LIFE'S AN ELEVATOR

"Sat with a cat
On your head a lonely lass
You cry with a sigh
Resurrecting all your past

Life's an elevator
It goes up and down
Live's an elevator
Can't you dig the sound

Swift is a kill
Shadows fill the empty walls
Wild is the word
That is ghostly sacred walls

Scenes from your past spread
Before the flaming dawn
Have faith in the hearts of the world
They're rocking on"
                             Marc Bolan - Futuristic Dragon

Released on September 17 1976, a year before Marc Bolan was killed in a car crash on September 16 1977, and the B-side of the UK single LASER LOVE, Life's An Elevator is a very touching song by Marc Bolan, a look at nostalgia and memories long gone. "You cry with a sigh Resurrecting all your past" At times, one cannot but remember one's own past and feel sad for all those souvenirs and people who were once part of one's very own life. We all know it's OK but it isn't very healthy to get stuck in the past so Marc immediately sings the chorus: "Life's an elevator / It goes up and down / Live's an elevator / Can't you dig the sound" Once again, we are reminded of Bhagavad-Gita in which Krishna says to Arjuna that the "nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed."  Night-time doesn't last, and a new day is sure to come.

In the second verse, Marc Bolan emphasises the danger of mistaking the past with one's own reality: "Swift is a kill". It takes but a second for the predator to kill its prey when this innocent victim wasn't even aware of the presence of the hunter. When the mind wanders into the hazy labyrinths of the past, "Shadows fill the empty walls" and one becomes an easy prey of fear itself.

Now fear is certainly a key predator and fear also originates from guilt. Most of the Western religions do capitalize on guilt to have complete power over their followers: original sin, sexual desires, weaknesses and doubts. According to their preachers, one must absolutely become as pure as God Himself, and there's no place for failure. "Wild is the word / That is ghostly sacred walls" Salvation becomes an almost impossible dream, and threats of eternal damnation may not be the most inspiring reason to chose the path of self-realization.*

"Scenes from your past spread / Before the flaming dawn / Have faith in the hearts of the world / They're rocking on" - Even if these memories seem unlimited, even if our so-called sins seem unforgivable, Marc Bolan is confident that every human being possesses within oneself, beyond illusion, beyond this false identification with this temporary material body and false ego, spiritual wisdom and knowledge: the "blessed life dust stored beneath its soul" we've read about in A DAYE LAYE. "Have faith in the hearts of the world". The Bible and the Vedic Scriptures also say that God is everywhere, and if God is indeed everywhere, being absolute and unlimited, then He must also reside within you, and walk by your side... You may not be able to see Him, but if you open your eyes, if you listen carefully, you may feel His presence... "Can't you dig the sound". It is said that everything in this universe is based on sound. "In the beginning was the Word..." The Vedic Scriptures also confirms that everything originates from the eternal AUM, the eternal vibration.

* Regarding fear, in the first Canto of Shrimad-Bhagavatam, it is said that: "Living beings who are entangled in the complicated meshes of birth and death can be freed immediately by even unconsciously chanting the holy name of God, which is feared by fear personified."