Beliefs: Past and Present

Named after the poem of the same name, Beliefs: Past and Present expands on Finnegan’s powerful imagery of his aging beliefs towards American politics and patriotism. Opening with picturesque bell-like harmonics, the motif is quickly interrupted by the crescendoing inability to escape outside influences. As each stanza is illustrated and more information is shoved down throats, the listener is quickly tugged between different scenes, being forced to take the role of bystander to others' pain. As the final stanza comes to a close, the chiming beginning motif returns, only now interlaced with the tension that is unable to be shaken off - tension that must now be carried day-to-day.