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just standing here stoking the fires.
I'm working here 'cause I believed in truth.
I'm lonely running out of time;
I've lost my skills and I can't be hired.
I'll never get to be the same as you.
How long have you been way too tired to try?
(Hello Sailor)
How long since you had lost that living high?
(Hello Sailor)
How many years have you been feeling used?
(Hello Sailor)
How many years since you left the roost?
(Hello Sailor)
I cower looking down the line;
all sacrificed yet I haven't sired
A single son from inspiration's use.
Now older and the vein is mined;
It's all tapped out and I'm not yet retired
No riches come from this equation's proof.
Lost time and I've lost hair in pleasing you.
(Hello Sailor)
No difference made and nothing left to do.
(Hello Sailor)
No savings gonna build a friend for me.
(Hello Sailor)
Disillusioned and devoid of all belief.
(Hello Sailor)
God/Devil and the Heaven/Hell;
they're all sweet dreams and I'm not even tired,
Just comatose from all the work I do.
Book, candle and a ringing bell;
been struck, been stuck, but I've never been read.
Flame's burning out, I don't know what to do.
Hello sailor - a ringing bell.
Hello sailor - a lit candle.
Hello sailor - an open book.
Hello sailor - a long last look.
Hello sailor - a pointed stick.
Hello sailor - do the arithmetic.
This is the song which finally solidified the concept of the "White Collar Punk" album, and was the third song to be recorded after "Baby Doll" and "Patriot/Expatriate".
Jobs in computer and technology-related fields often place incredible
demands on individuals to the exclusion and destruction of all other things
in their life, including their future employability. Upon being layed-off
from my last job I found myself with no current skills with which to seek
new employment.
I felt as if I had become as obsolete as the technology I had been working
on, just another company asset which was depleted and depreciated and
was now being written off.
This song is my attempt to capture those feelings: the frustration, disillusionment, desperation, lonelyness, anger and uncertainty that happens when your company uses you up and throws you away.
The title "Hello Sailor" and referenced to a "bell", "book", "candle" and "pointed stick" were obviously purloined from the classic computer game series Zork, but were used for the deeper meaning behind them.
From The Jargon Dictionary - http://www.netmeg.net/jargon/
Version 4.0.0, 24 July 1996
hello, sailor!
hello, sailor! /interj./ Occasional West Coast equivalent of hello, world;
seems to have originated at SAIL, later associated with the game Zork
(which also included "hello, aviator" and "hello, implementor").
Originally from the traditional hooker's greeting to a swabbie fresh off
the boat, of course.
So "Hello Sailor" is being used in my song as both an allusion to the hacker world and Zork, and as an reference to the seductive prostitution of the hacker into the career world. Who is saying "Hello Sailor?" It starts as an external voice... the career, the technology, the seductivity of creativity with instant gratification. But at the end of the song, the protagonist is saying "Hello Sailor", having become the prostitute, selling their time, energy, creativity... the years of their life, to their career, but never achieving the dream which they originally set out for.
The "bell", "book", and "candle" are symbols which are commonly associated with witchcraft which I am using to refer to the arcana of the hacking guru and liken the career world to a deal with the devil.
The "pointed stick" is the final Zork reference... those of you who know the games and the text which normally accompanies the "pointed stick" can "do the arithmetic" to understand the kind of self-mutilation it refers to.
I revisit similar themes in the song "Running Down". These two songs are the cornerstones of the "White Collar Punk" concept.
Here's what people had to say about the song on www.garageband.com :
CountKupe - Reston, Virginia
Safety Dance
Don't mean to offend, but it's just not my style. Sounds like Men Without Hats from the 80s. The vocals have an intriguing echo-like effect. The keyboard effects, though, seem to be a little outdated. Nice production, though.
Well, it's new wave, if that's what you mean. I guess the vocals are a little Mw/oH-ish. Thanks for the complement on the production.
bostonian - Arlington, Massachusetts
Robert Smith Wannabe Sillyness
Get a Casio drum machine, a Casio Synth, a peavy guitar practice amp, and a guy who listened to way too much new wave, and you have this crap.
Actually, the synth is a Korg Poly-800 and a Yamaha PSS-795, the guitar is recorded direct to the console through a BOSS MT-2 Foot Pedal and a Peavey ProFex II guitar rack effects unit. The drums are auto-rhythms, from a Yamaha keyboard, so you weren't too far off on that one. And, yes, it is new wave, so if you don't like that, sorry.
silenus - Washington, DC
wind 'em up and watch 'em sing
Good elements in the rhythm section: this could be a major song, with major rework. As it stands, the vox are a bit too puppet-manic for me. A near miss.
You know, the rhythm section was actually cobbled together from two different autorhythms from a Yamaha PSS-795 keyboard. I snipped them up and overlayed them in the sequencer. I'm glad you kind of liked the song at least. Glad to hear from somebody from back east... I was born in DC and raised in Columbia, MD.
Trunks51983 - Westport, Connecticut
Quick, burn the record!
too old sounding and it is just blah..
Hey, it's GOOD because it's old sounding!
Anonymous - Strasbourg, France
80's pop-rock through electronic...!??!
It sounds 80's. Electronic could bring something more new....
Well, people told me I should start putting my songs in the electronic genre for reviewing, I wasn't so sure about it, but I thought I'd try it considering how much the pop-rock folks hated me...
Anonymous - Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
Weird Science
This reminded me of the movie Weird Scince. It wasnt too bad but i think the keyboards could have been better
Thanks. I admit that the backing is pretty sparse...
If you'd like to talk trash about songs from aspiring musicians, be sure to check out www.garageband.com . If you join, don't forget to say that Timon Marmex sent you in the field where it asks.
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