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LYRICS | |||
I'm
working here to further crime, 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. |
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Liner Notes: 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. 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/ 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. |
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Reviews:
Here's what people had to say about the song on www.garageband.com :
CountKupe - Reston, Virginia 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 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 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
Hey, it's GOOD because it's old sounding!
Anonymous - Strasbourg, France
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
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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Please check out the Timon Marmex sites at IUMA.com!
and Garageband.com |