When two ducks get into a fight, it never lasts long – they soon separate and fly off in opposite directions. Each duck then flap its wings vigorously several times. This releases the surplus energy that built up in him during the fight. After they flap their wings, they fly on peacefully as if nothing had ever happened. Eckhart Tolle
You may not have expected a deep-dive of our own music video, but here it is. In this post we go over the creation of the music video and the associated spiritual truths that get portrayed in symbols. As allegory and symbols are present in many music videos, in ours they are more spiritual and based on some really interested components in the teachings of Eckhart Tolle
If y’all remember how we started, you’ll know that we used to make spiritual instruction videos about various topics. From ego and the pain body to releasing negativity and embracing change. When we decided to make music we discovered that there’s a much better way to teach.
Concrete Shamanism is a lifestyle. It is our lifestyle of staying present, being conscious and most of all having fun. The story from spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle has resonated with us ever since the day we discovered it. We decided to shoot the video with friends and family on Thanksgiving 2022 because we thought that Centennial Park in Nashville would be mostly devoid of people. It is also full of waterfowl including ducks.
It was known that the theme wouldn’t be so overtly expressed because, as we learned making spiritual instruction videos, that hitting people over the head with spiritual messages tends to cause resistance. The focus was on returning to a place before painful or traumatic stories take hold.
Now, if the duck had a human mind, this scene would go very differently. The duck may fly away peacefully, for a moment, but he would not put the fight behind him. He would keep the fight alive in his mind, by thinking and story-making. Eckhart Tolle
For those that know about synthpop/synthwave and the associated aesthetics, will immediately recognize the video contains elements of all the “waveforms” including vaporwave and retrowave. The VHS-style visuals are designed to evoke nostalgia for a time before social media and before all these stories became repeated and embedded in the mind.
Thoughts are like rubber ducks floating in a stream. They aren’t alive, but they are still moving. Taking this idea of both live ducks and rubber ducks and putting them together with the intention of presenting a mish mash of faint recollected forms, we hope the viewer gets those seeds planted. That they can let go of the story.
The duck’s story would probably go something like this: “I can’t believe what he just did. He came within five inches of me. He has no consideration for my private space. He thinks he owns this pond. I’ll never trust him again. I know he’s already plotting something else to annoy me with. But I’m not going to stand for it. I’m going to teach him a lesson he will never forget.” Eckhart Tolle
There is a surprise at the end of the video and we certainly won’t spoil it here. But it shows that we are never getting an accurate view of reality. There’s always way more to the story so why get hung up on any story? The fact is there is always way more that we don’t know in regards to what we do know. There is a higher order at play. And there may not be a way for the human mind to ever understand how that higher order works.
Something that always amazes us is just how precise and incredible the universe is at putting all of us in the right place at the right time. The above shot in particular from the final version of the “Ripple Effect” video illustrates this perfectly. Just as Merrick sat down for this shot, a formation of geese swam by as the shot of the Parthenon (a recreation of the Greek temple that was built in 1897) in Centennial Park. When the geese took flight as if on cue, our tiny crew was amazed at how we got the shot without even trying.
The symbology of choosing to shoot this video on Thanksgiving Day, is illustrated in the Wikipedia page for the Greek Parthenon and what the temple was built for: “The Parthenon was built in thanksgiving for the Hellenic victory over Persian invaders during the Greco-Persian Wars.”
As is the case, our music comes to us almost fully formed and this video appeared to us with the shots already created. All we needed to do was line up with the experience and letting the video be what it needed to be. We gave up control and handed it over to the Universe. We didn’t have to sit for hours waiting for geese to swim by and then fly. They just did it.
You can see how painful and troublesome the duck’s life would become if he had a human mind. But this is how most of us live all the time. For the average person, no situation or event is ever really over and done with. The mind and the mind-made story keep it going. Unlike the duck, we are a species that has the power to remember, which is both wonderful and problematic. Eckhart Tolle
When we wrapped the music video and it was edited, we were able to truly see how the theme had been expressed. And we had more than a few discussions about if we should make the theme more overt in the video. But in the end, we just let it be what it was.
There are many more details that emerged in the video once we saw it all edited. Like in the shot below, why did Merrick choose to walk, not on the sidewalk but on the leaves between the concrete path and the concrete barrier that contains the lake?
And the twisted and gnarled tree that has grown exactly where it has despite it not being ideal conditions. It looks amazing and way more interesting than the “straight” trees in the rest of the video.
We have a joke between us and it goes something like this: When we see a leaf we ask eachother “Do you know why they call them leaves? Because they leave the tree in fall.” And in this case the whole video becomes a low-key spiritual instruction video and we were not even aiming for that at all.
Our duck has an important lesson to teach us and his message is this: Flap your wings, which means “let go of the story,” and live your real life – here and now, in the present moment. Eckhart Tolle
The holographic duck above illustrates that higher order at play. That we are designed for fun and it’s here where we are going to leave this deep dive of our own video. Yeah, we had some idea of what we wanted the video to be, but many of the choices were made for us. From the framing of the shots to the use of the other graphic elements. Just letting go and letting the video be what it is turned out way better in the end. And if you want to see it with this information in mind, check it out below.
