Veteran Of The Psychic Wars; A True Sleeper Hit | Musical Maybes

[@soarel325]

Holy shit, my favorite youtuber not only talking about BOC again, but by extension about one of my favorite albums (Warrior on the Edge of Time) and authors too. Amazing early Christmas present. Also, a clarification - the Eternal Champion doesn’t serve Law over Chaos, but serves the balance between the two. He can be fighting on the side of Law (like Corum) or on the side of Chaos (like Elric), and can change his affiliation as the balance does (like Erekosë).

[@Pseudiom]

Imma pin this because this is a more succinct explanation than mine on the Eternal Chapion. Most of my knowledge comes from my brother who loves Elric.

[@soarel325]

@@Pseudiom Aw, thanks! Moorcock is absolutely worth reading

[@TheArtofDyingTogether]

@@soarel325 This is a BOC channel with some Steely Dan in between lol

[@Masterge77]

As soon as I saw the title, I knew Pseudiom was talking about his favorite band once more.

[@Pseudiom]

Always glad to see a familiar face in the comments.

[@dietaku]

It may seem trite, but it would be no hyperbole to say this song changed my life. When I was 15, my Dad introduced me to Fire of Unknown Origin, and this song struck a chord with me. Singing about wizards fighting a far-off eternal war was my introduction to Science Fantasy, and introduced me not only to Michael Moorcock and his Eternal Champion, but also broadened my horizons from the small world of Lewis and Tolkien I had read before. In any case, thank you very much for shining a spotlight on this absolute gem, Pseudiom. You rock!

[@RememberTheDead]

Actually my favorite Blue Oyster Cult song (alongside, appropriately for the upcoming release, Nosferatu). In a sort of roundabout way (seeing as it was penned by a great writer) it is great material for inspiring writing, and it has inspired my work a lot as a result through characters, settings or just vibes. Loved this deep dive. Now please, don't let these shakes go on...

[@paulschwartz4850]

I love all your Blue Oyster Cult videos, theyre always really good

[@Pseudiom]

They're not perfect, but I try my best. There's a few mistakes in the Imaginos video for example, but I'm still proud of it overall.

[@nekokonata]

I had to do a double take when I saw the name for one of my favorite songs on my KZbin feed and it was by you no less, awesome.

[@Pseudiom]

I'm one of the Blue Oyster Cult guys on KZbin. I've been told Buck Dharma and maybe Albert Bouchard have seen my videos in passing.

[@nekokonata]

@@Pseudiom That's seriously awesome dude, congrats.

[@BirthdayCowDog]

Precision with every upload

[@Pseudiom]

Victim of the psychic wars: Can you spot the very obvious spelling mistake I only just noticed?

[@jameskowanko7574]

Hell yeah a new psuediom video about one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands!

[@PeterByker]

🎶"Don't let these shakes go on!"🎶

[@Pseudiom]

Never were truer words spoken.

[@georgewilson7432]

Guess I also need to try this author, right? The Library truly is endless. What I love about this song is how the music reflects the lyrics, you can hear the tiredness, fatigue, exhaustion, the terror of being trap to an eternal cycle (Nietzsche wanted to make this horror a joy), and the desire to stop the Wheel once and for all, a heavy metal doctrine, not a soft one. It is a beautiful song.

[@Pseudiom]

Good analysis! I also detected the element of Nietzsche in the song. That's mostly due to Moorcock's interest in philosophy, I think. "Veteran" is more about a warrior rather than the tricksters that pervade other Blue Oyster Cult songs. My brother has told me Moorcock is a love or hate him author. His admirers uphold him as a master and enemies think he is a hack. I suppose it is better to inspire both admiration and hatred rather than apathy.

[@georgewilson7432]

Of course, there is nothing worse than a lukewarm beer. The word "Veteran" is key to make the whole song work as it does. A person aware he has gone through the same struggle 4004 times, and knows that the important thing is not to win or lose but to stop, that is the true victory, to dismantle the machinery in which his existence is trapped. It doesn't have to be an epic battle, but the mental structures, prejudices, clichés, flaws, and the worst of all them, fear, that chained someone to fuck up after fuck up. In that sense, we are all veterans, and there are no medals for this, either we accept the shackles or seek liberation.

[@404sutibi7]

The live version from Extraterrestrial Live at Hollywood is so fucking amazing. The solo lives in my damn soul. This was the song that really got me into the band after hearing their big 3. This, Nosferatu and Wings Wetted Down completely change how I understood music as I entered high school and got me into everything I'm into now

[@altaycan389]

Dude, I was literally thinking about this song just now

[@cantonnierbethcepourlavhy6343]

Would love to see you do one of those on Astronomy ! My favorite from the band with a few things to say (ties to Stefen King among other things)

[@soarel325]

He's actually got a whole feature-length video about Imaginos already!

[@Pseudiom]

Yeah, as @soarel325 said, check out the Imaginos video. It is a little out of date (came out before Albert's Bouchards new albums), but I tried my best to cover the entire mythology of Astronomy and Imaginos. One of my favorite videos I've ever made.

[@acreopian]

I did not know that Michael Moorcock had written for both Standing at the Edge and Veteran of the Psychic Wars. I really liked when I first picked up on that shared phrase. (I heard it backwards, in Veteran of the Psychic Wars and then in Standing at the Edge.) It seemed akin to the old Lovecraft Circle trick of seemingly unrelated work referencing some secret source. Makes both songs seem even more "mysterious" to me.

[@Pseudiom]

Blue Oyster Cult was very well aware of that trick because Sandy Pearlman use to do it as well, he took it from Lovecraft. Eric Bloom and Albert Bouchard also picked up on it. The intrigue of creating a loose sort of mythology. Books are made of books, and the best songs are made of other songs.

[@Observer-d8z]

Oh yes, Thank you for covering one of my favorite songs from my favorite band, I love finding more lore about these songs, Got a odd request but could you cover shooting shark? I heard its possibly was inspired by a poem I cannot find much about besides someone mentioning it in a comment seciton.

[@Pseudiom]

It was heavily inspired/based on lyrics by Patti Smith, I believe. I'll most likely talk about her relationship to BOC at some point in the future so it will likely come up. I've not read much of her work though so I find the song somewhat difficult to interpret right now. I'll need to read her poetry before I do.

[@Sunbow2003]

Murray Krugman has suggested in interviews that BÖC hasn’t maintained the same level of popularity as bands like Aerosmith or KISS because they didn’t know how to manage themselves. But I think he misses the fact that much of the band’s best work has far less commercial appeal than other bands from that era. Veteran of the Psychic Wars sounds great and plays well if you’re into sword and sorcery and that scene, but not as much for the general public, which is simultaneously the tragedy and the appeal of Blue Öyster Cult.

[@georgewilson7432]

The vast majority of people are tasteless rubes.

[@torsion7214]

I never knew Moorcock was involved with blue oyster cult. Mind blowing stuff.

[@Pseudiom]

Really? I honestly thought it was common knowledge. I'm glad I'm spreading the revelation then.

[@tadmoore5681]

Another banger. I would like to suggest you cover Career of Evil for your next BOC video.

[@Pseudiom]

That had lyrics by Patti Smith and I do want to talk about her at some point. I need to actually read more of her poetry first. You'll likely see something about it in the future, maybe next year?

[@Jenniferr5m]

Hi. I like the video (and the song). It's tangential--I appreciate the mentions of the Moorcock/Hawkwind predecessor(s), but I do think it's worth mentioning Hawkwind later (1985) did a whole concept album (The Chronicle of the Black Sword, later Live Chronicles in '86) based on Moorcock's work, mostly Elric. And you talked about cello and the gothic feel of the piece, then cover versions, but did not mention my favorite cover (admittedly very recent, and pretty obscure): Unwoman's Uncovered Volume 8 opens with "Veteran of the Psychic Wars." If you want a fully goth, cello fronted version it's worth checking out.

[@78deathface]

This is my jam

[@chaosjut]

Love this song

[@ScarletRebel96]

Shadow Wizard Money gang 🎉🎉

[@georgewilson7432]

13:14 Is that footage from Malvinas? Nice touch.

[@Pseudiom]

I've used it before. I like it because it is pretty unique.

[@georgewilson7432]

A quaint portrayal of defeat. Should have been a postcard.

[@retroroy8720]

Blue Oyster Cult are like the Bret Hart of progressive rock The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.

[@Pseudiom]

Buck Dharma did the sharpshooter during "Reaper". I saw it. I saw it live and I know it happened.

[@retroroy8720]

@@Pseudiom Well played, my good man

[@retroroy8720]

@@Pseudiom I've never seen BOC live but I'd imagine it'd be one of the most fun experiences as a concert goer.

[@j.2512]

veterans of the meme wars can relate

[@GrifoStelle]

Op. Be my incubator or gtfo. Girl, gone Op. Waaaaaaaaaat?

[@antirawk]

The film Heavy Metal got me into BöC

[@Pseudiom]

Fun movie! Never watched the sequel.

[@antirawk]

@@Pseudiom It's not very good to be honest, they left the anthology format, plus the music sucks but Billy Idol as the bad guy is pretty cool

[@phylactery1472]

BOC forever

[@MISTER_SQUIRRELLL]

I think you could have just referred to him as Micheal after the first few times 😂

[@Pseudiom]

I was honestly testing if KZbin would limit the video if I kept saying "Moorcock".

[@MISTER_SQUIRRELLL]

@@Pseudiom it was pretty funny honestly 😂 I knew it had to be a joke or some kind of test haha. Keep up the fun humor!

[@nasunabi]

psychic wars been real quiet since I dropped.

[@ameliarhodes5000]

#BradleyHallGuitar - cover them dude. Or are you afraid?

[@Pseudiom]

?

[@ameliarhodes5000]

@@Pseudiom Bradley Hall - he refuses to cover BOC.

[@Pseudiom]

What's his major malfunction?

[@ameliarhodes5000]

@@Pseudiom Don't know. He's done Sabbath, a few others who really proved themselves from the 70s and onward. But never BOC.