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Jukebox - Suffering Machines - Lyrics
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Exposition

This is the story of Alex.

Frustrated by his own dysfunction as a working man and married man, Alex abandons it all and goes to Spain, with the goal of reviving his latent idealism, optimism and youthful energy, and becoming the man he imagined he would be.

Alone with his thoughts, his experiences push him to reassess his past, confront his present and formulate his future.

Alex spirals downward as he realizes how cynical he's become, and looks down upon others for being like him, until he ultimately relocates in order to help rebuild a 3rd world country recently ravaged by earthquake.
The words "suffering machines" were used by Picasso himself when he said "women are suffering machines" in talking about his painting, The Weeping Woman. I think it's fair to extend that term to all of humanity, when humanity is not in a good state.

This opera is about overcoming and transcending the state of being a "Suffering Machine".
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