves on this song. You can hear Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Megadeth stamps all over, but with the Greyfade twist.
I was reading something today about Bach. He used to take famous church hymns and melodies that have been engraved into people’s memories for centuries, essentially part of their DNA, and he elaborates on them to compose his concertos. Hey, if Bach can get away with it, then so can I :)
Another thing you’ll notice on this song is that it’s the first time I sing in French. Well, for just one line—”Le temps détruit tout.” And it’s to pay homage to the movie, “Irreversible”.
Anyway, back to how this started. “Le temps détruit tout.” Time destroys everything.
As mortals, we will perish away one day. Medicine, AI, or something that might be invented in the future, might prolong our lives but, in the end, time will win.
So as corny as this might sound, let us use our time here to build relationships; not barriers. Not barriers of the soul.
I’m no psychologist, but I think one simple way to avoid relationships going south, becoming a worthy opponent to time, is to simply keep talking. As the Pink Floyd song goes: “All we need to do is keep talking.”
When we stop sharing thoughts, ideas, and problems, the other party will assume everything is okay, and slowly people will drift apart without even noticing. Slowly, “The Barriers of the Soul” will be built.
Listen to “The Barriers of the Soul” here 🚧