Analysis

The ships leave shore, heading off to war. These large metal vessels are referred to as mammoths, which we’ve seen before in the Act II CD booklet when the word is used for the Delphi Express. Hunter is leaving the City behind, to forget about his broken love. He knows that his feelings will stay with him, as his experiences are what makes him who he is, but in frustration and heartache he does the only rational (?) thing he can think of, which is to go to war.

The ebb and flow of the waves beneath him carry him away from his past. Previously, in The Oracles on the Delphi Express, I talked about the line ‘exits illustrate the flaw’. One of Hunter’s main flaws is leaving a situation any time it gets bad, rather than sticking to the hand that he’s dealt. He runs away, afraid of confrontation. Now, he sees this opportunity to leave to war as an unflawed exit, although that’s far from the truth. Once again, the song refers to the Oracles and how their warnings were ignored, their omnipotence was wasted on a boy who did not listen.

The next section is a reprise of The Bitter Suite III, both musically and lyrically. Hunter abandons his life and allows the sea to take him away. He is mercy to the ocean, as the ships take him forward. This is also foreshadowing a future event (probably multiple of them actually). The Lake was his home, the River guided him to his mother’s old home when he was lost before, and now the Ocean carries him to a war of death, as he is lost again.

Then we go further back. The next section is another reprise, of His Hands Matched His Tongue. The lullaby his mother sang to him. The guidance of the water. He remembers her and it calms him. He thinks of the Lake, his old home, and his journey forward to the unknown yet again. ‘The flame is gone, the fire remains’- the actions are set in motion and now life reaps what was sown. Ms. Terri’s raising of Hunter to avoid the City, led him to the City and now beyond. Hunter’s fire with Ms. Leading may be in the past, but the affect it has on him will continue to be his motive. His new direction is the light created in spite of her.