Is it an unwritten rule not to talk about the recurring themes in Devin's lyrical content on these forums? I just listened to the leaked copy of the new album and I think it goes without saying that Devin went out on a limb with some of the lyrical content on the album. I know Devin is known for his humor and seemingly cryptic lyrics.. but is anyone else "hearing the same things" or noticing any trends in musicians who excel in rock/metal/progressive music? People who deal with what the public and psychiatric community would lump into labels are often hesitant to share details. For people in the spotlight, I can imagine this would be even more true. Devin, at least in my opinion, has been one of the more straightforward musicians about the inner workings of his mind.

DT's latest album has inspired me to share some words and phrases that make sense to me (if any make sense to you feel free to comment and vice versa): Pre-cognition, telepathy, voices within sounds (traffic, moving air, electronic devices, but rarely music), odd proper nouns (___ina, ___uld, __ up, etc), odd phrases, variations on words (ie. extended or changed vowels), remote brain communication (hearing things that you wouldn't have thought of without a doubt), endless repetition, musicians writing about similar things (particularly in complex melodic music), trying to find logic and realizing it's an endless and pointless clusterfuck of stupidity, not demonstrating any signs of being crazy and only would anyone perceive you as crazy is if you explained the truth in plain english, being made to believe that your creative outlets could have "terrorizing" outcomes. I could keep on going but I want to keep it specific and to see if this resonates with anyone.

I want to cite an example from an episode of Star Trek called "Darmok" (thanks to Protest the Hero for the analogy in a promo video). If a species communicated only through metaphors from their history and literature, the only way to understand these metaphors would be to have them shown to you or by living it. For example if "Juliet on the balcony" was to represent romance, it would not make sense to you without having read Shakespeare, and if you were trying to explain romance to an alien species or someone who did not speak english using only the phrase "Juliet on the balcony", you can imagine how this would be quite difficult. I'm not trying to isolate anyone, only point out the fact that certain things can be difficult to understand without first hand experience.

Is it possible that many artists have wanted to write similar things, but due to being "regulated" by labels and self pride that they chose not to? Is the 4 album DTP a way for Devin to share in a much more concise way what many artists have tried to in the past?

Hopefully The Dev himself will read this and shed some insight. Sorry for most of the sentences in the form of questions.. if only all reasonable questions had the dignity of receiving an answer.

Oh yeah, about my musical background, I play(ed) guitar but could give a fuck less about having any success in the industry or gaining any recognition. And, no, it has nothing to do with "selling out".

I'm not QUITE sure what you are asking. Are you asking Devin if he is trying to express something many fellow musicians try to? If so, no, he's expressing a part of his life he went through. Any parallels to what others have gone through is coincidence.

Still, I'm not sure what to make of your analysis of the words used, or all this talk of metaphor and context. Are you saying it's impossible to understand Deconstruction without being a fan and therefor knowing Devin to the extent we fans do? If so, that's possible. Though I do think it could be explained to a person pretty well.

And, no, how is it a unwritten rule not to? We talk about reoccurring themes all the time. Maybe you should watch some interviews with Dev if you're unclear on the purpose of this series of albums. They're meant to all touch on the same continuing process he went through.

Hope I helped or contributed.

This forum has no plug and play options.

YES.
Perfect opportunity for his first in-context appearance.

That was a quick response. I'll admit that I haven't gone through the every thread or every DT interview, so I guess I have some homework to do.

How about we take a page out of Devin's book and rather than going over what's already been said, try to create a new discussion.

I'd like to discuss it, I just have no idea what it is we are discussing. I like to give opinions. Ask anyone.

um, i have no idea what you're trying to ask, dude. care to clarify? i haven't heard the decon leak yet, but if you're saying that to truly appreciate it you need to already be a fan and understand his "references" to past works or sense of humor or whatever, i guess that could make sense.

but yea, really unsure of what you're getting at.

He's Deconstructing it.