Ballad Of Serenity and What It Means To Me by manwithpez

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Ballad Of Serenity and What It Means To Me

POSTED BY: MANWITHPEZ
UPDATED: Saturday, May 7, 2005 06:11
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Thursday, May 5, 2005 4:44 AM

Important people don't do field work.

As more than a few people that have populated this site for any significant amount of time knows, I was stationed in Korea when I bought the DVD set, and stumbled across this site a few months later.

Also, I've mentioned how powerful I thought the opening credits were and just how beautiful the song "Ballad of Serenity" is.

But, what does it mean? To me, its a song that's amiguous enough to mean several different things to several different people. After what chrisisall posted about what his son claimed "Taking the sky" meant, it occurred to me that the song might not mean the same thing to everybody, and therein lies the accessibility of the main theme to Firefly.

When I was watching Serenity, it took me a minute to fathom why the first episode of the DVD was not the first episode that I watched on TV. Then, the song. I had forgotten the gorram song! I immediately paused the DVD (Well, after viewing the credit sequence a couple of times) and downloaded the song. I played it and played it and played. It rang true with me. It reverberated and stayed with me, and I'll tell you why:

Being stationed in Korea meant a year's seperation from my wife of three years, my two year old daughter, and my eight month old son, who had just learned to say "daddy" before I left. My house, my car, my money, my bed, everything was gone, and I was feeling more than a little resentful about it. But, as you can guess, blaming the Air Force never gets you anywhere.

"Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand..."

See?

After listening to the song, though, it occurs to me that I am the same person who left Florida for a foreign land. When I look in the sky, its the same sky my daughter looked to everytime she saw a plane and asked my wife "Is daddy on that one?"

"I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me..."

It is my personal freedom and sense of individuality that had gone untouched. I was still the same moody, depressed bastard I had always been. I still wore pajamas in the dorm all the time with the statement "Hey, if this is my home now, then I'll dress as I like!"

"Take me out, to the black
Tell them I ain't comin' back,
Burn the land, and boil the sea,
You can't take the sky from me."

A year is a long time to be seperated from everyone and everything you hold dear. Eventually I was coming back, but it felt like forever. Even when I actually did get to come back, it still felt like I was gone. Not a part of things as they had become at home. I still wrestle with this one.

"There's no place I can be
Since I've found Serenity,
But you can't take the sky from me..."

Everything about me as a person remains the same. And, there was nothing more fitting to how I viewed myself and the situation I was in than this song. It still remains one of my favorite, and will remain so for the foreseeable future!!!

Kaylee: "What's so damn important about being proper? It don't mean nothing out here in the black."
Simon: "It means more out here. It's all I have..."

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Thursday, May 5, 2005 5:23 AM

TERRANELL

I think my take on it is quite similar to yours, but forgive me if I don't write quite such a detailed post!

I became ill shortly after my 12 birthday (I'm now coming up to my 20th). I have severe ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) and gradually my whole life felt like it was taken away from me. First social life, then school, friends, independence, education all together and all regular activity. I'm housebound the majority of the time (I leave the house, with a carer and wheelchair, about once or twice a month and it's usually for appointments) and bed bound quite often. There have been times when it has seemed I have nothing left, but the song reminds me of something I learnt a few years ago when dealing with reactionary depression.
Take my love
Take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me

It can take nearly everything, my life, my friends and my health, from me but it can't take who I am and I won't let it 'take the sky from me', take my strength, positivity and hope.

Sounds sappy i guess

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Thursday, May 5, 2005 5:31 AM

RKLENSETH

That's not sappy. I would call it inspiring.

Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.

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Thursday, May 5, 2005 5:34 AM

MANWITHPEZ

Important people don't do field work.

Indeed...

Kaylee: "What's so damn important about being proper? It don't mean nothing out here in the black."
Simon: "It means more out here. It's all I have..."

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Thursday, May 5, 2005 5:35 AM

CANTON

Honestly it just reminds me of home. . .I grew up on a small farm in south Alabama, and it just makes me feel warm inside. So if I had to narrow it down, The Ballad of Serenity reminds me of home and family.

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Thursday, May 5, 2005 7:30 AM

THATWEIRDGIRL

It's all about my freedom to be me. I've struggled with being that weird girl, in a negative sense, most of my life. Few friends. I didn't really fit anywhere. You know? I'm sure some of you do...we seem to be an odd bunch.

I've always been a night owl. I love floating on the grass, lost in the night sky. Sometimes there are stars and sometimes there is only black. It's gorgeous. It's a safe place. A place for me. Just be.

www.thatweirdgirl.com
---
Can we not revel in our cyber-love?

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Thursday, May 5, 2005 12:41 PM

THIEFJEHAT

I always enjoy reading how this song touches certain people. I liked what Panwithpez wrote. And may I also add, thank you for serving our country. I have a good friend who spent 2 years of his life on the 38th parallel between N and S Korea and I know how hard it can be serving away from family that you love.

I like studying this ballad. I like it a lot. The way it resonates with the show and with the show's viewers is, frankly, unmatched anywhere in modern programming. It is truely a beautiful work of art. The double & triple meanings inside the phrases combine with our understanding of Mal to paint a goregous, and bittersweet tapestry. I have thought long and hard about the meaning(s) of the phrases and I combined my thoughts with other opinions on the internet and elsewhere to come up with this interpertation.

Firstly the balliad is about Mal and told to us from his point of view. However, it's also intended to be a reflection of us, the viewers, and helps to facilitate a connection twixt us, and Serenity. What follows now is a line by line interpertation.

TAKE MY LOVE

A popular belief among many is that Mal married a girl early in his life (16-19 y/o). This bride was killed during events centered around Alliance abuses rendered on rim-worlders. Another thought has been that she was taken by slavers who operated unchecked by Alliance authorities. Whatever happened to her, it happened prior to the ourbreak of the Unification War. It was also an event that established foundations for Mal's devotion to the Independence.

TAKE MY LAND

Mal states in "Our Mrs. Reynolds" that he was raised on the planet Shadow on a ranch. From this background he learned the cattle trade early in life. Opinions are varied, but a popular one is that the ranch and land associated with it had been in Mal's family for generations. The Alliance occupied many rim worlds prior to the Unification War and they annexed land as well. Mal's family land was taken and his legacy was erased. This possibly happened around the same time of his bride's death/enslavement. It was another event that set him on the path to support the revolt against Alliance aggression and abuse.

TAKE ME WHERE I CANNOT STAND

A reference to the Battle of Serenity Valley, where those men that did not die from their wounds went mad from the mental anguish. Even if you could stand on you feet when the med ships arrived several days after the battle's conclusion, you were certainly not the same person you were before.

I DON'T CARE I'M STILL FREE, YOU CAN'T TAKE THE SKY FROM ME.

Simple refrain line that means what it says. You (The Alliance) destroyed everything I held dear...my wife...my family's land...my faith in justice...my faith in god. I'm still free and you cannot destroy me as long as I continue to stay just beyond your reach.

TAKE ME OUT, TO THE BLACK. TELL THEM I AIN'T COMING BACK

Double meaning. The obvious meaning is "Take me out into space where Alliance influence is nil. Don't expect me to stay in one place for long." However the deeper meaning refers to how he lost his faith in god after the Independence was defeated. "Take me out to the black" = a reference to his hollowed out heart. "Tell them I ain't coming back" = tell them I'm not coming back to god.

BURN THE LAND AND BOIL THE SEA, YOU CAN'T TAKE THE SKY FROM ME

It has been proposed that this is a reference to Sherman's March to the Sea which occured in 1864 during the American Civil War. We know that the Alliance/Independence conflict is a mirror of the Union/Confederacy conflict. In 1864 Sherman led a march of Union military power that wiped out goods, land, food, and wealth in a slow steady march from Atlanta to the Atlantic Ocean. This was done to degrade and humiliate the south as well as further dimish their ability to wage war. Likewise, after the battle of Serenity Valley, Alliance powers decended on various rim worlds to kill, rape, and burn what they found to humiliate the Independence. Mal is saying in this line "You can destroy all the physical things and places I hold dear, but you cannot destroy me"

THERE'S NO PLACE I CAN BE, SINCE I'VE FOUND SERENITY. YOU CAN'T TAKE THE SKY FROM ME

A triple meaning. 1. Those who fought in Serenity Valley never left, they just learned to live there. (per Zoe's comment in the deleted Pilot scene on the DVD) 2. A reference to the ship that he loves, obviously. He demonstrated in Out of Gas that he'd die on Serenity before he'd leave her. 3. A reference to the sense of serenity he has from his ship. Even though his soul is hollowed out, he has his ship and the crew he loves.

There are of course plenty of other meanings to things...and people often see reflections of themselves in the song as well. That's all great because it adds more value to it. Personally, I feel that The Ballad of Serenity is the single greatest TV show opener EVER. In the few seconds allowed, Joss composed a goregeous work of art that worked on several levels. When you combine the actual 3-part music to it....that being contemporary rock blended with western movements and a chinese influence....wow...just wow. If you're interested, it's easier to pick out the blends during the credits where there are no lyrics. Like I said, it's a supreme work of art.

Feel free to add what the ballad means to you.

Do not fear me. Ours is a peaceful race, and we must live in harmony.

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Friday, May 6, 2005 4:15 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

To me the Ballad of Serenity sums up the driving theme of the show: freedom.

"I don't care,
I'm still free,
You can't take the sky from me."

The message here is that people in power, like governments, can take a great many things from us, but they can never (and should never) take our freedom from us. Freedom is the greatest gift we have and we should cherish it.

__________________________________________

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Fans:

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/richmondbrowncoats/

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Friday, May 6, 2005 4:33 AM

CHRISISALL

This is one great thread.
I'm actually moved by you Browncoats and your depth of feeling for this song. First time I heard it on dvd I almost shed a tear, yet didn't know exactly why. Loss, perserverience, freedom, it's all there.
Anyone can tell if it's sung in the BDM- anywhere in the movie? Don't have to say where , yep or nope will do.

Musical and such Chrisisall

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Friday, May 6, 2005 10:37 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by Terranell:
It can take nearly everything, my life, my friends and my health, from me but it can't take who I am and I won't let it 'take the sky from me', take my strength, positivity and hope.

Sounds sappy i guess

Sappy? No ruddin' way. Sounds like a Browncoat to me.
Some time in our lives more of us than not are gonna face major changes or difficulties, and I hope we'll all be able to face 'em like that.

Chrisisall

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Friday, May 6, 2005 1:37 PM

SHINY

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:

Anyone can tell if it's sung in the BDM- anywhere in the movie? Don't have to say where , yep or nope will do.

I don't think the music for the movie is done, so only Joss can say for sure. A lot of the music in the prescreening was placeholder as I understand it, and in fact someone asked Alan Tudyk the same question after the SF screening and he didn't know but hoped they could fit it in somewhere.

And then he started singing it.

Jayne, your mouth is talkin. Might want to look into that.

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Saturday, May 7, 2005 6:11 AM

SHINYHAPPYKLIN

As some of you have said, it's summed up in one word: Freedom.

Destroy my home, my family, my way of life, my world....torture me, persecute me, kick me when I'm down....but you will NEVER take away my soul, my determination, my freedom to be ME. While Serenity Valley still tortures Mal's soul, his "Serenity" helps take him away from it all. It was his watershed moment, that galvanized his personal resolve and made him the person he is today. Naming the ship "Serenity" is a nod to that crucible of change that he went through, and I believe the whole song is about that process of change and the ability to come through it, changed, but still an individual who is free.

I find this little song to be one of the most powerful I've ever heard...Joss is an absolute magician with a phrase. Combined with the beautiful opening credits and the wonderful cross-ethnic sound, it still gives me chills everytime I hear & see it.

And yes, slaythis, I will be the one belting it out the loudest next time we're together at D*C! I'd hate to dissapoint you, 'ya know...

"We gotta go to that crappy town where I'M a hero..."
Shiny stuff for Browncoats at: http://www.cafepress.com/outtotheblack

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