The Wake
of the Medusa
(Jem Finer)
The song operates at several different levels in terms of
its references. The title echoes that of the painting by
Jean-Louis-André-Théodore Géricault,
"The Raft of the Medusa," completed in 1819 and
currently on display in the Louvre Museum, and a version of
which was used as the cover for Rum, Sodomy, and the
Lash. The painting itself addresses a fairly grisly
episode in the annals of French seafaring (more on that
below) that is itself driven by class politics, and weaved
within we have a variety of references to Greek mythological
figures. Medusa, for instance, was one of the three Gorgons,
a giant with snakes for hair, and anyone who looked at her
would turn to stone (not surprisingly, I guess).
"The guests are stood in
silence
They stare and drink their wine
On the wall the canvas hangs
Frozen there in time
They marvel at the beauty
The horror and despair
At the wake of the Medusa
No one shed a tear...."
As a rule, museums generally do not allow visitors to
stroll about the collection with food and drink. On special
occasions, with select (i.e., wealthy) patrons, it might be
possible. So the opening verse here basically sets the scene
of a soirée in the gallery where the painting (see
below) hangs. "Wake" here can be understood in two senses;
first, a wake can be a post funeral "party" where guests
celebrate the life well lived and the journey to heaven of
the descendant; and second, it could refer to the trail left
by a boat moving in the water.
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The "marvelling at the beauty" probably refers to the
painting; and we'll discuss the "horror and despair"
below.
On 17 June 1816, a convoy of four vessels, including the
Medusa,  left
France for Senegal, which was then part of the French
colonial empire (actually, at this particular point in
history it was ruled by England, but as part of the peace
treaty ending the Napoleonic Wars, England agreed to return
the colony to the newly installed French monarch. The main
mission of the Medusa was to deliver the new French
Governor and carry out the offical transfer of power from
England back to France). Early in the trip, the
Medusa separated itself from the other vessels in the
convoy, and soon made (in hindsight) a disastrous
navigational blunder; basically sailing directly into a
sandbank.
Somewhere south of Tenerife the Medusa hit the
bank and became stranded. The ship, carrying 160 crew and
240 passengers -- a diverse group including soldiers,
engineers, women, children, and the newly appointed Governor
of the French colony in Senegal -- was equipped with 6 life
boats of various sizes and design, ranging from 20-30 feet
in length.
When the decision was made to abandon the Medusa
and set off in the lifeboats, the ship's officers opted not
to apportion the seats in the boats equally. Thus, the
captain's boat -- a 24 foot barge-- carried 28 people, the
27 1/2 foot Governor's barge also carried 28 people, while a
20 foot longboat was weighed down with 88! The officers
reserved for themselves the best seats in the best boats --
indeed they kept the boat assignments secret up through
departure. Since not everyone could fit on a boat using
these arrangements, the officers took the precaution of
ordering the construction of a large raft for the remaining
passengers (150 people). The raft itself was so overloaded
that, contrary to the painting's depiction, it actually
"floated" below the surface of the water, so that it's
passengers were standing waist deep in the sea. The original
construction of the raft also did not include a mast or sail
nor an anchor (to help it hold position), so basically it
would float aimlessly unless towed by the other boats (the
original plan). The folks on board were not given any charts
or compasses (to aid in navigation) and only light
provisions.
"The architects of our
doom
Around their tables
sit
And in their thrones of
power
Condemn those they've cast
adrift..."
An officer was appointed to command the raft, but at the
last moment he refused to step on board and "command" was
given to a badly injured midshipman. For awhile, the ship's
boats towed the raft, but, because it was slowing the other
boats down, the ropes were soon cut.... the Captain, the
Governor, and the officers, pulled away to safety, while
those left on the raft were abandoned to their fate.
With the underlying Greek mythological references (more
below) the "architects of our doom" can be interpreted more
broadly to refer to the Gods on Olympus controlling our
fates. I also think this entire verse is one of the most
powerful political commentaries the band made. Divorced from
the immediate context of the shipwreck, it becomes a
stinging rebuke of various conservative political parties
and policies. That is, it's a fine indictment of those --
Thatcherism in the UK, Reaganism or Bushism over here in the
US of A -- who are in positions of power to influence the
conditions of our social life, who then use that power to
create conditions which render life unbearable, and then
blame the victims for their fate rather than doing what they
can to improve the prevailing social conditions. We're all
on the raft.
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"Once more upon the raft I
stand
Upon a raging
sea
In my ears the moans and
screams
Of the dying
ring..."
Life on the raft for the castaways was much more "Lord of
the Flies" than "Gilligan's Island." Although a crude mast
was eventually added by the party on board, the raft
couldn't really navigate and basically just drifted with the
currents, waves, and wind. Thos on board argued over the
scarce rations and cramped space. When food was running out,
they rolled the sick and wounded into the water to avoid
having to share the dwindling supply. When the food supply
was exhausted the survivors became delusional and desperate
-- drinking urine and attemping to ingest feces and
eventually succumbing to cannibalism. By the time the raft
was spotted and rescued (on 17 July) by another vessel (the
Argus), there were only fifteen survivors of the
original complement, and several of these died not long
afterward. In Greek mythology, Argus was a 100 eyed giant
sent by Hera (the queen of the gods) to guard Io (a maiden
loved by Zeus, king of the gods and husband of Hera) after
Hera had changed Io into a goat. Argus was slain by Hermes
and his eyes were eventually put into the tail of the
peacock.
Somewhere in the
darkness
The siren softly sings..."
In Greek mythology, the sirens were nymphs whose singing
would lure ships to their doom and sailors to their death
(see Lorelei) (click here
to open a window for Homer's description of them in The
Odyssey (Book 12).
"Echoes down the city
street
Their harpies laughter rings..."
"Harpy" has come to be a slang term with a couple of
interrelated meanings (all negative) depending on context
and reference. In its least obnoxious form, it could just
refer to the kind of person you really don't fancy spending
much time with. Most often it refers to women, especially
nagging ones, prostitutes, or those with "easy leisure"
(i.e., sluts). But its roots are in Greek mythology, where
"harpy" derives from the Greek for "snatcher." The harpies
-- Aëllo, Ocypete, and Celeno -- were monsters with the
head and body of an old crone combined with the tail, legs,
and talons of a vulture. They transported the souls of the
dead, took the food of their victims, and were otherwise
fairly vile beasties.
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"The casket is
empty
Abandon ye all
hope
They ran off with the
money
And left us with the
rope."
The second line in he verse likely refers to the last
line in the opening stanza of Canto III in the "Inferno"
section of Dante's The Divine Comedy:
Per me si va ne la città dolente,
per me si va ne l'etterno dolore,
per me si va tra la perduta gente.
Giustizia mosse il mio alto fattore;
fecemi la divina podestate,
la somma sapïenza e 'l primo amore.
Dinanzi a me non fuor cose create
se non etterne, e io etterno duro.
Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate'.
The passage describes the inscription over the Gates of
Hell. Here's an English translation (thanks to c.shram for
suggesting the addition) :
Through Me Pass into the Painful City,
Through Me Pass into Eternal Grief,
Through Me Pass among the Lost People.
Justice Moved My Master-Builder:
Heavenly Power First Fashioned Me
With Highest Wisdom and with Primal Love.
Before Me Nothing Was Created That
Was Not Eternal, and I Last Eternally.
All Hope Abandon, You Who Enter Here.
The Medusa became quite a scandal in France. Although a
military investigation of the disaster took place, none of
the officers were court martialed. On the other hand, two of
the survivors, J.B. Savigny (a junior surgeon) and Alexander
Corréard (a geographical engineer), published a
narrative of the ordeal and later opened a pamphlet house
named for the ill-fated vessel. This address became a
hangout for rebels and revolutionaries, who saw in the
episode an emblem of Royalist and military callousness. Big
thanks to DzM for bringing the Greek mythological elements
here to life for me. The details of the shipwreck are from
Alexander McKee's riveting "The Wreck of the Medusa" (1975,
ISBN: 0-451-20044-6).
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.
Shane "discovered" Lorca's work while the band was in Spain
during the filming of "Straight to Hell." Here's a short
interview excerpt from "The Lost Decade" where Shane
discusses Lorca:
Given
Terry's republican sympathies in general and those
of this song in particular, I heard the "Torn
asunder" line as "on a Sunday", and took it to
refer to