Mr. Editor,

I write to speak on the topic of promoting peace.

Unlike the many articles and letters posted on Freedom's Phoenix, based on fact, opinion or both, I write a letter that includes poetry - poetry that is set to music.

I resorted to the inclusion of poetry because facts are to truth as toothpicks are to a living tree. It's much easier to start with a living tree and produce toothpicks than to start with toothpicks and produce a living tree.

And if facts are that far removed from truth, then what of opinions? I suppose sometimes opinions are closer to the truth than facts, other times, further.

And the same that is true of opinion might also be true of poetry.

But there is so little poetry here. Almost none. The show just over a week ago now on Jordon Page's music was an exception.

Inspired by that show, I shared "Unwritten" in a letter last week. That letter was mercifully brief. The same cannot be said of this one.

After writing the explication of these lyrics, I was amazed to see how well they bore up to close examination. So I looked for some account by members of the band concerning events surrounding the writing of this song. It seems that one of the members had composed some music. Upon hearing that music, the lyrics-writer declared it sounded Spanish and reminded him of a Conqistador. So off he goes and three months later he's back with the lyrics.

No moment of inspiration apparently - just some hard work.

Maybe the band's members only did all that for the money. And on that basis, one might simply dismiss all of it and what I have to say about it.

But what of the audience? They don't get paid. What do they hope to gain?

In "Unwritten" the singer speaks of "reaching for something in the distance so close you can almost taste it". I felt that way sometimes when listening to certain songs, "Conquistador" being one of those. I felt like I got very close to some of the seemingly distant truths I was seeking while listening to the words. That truth sometimes seemed so close I could almost taste it.

Or maybe I was just having an acute attack of apophenia. (Don't worry, it's neither contagious nor terminal!)

But writing about this song gives me a chance to repeat a point made from time to time around here and which could stand to be made again.

Without further ado, here are my comments concerning what Procol Harem has to tell us in the song "Conquistador".

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Conquistador - Is the path to peace through an outer conquest or an inner struggle?

You can listen to the music here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F945LQG6fuA

I chose this particular video because the sound quality is excellent - AND, slow panning and zooming of still photographs are applied in a highly skilled manner. The images don't all exactly fit the lyrics, but hey, you've got an individual with some skills working with stock photos . . .

Numbers are included with lyrics for easy reference. My comments start below the lyrics.

01 Conquistador, your stallion stands

02     in need of company

03 And like some angel's haloed brow

04     you reek of purity

05 I see your armor plated breast

06     has long since lost its sheen

07 And in your death mask face

08     there are no signs which can be seen

09 Though I hoped for

10     something to find

11 I could see no

12     maze to unwind

13 Conquistador, a vulture sits

14     upon your silver sheath

15 And in your rusty scabbard now

16     the sand has taken seed

17 And though your jewel-encrusted blade

18 Has not been plundered still

19 The sea has washed across your face

20 And taken of its fill

21 - 24 (Repeat chorus 9 - 12)

25 Conquistador, there is no time

26 I must pay my respects

27 And though I came to jeer at you

28 I leave now with regret

29 And as the gloom begins to fall

30 I see there is no ONE

31      Only ALL

32 And though you came with sword held high

33 You did not conquer,

34 Only die.

35 - 38 (Repeat chorus 9 - 12)

In lines 1 and 2, the narrator finds an unattended stallion. Surmising the stallion belongs to the Conquistador (whom the narrator has actively sought to find), the narrator addresses the Conquistador by title. All three verses begin with the same salutary address.

In lines 3 and 4, the narrator alludes to the Conquistador's aura of nobleness - purity.

In lines 4 and 5, the narrator notes the dullness of the Conquistador's armor-plated breast, an indication of the Conquistador's long arduous journey to where the narrator finds his stallion.

In lines 5 and 6, it becomes clear that the Conquistador is dead. This gives a whole different flavor to the use of the word "reek" in line 4. Line 4 speaks of "reeking of purity". Well, death is synonymous with corruption. Corruption is the opposite of purity. Line 4 is rendered an oxymoron by the revelation of the Conquistador's death in lines 5 and 6.

Also, the phrase "no signs which can be seen". I think the narrator seeks some indication of the circumstances of the Conquistador's death. How did the Conquistador feel about his death? If he had it all to do over, would he choose the same path? The Conquistador's death-masked face offers no clues, no sign which can be seen, concerning either that question or a host of other possible questions.

The chorus re-enforces, re-states the narrator's quest for answers in his journey to find the Conquistador. "I hoped for something to find". But there is no mystery here. There is no riddle to be rhymed. No puzzle to solve. "No maze to unwind". And there is nothing as yet to answer any questions the narrator may have had in mind when he set out on his journey to find the Conquistador.

Lines 13 and 14 re-enforce the idea of death with mention of a vulture sitting upon the Conquistador's silver sheath. Also, the silver sheath echoes the idea of a haloed brow - because both shine or glow.

Lines 15 and 16 give an indication of how long it has been since the Conquistador was killed. His rusty scabbard is filled with sand. The rusty scabbard contrasts nicely with the silver sheath and haloed brow. In lines 19 and 20, it becomes clear that the narrator found the Conquistador on a beach. The salt water has rusted the scabbard. From this, it may be safely inferred that a few days have passed since the Conquistador died. But not too many, because his horse is still nearby.

Lines 17 and 18 give another indication of time since the Conquistador's death. Nobody has taken his jewel-encrusted blade from his body so far. Maybe this speaks (well) of the people who live in the land where the Conquistador met his end.

Lines 19 and 20 indicate that the Conquistador's body rests close to the waterline, because "the sea has washed across your face". "Taken of its fill" indicates that decomposition is well underway, which echoes the use of the word "reek" in line 4. (I won't say anything about what crabs do. Nope, you didn't hear anything about that from me!)

Ironically, the narrator's journey has brought him to the same shore as the Conquistador, which is the shore between two realms, land/sea ~~ life/death. Upon that very same shore, every living soul adorned in clay constantly dwells.

The chorus/refrain is repeated in lines 21 through 24 indicating that nothing noted by the narrator in verse 2 is of any help to him. See comments for lines 9 - 12.

Line 25 conveys a sense of urgency completely out of the blue. Prior to this line, the narrator has been leisurely surveying the scene before him and contemplating it, commenting upon it.

Lines 26 and 27 indicate a radical shift in the narrator's view of the Conquistador. In line 26, he feels compelled to "pay his respects". Yet, in line 27 he reveals that he did not respect the Conquistador when he set out to find him. He originally sought the Conquistador for the purpose of jeering him, taunting, heckling or speaking derisively of/to him. (You don't have to dwell on that thought very long to realize this was an ill-considered motive for undertaking a search for the Conquistador. Had the narrator taunted a living, breathing warrior, it might have been his corpse rotting on the beach!)

In lines 28 and 29, the words "regret" and "gloom" appear. These words re-enforce each other.

Before completing my comments, I need to call your attention again to the word "jeer" in line 27 and the word "one" in line 30.

For years, I never read the lyrics to this song. I took the word "jeer" as "cheer".

Also, I never heard the word "one". However poorly enunciated, it's there. Some years ago, I found lyrics on-line that included the word "one" here. None of the lyrics I looked at during this current exercise included it.

Hearing the word "cheer" (instead of "jeer") and my failure to hear the word "one" led me to one interpretation of the meaning of this song - a meaning that is very different from the meaning I get when I learned the correct lyrics. This meaning based on incorrect words bears some discussion.

If the narrator had come to "cheer" the Conquistador, you can see how what he notes in lines 32 - 34 would disappoint him, make him feel regret and gloom. I just ignored 30 and 31, because without the word "one", it makes no sense. Besides that, I heard "all" as "awe". If the narrator came to "cheer" the Conquistador, he might view him with awe. I think at some point I became aware of the syllable that is "one" and thought it was "hope" somehow. There was no hope and no reason to awe, or something like that.

Of course, if the narrator came to "jeer" the Conquistador, his comments in lines 32 - 34 should be somewhat vindicating, satisfying. But the singer's voice does not convey this.

Charge me with demagoguery. I plead guilty. I chose this song largely because it is anti-war, no matter how I heard it. I always recognized it as anti-war. And I think the majority of those who frequent Freedom's Phoenix hold anti-war views.

But, as is indicated by the heading I chose for this letter to the editor, there is more to being anti-war than taunting warriors. In fact, taunting warriors is no way to end war, or to bring about peace.

It is not enough to be AGAINST war, or against warriors, or even warmongers. You must be FOR peace. These are two entirely different propositions. The latter one is the more promising proposition.

I am reminded of Jacob's struggle with the angel. His struggle lasted through the night. During it, his body is torn asunder - his leg is wrenched from its socket. At the conclusion of Jacob's arduous struggle with the angel, the angel starts to leave. But Jacob insists the angel bless him before leaving. So, Jacob may have been down, but he wasn't out when the angel started to leave. It is after this arduous, body-rending struggle that Jacob hears a greater promise from his Creator, Nature, Nature's God, the supreme Judge of the World, and the origin of Divine Providence. This ain't the kind of thing that comes to people often while they're just walking around. They have to be exerting themselves to the fullest toward some end they deem worthy.

This is what the narrator was doing - something he deemed worthy. He thought his quest to find the Conquistador and jeer him was worthy.

And worthy it was. At the end of his journey, the narrator receives something greater than that which he sought.

In the anticipated moment of finding the object of his search, the narrator finds the Conquistador in a condition such that the he cannot appreciate or benefit from the narrator's taunts.

This idea is conveyed in lines 25 - 31, en toto.

From lines 30 and 31, heard correctly, I get the following idea:

The vain glory of the Conquistador's efforts to enrich or elevate himself by conquest is matched by the vain glory of the narrator's efforts to jeer the Conquistador for the Conquistador's life choices. The Conquistador strives to be "the one" by conquest. The narrator strives to be "the one" by jeering the Conquistador. It's the aim, stupid, that's wrong. Not the path. We're all in this together. (love our kids, breathe the same air, drink the same water . . . )

I think the narrator in this moment has a realization that it is his own life choices that bear examination and re-consideration. The narrator, at this very moment I think, realizes that the life choices of the Conquistador are of no concern to him. They never were.

Except that his journey has brought him to this point, this epiphanic moment, this revelation, the narrator's quest to find the Conquistador is a complete waste.

But I think the narrator suddenly sees that there is another quest upon which he must embark. This realization is unexpected. The quest it suggests to him is vague, almost unknown to him. Being unknown, it may appear frightening, dark, or gloomy. (There's that word from the lyrics.)

But whether the narrator knows it at this moment, the path to that unknown quest likely will not always be foreboding. It may become a bright cheery thruway in his heart.

We should all be so lucky as to catch a glimpse of such a path.

This letter opened with a question: "Is the path to peace through an outer conquest or an inner struggle?"

The question is somewhat of a misdirect, suggesting that the path to peace is one or the other. The path to peace is some of both.

I think the narrator began his search for the Conquistador aware of only one path. And I think that near the end of that journey, he became aware of the other.

In the first two instances of the refrain, the words convey a lack of satisfaction. No answer here. But in the last instance of the refrain, the same words can be taken to mean the narrator has obtained an answer. There is no maze to unwind at this point because the maze was unwound for him - it's almost like the narrator didn't do it himself, life did it for him - in an unexpected manner, during this quest to find/confront the Conquistador. The narrator participates. But his participation only gets him in the right place for life to do the rest.

DC Treybil