Song Lyrics Relating to The Slave Dancer

"Discovering the Truth"
by Averi

I try not to let these realizations by.
Because with time they wipe the innocence from my eyes.
Now the days are so much longer and the nights they seem so restless.
Feelings come with clutter to weigh heavy on my chest.
I feel I might have almost slipped this skin.
I fear that it's easier now for you to get in.
The innocence was swept out from under us.
Perceptions change when they turn the lights on.
The years bring out the things I try to hide.
It gets harder to ignore the once invisible,
When truth comes, beside age and destroys what I thought was invincible.
I could never go back and start it all again.
There's too much clutter here without the ignorance.
I feel I might have almost slipped this skin.
I fear that it's easier now for you to get in.
The innocence was swept out from under us.
Perceptions change when they turn the lights on.
The years bring out the things I try to hide.
I just wish it wasn't such a slap in the face.

In The Slave Dancer, Jesse Bollier is kidnapped and stuck in a situation that leaves him unable to see the world in the same light again. He is constantly on the verge of life and death and is caught between his morals and his natural instincts in order to return home safetly. Throughout the whole ordeal, Jesse matures and realizes the savage horrors of a very real world his mother tried to shield from him. Jesse rediscovers the truth behind the cruel rawness of the slave trade without overlooking anything, something he was never able to do before, and in doing so he returns home a changed man. The four highlighted lines of lyrics represent and relate to Jesse's struggles with himself, his loyalty to the crew, and his ravaged innocence.

While kidnapped and brought to The Moonlight, a slave ship, Jesse is unable to escape the horrible experiences with the slaves being brought aboard and this is what the first highlighted line indicates when it mentions the innocence being wiped away. The second highlighted line of lyrics refer to Jesse's conflict of loyalty between two emerging sides on board the slave ship, and the burdens he has to carry when he is unable to decide between certain decisions he has to make, both internal and external. The third highlighted line represents Jesse finally discovering the reality and truth of slavery by experiencing the calamity firsthand. With a different role and point of view while on the ship, Jesse's perception changes and he is no longer narrow-minded and naive when it comes to slavery. The last highlighted line refers to when after Jesse's perception changes, he goes home but never sees the world in the same light again. It is implied at the end of the book that Jesse lives his life as a changed person and is haunted by his memories of the ship.