MONOLITH

"The throne of time
Is a kingly thing
From whence you know
We all do begin
And dressed as you are girl
In your fashions of fate
Baby it's too late.

Shallow are the actions
Of the children of men
Fogged was their vision
Since the ages began
And lost like a lion
In the canyons of smoke
Girl it's no joke."
                    Marc Bolan - Electric Warrior

Time is a most important topic in Marc Bolan's work. In Sanskrit, time is Kala, it is also the God of Death, Yama, acting as time. In Hindu scriptures and philosophies, these demi-gods are not enemies, but servants of God and Nature. When Marc writes "The throne of time is a kingly thing", it necessarily refers to time as a universal force, something above human powers and as such, it is kingly. And when he adds "From whence you know we all do begin", it implies that our material existence starts precisely when we come under the spell of time, when we take birth into this material universe. Krishna says to his friend Arjuna in Bhagavad-Gita that: "Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be... For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain." As we will see in other songs as well, time doesn't really exist for the soul.

The second part of the verse is very striking, when studied under the light of the previous explanations: "And dressed as you are girl / In your fashions of fate / Baby it's too late". When the soul, according to its numerous desires to enjoy life in the material world, takes on a human body, it also takes on various attributes such as sex, race, color and religion. And fate is thus the result of one's actions and desires, or what is also known as the law of karma. Unfortunately, as human beings are easily subjects to illusion, their so-called religions are always tinted with politics, pride and desire to be elected as the "chosen people" over and above all other religions or races. Thus, when King Yama as Kala or Time, comes to take back the material body, the false knowledge - or fashions of fate rooted in selfish social and material conceptions - cannot be of any help and "baby, it's too late" as one must absolutely leave this body behind.

In the second verse, Marc Bolan expresses a very critical and cynical view regarding human beings and their behaviors on this planet: "Shallow are the actions Of the children of men". It seems that whatever man does on this planet, it is doomed to turn sour and end in war and destruction. The history of the world is one of the saddest books ever. On the other hand, it is sad only when compared to material desires of enjoyment, of possessions, of fear of death and of losing loved ones. It is sad because of the lack of vision. "Fogged was their vision Since the ages began" Man is easily fooled by illusion and he thinks he is this temporary material body. If ever there was a so-called original sin and a so-called punishment, then it must be this curse of fogged vision, an impossibility to see beyond one's limited and temporary material life. Even when human beings know they will die, they still act as if they will be living eternally as these social characters and personalities they have undertaken when taking birth.

"And lost like a lion In the canyons of smoke Girl it's no joke." A major warning from Marc Bolan: the lion is a king, and for a king to be lost in the canyons of smoke simply underlines the futility of such titles and so-called powers. When one is lost, one loses all sense of orientation and simply drifts further into the unknown and "Girl it's no joke" for no one could ever desire such a situation. It is thus so important for every one to wake up from this material illusion and not be dependant upon fashion for one's beliefs. Beliefs should be rooted in experience, study, understanding, and not in social belonging by birth, another kind of fashion in itself, a fashion of fate...