Blue Horizon: On the border of Sexuality, Violence, and Artistry

I've been keeping this one mostly to myself for a while (that said, the readership of this blog contains 100% of the people I've showed the song to thus far). I heard the damn thing about 2 months ago and it's been filling up the semi-periphery of my consciousness ever since.

I decided to write a creative essay about the song, and it's become one of those projects that spirals out into something that feels important to me, something I would have been probably written whether I was assigned to or not. I am so grateful for Andy Hoffmann, one of my favorite professors at the U, who let me write a long-form poem/essay instead of a weighty, academic rhetorical analysis simply because he could tell I was passionate about it.

As much as I do have passion for it, and as happy as I am to have written it, I think at the state it's in I consider it to be a failed essay. Lofty aspirations, which remain unmet. So I'm posting it here, and I've given it to some writer friends, with the hope that I can get some really harsh, constructive critique that will help me help it to find its own potential greatness. I'm pretty sure it's in there somewhere.

So, if you're bored/have time to help me out, The essay is here, 

and this is the song:

Suggestion: Maybe read the introduction to the essay (everything before the poem), then listen to the song, then read the poem. Or not. Essentially, they need to be considered together, but the song can't just be background music to the poem. 

Thanks!

Love,

Luke