What's your favourite depiction of magic in fiction? What's your favourite magical tradition in history? This video is really close to my heart and it means a lot to me. Thanks for watching!
This video essay ends with a montage of apocalyptic magic. The music at the end is the final ~8 minutes of a 24 minute song, one of the greatest compositions ever written: "Supper's Ready" by Genesis, a "sidelong epic" originally from the 1972 album Foxtrot, with Peter Gabriel on vocals. The recording here is taken from a live performance in 1976, featuring the great Bill Bruford on drums and the legendary Phil Collins singing *and* playing drums, dueting with Bruford in a long instrumental section in 9/8. Just incredible stuff, make sure to read the lyrics:
***
With the guards of Magog, swarming around
The Pied Piper takes his children underground
Dragons coming out of the sea
Shimmering silver head of wisdom looking at me
He brings down the fire from the skies
You can tell he's doing well by the look in human eyes
Better not compromise, it won't be easy
***
666 is no longer alone
He's getting out the marrow in your backbone
And the seven trumpets blowing sweet rock and roll
Gonna blow right down inside your soul
Pythagoras with the looking glass reflects the full moon
In blood, he's writing the lyrics of a brand-new tune
***
And it's hey babe, with your guardian eyes so blue
Hey my baby, don't you know our love is true?
I've been so far from here, far from your loving arms
Now I'm back again
And babe, it's gonna work out fine
***
Can't you feel our souls ignite?
Shedding ever-changing colours
In the darkness of the fading night
Like the river joins the ocean
As the germ in a seed grows
We have finally been freed to get back home
There's an angel standing in the sun
And he's crying with a loud voice
"This is the supper of the mighty one"
Lord of Lords, King of Kings
Has returned to lead his children home
To take them to the new Jerusalem
***
For the record, Brandon Sanderson coined the terms "hard magic" and "soft magic."
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Intro
2:22 Hard Magic
5:50 Soft Magic
8:07 1. Magic as Spiritual Materialism
11:53 2. Magic as Invisible Force
12:54 3. Magic as Concrete Abstract
13:59 4. Magic as Godly Boon
16:24 5. Magic as Arcane Knowledge
19:51 6. Magic as Otherworld
21:59 7. Ultimate Magic
23:18 Supper's Ready
Music in order of appearance:
https://youtu.be/3W7Yqp0nPKg?si=dlU69srdSUReu3yQ
https://youtu.be/p-naUosKf0o?si=OXLNZkCZ_RRagj7Z
https://youtu.be/z8WACKWJcc8?si=TgXkjD_NOab61zc7
https://youtu.be/L9vAr3xtawc?si=xFrkUToIJtG9acap
https://youtu.be/HYzPR0nwcmY?si=c4nI77smLB32tVHy
https://youtu.be/Qr1lt7zZL6o?si=vMtS8R6Y4_bHYEVI
https://youtu.be/gpnkTFypXME?si=E16NrNoPUaZOCZ2u
https://youtu.be/2hTZJpsqu1Y?si=RZed1b7xEM20es1C
https://youtu.be/PYb9aS9NrXw?si=DC_EqsBKeLHbzltD
I use clips from so many things including: Peter Pan, Hook, Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Akira, Journey, The Witcher 3, Lost Odyssey, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XV, Divinity: Original Sin, Kingdom Hearts, Balder's Gate 3, Mistborn, Malazan, Earthsea, Tales of the Dying Earth, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Children of Men, Andrei Rublev, Stalker, Solaris, The Mirror, The Tree of Life, Alice in Wonderland, Mulholland Drive, Angel's Egg, Atlantis, Cinderella, Frozen, The Princess and the Frog, Enchanted, Adventure Time, Mary and the Witch's Flower, Princess Mononoke, Ponyo, Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, Kurosawa's Dreams, Eragon, Indiana Jones, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Last Guardian, Shadow of the Colossus, The Fountain, Noah, Kubo and the Two Strings, Arcane, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Krull, Excalibur, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, Shadow and Bone, the Wheel of Time, Son of the White Mare, Blueberry, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Kung Fu Panda, Dragonslayer, the 36th Chamber of the Shaolin, Percy Jackson, Hercules, American Gods, Legend of Deification, Uzumaki, Sampo, Sailor Moon, Elden Ring, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Solomon Kane, True Detective, El Topo, The Holy Mountain, Yeelen, The Wizard of Oz, Mad God, The Chronicles of Narnia, Chandu the Magician, Fantasia, Fantasia 2000, Anaxia, The Matrix, Baraka, The Beauty and the Beast, La Belle et La Bete, Vechera na khutore bliz Dikanki, Quest for Fire, The Dark Crystal, Moana, The Northman, Hugo, Full Metal Alchemist, The Cat in the Hat, Little Buddha, Haxan, Mirror Mirror, Skyrim, and about 20 other things, and yet---somehow I didn't mention Conan the Barbarian. Sorry Conan.
#videoessay #writing #fantasy #magic