Ballad of Serenity describing Mal's past?

POSTED BY: Chronos
UPDATED: Tuesday, August 3, 2004 10:58
VIEWED: 3536
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CHRONOS

Monday, August 2, 2004 7:50 AM

I was just listening to the Ballad of Serenity in my car (on repeat of course :) and it dawned on me. What if the lyrics to the song describe Mal's past?
'Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand' could be describing Mal's loss of a loved one (lover/wife/family?) and his feeling of helplessnes.
'Take me out to the black, tell'em I ain't coming back' could be Mal leaving home and never planning to return since there's nothing left waiting for him. 'Burn the land and boil the sea' might be connected to the Alliance invading Shadow (or some other incident; Reavers/Pirates/...) that devastated his home.
'I don't care, I'm still free, you can't take the sky from me' would mean he won't let them break him and he'll stay outthere, holding his ground.
The 'There's no place I can be, since I found Serenity' is self-explanatory enough I think.

So tell me what you think, I'd like to know if anyone's thought about this already. And...keep flying!

Take me out to the black, tell them I ain't coming back

JAYNEZTOWN

Monday, August 2, 2004 8:12 AM

yes, I've also thought they might describe Mal's history. Can anyone else verify if that's what the song was supposed to mean ?

PURPLEBELLY

Monday, August 2, 2004 8:17 AM

In the DVD extras, Kelly emphasises that every word in the song carries weight

CHRONICTHEHEDGEHOG

Monday, August 2, 2004 10:41 AM

There's an interview with Joss (though I can't remember where I saw it) where he says he wrote it before he even wrote the pilot and it's not so much Mal's past as the place he's now in emotionally because of what's happened in the past.

check out my WIP firefly roleplay system at www.estador.co.uk/firefly

BROWNCOAT1

Monday, August 2, 2004 12:36 PM

I've always felt the Ballad of Serenity reflects Mal and how he feels about his freedom and past. It may not be exactly what Joss was after when he wrote it, but from what little we know of Mal's past, it seems to fit Mal like a glove.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

NEDWARD

Monday, August 2, 2004 2:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chronicthehedgehog:
There's an interview with Joss (though I can't remember where I saw it) where he says he wrote it before he even wrote the pilot and it's not so much Mal's past as the place he's now in emotionally because of what's happened in the past.

DVD commentary to, I think, Objects in Space.

FORRESTWOLF

Monday, August 2, 2004 7:27 PM

Oh, my. 'Burn the land, boil the sea...' ya think maybe the fires shown in the shadow-play in Heart of Gold are what this is referring to? Perhaps the Earth-that-was had the sea boiled and the land burned...not Shadow, but Earth.

Scary...chills down back...Joss is GOOD.

- Forrestwolf

FORRESTWOLF

Monday, August 2, 2004 7:27 PM

(duplicate post, sorry...)

YT

Monday, August 2, 2004 10:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Forrestwolf:
Perhaps the Earth-that-was had the sea boiled and the land burned...not Shadow, but Earth.

Maybe both.

The ballad sounds like it comes from Mal's heart. Maybe Earth-that-was burned & bubbled, literally to the point of making the globe not only uninhabited but uninhabitable. Stories of E-t-w became legend because nobody has come back with updates. Serenity Valley may have become that legend, for Mal.

Less so for Zoe -- she's more practical, less breakable by societal events.

Keep the Shiny Side Up

Wutzon: Long John Baldry, "Right to Sing the Blues"

KRAMER

Tuesday, August 3, 2004 10:58 AM

I've been wondering if the ballad maybe told a little of Malcom's past.
Alliance wiped his family/friends out, took his family's land, and he joined the Independent Army/side for revenge.
(maybe they were neutral before this happened)

It'd be an interesting story line to find out more about his past though, for sure.

I'll be in my bunk........