05.04.2021
About PERCIPIO ERGO SUM
The topics of the different pieces
1. She's awake
The "TV girl" wakes up from the artificial deep sleep in which she has spent 7 years, 3 months and 11 days. In the hospital, surrounded by carers and doctors, she is carefully confronted with the situation and realises that a completely new life lies in front: The real world.
2. The Final Door
The carers prepare the girl for the outside world, play through different situations with her, give her courage and inspire her to be hopeful. They assure her that they will always be there, support her, help her whenever necessary. At the same time, the song thematises the unspoken thoughts of the researchers, for whom the "TV-girl" is still an "object" at the centre of an experiment: total surveillance of the girl, coupled with the possibility of intervening in her "body chemistry" (release of neurotransmitters).
3. I'd Like To See
Dr Barnaby is unable to cope with the past and his thoughts keep turning in circles. Again and again he imagines what it would be like if the "TV girl" had led a completely normal life (see also: The story of SPLINTER IN THE EYE). Again and again he goes through phases of psychological instability.
4. Ride On A Ray
For the first time in her life, the TV girl is "outside", feels wind on her skin, smells the scent of flowers, moves amidst other people. Fascination and unlimited feelings of happiness flood her soul.
5. Doubts
Doubts quickly arise. Most people seem completely uninterested and prefer to be entertained. They barely pay attention to "the world". The girl hardly finds answers to her questions. In conversation with a few educated people, she finds that they almost completely lack an emotional, empathetic side. Everything is strongly rationalised and referred back to a logical basis. Nearly no one is capable of looking at larger contexts and their interactions or even drawing consequences from them. Thus, she finds that people have learned nothing from the past and that a philosophical, emotional and social evolution has not taken place at all since the fall or reconstruction of civilisation.
6. Save Me From Dreaming
The young woman does not understand why, despite all their possibilities, people develop neither visions nor ideas, instead making the mistakes of the past again and again, and feels increasingly alienated. She suffers from insomnia and anxiety, whereupon the researchers activate the artificial release of endorphins and, at night, melatonin. The result is nightmares, because the girl increasingly distrusts her own perception and coenaesthesia.
7. I'm Not Human
The protagonist distances herself more and more from her surroundings, feels like an alien, lonely and abandoned. Something inside her breaks and she has to admit that she sometimes wishes she could go back to her former "cell".
8. Hey You
Dr Barnaby hears about the state of mind of the "TV girl" from former colleagues who now live outside the state-organised civil zones and comes up with a plan. He convinces some of his former fellow workers to get the young woman out of the "zone" and hack the surveillance so that her whereabouts can no longer be "tracked".
9. Humble
The young woman actually succeeds in getting out of the zone and for the first time she experiences wild, untouched nature. Fear spreads through her, but then gives way more and more to a feeling of being "uplifted" and of trust, as if a kind of communication with nature were developing on a deeper level.
10. Entanglement Runs Off
Barnaby gets even with mankind and interestingly there are parallels to the thoughts of "TV-girl". However, his profound education and broad interest in everything lead to a much deeper analysis.
11. Inhale The Dark
The last song deals with the desire for security and reliability, which is inherent in every human being - as well as in both protagonists. It is not about suicide (... "drink the poison, inhale the dark"), but about the fact that one has to penetrate the dark sides in order to take away their power.