"FOCUS" SONG MEANINGS

The lyrics to this song come from Emerson's poem of the same title, and while it is entirely possible to write a thesis on the meaning of this song, I will try to sum it up as briefly as possible. According to ancient Hindu thought, Maya essentially means "illusion", and the Veil referrs to the veil of illusion that cloaks us all, thus creating a barrier between us and God's vision of perfection...or in other words, reality.

Maya is the world perceived but is an illusion of the derived, or falsely perceived. That is, there is something perceived by awareness, but it is an illusion. It is the veil which covers reality's true nature.

Ancient Hindu thinkers propounded a vision of reality that is very relevant in the context of discussing illusion. According to this, the essence of ultimate reality is normally veiled from our comprehension because of a number of constraining factors that are imposed on matter and mind. The result of all this is the creation of maya, a world of illusion to which normal human experience is inevitably subject.

In so far as maya is a veil that screens the true nature of reality from our comprehension, it may be regarded as something negative. However, maya is not necessarily evil and hurtful, but also can be enlightening and revelatory. Indeed, it serves us very well in the course of our lives, and is at the root of many of our enjoyments, institutions, intellectual exercises, and societal interactions. Certain aspects of maya have even helped us gain a deeper understanding (or visions of higher categories) of reality.

Thus, not just individual lives but civilizations and institutions are based upon maya of all kinds. We are condemned or blessed to lead a life that is both distorted and enriched by a variety of maya...and hence, a delusive world of duality.

"This song is about a visual meditation I would do to heal myself. The feeling of the music is about that exploration to the inner worlds."

- Paul Masvidal

"The concept of The Eagle Nature was taken from an interpretation of the great myth of Eros and Psyche. It is of Psyche's third task assigned to her by Aphrodite where she must fill a crystal goblet with water from the River Styx. Psyche realizes the difficulty of this and feels a bit overwhelmed, but an eagle of Zeus appears by magic and asks for the crystal goblet. It then flies to the center of the stream, lowers the goblet into the dangerous waters and fills it bringing it safely back to Psyche.

The river symbolizes life and the current is fast and treacherous. If we are to approach too closely, one could easily be swept off and drowned. The task tells us how one must relate to the vastness of life, to do things one step at a time. Culture today says: if a little is good, more is better. Following this creates a life which is never fulfilling...while engaged in one rich experience we are looking about for another. There is no contentment because future plans are always intruding on the present. We must learn to live in the now. A little of quality, experienced in high consciousness, is sufficient. We can focus on one aspect of life, or one experience, concentrate on it, drink in it, and be satisfied...then move on to whatever may follow. Almost every person is overwhelmed by the too muchness of modern life, even on a day to day basis. That is the time for the eagle view and one goblet at-a-time mentality."

- Paul Masvidal

This song is also described by Paul in a live show as a song about "attempting to learn how to live life from moment to moment without getting caught up in the past or the future...neither of which exist".

"I wanted to write a song with a more general application...a we kind of tune. The compassionate Cosmic Mother immediately came to mind. The Divine Mother is the aspect of God that is active in creation; the shakti, or power of the transcendent creator. We are all connected to this state of creation. The song begins with words from a poem by Paramahansa Yoganando which brought about much inspiration."

- Paul Masvidal

"Realizing how tiny we are in relationship to the universe…. Tension, release, tension, release, tension, release, tension, release, tension, release, tension, release, tension, release, tension, release, tension, release,…the music was built around that concept…. We weren’t conscious of this at the time,… just doing the work."

- Paul Masvidal

The word Uroboric comes from the Greek Uroboros which was the name of a mythological serpent that had it's tail in its mouth, thus creating a circle. The meaning behind it is "without begining or end" - infinity. I interpret the lyrics to the song as meaning that we are all uroboric forms in the sense of the soul being infinite and perfect...without beginning or end. Through birth, the ego develops, losing connection with this perfection and our infinite nature. This thought is embodied in the line "bliss's screen yet untorn".

"Musical freedom and Fripp inspired inspiration kick started this song and eventually it developed a life of it’s own and we just tried to do it service. We knew with this piece we would could leave everything behind and just explore! It was the last song we wrote before recording Focus"

- Paul Masvidal

"Simply put, it is about self-love and how evasive and difficult it is to be truthful to ourselves. There is a lot of classical Bach influence in the chorus progression especially. It's a very classically rooted/inspired song. I think it would make an interesting piece as a symphonic orchestration."

- Paul Masvidal