r/boardsofcanada • u/WerewolfIcy7240 • 1d ago
Discussion The Process discussion
This is one of the most underrated tracks I feel, from the start's apocalyptic ambience and vocal sample to the beautiful piano and sampling at the end, it gets me nearly to tears everytime.
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u/idiale1 1d ago
When machines inherit the world, the piano still remembers humanity.
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u/Alexis_deTokeville 16h ago edited 16h ago
Yeah this is my take too. This song is a condensed version of the apocalypse, the “Great War” talked about in All Reason Departs. The “crowned and conquering child” is the antichrist made manifest as AI, which will spin and warp our perspectives of one another so profoundly that violence becomes the only way out. The text to voice nonsense in the background is symbolic of how AI catalyzes violence through misinformation and deception.
The Process is a horrifyingly sad track, it’s the wreckage of humanity after we destroy ourselves.
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u/loophunter 1d ago
its the one that i think about the most. beautiful and disturbing. It paints a picture of chaos, confusion, the sound of living in an oppressive tech-nightmare
its like the frustration of being on an automated customer service call, but now its everything. we can't get answers and the government is throwing AI garble text back at you. hopelessness, crowds lost in a sea of propaganda and fake imagery, what is real? automated robots control the streets and the movement of people. and then the sounds of nature and peace. a better world without our shenanigans
its almost like the "process" is referring to the processing of all the lost and confused humans after some significant hellish event in the future
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u/WerewolfIcy7240 1d ago
exactly. it has such an apocalyptic, authoritarian feeling in the beginning, then it opens into the warm piano like a glimmer of humanity. gorgeous
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u/giovanimf 1d ago
Yes, definitely a top 5 track on the album! The piano at the end is amazing, reminiscent of 'Farewell Fire', pure melancholy and beauty.
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u/NuttyCrawdad 1d ago
I like the background sound to the piano. Sounds like primordial life beginning anew again. Our world is cyclic, and the piano plays a dirge for humanity.
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u/loady 1d ago
it sounds like what you hear beyond the fog of grief when you are going through the loss of a parent or loved one. I actually think this might be one of the direct themes of the album.
- Memory Death
- Into the Magic Land
- Deep Time
- All Reason Departs
- The Process
- You Retreat in Time and Space
all sound and feel like this to me
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u/Its_Cookie_Man The Campfire Headphase 1d ago
It sounds like the aftermath of the war/apocalypse mentioned on its preceding tracks, the world doomed, making You Retreat in Time and Space even more impactful, since to me that track felt like seeking for divinity, so with the world dying and nowhere left to go, you only have once answer.
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u/Elegant_Heron4668 1d ago
The vocal samples remind me of the outro to Disobedience by Deerhoof. Similar subject matter regarding cop cities and it’s spoken word behind layers of noise
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u/MootBrute2 Friendly Stranger 1d ago
Yes those tracks really are similar but i never put it together until now!
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u/markham117 Yellow Ball 1d ago
Took a while for this one to grow on be but now I really enjoy it. Feels like the true sobering moment of the album in the same way that Diving Station was for Geogaddi in my opinion, also I do agree it’s very underrated.
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u/sweet-guy96 1d ago
Its like witnessing a life changing event occur, and the piano is you trying to remember what lifewas like before that event.
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u/edibleplastique 18h ago
The haunting piano melody at the end was one of the first things from this album to get stuck in my head, independent of the rest of the music. There is something so ear wormy about it despite its melancholy.
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u/barelychoice 1d ago
One interpretation of the song that I haven't seen much- it's about the act of creating and releasing music:
In the beginning, there is sound. A fat, dark synth is balanced by some brighter ones. Beautiful sound... music is created.
Then people get in the way. Audiences, lawyers, execs, etc. We hear the clamor of these humans stepping all over the beautiful sounds, distracted by their own turmoil.
Then comes the drone of critique. A cold, detached voice talks gives statements about how their music is "acoustically this plus unquestionably that" and how the samples are "noticeably acquired although refreshingly piped".
But at the end, despite all the static and struggle, you're left with what really matters: a sweet melody playing with samples of children and birds. It's still worth all the effort, even if it's ugly at times. That's the process.