Fire, in many philosophical schools or philosophical currents, parallels knowledge.
In some religions, it is even regarded as their symbol.
The reason is the very nature of fire, which can alter any object it comes into contact with.
If it does not destroy it with its unbridled power, then it creates something new, like a form of evolution.
Some of the scars it leaves are just a reminder of its own strength, and/or a form of medal for the tough battle with it.
A … “chilled” account of this battle is the reason for it to be imprinted in a song.
One simple burn in the hand, a dog Hector, who is no longer afraid of fire …
A bleak aunt, Argyris’ of Nightstalker aunt, a room full of smoke, a burnt mattress, and the inspiration for a song.
Which will also give the album its title.
These are the basics of “Just a Burn“, the song that opens the fourth and homonymous album of Nightstalker.
The Story
The song’s creator and frontman of the Athenian band tell us the story of the song.
Returning home one night, somewhere in Vyronas, where he lived with his mother and upstairs her sister, he decided to relax after a long day.
One way is to roll a….joint. So he did.
But as the fatigue was greater than his strengths, he was determined to end his cigarette lying down.
He was followed by his loyal friend, Hector, a black dog, a possible mix of Rottweiler and pointer, already large, though only six months old.
The sleep caught him before extinguishing the cigarette, before even leaving it on the ashtray.
The dog followed his boss’s laziness and laid face to face with him.
Curiously, the cigarette did not have the same mood as its creator and continued to burn between its fingers with the cauldron resting on the mattress.
Naturally, the stub-mattress relationship lit up for good, slowly burning the mattress.
After some time, difficult to set precisely the time in such cases, it created a hole, which brought out an annoying light …
Creating a thorn in the layer, with Argyris, waking up for a moment.
His only reaction was to cover the hole with a white A4 paper and continue his sweet sleep.
The dog, even though he smelled that something was wrong, seeing his owner relaxed, put his muzzle on the mat looking at his boss happy.
The “firefighter” aunt
Their relaxation was spoiled by Argyris’ aunt, who lives on the top floor.
As the doors were unlocked she entered the room shouting, “Get up, you’re going to die, you’re going to burn.“
The shouts were enough to wake the Nightstalker frontman, along with Hector.
The room was filled with smoke, one meter from the ceiling, and because it was an open window, it went out of the house and into the apartment of the “firefighter” aunt of Argyris.
After a few bottles of water and a bucket, everyone left the room.
The dog remained unmoved and loyal to the singer continued to show him his love unconditionally.
The only loss of the night, apart from the mattress, was a blister between the singer’s fingers from burning.
All this ended without much grumbling and Argyris had a new mattress.
A talented artist easily finds ways to irritate his inspiration.
After a while, he grabbed his guitar, along with his faithful friend Hector and began writing lyrics and music in the same space.
Seated on a brand new mattress on the edge of the bed and always under the poster of Jimi Hendrix.
The unperturbed Hector
Beyond the event-inspired musician, Hector is one of the (few) dogs that is not afraid of fire.
It has even been a focal point for band members and friends.
As he put out lighters and candles, he got many splashes of applause.
If we look at it from another perspective, Hector may have taken the position of “fire extinguisher” aunt!
The lyrics describe the events with emphasis on suspicion …
Everything around us can become ashes, escaping with a single burn that simply reminds us of the events.
At first, the song was quite slow.
When he presented it all over the band, they decided to up the tempo and the band’s guitarist (Tolis Motsios) added the solos.
The singer has to add only one tip: Don’t sleep with the cigarette lit!
Decrypting the events …
We can say that a more relaxed approach to the events happening around us whether we cause them or not …
They can even be an inspiration or privity (as in the case of a dog).
To finish us off as individuals and we don’t need to cry over some small wounds …
