Glimmering City (Dystopian Novel):

I remember the Apple commercial from 1984. I've read that it only aired twice, and was only broadcast once, during the Super Bowl, on national TV.

I had not read the novel Nineteen Eighty Four at that point, but I had gathered its general plot and meaning through popular culture.

Many dystopian stories, movies and the like have come and gone since 1984. This song is my attempt to add to that list.

You don't know how far I have come
Tunneled through the earth
Walked the burning sands
Swam across the river
To reach the Glimmering City where you live
On the hundredth floor

At first I had lyrics about overthrowing an oppressive dictatorship, but as the song developed I decided to imply that theme rather than state it outright.

You left your reflection in a broken mirror
I pieced it together and traced it here
I see your worried look so let me say
Why would you want to be normal anyway?

So the scene is a sleek, modern high-rise apartment. There's a beautiful girl living a comfortable life, tended by mechanical servants. There's a boy standing in front of her, looking somewhat dirty and wild. Is it a literal mirror that he refers to, or maybe an electronic device storing her image? I don't know. But the image of her face has moved him to action.

Leave these machines behind
Come join my rebel friends
We'll build a who new life from our bare hands
Leave these machines behind
Come join my rebel friends
We'll build a who new life from our bare hands...

I had written some sketchy lyrics using guitar, and I had a tune in my head. I made it pretty far in the songwriting process before I decided to start over with new music and re-written lyrics. The music had come out too somber. The lyrics were more angry than sweet and persuasive. 

I turned to the ukulele. I've found that ukuleles are usually dismissed as novelty instruments, but I think of mine as a simplified mandolin. It gives a song a small, rustic sound. 

After some trial and error, I found a chord progression that I had not played before: F to BbMaj7 to C. It was the airy Maj7 that opened up the song for me, letting in light and hope.

A common dystopian theme is the government strictly enforcing a bland existence, with few opportunities for pleasure, in order to control the masses.

However, as seen in Brave New World and Wall-E, it's much more effective to control a population by saturating the people with consumerism and entertainment. 

If a dystopian government really knows what it is doing, it will provide manufactured controversies in the news, constantly changing tastes in fashion and so on. It would be hard to tell the fictional news from the real thing, and the average citizen wouldn't know or care to know the difference. That's what's going on in the Glimmering City. 

So it's a hard sell for a young man with few possessions to arrive on the hundredth floor and ask this young woman to give up her luxurious life. He really only has one argument on his side: an emotional appeal to her sense of adventure and the unknown. 

When's the last time you felt cold?
When's the last time you felt scared?
When's the last time you felt alive?
Come take my hand, I'll lead you there...

I have always loved the song The Sounds of Silence, even when I was a little kid. It's funny to think that such a weird, dark, quiet song could have been popular on the radio in its own time. But it's that strange beauty that and storytelling that gets our attention, even today.

I had been reading the book of 1 Kings, where King Jeroboam commands that his workers make two golden calfs for the people to worship. It made be think of the neon god from Paul Simon's song, so I quote two lines in my song as a tribute.

And the people bowed an prayed
To the neon god they'd made
I hear security coming down the corridor
They're beating on the door, beating down the door!

Now the young man has made his case. Finally, there's a decision that needs to be made.

Leave these machines behind
Come join my rebel friends
We'll build a who new world from our bare hands...
Leave these machines behind
Come join my rebel friends
We'll build a who new life from our bare hands...

Secret Identity:

One of my life goals is to write a hit song about a heavily licensed character, make enough money to put my kids through college and not get sued.

This song was my first attempt:

I don't want you to apologize
For the way you look tonight
Your hair's a mess and you tore your dress
Like you just came from a fight

Bracelets are glowing
Muscles are showing
Boots say you're ready to go
Glasses can't hide
The wonder inside
And there's so much that I'd like to know...

This is the first song I wrote with chords strung together, one after another, with the goal of increased musicality. At first I thought it was a mistake because I wasn't sure I could get my hands into position fast enough. But this was the music I was hearing in my head, so I stuck with it and I hope listeners like it.

Appreciate the gift, but how did you lift
The piano into my apartment
Willing to bet that you don't break a sweat
Benching my whole set of weights

Bracelets are glowing
Muscles are showing
Boots say you're ready to go
Glasses can't hide
The woman inside

And there's so much that I'd like to know...

OK, so that's enough hints.

I think I've guessed your... secret identity.

Who's Gonna Pay?

It's a good question before you go out to dinner. It's a better question to ask before you die. I am a follower of Jesus. 

I was very proud and somewhat arrogant in my twenties. I liked to argue, even if I didn't know much about the subject. I found myself getting louder and louder, while at the same time I knew I was not being kind, considerate or even that thoughtful in my arguments.

A few times, those discussions ended in silence from the other side. It wasn't that I had won the debate, but I had lost communication with the other person due to my tone and inflexibility.

I became a christian at 29. I was lying in the bed of my studio apartment reading a book called Teach Yourself Christianity. There were other books in the series on various belief systems. I had attended a few church services and small group meetings over the previous few years, and I had been challenged to rethink my smug self assurance.

You may find yourself behind the wheel
Of a large, black, mind-blowing automobile
You may find yourself at the bottom of a well
Ces't la vie, goes to show you never can tell
You may find and obscene diamond ring on your hand
But tonight it's your soul that will be demanded...

I borrowed heavily throughout this song, starting with "Once in a Lifetime" by the Talking Heads. I read a book by David Byrne talking about how the band got started and so on. He said his lyrics were a sort of initiation of a preacher, but without the gospel message.

It occurred to me how weird it could be to turn one of his images into the start of a song that preached Christ crucified.

I quoted another favorite line from Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell."

The next image came from an episode of the The Flintstones where Fred gives Wilma an enormous diamond ring that he obtained from a less than reputable source.

Who's gonna pay, who's gonna pay?
Pocket lint, can't take it with you
Asbestos suit won't do you no good
Who's gonna pay, who's gonna pay?

There's parable that Jesus told about a rich man tearing down his barns to build bigger ones, but that night he died and was called to account. That's the idea behind the chorus. There's also a bit by Bob Hope saying that Bing Crosby had been looking at asbestos suitcases to take all his money with him.

You may find yourself (hey-hey) on a losing streak
You get by on a smile, oh yeah, but underneath
You may find all your lies finally catch up with you
Angry mob inside your head, you can't hide it under the bed.

The losing streak comes from "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones. This song was also inspired by the one-chord powerhouse "How You Like Me Now?" by The Heavy.

If you ever wake up at 3:16am and face a self-reckoning, you know what I mean when I say that Somebody paid.

You may find your eyes never get satisfied
By you've seen enough to know the score
You may find your heart full of unwashed socks
Try as you will you can't find a pill to make it better

Yep, that last image is from "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" by Doctor Suess, as sung so wonderfully by Thurl Ravenscroft. I had always been told it was Boris Karloff.

Hope you enjoy the music and the message resonates with you. Peace.