FKA Twigs - Theory of The Moon Child
Dancer, Singer & Song Writer FKA Twigs
““Everything was in complete turmoil. The only thing that didn’t get smashed or shaken was one or two great friends.””
There is a very peculiar feeling I’ve had for the greater part of my life which I haven’t always been able to articulate. At least not as intuitively as FKA twigs managed to in her single Fallen Alien. I’m sure many can identify with the thought of feeling alien, of feeling misplaced, like something in this world but not of it. But there is another layer to this otherness that further distinguishes one within the cast of misfits. Something which only becomes clear when positioned in contrast to another subtle and banishing disposition: call it reason or sensibility, civility or light. Or all the qualities which radiate and form suitable codes of conduct but unintentionally subjugate those who don't naturally exude these traits. It is the invisible war between the moon-child and the sun-baby.
If you are a moon-child then you know, you are always at risk, and you are always alone, and you harbor a deep desire to be loved by a sun-baby. The moon-child is the frightening feminine figure who’s gifts and qualities seem to surface from some unknown place. Her beauty is striking but unconventional, her wisdom does not always fall within the confines of reason, she is intriguing and at times even seductive, but her appeal is ultimately subject to the validation of the sun-baby. Without this validation she is reduced to her primary description - a frightening feminine figure. Like the moon, she owes her light to the sun. but in order to truly understand this, it is important to capture the qualities of the sun-baby, which is precisely what FKA twigs manages to achieve in the lyrics of her song.
I'm a fallen alien
I never thought that you would be the one to tie me down
But you did
In this age of Satan
I'm searching for a light to take me home and guide me out
Like the moon-child, the sun-baby does not know what he is until he comes into contact with the moon-child. Because in many ways he is like everyone else. Popularity is generally based around the qualities he naturally possesses. His beauty is non threatening, but this has less to do with its poignancy and more so to do with the fact that his appearance makes sense. If he were North American, for instance, he would probably be tall, white, broad shouldered, with brown hair and hazel eyes. If he were West African, he might be dark, with strong arms, short hair, and brown eyes. But his beauty wouldn’t arouse any shift in one's perspective as would a black man with a sharp nose and hazel eyes for instance. This is of course merely cosmetic, and does not adequately describe the sun-baby, but the feeling one would get from looking at a man like this would be similar to that of an American girl in the 50’s looking at Marlon Brando. It would be a comfortable admiration, an appreciation of something magnificent, but comprehensible. Like a magnification of shared values. Because the sun-baby does not threaten the status quo, he is instead, a testament to its seniority.
It is no secret that FKA twigs was famously engaged to Robert Pattinson and that the song Fallen Alien seems to be an aggressive lamentation on the failure of this relationship. But I want you to look at this couple. Without much examination tell me, who do you suppose is the moon-child? and who is the sun-baby?
To my view, the pair bear a strange resemblance to Perseus with the head of Madusa. I think the biggest reveal in the distinction between these two types of people is what happens when they split. It’s the public embrace of the sun-baby and the inevitable uprooting of the moon-child. The realization of her greatest fear, that she does not and likely never did belong here. And perhaps once one knows what it’s like to be in the light, there is nothing miraculous about being a strange and unearthly thing. You simply feel like “ a fallen alien”. Whats-more, this is not a union that is ever likely to last. And Judging by the following refrain of this song, it is probably something Twigs was begrudgingly aware of:
In the blazing sun I saw you
In the shadows hiding from yourself
When the lights are on I know you
See you're grey from all the lies you tell
But perhaps the darker and more saddening aspect of this song is rooted in the fact that Twigs considers this disposition to be something which places her in the shadows. She sees her union with the sun-baby as “a light to take her home and guide her out.”
A more masculine example of this dilemma can be seen in Dostoevsky notes from underground. Dostoevsky’s underground man tells us that he feels like a mouse, buried in his own eternal and reflective consciousness. This character is contrasted by the normal man, the man of action, whose energies and consciousness are directed outwards, but who possesses a comparatively shallow perceptual and intellectual capacity. Dostoevsky’s underground man is consequently shunned from his society. He lives in what he describes as “a mouse whole”, in the underbelly of the city, “in the shadows, hiding from himself”. However, the conviction Dostoevsky proposes is one I might prescribe to every shunned and shattered Moon-child who feels excluded from“... an indescribable crystal palace in which you won’t be able to stick out your tongue or blow raspberries even if you cover your mouth with your hand…” alternatively, he warns us to be “afraid of such a palace, precisely because it’s indescribable and because you won’t be able to stick your tongue out at it.” (p.112, Notes From Underground)
The shunning of the moon-child is precisely what characterizes the war between these two types of people. Remnants of it can be seen in a number of cinematic and philosophical conflicts. Be that in the infamous feud between the blonde and the brunette, or the cosmic divide between divine play and absolute seriousness. And then of course there is the most famous “fallen alien” given to us in religious scriptures. But I’d like to divorce this religious connotation from my definition of the moon-child, lest we dive into occultist views which I’m deeply opposed to. To my understanding she is not a vampire-ous, succubus, lunatic thing. She is characterized however, by her mystery. She is the tortured pyromaniac chained in the attic of Mr. Rochester's castle. The racially ambiguous Heathcliff banished to the ends of Wuthering heights. Or perhaps it is a more subtle, quiet otherness which seeps to the surface in her leprous pairing with the sun-baby. Perhaps she is like a surreptitious infection which has made its way to the territory of light. She writes:
Now you hold me close so tender
In the shadows hiding from yourself
When the lights are on I know you
See you're grey from all the lies you tell
Now you hold me close so tender
When you fall asleep I'll kick you down
By the way you fell I know you
Now you're on your knees
That said I would like to know your thoughts on my theory of The Moon-child and what examples you might have of the above. And do not pass on the opportunity to listen to this riveting album: Fallen Alien - FKA Twigs