The Individual

Now the third function
Of
A mythological tradition
Is to validate
And maintain
A certain moral order
Now these moral orders greatly differ from one society
To another
For example
The requirements
Of a primitive hunting community
Are very, very different
From a primitive planting community
What is required of the young men and women
Is in each case quite different
Likewise, in a complex
Society
Of
Differentiated
Tasks
With professional
Doctors, Medicines, Medical men
Astronomers
Or scientists
Governing people
Trading people
All of these coordinated in one society
We have a quite different
Social problem
Quite different moral problem
From that of a simple
Primitive community

[Chorus]
The individual must be shaped
He must be made to react
In the way that that culture wants (it to)
The individual must be shaped (oh)
He must be made to react (oh)
In the way that that culture wants (it to)

And so there is this variation
From society to society
In terms of the social orders
Now some of these social orders
Are extremely
Ruthless and fierce in their requirements and extremely
Narrow
In their demand
Individuals may be
Thus divorced
Separated
So to say
From their own nature

Read some of the descriptions
In the anthropological works
Of the primitive
Initiation rites
What is done
To the young people
In
Some primitive societies
In order
To
Test their courage
In order to integrate them
In the social group
Now most societies
Are extremely
Dogmatic
And fierce
In their
Integration
Of the individual
The individual is born as a separate
Entity
He is carved up
So to say
And made to fit
Into a pattern
That the society requires
It doesn’t require a total man
It requires a “part man”
Not an individual
But a “dividuum”
Someone who has been divided up and put into a notch

[Chorus]
The individual must be shaped
He must be made to react
In the way that that culture wants (it to)
The individual must be shaped (oh)
He must be made to react (oh)
In the way that that culture wants (it to)

This happens in the most primitive societies, already
Nature produces
This wonderfully
Rich being
Full of possibilities
The society and you cannot blame society
It requires
A certain
Specific - Limited - Type
It’s got to have that otherwise it can’t exist
And so
The individual is
So to say
Carved into shape
Scarified
And teeth knocked out
His body is changed
So that he will know;
I’m a member of this group
Not that group

[Chorus]
The individual must be shaped
He must be made to react
In the way that that culture wants (wants it to)
The individual must be shaped (oh)
He must be made to react (oh)
In the way that that culture wants (wants it to)

The individual must be changed
He must be made to react
In the way that that culture wants it to
The individual must be changed (oh)
He must be made to react (oh)
In the way that that culture wants it to

[Bridge]

And
In so
Shaping the person
The person is removed
So to say
From his own nature
From his own nature
From his own nature
His own nature