Summer Vacation

Off on a family trip next week, and as I've got lots to do to get ready I'm going to take a couple weeks off from posting songs. We'll continue praying the Rosary around June 10.

164 : 9/21/98 : Annunciation (1st Joyful Mystery)

748 ?


You might be you might be
You might be nobody, like me
When the angel comes
to tell you you’re the one
Annunciation
You might find You might find
The strange visitation preys on your mind
How will He come
Like a dove like a wind like a golden rain
like a man like a swan
Annunciation
Well you might ponder
but cannot disobey
that was not part of the deal
a nobody girl like me has no say
You might feel fear you might feel fear
at the impossibility you hear
And if they tell you not to be afraid
Well that’s easy for them to say
They’re used to him
A nobody girl like me has no say
And could not say no
And would not anyway
resist
such a visitation
Annunciation

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

behold, the jewel in the lotus!

So, did you figure out what makes it the "Fibonacci" series? When I wrote it I thought the "trick" was fairly obvious, but I repeatedly observed people looking at it and not perceiving the pattern.

I'll give you a hint: there is a pattern in the lyrics, the specifics of which change from song to song, which is repeated a certain number of times. The number of times it is repeated is the number of the song in the series: so the first song the pattern repeats one time, the second song the pattern repeats twice, and so on. I'll note that while the specifics change, they represent a consistent type of information, and it is in the specifics that the "Fibonacci" part comes in.

I'll make it totally obvious now by connecting the actual numbers of the Fibonacci series to their complement songs:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13

My final note on the pattern is that it presented some interesting challenges, primarily in creating verse structures with odd (in both the mathematical and figurative sense) numbers of lines. In the final song, Her Majesty's Fools, I finally broke with the convention of having the structure of the verse defined by the pattern. Ironically, having allowed this simplification (really, I can't remember if any of this was patterns I imposed at the time or simply how I organically dealt with the patterns), I chose a complicated rhyme and verse structure anyway, one that first provided a foretaste of the whole "torment of triple rhymes" experience I was about to go through with the Inferno Series, and second that the verse structure I chose ended up not dividing evenly into the number of verses, requiring the interjection of an additional rhyming line (adding a third rhyme where formerly there would have been only a second), specifically:

Thus these simple addenda
Hear me friend if you might lend a

in the penultimate verse. If I do say so myself it is a nice bit of business. There is a lot more I could say about that song, but I'll spare you. The only other thing I'll note about the series is that it ended up being short because I felt overwhelmed by the requirements imposed by the patterns, particularly of overall length. At the time I hadn't really sussed out the Inferno project. Considering the hell I ended up going through with Dante (hah hah) my lack of perseverence with respect to the good Leonardo of Pisa's work (which predates Dante's, which seems strange to me somehow) seems kind of funny to me now.

The next series is called "The Rosary." It is a relatively straightforward presentation based on the mysteries of the Catholic Rosary.

163 : 9/20/98 : Her Majesty’s Fools (Fibonacci 8/8)

Testify that they that die

Hear a voice or voices cry

In the bright vibrating void 

Rid your mind of thoughts unkind 

The evil treasures lie behind 

Evils only the wise avoid 

Elementary: thoughts uncomplimentary

Not for the manor meant are we

Thieves lurking at the gate

Hearts on sleeves climbing the eaves

Inherit only autumn leaves

Receive orders or simply wait

This I know that they that go

Even they must hear the wind blow

Exceptions cannot make a rule

Nevertheless we only guess

Those very things that could impress

Her Majesty’s fool

Inasmuch as I feel the touch

Resist as such

To satisfy or be a tool

Except to say all things pass away

Expressing the need for each new day

No matter the reason

Taking tea and soft protesting we

Heap up irony

Investing in treason

Restless visions endless revisions

Talk to our televisions

Encounter a dark sides

Excommunicate those who dare to date

Nonsense we once chose to hate

Tell us we’ve been taken for a ride

Hard upon its truth we stifle outbursts too uncouth

Intone instead verily, forsooth

Regal in our finery

Tall full of grace we’ve set ourselves in place

Examples for the lower race

Excuse ourselves to the winery

Near enough to dark we hear a voice hark

Telling us we missed our mark

Heeding only our desires

Interactive porn or fashions better burnt than worn

Regardless comes the morn

To see too clear the ashes of our fires

Erring in our passions passing over truth for fashions

Even our friends storm the bastions

Nerves shot watching the telephone

That refuses to ring our analyst won’t say a thing

He can no longer bring

Illusions that we are alone

Rushed packing you cannot buy what’s lacking

Tired of our peasants flacking

Enemies’ agendas

Easy enough, no doubt we were over rough

No way left to bluff

Thus these simple addenda

Hear me friend if you might lend a

Innocence we lost our sense

Revealed in the present tense

Taken out of time

Ended with a whimper by those we once forced to simper

Even with a limp, her

Noble subjects saw to her unrelenting climb

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

162 : 9/19/98 : Complex Verse (Fibonacci 7/8)

Eight by six by six by twelve
isn’t it something the ideas we shelve
got a better life in another dimension
heaven on earth and a nice fat pension
tick tock tick and around comes another twelve

Eleven disciples and one to take the fall
isn’t it a shame I can’t walk through a wall
given the way things are I should feel lucky
hellzapoppin’ and it’s all just ducky
take my time another lost summer fades to fall

Ermine wraps and diamond rings
isn’t it crazy how we’re crazy for shiny things
got my treasure where rust can’t bite
heaven can wait I got time to get tight
till the counter rolls over and the Bells all start to ring

Extension is a useful thing
I read it in the Tao, it’s a Lepton thing
give it up for a complex verse
half assed but I’ve sure seen worse
take a little here a little there ain’t that the real thing

Even I grow tired anyway
I got no answers but still I pray
give my spirit over to the light
he who hesitates has no right
to tell me how to make it anyway

Even if you can’t make sense of it
it’s multidimensional there’s no end to it
gear up for the last trip round the coil
hear me out we all end up as soil
to dust to dust and there’s the end of it

End it all on a gentle note
I can only make up what I don’t know by rote
God’s in God’s heaven and it’s all right
here’s a riddle to keep you up nights
the end of the melody comes but the goal is not the last note...

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

161 : 9/18/98 : Stock In Trade (Fibonacci 6/8)

Fearlessly I face the crowd smiling
It’s an old song but hey, if the shoe fits
Validation comes from the number I’m dialing
Earth’s own hotline; fifty thousand daily hits
Fundamentalism that’s my stock in trade
I’ve got a habit but it’s under control
Victims of all the usual black trades
Expect results! It’s a free call, no toll
Fixing what’s wrong’s my mojo
I can do it I only need more time
Victory is mine and this I know
Every dog gets its one call its my dime
Fraternize with the new revolution
It’s a free call satisfaction guaranteed
Vote for the final solution
Everyone follow the piper’s lead
Fools on foot and fools on horseback
I’ve got a tune for you all to obey
Vested interests are a minor setback
Each to his own that’s my way
Finality is my stock in trade
In time you’re all gonna march in a row
Villain and victim you’ll both taste the blade
Each up his own hill up through the snow


You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

160 : 9/17/98 : Heaven Won’t Help You (Fibonacci 5/8)

Tell it to the judge kid
heaven help you, no one down here will
reflect upon the errors of what you did
eat the bitter poison pill of what you ought
eventually we all get caught

Take to a higher court fool
here’s what they’ll say; ain’t no justice here
repentance doesn’t buy the Man a swimming pool
exit’s that way so shed a tear for what you lost
even the lucky one’s get caught up by the cost

Trust nobody at all, rube
heaven won’t help you if you do
resist the lure of what you seen on the sparkling tube
esoteric eventualities are your cue to make your move
easy does it you got nothing to prove

Tricky proposition, that
help yourself but don’t get caught
revelation’s easy open the bag out pops the cat
exotic scenery it’s not but just the same
elevate yourself above your shame

Take it to Jesus neighbor
he’ll lighten up your heavy load
release you from your fearsome labor
even maybe meet you on the road to Damascus
everything’s available just ask us.

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

159 : 9/16/98 : Wake Me (Fibonacci 4/8)

744 ?


tempt me, taunt me make me beg for it
when I’m at my rope’s end
overcome with indecision and regret
take me to the edge and don’t let me forget
wake me, shake me throw the blinds up
open my eyes to the new day friend
takes a moment to make my mind up
waiting to see how the hell I’m going to wind up
often enough, I’ve seen so many mornings come
too many letters that I’ll never send
when evening comes, keep me up late give me some
offerings of hope some little tune to hum

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

158 : 9/15/98 : Ecce Homo (Fibonacci 3/8)

Oblique references to secret sects
narcissistic knights and famous chalices
evil eyed; the ancients cast their hex

Oh the balustrades the gargoyles perch
never ceasing vigilance in forgotten palaces
ecce homo; two million years, pop! I’m on the couch

Olden days they’re all long gone
nevertheless, we boil in the same old malices
egomaniacs one and all, first to last

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

157 : 9/14/98 : Only the Lonely Know (Fibonacci 2/8)

Only the lonely know this score
nobody knows what we’re put here for
every ending starts another round

Oh but I’ve seen through that wall
next time around I’ll dodge the fall
existence revolves revolves around

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

156 : 9/13/98 : Zealots (Fibonacci 1/8)

Zealots in the street are crying armageddon
everybody’s crazy babe you’re not the only one
revelry is what you see: but in the end it’s blood
only a few survive the flood

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

post alphabetic interlude

Thus endeth the alphabet, first of four serial lyrics exercises found in volume 2 of project one of the Songs of the Days.

Coming up... the dreaded Fibonacci series!

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

155 : 9/12/98 : Zen (Alphabet 26/26)

737 ?


Well that just ain’t
the way I’m wired,
Friend
Don’t know nothin’
‘bout that
Don’t know nothin’
about
Zen
Dunno,
I get by
and
I get by

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

154 : 9/11/98 : Yen (Alphabet 25/26)

I got a yen for something I can’t get nothing
I can’t put my hand on it
I got a fearsome craving, these days of slaving
and buying the man’s evil shit
I’ve got a strong desire
my brain’s afire
with restless and ceaseless thought
All the books I’m reading dead horses
I’m beating
By day’s end I’m just shot
What you gonna do?
Nothing you can do
What you gonna do?
Nothing you can do
What you gonna do?
Well there’s nothing you can do
I’ve got a yen for endings and
pathways’ bending
Always jumping my track
I’ve got a hunger boiling a thirst from toiling
and tracing my troubles back
God hides in the details ducking down false trails
And singing a little song
But my yen keeps growing
And I just keep rowing
my little rowboat along

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

153 : 9/10/98 : Xanthippe (Alphabet 24/26)

“Don’t look at me,” said Xanthippe
“God knows you haven’t made life
Easy for me”
While he talks and talks she mends his socks
Takes care of the kids
while he’s out on his walks
“Oh Socrates,” says Xanthippe
“Just toe the party line
and they’ll set you free
It’s all just talk, shouldn’t be such a shock
Instead you’re gonna go
and drink hemlock
And leave me alone to cope on my own
I know you think the truth
is all set in stone
And I’m sure it’s true they’ll all remember you
And I get forgotten; just
What a man would do”

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

152 : 9/9/98 Whistlestop (Alphabet 23/26)

The trains don’t stop here anymore
just another whistlestop town
Not enough of us to need a trainfull
of anything they might ship down
From the great iron ranges of
Northern Minnesota
From the forests of the West
through the flatlands of Dakota
Pulls the whistlestop:
They don’t stop here anymore
They just roll on through
Rollin’ through is all a little town’s good for

When I was younger I thought
Some day I’ll jump a car
When the train is passin’ through
Eastbound to where the people are

See all the glitter and the flash
Of a big town on the coast
I thought I’d sail around the world
Thought I’d have no trouble
abandoning my post
But in a little whistlestop town
hitchin’ a ride’s not easy to do
Nothin’ slows down here
Nobody will stop for you.

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here

151 : 9/8/98 : Visionary (Alphabet 22/26)

728 ?


This world needs less visionaries
It’s complicated enough as it is
without a thousand nattering nabobs
fighting to see who can take the longest wizz

This world needs less geniuses
We feel dumb enough anyway
without some egghead on the teevee
with something incomprehensible to say

This world needs more standup comics
television preachers and mimes
we aren’t interested in being exceptional
Jesus people just get with the times

This world needs less visionaries
I can’t even figure out what all of us can see
Keep your opinion to yourself friend
The last thing I need is a damn visionary

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here