I am not one for churches and I don't really enjoy meditation where you are meant to take in deep breathes and sit still. My adhd might be to blame for that but for the most part I find myself meditating better as I walk through the city. I am not trying to say that I am totally at peace with my self and the world at all times like some yogic master or new age shaman. I am more saying that I am able to find spirituality in the mundane and small. A bird flying by, a cool breeze, the light impact of my feet against the pavement and running up my legs to my knees. These small tactile and emotional experiences are important to me but I can't explain why. That bird doesn't mean anything specific to me, the breeze isn't some sort of premonition, and walking on a sidewalk is kinda just normal. I couldn't go over to someone and point at them and say "Man, isn't that crow amazing!" they would think that I am crazy. It's that sort of understanding, that the world for other people isn't the same as yours, that can weigh on you.
So, what if this place of instinctual spirituality and creativity was a real place that one could go? What if when you are seeing the world through the lens of creativity or spirituality you are actually going to a different plane of existence? This core premise is the central thread of Aesop Rock's album "Guide to the Spirit World". Most of the songs alternate between exploration of this sort of spiritual and mental space that Aesop is trying to understand and his difficulties with the real world. What is also an important feature of these songs is his understanding of the world perceiving him. Thus we end up with a few songs that boarder on paranoia, as if this spirit world he is engaging in is sort of blurring the lines of reality for him.
Regarding this album I feel like "Pizza Alley" is the lynch pin song for this entire album. This song talks about his travels in Lima, Peru as well as the surrounding jungles. The different setting places Aesop in the role of an outsider. This role is one that he is aware of through out. Being a literal outsider allows Aesop to compare his feelings of being an outsider in his home city of New York. There is seemingly some comfort for Aesop expecting to be an outsider as this allows Aesop to interact with his surroundings in the more creative and spiritual way than he could in New York. Aesop understands the social rules of New York and what can and cannot be said. This sort of understanding is core to his feeling of being a stranger before having done or said anything. So, being removed from those rules also relieves him of the paranoia regarding his world. It really does lead to a more exploratory perspective through out this song.
So, that should be enough prep work to the song. Let's get down to the nitty gritty and start breaking down some of the lyrics. I am not going to go line for line though, I am going to pick out the important lines and break them down regarding the theme.
The first verse is set up of how he is in a place in Lima called "Pizza Alley" which is an alley with a bunch of pizza shops and bars that is known for criminal activity in the area, so much so that many of the businesses were forced to shut down by the government due to human and drug trafficking in the area. Among this set up Aesop details his time going to a witch market and states "pitch surrender To a witch doctor pouring amphibians out the blender". This is both a literal thing that he observed and also important to Aesop's position in Lima. He is willingly surrendering to a person that has a greater grasp of the spiritual here. It might seem like the obvious choice but it also denotes a certain level of comfort to place ones trust in another person. Considering that amount of mistrust that Aesop has for the various people he has when in New York this is a noted change.
In this verse we also get Aesop directing our attention to the setting and creating a very simple parallel with New York. He takes the time to note the cobblestone paths that weave their way through the city and, due to the elevated terrain around Lima, end up having to weave their way down mountains. What is important regarding the line "Cobblestone alone a masterclass in open world design" is the last statement. Open world design is a concept that is regarding the level creation and game play for a video game which emphasizes that the player is capable of being free to go and do what they wish. Through out the album Aesop uses a lot of video game terminology but this one coming up here is of specific note because it sets up a very simple comparison. If we consider Lima to be a city with an open world design due to its working with it's environment than we have to consider how much of New York, or really any large North American city. It is often the case that natural elements give way to grid like roads and buildings. This openness found in the physical parts of Lima are paralleled with a spiritual openness that Aesop is reveling in.
Despite Aesop's issues with the openness of New York he is still a product of it. New York is what Aesop knows and, despite the issues with it, it is something that he goes back to. Further along in the song Aesop talks about another stop and how he "Talk rap albums over alpaca medallions, With metalheads who traffic magic flowers from the mountains" which ends up blending the normal with this greater spiritual voyage. With this blending comes a normalization of the world around him. No longer is it in this mythical and metaphoric but something that people can easily take in. It is sort of as if Aesop is returning to a place of comfort with this rather than interacting with the various challenges and questions that the earlier part of the trip seems to have offered. This returning to normalcy is a consistent trend through out the song which provides this sense of needing to step out of the spirit world due to either fear or exhaustion.
Considering that Aesop is aware of the people around him reacting to him regarding the metalheads and later on the tour guides it would make sense that he is allow aware of how the people of New York see him. As much as Aesop presents a large degree of self awareness he also is clearly aware of the people around him. If he had no reason to feel socially outcast he wouldn't have created the narrative of the spirit world and the only way to feel outcast is through interactions with others. Aesop makes a point to speak about the state of people that aren't him in New York stating "The strays in the plaza look happier than my neighbors". Despite him speaking about the various stray dogs he saw in Lima and comparing them to the people of New York isn't a 1 to 1 comparison it presents the idea fairly simply. In regards to Aesop it becomes fairly clear that the sort of closed off culture of New York isn't only bring him misery but also others. It is not hard to go another step and consider if these people are suffering from the same desire for some sort of creative or spiritual freedom much like Aesop Rock is.
So the last point regarding the first verse we are going to be interacting with are 3 lines that solidify Aesop's situation. As much as this song creates some distinct comparisons between Lima and New York it is still detailing his attempt to grapple with what the spirit world is and means to him. That is why there is a lot of self awareness but also being blended with more observations than is usually the case with Aesop Rock's music. So the lines in question go as followed:
What ship, what shore?
I grew up writing riddles under bridges in New York
Now I travel like a highwayman who whispers to his horse...
To start with, ship to shore is meaning of a connection between and a ship and the shore via radio or some other method. Aesop is stating that he is unaware of either but only that there is a connection. This has been a continual journey for him since he has been growing up. A child's imagination and also lack of social awareness puts them into the perfect place for these sort of more spiritually fulfilling creative endeavors. Aesop isn't saying that he tagged some bridges but rather that he was creating riddles, presenting something that is different and desires to be interacted with. These are also riddles that might never be seen and so are entirely self-motivated in their reason of being created, almost as an act of meditation. The Aesop that we are traveling with now is burdened with the knowledge of his interactions with the spirit world and how he can no longer freely engage in that sort of free creativity without the knowledge of societies view on him. He knows that he is an outsider and knowing that makes him more of an outsider every time he wants to act on his creative or spiritual instincts.
I am going to stop here for now. This has only been the first verse of the song and there were other minor points that I opted to not delve into. This is a song that is very dense regarding metaphor and thematic elements. I do plan on finishing off the rest of the song analysis very soon. I would not be entirely against doing the whole album in these sort of write ups but that is a... large task. Either way, hope you enjoyed and the next parts are coming soon enough.