In this hymn from Ar Tonelico, the song describes the birth of the planet, its interactions with people, or its “children”, and the eventual decline of the planet due to human anger and greed, causing the planet to be “angry” at the humans. The hymn ends off with the hope that if everyone contributes to help make the planet better, then the planet would live together with them again.
The hymn reminds me of what the world today is like. We have absurd weather patterns now, like hurricanes, earthquakes, and even snow in October. Is our Earth “angry” at us for polluting its environments with the burning of fossil fuels, as well as cutting down its trees and other natural habitats? Does the Earth want to eliminate us through severe weather patterns because we’re essentially the cause of global warming and the only species on earth that can damage its lands through nuclear warfare? As human beings, we are constantly at war with one another, causing monetary and environmental damages to the lands that we attack. It would be scary to know that the Earth is actually a sentient being that watches over all the lands and knows what is going on in the world. With all the fossil fuels being burned today, it would not look good for humanity decades later if the Earth decided to unleash its full “wrath” and decimate society. I do agree that if everybody just pitched in and respected the Earth more, like not littering on the ground or not smoking or driving the car that often, that the Earth would be a much greener place than before, and that everybody would be happier, including the Earth itself, if it had emotions. An unrealistic goal, but if we somehow accomplished that, then we’re probably one step closer to a utopia.
The overall message of the hymn seems to reflect the idea that every human being should be respecting the world and its natural lands, along with respecting each other and not waging war over greed or power. If we do that, then the Earth should be “happier” than it is now, with its random snowstorms, hurricanes, and earthquakes. The message gets across to the audience by use of a sort of scare tactic. If we continue to bicker amongst ourselves and disrespect the environment, then we are going to suffer the planet’s wrath. In a sense, it’s true because society today is already suffering from natural disasters; the earthquake in Japan, for example. After listening to this song, the audience does feel moved to respect the environment a little bit better than before; they wouldn’t want the planet to be annoyed or angry at them if the environment gets too damaged and have to live in fear of random snowstorms that break the cyclical pattern that we have.
Obviously, this depiction of the future where Mother Earth is angry at us is an idea not too far from the truth in terms of modern day activities. We are cutting down trees to make room for new buildings, burning fossil fuels, which pollutes the natural air and contributes to global warming, and waging war against one another, which in the process, also damages the lands. The Earth is in ways, a living being, though we may not think that. Right now, by polluting the environment and damaging the lands, the Earth is “sick” and “injured”. To feel better, it tries to “expel” what is causing it to be sick, or in other words, it produces random weather patterns in an attempt to shake off what’s causing it harm, similar to how humans sneeze when they have a cold.
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