A Flowing Friction – Lode Violet – Brass Band

A Flowing Friction by Lode Violet is about the Greek philosopher Heraclitus who was convinced of the power of change. He looked at a river and determined that it can never be the same twice; different water flows through its bed each time. This is why Heraclitus’ teachings are often summed up with the maxim, “Everything flows, and nothing stays the same.” This idea also appears in Greek mythology. During their journey, the hero Theseus and his companions wanted to cross the river Achelous. But the river god of the same name stopped them: the current was so overwhelming that even logs and boulders were carried away. Even the river god himself could not change this; the group had to wait for low tide. Everyone was at the mercy of nature’s violent and merciless change. As they waited there, Theseus saw a group of islands in the distance. Achelous told him that those islands were once nymphs. Those nymphs had invited all the gods except Achelous to a feast. He became so angry that he stepped out of his bed and swallowed the forests of the nymphs. When he was done, he split the ground into as many pieces as he had drowned nymphs. Thus the islands were created. Even further away, there was another island that was very dear to Achelous: Perimele. She was once a mortal with whom he was in love. However, because he had taken her virginity, her father threw her off a cliff. Achelous caught her in his waters and begged the sea god Poseidon to give her a place where she would be safe, or let her herself become that place. Then the earth clenched around Perimele’s body until she rose again like an island. Change is omnipresent. A river flows relentlessly, taking along the way everything it can. Along the way, she turns life into death. But within that same inexorable randomness, we can love and rise again.