The Battle of Armageddon
A Demo a Day: Day 18.
This is the last big production number: the end of the world.
The song is divided into five movements:
Part 1. In a sober ritual, a bard strums an acoustic guitar, chronicling the tale of the End of Days as it unfolds. Peter, now the leader of the Army of the Lord, addresses his troops on a hilltop in Israel (yup, that’s where Megiddo aka Armageddon is) and explains the stakes of the upcoming final battle. Referencing Jesus’s conversation with one of the thieves crucified next to him, Peter assures that today they will all be together in paradise. Maggie, taking on the role of high priestess, delivers a benediction as the music explodes into a majestic hail of bagpipes, horns and military drums.
Part 2. The Armies of THE ONE are a ragtag mix of trained soldiers, mercenaries and lesser demons commanded by Marshall Law, who is fully decked out in battle regalia. Law recommends no mercy, to kill all enemies, and the troops grunt out militaristic call-and-response lyrics reminiscent of army boot camp. The distorted bass line, clangy rhythm guitar and shrieking lead guitar accents in this section are Black Sabbath-inspired psychedelic hard rock.
Part 3. The Army of the Lord moves onto the battlefield accompanied by a steady dance groove and modified versions of the main melody streaming overhead on piano and synth. They’re fighting for the right (or, the Right?), and God is on their side. This is a sideswipe at the arrogance of this group as they enter battle-- a nod to the famous Abraham Lincoln quote “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.” (I first learned about this quote from John Kerry during one of his 2004 presidential campaign speeches, so it was probably top of mind when I wrote these lyrics.)
Part 4. The battle is joined by the Armies of THE ONE, along with the angels from Act I, who are now darkly clad and demonic. The music reprises the fast glam rock section from THE ONE, and gets louder and more chaotic as the battle-- and the world-- comes to an epic end, with everyone on the battlefield left dead.
Part 5. Somehow (don’t ask me how), Thomas survives and arrives at the battle scene in Israel (don’t ask me how). He discovers Maggie’s limp, lifeless body and in a borrowed musical snippet from THE ONE, laments the loss of his beautiful one true love, accompanied by gospel piano and organ.