I wrote the above song over three decades ago. My band was performing out at the time. The band was named Ekstasis after title given to the Dionysiac cult ceremony that combined, theater, song and pounding rhythms designed to induce its participants into a ecstatic trance state.
The lyrics do pay homage to the time period by its references to alchemy, lyres, harpies, and the term thumos.
It is interesting to note that Eros and Erosion follow themselves in many dictionaries.
The song is about love (eros) and its decay (erosion). The singer describes the complacency and staleness that has entered the relationship and exhorts his lover to dig deep and resurrect the passion and intimacy they once shared.
The song begins with images of strength and power (eagles) and sweet, beautiful song (lark). It then mentions the taboos of intimacy which repress and cause tension. It moves on to the deadness caused by complacency, and the lack of intimate conversation.
At the end of his description of the erosion of their love the singer states that “I’d strip the galaxies from within, if you could be so imbued”. This line shows both his determination and hope despite the current stagnant state of their love. The following images depict the dangers and obstacles that await lovers on their journey to deeper levels of intimacy and self-disclosure. It is only one’s commitment to self development and endless disclosure and passion which keeps eros from eroding.
When deprived of intimacy one's sense of self plummets. The song ends with an admission that the guardians of his chest, the seat of his heart and visceral core has been defeated through his inability to find intimacy. He ends by crying out "Thumos" the ancient term associated with one's sense of breath, blood and the life spirit.
lyrics
Eros and Erosion 10/3/1979
We have come from the eagles and the larks
To encounter some age old taboo
The steel chains that bind give off their sparks
Dissipated disarray our milieu
Complacent little one in the dark
It’s a shame you give me no more fuel
My ambience is not too marred
Harboring the dissonance of youth
You give my life no articulation
I refuse to speak in ejaculations
Our love stained by indecision
Self-induced malnutrition of mind
You don’t know how it hurts me inside
When you feel there is nothing to do
Concrete and secure you automaton
Whether you be mortician or shrew
Decayed and petrified is our love
No zest or vigor to enthuse
I’d strip the galaxies from within
If you could be so imbued
The alchemist of my affliction
Her vile root caused my hazard condition
The catacombs of my affections
Lies below the weeping willow
Harken to the ancient sounding lyre
To the wailings marooned
Beware of harpies in the sky
A sure portent of doom
Beware of harpies and their cries
Mutilating limbs of sinew
I fear the guardians of my chest have lost
Thumos
credits
from Passion Fashion,
released February 11, 2017
Vocals Jim Guido
Guitars Brad Foutch
Bass Joe Pez
Keyboards Brad Foutch, Rob Lesch
Sax Jim Guido
Drums Larry Roberts, Paula
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