Miracle of Sound’s
Life in Bullet Time: Tonal Analysis
Miracle
of sound is the stage name of a musician working and living in Scott land writing
music inspired by popular culture, mainly videogames and movies. Life in Bullet
Time, a song about the suffering of one Max Payne an ex-cop and severe
alcoholic struggling to find order in a chaotic world, his unconventional views
of life and duty qualify him as nonconformity using dark reality, depressing metaphors,
and even drug references to get across his morbidly depressing tone of hopeless
resistance against the world at large. From the lips of a man who has seen it
all this song is portrayed as nonconformity with its worst possible outcome, a
failed attempt to find justice leading to a depressing life that’s only
marginally better than just dying and getting it over with.
To
start off this show of depression we begin with a line that sums up the subject
perfectly: “Sometimes a man with nothing good left to die for can live with
nothing to lose” Max Payne in a nut shell is a man who has suffered immeasurably
yet despite having no cause to continue he persists. The line also portrays a
seriously grim reality, the subject accepts he has nothing in his life to lose
left even his home life is spent on pointless vices “Pills and cheap bitter
booze” that only serve as distractions to keep him from making any progress to
resolving his mess of a life. Finally the idea that your struggle may be more
or less completely pointless is addressed “There is no innocence for the brave
no peace for those you suffered to save” which is one of the worst fears of
anyone who gives everything of themselves for a cause. All of this is very dark
but also very reminiscent of the realities of the world.
Metaphors
also strike this song with darkness and sadness all around ranging from obvious
to subtle. To start with the world is seen in a light like an apple that’s gone
bad by the jaded speaker who refers to it “this world is rotten right to the
core” with no disapproval just a quiet disappointment at how twisted it all is.
Referring to himself in a very degrading manner the speaker seems to have very
little self-respect left “Just like a wild stray dog I stumble through side
streets I bite louder than I bark” yet also a subtle note of pride at his
metaphorical bite, despite everything a reminder of how powerful he can be when
he needs to. Finally the idea of Bullet Time or the spread at which bullets
move being his standard for survival “I keep watching the world go by in bullet
time” along with seeming like an outsider while the world passes by
comparatively slow to how he sees time.
Drugs
are a way of life to some and ever present in this song starting at obvious but
going back to barely noticeable to the casual listener. To start with the
speaker openly admits to not only severe alcohol abuse but also pills and some
hints at even more “Long years and days all blur in slow motion pills and cheap
bitter booze” showing a man who’s a living wreck. Along with this very dark
depiction of addiction are sprinkled more subtle hints “Scars on my hands, skin
windows stare into nowhere a man with nothing to lose” scars to hint at a long
history of street drugs of all kinds to leave such destruction to the body.
Perhaps most telling of all though is no indication of trying to quit but an
affirmation of hunting that high “Keep hunting the peace I've been denied”
until it eventually does give him the eternal peace he desires, in the grave.
All
together this long feature paints a grim tone of destruction, drugs, violence,
and pointlessness mixing to make this man the dangerous person he is. It shows
a mastery of the very things that are destroying the speaker to somehow still
be moderately functional despite everything he’s doing to himself. It’s a painful
look into everything people actively reject about the world around them trying
not to be see but this song shove it into our faces not allowing us to reject
them.
“Life in Bullet Time” By Miracle of Sound
Sometimes a man with nothing good left to die for
Can live with nothing to lose
Chichik Boom
Scars on my hands, skin windows stare into nowhere
A man with nothing to lose
Long years and days all blur in broken slow motion
Pills and cheap bitter booze
Glass shards and bloody stains on the floor
This world is rotten right to core
I keep watching the world go by in bullet time
I keep pushing the pain back down inside
Time trickles away as golden hammers chime
Keep hunting the peace I've been denied
Chichik Boom
Just like a wild stray dog I stumble through side streets
I bite louder than I bark
The noise inside my head rings out through the city
White flares flash through the dark
There is no innocence for the brave
No peace for those you suffer to save
I keep watching the world go by in bullet time
I keep pushing the pain back down inside
Time trickles away as golden hammers chime
Keep hunting the peace I've been denied
Sometimes a man with nothing good left to die for
Can live with nothing to lose
I keep watching the world go by in bullet time
I keep pushing the pain back down inside
Time trickles away as golden hammers chime
I keep hunting the peace I've been denied
Oh I keep on runnin' from the pain
But it's gonna find me now
Yeah, it's gonna find me now
It's gonna find me
It's gonna find me
It's gonna find me, yeah
Gonna find me
