The Long Song is Doctor Who
Although very popular, I feel the thematic subtext of the Smith era of Doctor Who is often unexplored by fans, an aspect where I think this is very apparent is in the Long Song from Rings of Akhaten. I remember listening to a podcast recently and when talking about regeneration scores the hosts spoke about how Capaldi's last track being ghe Shepherd's boy tied into all sorts of cyclical themes throughout his era but when talking about Eleven they just said "The Long Song is a sacrifice or something." Something that becomes especially interesting in the context of how it's second only to I am the Doctor on most platforms as the most listened to song from the series.
Rings of Akhaten is an interesting story in which, as Clara's first adventure in the Tardis, draws the connection between her and the Doctor entirely around how the pair both protect a little girl from her own lack of self-worth. I could probably be her for hours talking about the episode and what it says about religion and how that topic is so reoccurring in the era but that's not the focus here. The song itself is something sung by the little girl and her community to support the Doctor when he goes on a suicidal mission entirely to make sure the little girl doesn't give up her own life in support of an oppressive god who tells her that her life doesn't have worth.
The Long Song is introduced early in the episode as this long standing piece of art where the person leading it hands it over to the next person to keep it going forever, the Doctor specifically described it as
"Chorister handing over to chorister, generation after generation after generation."
Now this is obviously evoking the history of the show, this episode is in fact the start of a 7 episode run where each week would have a reference to one of the 7 Classic Who Doctors (sorry Paul) as a celeb tv who in celebration of the 50th, the show's history was on the mind of the show. It's especially fitting putting a parallel to the unique artistic process of the show in the episode that is in tribute to the first Doctor. The last time this track plays in the era is during Matt's regeneration makes this point especially clear as the track used is a medley of Eleventh Doctor tracks with the Long Song specifically played during the part in which he describes the process of regeneration, in the Eleventh Doctor’s regeneration the show is affirming that connection between the role of the Doctor and the Long Song. The Long song itself then, in the 50th year, becomes the symphonic represtation of all the artists who worked on the show from 1963 to 2013.
Something that becomes especially interesting when you consider that the song's most famous use, at the end of Rings of Akhaten is during the sequences where the Doctor and later Clara use the memories of loss and the tragedy of the days that should have been from people taken too soon all of which is done within the story to teach a little girl her life has worth.
The Long Song tells us that Doctor Who, as a piece of art is primarily based around three things:
- The inevitablity of change and how it's beautiful as long as you remember who you've been
-The pain of loss and how being open and honest about it allows children to grow up safe
-And how all of it can be told by an ever shifting group of different people creating art over generations
turnnoffyourmind
dededos
theartofmadeline
titsay
2087
