![]() No one could have been ideologically further from the Bourbon monarchy than Karl Marx, who repeated the phrase in his Das Kapital: “Après moi le déluge! is the watchword of every capitalist and of every capitalist nation. Nevertheless, whoever spoke the words was a prophet in his or her time: fourteen years after Louis's death came the revolution that swept away the old order, including Louis's son. Whether the king or his main squeeze was predicting a cataclysm or simply indicating that he or she didn't care what came after them isn't clear. He or she was referring to the centuries of excessive living enjoyed by the aristocracy and paid for by the rest of France and what would happen as a result when His Majesty (or Madame) went to their heavenly rest. The French phrase, translated as “After me the deluge,” has been attributed to King Louis XVI or to his mistress, Madame de Pompadour. I hear that struggle in Reginas words.A disaster will follow. Living a ruined life is a thankless life. Its not my own to live well or live poorly as I please. My life is not my own, as it was passed down the line by my mother, who was given it by my grandmother, who was given it by my greatgrandmother, who was given my life through the mercy of G-d who saw it fit that she sould surrvive the camps, the walk from the camps to find home, and any shred of family or neighbor she could. It mirrors my own feelings of ancestory, responsiblity, guilt, expressed individuality, and history. We live to tell the stories of those who died, and those who survived. We are taught that our lives are not our own. Our past is our ancestors, and while we're free to make our own choices, we tend to feel near overwhelming guilt over not carrying on traditions that we maybe feel are outdated. Reason:Īs far as "I must go on standing/ you can't break that which isn't yours/ I must go on standing/ I'm not my own its not my choice" to me, as a Jew from the same sort of background as Regina, it sounds like a common feeling we have. Maybe regina is saying, with words taken from Madame de Pompadour (who is said to have had a premonition of the impending political and social collapse that was that lead to the French Revolution), is that though we can change things for the better we can also change things for the worse. The poem that the Russian lyrics are taken from has somewhat of an apocalyptic or after-the-war feel to it with a pinch of hope like Begin to Hope's subtle theme. Boris Pasternak was a poet during the reign of the leaders of the Russian/Soviet revolution and his ideas and criticisms of them sometimes found their way into his poetry. The "cold" (i believe this could mean the meek, lonely, or even the individualistic) are taking away from the lifeblood and the passionate conformity of the revolution. The elderly are bringing down the young and their future, the future of the revolution (souls). The lame (the crippled, the paralyzed, the handicapped in whatever way) are bringing down the fit and healthy who are faster, stronger, smarter. I believe regina may be mocking Russian totalitarian leaders like Stalin or Lenin pretending she was one of them and had their ideals. This song has a sort of rhythm that reminds me of a revolutionary march. ![]() Be afraid of the lame, they'll inherit your legsīe afraid of the old, they'll inherit your soulsīe afraid of the cold, they'll inherit your bloodĪpres moi le deluge, after me comes the flood
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