Heartland, question thread

[ragamuffin]

This thread's purpose: if you've got a question about a reference, or if you're missing a part of the storyline, etc, ask! You can also use this thread to notice others about references you've found, since they're always fun to know about :3

The main reason I made this, is that I'll be writing a review for my school-paper, and I need to get some things straight:

Is Heartland the world and Spectrum the city?

I had a bunch of questions, but I can't remember the others now. I'll probably post some later.

[nocturn]

From reading posts on this board, it seems that everyone else is way more clued up about the story line and how it works in each song that I am!

I've understood that Lewis Takes Action is from Lewis' point of view, him declaring his devotion to Owen. Then The Great Elsewhere is him trying to convince someone else of how wonderful Owen is, and then getting disenchanted or even falling out of love with Owen/the Storyteller after a war… He realises that God is actually indifferent to his fate. And then logically, Oh Heartland, Up Yours! is Lewis as well, trying to make public his new found distain for God/Owen, no? He won't sing his praises anymore.

Those three songs in the middle of the album is the only part where I can detect the storylline, and tell whose perspective it's from But I have probably listened to those three the most. I have trouble telling whose point of view each song is from, to be honest. Are they all from Lewis' point of view?

[ragamuffin]

Jan 1, 2010 18:36:17 GMT -5 nocturn said:

From reading posts on this board, it seems that everyone else is way more clued up about the story line and how it works in each song that I am!

I've understood that Lewis Takes Action is from Lewis' point of view, him declaring his devotion to Owen. Then The Great Elsewhere is him trying to convince someone else of how wonderful Owen is, and then getting disenchanted or even falling out of love with Owen/the Storyteller after a war… He realises that God is actually indifferent to his fate. And then logically, Oh Heartland, Up Yours! is Lewis as well, trying to make public his new found distain for God/Owen, no? He won't sing his praises anymore.

Those three songs in the middle of the album is the only part where I can detect the storylline, and tell whose perspective it's from But I have probably listened to those three the most. I have trouble telling whose point of view each song is from, to be honest. Are they all from Lewis' point of view?

I didn't care so much for the story at first, but since I liked the concept of it, I decided to put an effort into actually getting it. And it's really good, it's an interesting story. Owen's lyrics are so great and doesn't ruin a thing, so for me, the whole story-thing made the album even better.

As far as I understand, all of the songs are in Lewis' point of view :3

Q: where (or when?) did Owen get the inspiration for Heartland? It was in some interview, I think he said he read some strange book while he came up with it, but I can't totally remember it.

[Peter Heke]

AFAIK, Heartland is the country/continent/landmass Lewis comes from, and Spectrum is the world itself.

As for the story, here are a few things I take from each song. I don't think they present the story in chronological order, or a perfect order for that matter. I may be completely wrong about all of this.

____

Midnight Directives
Lewis leaves home, or is taken away from his home to serve Owen. From the first verse, I get the feeling he has killed someone. The trick with the prick of a pin may be Lewis' plan to kill Owen.

Keep The Dog Quiet
Lewis complains about the world stagnating around him, stagnating due to Owen's absence. Just like the gods here on Earth, believers are left to their own devices.

Red Sun No. 5
Lewis realises he is mortal, or at least not something he thought he was. He rages hard. Possibly kills another woman, or the same woman spoken of in Midnight Directives.

Lewis Takes Action
Lewis rides off (or rides on) to carry out his plan.

The Great Elsewhere
Lewis is talking about a time in the past (before any song), or possibly after Midnight Directives. He was once devoted to Owen, and joined Missions setting out to "convert" other peoples. He relates his expirience of this, and the doubt that began to set in.

Oh Heartland, Up Yours!
Every time I listen to this song I enjoy it too much to think about it's place in the story. Sorry.

Lewis Takes Off His Shirt
Lewis openly defies Owen as he rides on towards his goal. He reminds me at this point of a character in V for Vendetta. He's not going to give up that Last Inch. It's death or glory.

Flare Gun
Owen (our Owen), wrote this as a fantasy/medieval take on a spam e-mail, for a previous compilation album thing. But I imagine Lewis bleating this during the time he was devoted to Owen.

E Is For Estranged
I guess Lewis is talking about his home life, before he left on his journey. I find it difficult to imagine him being old enough to have a 25 year old son though...to me he seems about that age himself.

Tryst With Mephistopheles
Lewis finally reaches the summit (of Mount Alpentine?) and kills Owen. The end of the song seems unclear about who is "whizzing off the clifftop". It could either be Owen, Lewis, or both. Either way Owen is surely dead, but is Lewis...?

What Do You Think Will Happen Now?
This suggests Lewis survived the encounter, and went home (or elsewhere). This, to me, is the most complicated song of all. I won't write my thoughts on it just yet.

____

Hope this helps you, and your review.

[ragamuffin]

^Thanks for your input. I don't interpret the story as you do at all though. As far as I can see, there are little to no jumps in time. In Midnight Directives, I think Lewis has left his home to fight in a sort of holy crusade, in the holy name of Owen, which he is completely devoted to. In Keep The Dog Quiet, he's still in the crusade, and in Mt. Alpentine, he crosses the mountain on his horse.

I'm unsure about Red Sun, perhaps he thinks back on his loved ones. In Lewis Takes Action, it seems like he continues his work for the crusade. In The Great Elsewhere, he's on a mission for the crusade, and finally he meets Owen, which is what he was longing for ("And how long must we sail before you show your face to us?"). He discovers Owens carelessness for the people, and loses his faith in his religion and God.

I think the rest of the album is about Lewis' persuading Owen, which leads to him killing him. Oh Heartland, Up Yours! is a rant, and a statement. In Lewis Takes Off His Shirt, he takes off to find Owen, and deal with his carelessness. Flare Gun is rather a description of the environment and the lands he encounters.

I don't get E For Estranged either, since Lewis describes himself as an adolescent in Lewis Takes Off His Shirt. It might just be stories.

Tryst With Mephistopheles is obviously the showdown with Owen.

In What Do You Think Will Happen Now? I am certain Lewis is writing his story down, as even the music sounds like a writing machine.

[Alyssa!]

One of the things I've been noticing in my lyrical analysis stuff (blog) is that the lyrics don't spin out an entirely continuous narrative. The whole glory and image of Midnight Directives pretty quickly goes into the pessimism and cynicism of Keep the Dog Quiet, and mood keeps on oscillating until, on What Do You Think Will Happen Now?, everything just falls into a torrent of words and images. There are image patterns throughout, but everything is permanently fractured: the storyline just sorta falls together roughly, Lewis has a daughter and then suddenly a son, Owen is dead and then sort of not dead, ketamine and sundresses are referenced, and all sorts of other goodies. In my mind, Owen's point is that this narrative about narratives is inherently messed up, as all fantasy is. So...I dunno, I don't see the point in trying to figure out a narrative.

When people ask me what it's about, I say "It's about a farmer who kills god."

[theaiproject]

I have been listening and trying to interpret this thing ever since I found out there was a story, and I change my mind about how the whole thing works about daily. Here's where I am right now:

So far, I think that it is a continuous narrative (though I'm not completely sure). I also believe all of the songs are from Lewis' point of view except E is for Estranged.

In my opinion, Heartland is the more wealthy part of Spectrum, where royalty and the head of the church is located.

We should look at Spectrum, 14th Century as well, as it definitely comes into play within the storyline.

Spectrum, 14th Century-

Oh Spectrum-

We have royalty on one side, and the rest of the people on the other side.

Blue Imelda-

Lewis is speaking to Owen, saying that he'll be pious, and to Imelda, "Can I take you as a friend?" He's basically foreshadowing leaving his wife.

The Butcher-

Owen calls everyone to worship him, and shows his true indifference toward the people. He can do whatever he wants as the god of this universe, and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop him.

Cockatrice-

A prophet (perhaps Lewis) walks with Owen near a church. They discuss a prophet who was turned to stone by a cockatrice. They also discuss how the person speaking will die.

Ballad of No-Face-

No-Face (most likely the head of the prophets, and perhaps a cockatrice himself) discusses his distaste for the people in Spectrum, and defends all of his evil works that he does as the head of the followers of Owen. He apparently enjoys the amount of power that he wields, and seems to be the most powerful mortal in Spectrum.

Heartland-

Midnight Directives-

Lewis decides, at long last, that it is time to leave his home, his family, and his farm. He remembers the time that he spent worshiping Owen as a child, and decides that he can no longer live his day-to-day life as a farmer. He must, instead, go on a journey as a missionary, and claim land for Owen.

Keep the Dog Quiet-

Lewis decides that the prophets are in the wrong, and that their form of worship and manipulation of the people must be stopped. Lewis will spill their blood, end their story (which is dead anyway, hence the ink dried in the well), and take power as the head of the followers of Owen.

Mt. Alpentine-

Lewis does not yet climb Alpentine (where Owen is located. I imagine it’s like Olympus, and Owen’s hanging out at the top), he instead speaks to his horse, saying that they will one day present himself before Owen as the leader of the people. He will voice his satisfaction toward Owen, and will justify his taking over the following with Karma- the prophets were horrible to the people, and they thus had to be overthrown.

Red Sun No. 5-

Lewis feels the calling of Owen to overthrow the church, and feels that the only way he will free himself from the life of a farmer is to kill his family. He brings his wife, Imelda up a mountain, and tells her all about his plan to overthrow the church, and pulls her close to him. She gets upset, and he grabs a hold of her…

Lewis Takes Action-

Lewis tosses Imelda off of the mountain, ending his previous life, and killing his wife. He then goes on an adventure, stating that he will fight and take out any of the followers of the church (acolytes) that get in his way. He eventually even takes out the head of the church. He is completely filled with rage, which he believes is an energy endowed by Owen. He sees himself as invincible after taking out the entire church.

The Great Elsewhere-

Lewis is extremely successful in spreading his new religion to the world. He now has an army of followers, but refuses to resort to any measure other than violence in order to convert followers. He travels from island to island, fighting everyone who comes in his path. He speaks to one of his doubtful followers, claiming that Owen’s good works are obvious within the world. He gets to one island, and is defeated in battle, ending up with a spear in his shoulder. When he finally gets back to his ship, he is in bad shape, and sees that Owen is, in fact, not on his side.

Oh Heartland, Up Yours!

Lewis is recovering from his injury, and contemplates what has happened. He has freed the world from the reign of the evil church, and wants answers from Owen. He is, at this point, angry with Owen, and decides that he must now kill Owen and take over his reign, as he did with the prophets. He reveals that he is from Heartland (the wealthier town in Spectrum, where Mt. Alpentine is located). Now that he has the people on his side (from starting the new church), he will be able to go to war with both Heartland and Mt. Alpentine (which is essentially heaven).

Lewis Takes Off His Shirt-

Lewis knows that Owen wants him to serve him, but refuses, saying that he will weild his power in order to instead overthrow him. Lewis finds it strange that he has taken such a different path (one of serving Owen to one on which he destroys him), but is excited about it.

Flare Gun-

Lewis calls the people of Spectrum to arms, stating that all of their problems will be solved once Heartland is overthrown.

E is for Estranged-

This is my favorite song off the album by far. It is so beautiful! I also believe that it is from Owen’s perspective. He sees everyone in the world fighting against each other, and wonders why they have abandoned him as a god. He is, meanwhile, playing shows, recording albums, and doing whatever else Owen Pallett does. He is busy with his own life, and did not know that all of this was going on. He gets quite upset about the whole thing. He has created a world only to have the characters fight against him. The world is in a complete state of disarray, and he sees in particular one of his other characters (whom he refers to as his son). This particular character has gone from a bad state to a worse state of drug addiction and depression. He is a complete failure as a narrator and a god.

Tryst With Mephistopheles-

Lewis finally arrives at Mt. Alpentine, where he remembers his childhood of worship, and sees Owen at the top of the mountain (which represents the purging of the barrier between the real world and the fantasy world of Spectrum). He runs up the mountain at the sight of Owen, stating that the people of Heartland are dead, and floating in the river, and that Owen will soon join them. He runs past the guards, and stabs Owen in the eyes, killing him. Here, he assumes that he is now the god of Spectrum, and that everything in the world will be as he wants it to be. Instead, one of the followers shoots him (Karma!). The followers throw him off of the mountain (which is foreshadowed earlier, way back when Lewis threw his wife off of the mountain), and he falls for 30 storeys. On the way down, he realizes that he doesn’t care that he is about to die, as he has taken out Owen, freeing the world of his supposed tyranny. He wonders how he will be remembered by the people in the future. He dies, with pleasure, thinking, “the author has been removed!” He is victorious. Now, with all of the characters dead, our story is over.

What Do You Think Will Happen Now?

People seem to be really confused about this one. I’m pretty sure it’s really similar to “The Pooka Sings” in that it’s a reflection about what has happened over the course of the album. In Pooka, Owen looks over He Poos Clouds, and is told by others that it has been a failure, and that he should give up entirely. At the end of Heartland, Owen is obviously not dead (contrary to what happened in Heartland), but he looks at Heartland as a piece of art, and states why he made it. He is confused by religion, just like anyone else, but sees the concatenation of all things within this world that we all live in. He states that he has so many beautiful things to live for in this world, and puts the work, Heartland, away. He must go out and live within the real world.

Fin! Thanks for reading all of this!

[Ren]

Wow.

That was awesome.

[joebonte]

Thank you, that was lovely to read! and pretty much follows my interpretation, bar the few I had no clues about I'd have never been able to put it so eloquently though.

[manus21]

In an Interview Owen gave to a german magazine (SPEX) he says that in "What do you think will happen now?" that the song is kind of like a dialog between Owen and Lewis

[cmj]

That was so frigging awesome. Thanks!

For the record, I thought that Spectrum was a land in the east, and Heartland was in the west (or maybe I've got it the wrong way around, but something like that).

[neptune]

Seems like I got it wrong, but I didn't think Heartland was a place as such... I thought it was just a nickname for Spectrum. I seem to remember Owen saying Flare Gun was about trying to repatriate people for the Spectrum army, so I felt like they were calling people back to the "Heartland" and trying to make them feel nostalgic for Spectrum's ruddy women and such. Also, in the early days, Owen said the other land was called Aurelia, though that hasn't been mentioned much.
So yeah, to me Heartland was how the exiled Spectrumites in Aurelia fondly refer to Spectrum. I guess that doesn't really fit anymore.

[Peter Heke]

@ theairproject

I like your comments of some of the songs, but you should note that:

Imelda - the Heartland Imelda - is probably a horse. Blue Imelda is not necessarily the same as Heartland's Imelda, nor is the song necessarily to do with the Heartland story. The Spectrum 14th Century Imelda seems like a prostitute.

In The Great Elsewhere the singer refers to Owen's work, so it's likely that the singer is infact Lewis.

[jules]

Jan 2, 2010 15:18:55 GMT -5 neptune said:

Seems like I got it wrong, but I didn't think Heartland was a place as such... I thought it was just a nickname for Spectrum. I seem to remember Owen saying Flare Gun was about trying to repatriate people for the Spectrum army, so I felt like they were calling people back to the "Heartland" and trying to make them feel nostalgic for Spectrum's ruddy women and such. Also, in the early days, Owen said the other land was called Aurelia, though that hasn't been mentioned much.
So yeah, to me Heartland was how the exiled Spectrumites in Aurelia fondly refer to Spectrum. I guess that doesn't really fit anymore.

Flare Gun was explained when the unmixed raw recording appeared a couple of years back as...

"a leaflet distributed as part of an aggressive recruitment campaign by one of the kingdoms, Spectrum, to lure manpower from its neighbor Aurelia"

"The language of the leaflet is fairly base and sensationalistic, and its exaggerated promises and fantastical descriptions are meant to prey on recipients in their weakest moments, so it offers much of the same strategic persuasion as modern-day email spam".

So it appears that Spectrum is the Heartland.

[Peter Heke]

Jan 1, 2010 23:17:06 GMT -5 Alyssa! said:

One of the things I've been noticing in my lyrical analysis stuff (blog) is that the lyrics don't spin out an entirely continuous narrative. The whole glory and image of Midnight Directives pretty quickly goes into the pessimism and cynicism of Keep the Dog Quiet, and mood keeps on oscillating until, on What Do You Think Will Happen Now?, everything just falls into a torrent of words and images. There are image patterns throughout, but everything is permanently fractured: the storyline just sorta falls together roughly, Lewis has a daughter and then suddenly a son, Owen is dead and then sort of not dead, ketamine and sundresses are referenced, and all sorts of other goodies. In my mind, Owen's point is that this narrative about narratives is inherently messed up, as all fantasy is. So...I dunno, I don't see the point in trying to figure out a narrative.

When people ask me what it's about, I say "It's about a farmer who kills god."

I often get the impression that the album's story might be about the album's story; that in writing Heartland Owen has created a world, and in doing so set in motion the chain of events that lead Lewis to sever his connection with it.