Roll the bones

Something made me turn my attention to this song once again.  Yes, I've posted a few times about this song by the rock group Rush.

This time, I thought I might dig a little deeper into the song.

It appears to be about atheism.  You can certainly take it that way.  However, you can take it another way as well.

Life is a mystery. "Why does it happen?".  A question that cannot be answered.  "Why are we here?"  Same thing.  You can take the stand based upon faith, which he criticizes.  Or you can take the stand that life is just a random thing with no meaning, nor order.  The author seems to take the latter rather than the former.  If he were to be brutally honest, he cannot answer so convincingly as he seems to here.  How would you know that there's a meaning, or no meaning, simply because you do not understand "why it happens"?  The author recognizes some of his limitations, but then tramples right over his own conclusions by saying that he knows.

May I offer a theory on why he does that?  To sell records!  Nobody wants disorder.  To claim order in the midst of chaos that one claims exists is a contradiction.  Therefore, he takes a stand.  If he were to be honest, he could only express doubt.  But if he did that, he would not sell any of his records.  People like certainty, and hate doubt.  That's my theory, anyhow.

The only advice offered is to get busy.  Life is to be lived, not understood.  The deeper meanings may well be beyond our comprehension.  But that doesn't sell very well.

Here's the lyrics:

Well, you can stake that claim
Good work is the key to good fortune
Winners take that praise
Losers seldom take that blame  [comment:  how true ]
If they don't take that game
And sometimes the winner takes nothing
We draw our own designs
But fortune has to make that frame [comment: best laid plans can go awry]

We go out in the world and take our chances
Fate is just the weight of circumstances
That's the way that Lady Luck dances
Roll the bones 

Why are we here?
Because we're here
Roll the bones [ comment: atheism ]
Why does it happen?
Because it happens
Roll the bones 

Faith is cold as ice
Why are little ones born only to suffer
For the want of immunity 
Or a bowl of rice? [comment: cannot explain the why's of existence]
Well, who would hold a price
On the heads of the innocent children
If there's some immortal power
To control the dice? [comment: doubts that any omnipotent being controls destinies]

We come into the world and take our chances
Fate is just the weight of circumstances
That's the way that lady luck dances
Roll the bones 

Jack, relax
Get busy with the facts
No zodiacs or almanacs
No maniacs in polyester slacks
Just the facts
Gonna kick some Gluteus max
It's a parallax, you dig?
You move around
The small gets big, it's a rig
It's action, reaction
Random interaction
So who's afraid 
Of a little abstraction?
Can't get no satisfaction
From the facts?
You better run, homeboy
A fact's a fact
From Nome to Rome, boy

What's the deal, spin the wheel
If the dice are hot, take a shot
Play your cards, show us what you got
What you're holding
If the cards are cold
Don't go folding
Lady Luck is golden
She favors the bold, that's cold
Stop throwing stones
The night has a thousand saxophones
So get out there and rock
And roll the bones
Get busy