calibans_lament_demo.mp3 |
“Ban, Ban, Ca-Caliban, Freedom, Hey-day! Hey-day, Freedom! Ban, Ban, Ca-Caliban, Has a new master: get a new man. Ban, Ban, Ca-Caliban, Freedom, Hey-day! Hey-day, Freedom! Ban, Ban, Ca-Caliban, Has a new master” Oh, Pray tell, will you listen to my story From riches to rags, a prince deprived of his glory This land was mine by my mother Till the magic wavered under the fingers of another “Don’t heed of the witches child, He’s born untrained and his thoughts run wild” Well, Setebos trained my mind to be sharp, So I could learn to dance to the sounds of your harp But “Bang, Bang” the newcomers were persistent Tried to talk, they called it white noise, never listened Ban, Ban, the customs I was told The ones I’d told my mother I would follow till I’m old and Hello servitute, hello pain! Hello to “monster”, a brand new name Worked till the logs were covered with my bloodstains, Never thought I’d see a way out until one day “Ban, Ban, Ca-caliban, Found a new master, saw a new man Ban, Ban, Ca-caliban, Found a new master, saw a new man Ban, Ban, Ca-caliban, Found a new master, saw a new man Ban, Ban, Ca-caliban, Found a new master, saw a new man” All of sudden – is this a saviour? A man from the moon! Then later He tells me he’d be in to overthrow the tyrant Take the island for himself – hey, that’s what I’d want But his conditions were set in stone, Be his servant or I’ll always have to walk alone The price of freedom, that’s what I’ll pay And it seems a bit ironic but… Well…see See, Propsero’s not just a man anymore, He’s a force, imagination of the mentally enslaved ones, And in the pattern of his speech I conformed I never matched his expertise I’m just another one to hate on, Break Free, Break Free! The irony of Servitude to a second, no more pleasant Take me, take me, to a place of rebellion Know how this’ll end but we still sing “Ban, Ban, Ca-Caliban, Has a new master: get a new man Ban, Ban, Ca-Caliban, Has a new master: get a new man. Ban, Ban, Ca-Caliban, Has a new master: get a new man. Ban, Ban, Ca-Caliban, Has a new master: get a new man.” (Freedom, Hey-day! Hey-day, Freedom!) And at the end of the day there was no ‘freedom’, I’m scared, in a moment I’ll see him And in the end of our tale I might still be tied to labour at the hands of a slaver, But the story’s up to you now, listener My future’s in your head after the music ends So will you free me finally, the prisoner Who promises to God that he’ll make amends Oh “Ban, Ban, Ca-Caliban, Freedom, Hey-day! Hey-day, Freedom! Ban, Ban, Ca-Caliban, Has a new master: get a new man. Ban, Ban, Ca-Caliban, Freedom, Hey-day! Hey-day, Freedom! Ban, Ban, Ca-Caliban, Has a new master” | "For I am all the subjects that you have / Which first was mine own king" (1.2.342-43) "This island's mine by Sycorax, my mother" (1.2.333) "A devil, a born devil, on whose nature / nurture can never stick; on whom my pains / Humanely taken - all , all lost, quite lost!” (4.1.188-90). i.e. play by your rules/learn your language "You taught me language" (1.2.364) “gabble[d] like / a thing most brutish” ( 1.2.357-358) "He does make our fire / fetch in our wood" (1.2.313-14) "Monster, I will kill this man" (3.2.107) |
ANALYSIS:
In “Caliban’s Lament”, I attempt to create a more sympathetic vision of Shakespeare’s Caliban, who recounts the events of the play to the reader at the end of the play. This Caliban was heavily inspired by the original character in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, who delivers the “Ban, Ban, Ca-Caliban” chant serving as the starting point for the song. Notably, this chant is modified several times, and is delivered in a sombre rather than heroic manner as one would expect from the reading of the text. This is because Caliban never really reaches a state of freedom, so the chant serves more as a sisyphus-esque reminder of the place he finally wants to reach, but never has.
Much like our hypothesized version of Shakespeare’s Caliban, this Caliban has his older identity – the belief in Setebos, his older language and customs – drowned out by Prospero’s forced identity of him as a slave. There are references to his past – the land being “mine by…my mother” (1.2.332), and the allusions to “Setebos” (374), his previous god. The entire verse one explores this concept of Caliban losing his previous identity, with an emphasis on a colonial reading. The play on words on “Bang, Bang” and “ban, ban” – both rhythmically placed in the same position as the “ban, ban” in the chant – serve as allusions to familiar colonial rhetoric – the sound of gunshots and the pressuring new legal authorities. Similarly, the one line that Prospero has in the song, beginning at “Don’t heed of the witches child” was heavily inspired by the line “A devil, a born devil, on whose nature / nurture can never stick; on whom my pains / Humanely taken - all , all lost, quite lost!” (4.1.188-90). Similarly, this is one that depicts a familiar colonial sentiment, that “humane care” was over the native person in order to assimilate them into european culture, but their ‘devillish nature’ would always surpass nurture.
As we approach verse 2, which is directly inspired by the interactions of Caliban with Stephano and Trinculo, Caliban begins to diverge from ‘canon’. Caliban now notices the irony of substituting his enslavement to Prospero with the blind following of Stephano. He claims that the price of his freedom (being a servant again) is one he is willing to pay, because it would at least free him from the mental enslavement he has to Prospero. Here, the use of imitative language comes into play (a concept I had explored in my two Caliban essays). Caliban mentioned that, under Prospero’s power, he had to imitate his language – but he could never surpass Prospero. We can notice how the lyrics reflect this: they attempt to be – but aren’t in – perfect syllabic rhyme. “And in the pattern of his speech I conformed / I never matched his expertise I’m just another one to hate on,” ‘His speech’ and ‘expertise’ are rhymes, but they are disjoint by one beat – he never reaches a state of perfect rhyme with these two phrases, never matching the theoretical ‘expertise’ in the language. Language here serves as a vessel for Caliban to display a state of mental enslavement, where he emphasises that his fear of enslavement is mental rather than physical. If being physically bound to Stephano can free his mental enslavement to Prospero, then so be it.
In the final (and shortest) verse of the song, Caliban plays with Shakespeare’s open-ended reading of his character. In the text, we are never told if Caliban is ultimately free or not, so he pleas the reader to set him free ‘mentally’. Particularly of note in these lyrics are the use of “God” and “make amends” – Caliban is deliberately shifting his rhetoric away from the “Setebos” of verse 1 to fully appeal to the reader, demonstrating his powerful ‘chamelon’ nature. The song ends in an imperfect cadence and half-lyric, “has a new master….”is never resolved. Thus, the song leaves an open ended interpretation to the reader as well. Has Caliban sucessfully persuaded the listener of his freedom? That is something that he cannot decide.