Pocketing the Key to Your Own Cage (or Not)

(Yes, I know: a day late…)

From whiskey river (italicized portion):

[Skeptics, on why they dislike dogma] mean that the universe is itself a universal prison; that existence itself is a limitation and a control; and it is not for nothing that they call causation a chain. In a word, they mean quite simply that they cannot believe these things; not in the least that they are unworthy of belief. We say, not lightly but very literally, that the truth has made us free. They say that it makes us so free that it cannot be the truth. It is like believing in fairyland to believe in such freedom as we enjoy. It is like believing in men with wings to entertain the fancy of men with wills. It is like accepting a fable about a squirrel in conversation with a mountain to believe in a man who is free to ask or a God who is free to answer. This is a manly and a rational negation, for which I for one shall always show respect. But I decline to show any respect for those who first of all clip the bird and cage the squirrel, rivet the chains and refuse the freedom, close all the doors of the cosmic prison on us with a clang of eternal iron, tell us that our emancipation is a dream and our dungeon a necessity; and then calmly turn round and tell us they have a freer thought and a more liberal theology.

(G.K. Chesterton, from The Everlasting Man [source])

…and:

Three-fourths of philosophy and literature is the talk of people trying to convince themselves that they really like the cage they were tricked into entering.

(Gary Snyder [source])

Not from whiskey river:

Caged Bird

Some believe there’s somewhere in the brain
that senses minor fluctuations in the Earth’s
magnetic field and uses a sort of memory
of that to travel the same route year after year
over thousands of miles, over open ocean
on moonless, clouded nights, and a built-in clock
that, save for weather’s influence, tells
when it’s time to go. But they utter nothing
of thwarted dreams in birds’ brains, how
a few cubic feet near the ground, however
well-kept and lighted, however large it seems
around a small bright bird, is like a fist
closed tight on feather and bone, how, certain times
of year, the bird’s heart races as if to power flight.

(Matthew J. Spireng [source])

…and:

Song of the Round Man

(for Sarah when she’s older)

The round and sad-eyed man puffed cigars as if
he were alive. Gillyflowers
to the left of the apple, purple bells to the right

and a grass-covered hill behind.
I am sad today said the sad-eyed man
for I have locked my head in a Japanese box

and lost the key.
I am sad today he told me
for there are gillyflowers by the apple

and purple bells I cannot see.
Will you look at them for me
he asked, and tell me what you find?

I cannot I replied
for my eyes have grown sugary and dim
from reading too long by candlelight.

Tell me what you’ve read then
said the round and sad-eyed man.
I cannot I replied

for my memory has grown tired and dim
from looking at things that can’t be seen
by any kind of light

and I’ve locked my head in a Japanese box
and thrown away the key.
Then I am you and you are me

said the sad-eyed man as if alive.
I’ll write you in where I should be
between the gillyflowers and the purple bells

and the apple and the hill
and we’ll puff cigars from noon till night
as if we were alive.

(Michael Palmer [source])

Ah, mid-September. With the approach of fall, inevitably, a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of… Halloween. In Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, hero Jack Skellington contrives to abduct Santa Claus, in a misguided effort to bring the magic of Christmas to the Nightmare world. Mangling Santa’s name to the more Halloween-suitable “Sandy Claws,” Jack dispatches three comically wicked little hench-imps (Lock, Shock, and Barrel) of the evil Oogie Boogie Man to do the dirty work. (Naturally, they deliver Santa not to Jack, but to Oogie Boogie himself. They may be comic, but they’re not crazy.)

Here’s the scene, with lyrics below:

Lyrics:

Kidnap The Sandy Claws
(Danny Elfman)

[Lock, Shock, and Barrel]
Kidnap Mr. Sandy Claws

[Lock]
I wanna do it

[Barrel]
Let’s draw straws

[Shock]
Jack said we should work together
Three of a kind

[Lock, Shock, and Barrel]
Birds of a feather
Now and forever
Wheeee
La, la, la, la, la

Kidnap the Sandy Claws, lock him up real tight
Throw away the key and then
Turn off all the lights

[Shock]
First, we’re going to set some bait
Inside a nasty trap and wait
When he comes a-sniffing we will
Snap the trap and close the gate

[Lock]
Wait! I’ve got a better plan
To catch this big red lobster man
Let’s pop him in a boiling pot
And when he’s done we’ll butter him up

[Lock, Shock, and Barrel]
Kidnap the Sandy Claws
Throw him in a box
Bury him for ninety years
Then see if he talks

[Shock]
Then Mr. Oogie Boogie man
Can take the whole thing over then
He’ll be so pleased, I do declare
That he will cook him rare

[Lock, Shock, and Barrel]
Wheeee!

[Lock]
I say that we take a cannon
Aim it at his door and then
Knock three times and when he answers
Sandy Claws will be no more

[Shock]
You’re so stupid, think now
If we blow him up into smithereens
We may lose some pieces
And then Jack will beat us black and green

[Lock, Shock, and Barrel]
Kidnap the Sandy Claws
Tie him in a bag
Throw him in the ocean
Then see if he is sad

[Lock and Shock]
Because Mr. Oogie Boogie is the meanest guy around
If I were on his Boogie list, I’d get out of town

[Barrel]
He’ll be so pleased by our success
That he’ll reward us too, I bet

[Lock, Shock, and Barrel]
Perhaps he’ll make his special brew
Of snake and spider stew
Ummm!

We’re his little henchmen
And we take our job with pride
We do our best to please him
And stay on his good side

[Shock]
I wish my cohorts weren’t so dumb

[Barrel]
I’m not the dumb one

[Lock]
You’re no fun

[Shock]
Shut up!

[Lock]
Make me

[Shock]
I’ve got something, listen now
This one is real good, you’ll see
We’ll send a present to his door
Upon there’ll be a note to read
Now, in the box we’ll wait and hide

[Lock, Shock, and Barrel]
Until his curiosity
Entices him to look inside
And then we’ll have him
One, two, three

Kidnap the Sandy Claws, beat him with a stick
Lock him up for ninety years, see what makes him tick

Kidnap the Sandy Claws, chop him into bits
Mr. Oogie Boogie is sure to get his kicks
Kidnap the Sandy Claws, see what we will see
Lock him in a cage and then…
……throw away the key!