Leviathan is a giant sea serpent found in both mythology and theology, an embodiment of chaos often identified in Christian tradition with the demon of the deadly sin of envy.
In this song, I explore the idea of a Leviathan that feeds on its own lore. Attention feeds the legend, and the legend makes the monster larger. No human can defeat its chaos.
Sometimes, the only thing you can do is starve it.
Leviathan
A Song of Chaos and the Sea
Audio experience created using Suno.
There’s a monster in the deep
Leviathan his name
He leaves destruction in his wake
And fingers point with blame
His rage has countless tentacles
That reach across the tide
He seeks to sink a fleet of ships
That simply passed him by
Do not feed Leviathan
Do not ever call his name
Every time we tell the tale
It just adds kindling to his flame
Do not feed Leviathan
Leave him to the deep alone
Monsters seldom make themselves
They grow from all that we have thrown
Leviathan… Leviathan…
Leviathan
Leviathan
Leviathan sleeps in the deep
Until the world takes note
A monster made of pent-up rage
And words caught in his throat
Leviathan’s a tidal wave
A whirlpool dark and deep
Once you are caught, he’ll pull you down
Until he falls asleep
Do not feed Leviathan
Do not ever call his name
Every time we tell the tale
It just adds kindling to his flame
Do not feed Leviathan
Leave him to the deep alone
Monsters seldom make themselves
They grow from all that we have thrown
Leviathan… Leviathan…
Leviathan
Leviathan
If someone seeks to take him down
Or tries to shrink his size
Leviathan will only grow
His legend fed by lies
Leviathan cannot be slain
Each harpoon builds a stage
The monster starves when silence
Leaves him all alone to rage
Do not feed Leviathan
Do not ever call his name
Every hand that points towards him
Feeds the creature just the same
Do not feed Leviathan
Leave him to the deep alone
Monsters seldom make themselves
They grow from all that we have thrown
Leviathan… Leviathan…
Leviathan
Leviathan
We thought it didn’t matter
That all monsters were the same
But Leviathan remembered
Every morsel. Every name.
Every curious little hand
That thought itself too small to blame
We all fed Leviathan
And Leviathan became.
Do not feed Leviathan
Do not ever call his name
Every hand that points towards him
Feeds the creature just the same
Do not feed Leviathan
Leave him to the deep alone
Monsters seldom make themselves
They grow from all that we have thrown
Leviathan… Leviathan…
Leviathan
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What struck me most was “We all fed Leviathan / And Leviathan became.” You don’t simply say the monster grows; you say it becomes. That changes the responsibility of everyone watching. Each person may think their attention is too small to matter, but in the end Leviathan is also the sum of all those eyes upon him. Perhaps some monsters don’t need to be defeated. They need us to stop participating in their existence.
I absolutely loved this. Leviathan works perfectly as the monster, but the idea underneath it is what really got me: every attempt to fight it, point at it, talk about it, or make it smaller only gives it more attention and therefore more power. “Each harpoon builds a stage” is such a killer way of putting that. And then the ending, “We all fed Leviathan / And Leviathan became,” turns the whole thing back on everyone who thought their little contribution couldn’t possibly matter. Also, the audio was badass. 😂 It genuinely felt like a heavy metal sea shanty you’d hear right before somebody makes the terrible decision to go looking for the monster.