Explication: "Scornful of the Motives and Virtues of Others"

Shai Hulud, a self proclaimed "all purpose unit of mosh", originally from Florida and now kickin' it out of upstate New York, writes both some of the most obvious, and the most cryptic songs, but they generally all have the same theme. Today I'd like to bring to attention track one of their latest release, "Scornful of the Motives and Virtues of Others", off of That Within Blood Ill-Tempered.

For the lyrics, feel free to sashay on over to songmeanings.net for the complete, correct words: sashay damnit!

The song is not difficult to understand, in and of itself, but it is instructive nonetheless, and like all other Shai Hulud songs, illustrates my jaded-sunglasses-view of the world, so I thought I'd share.

The opening verse sets the tone. Rest assured/This is sincere/This is true/Let this by my writ of misanthropy/To a faithless world of men who have perfected nothing/Save the act of accusation. As the album starter, this song takes a swift and apparent stand. It's as if this song, in the greater macro-view of the album itself, declares, "what follows is a concise summation of human nature and why it has to go."

The following verse shows that audience that the author is a flawed man, and instead of denying it, he chooses to use himself as a poignant illustration. Woe is he that feels compelled to pen even one word of hatred/The act is contemptible/To know I hate with the passion with which I love is a travesty/Let this writ acknowledge these facts. The individual finds himself expressing his hatred with the same intensity as his love, and this is wholly disturbing to himself, and the following album provides further explanation.

The following few verses serve as a lamentation. Despite all the anger and sorrow, the author is above all else sorry for the conditions he sees around himself, and how he himself has often lapsed into the behaviors he condemns. But, and this is important, there is a strong desire to improve those foul conditions and to return to a world of almost innocence, a world where people have compassion and genuinely care for one another.

Following the lamentation, the author turns it around. Enough of self pity - "I. Am. Flawed. But damnit, I am trying, trying as best as I can take these flaws and wield them as well as I can for the improvement of the lives of the people around me that I love."

What follows is an impassioned plea to open your eyes and see that this effects you, the reader, and that you and he are not so different. Also there's a promise, that this current road is a dead-end, and that it's up to you how you want to react - he knows that - but please read on and understand that he feels he has something to be said (and if you have the album you know he does).

Finally, the song restates its thesis, and affirms its declaration:

Let this be my act of defiance.
Let this be my refusal to fit in.
Let this be my writ of misanthropy...