Your Wings Are Gonna Burn

One of the things that I try to convey to the youth of today (hahaha - I used to be "the youth of today"!) when talking about education and what the purpose of college is, or education, really, is that it's not just about getting a fucking job. If you are just trying to get a better job, you will never be truly successful in education. You might as well go to vocational school - and there's nothing wrong with that, it's just not about education or knowledge or learning - even though it is about literally learning some skills that will help you get a particular job. This song, Too Close To the Sun by The Sunset Curse, is a clear reference to the Greek myth of Icarus, who, with his father, the master craftsman, Daedalus, was stranded on the island of Crete. To get off the island, Daedalus builds wings made of wax for Icarus to wear but warns him not to fly too close to the sun.

And then what happens? You know. Human nature is all too easy to predict.

But you knew the story, anyway, because it's part of our collective knowledge or education. And here, in this song, The Sunset Curse taps into this collective knowledge to convey a truth we all understand too well without having to explain or describe. I remember when I first learned what the word, 'hubris', means. It was my least favorite teacher (least favorite in that I thought he was an asshole and he was to me, but he did teach me what he was meant to teach me) in high school English class, reading the ancient Greek play Oedipus Rex, that taught us about hubris. I thought it ironic because he seemed to possess excessive pride, himself, but he never really acted on it and thus, it never resulted in tragedy. He was just an arrogant asshole. (My classmates don't seem to agree on this point, though, so I'll just accept that maybe he was just an asshole to me and several people I cared about, and maybe not everyone else.) Ever since I learned the meaning of hubris and how it results in tragedy, I've been very conscientious of my own hubristic behaviors. Maybe even thinking that I can control it is another part of hubris.

Back to the music. It's a fun, upbeat, dancey song. It makes me want to dance. It does not feel tragic at all, such as the title and reference to the Greek myth imply. However, I think this open, up-beat, maybe even optimistic sound has more to do with the arrogance or excessive self-confidence - maybe self-importance - that is hubris...before the fall of the tragic hero. In fact, I think that's the case, since, with the repetition of the chorus,

Your wings are gonna burn

Your wings are gonna burn

Your wings are gonna burn

it suggests that the fall has not happened yet, but that it is "gonna" happen. In fact, several points in the piece have a "larger-than-life" feel, beginning with the intro - maybe this is created through the hollow reverb effect on those first few measures of break-beats before the synth melody comes in and then it diminishes by the time the guitar and vocals come in. Still, the steady beat throughout continues to have this heavy reverb effect, continuing to feel big and important.

It's hard to know if this song is meant as a warning to others or to oneself. It's not dark and angry feeling, so maybe I would take it as a warning to oneself - remember: my wings are gonna burn (if I fly too close to the sun).