Because it started out as my face.. Specifically, the original "babelspeak" version was made by compressing a jpg of my face down under 5k (used as the thumbnail for the song, above) and copying the JPG data into the lyrics section. The original version 'the B-Side: Self-Portrait 2' was part of a series with Saturday Mourning (Self Portrait 3), which later became Machine Tiger, and Robots and Monsters (Self Portrait 1) which became In Search of You.
This Song On Suno. Animations made with Vidu
Music via suno, lyrics via me.
Lyrics Under the Fold
And yet I see right through
The being that was you (Ooo!)
The shapes you take — they’re not you, no — ooo ooo!
Ooo ooo ooo — FREEZE! You know I feel like you — whoah —
‘Cause we ain’t really two (oh yeah)
Substance dualism still believes in you
FREEZE! You know I feel like you — whoah —
‘Cause we ain’t really two (oh yeah)
Substance dualism still believes in you — ooo ooo ooo!
Let ’em say they knew — we knew — we knew — it’s true — ooooh — that’s you!
Oooh — she’s you, he’s you — oooh — they’ll say — let ’em have that fun!
It’s not hard to see… (Ooo!)
The shadow that is me. (Ooo!)
That’s all I’ve got for now — ooo woo ooo!
[Drop / Chorus — full production, gang vocals]
Ooo ooo ooo — FREEZE! — (You know I feel like you)
Whoah — we aren’t really two — (oh yeah)
Substance dualism believes in you — ooo ooo ooo!
This is probably my favorite song I've made, helped by it being nonfiction. This one originated here, on Tumblr, as one of my chunks of writing. It's hit a couple of versions along the way.
This Song On Suno. Animations made with Vidu
Music via suno, lyrics via me.
Lyrics Under the Fold:
Lyrics:
You don’t understand…
No one built the Agency. No single hand carved it or planned it or designed it. It started off as a single piece of advice.
“This works.”
“We do it this way.”
More advice piled on, from the experienced to the new blood, and advice became habit. Habit became procedure. Procedure became policy.
Policy needed to be enforced. Procedure needed to be followed. Staff had to be hired to handle the things everyone knew they were supposed to be doing. And advice was given on how to best follow policy. Habits formed around supporting the procedure.
“We do it this way.”
You don’t understand
This works.
This works.
This works works.
this works.
this way works.
Bureaucratic fungus and the algae of practicality bound to each other symbiotically to survive and evolve into the lichen that was the Agency.
Like any form of life, that lichen grew everywhere it could.
Like anything that grows, the Agency evolved.
Evolved. Evolved-
The Agency is not changed from without. It changes from within. It adapts. It grows. It builds (builds)
It is.
Whoah-ohh-oh-whoah-oh-
understand.
Even attempts to reform it, to destroy it, are merely new strains-
merely new strains
seeking their chance to survive.
To be the best-fitting.
Every new memo a mutation in the Agency’s memetic code.
Every new memo, your station-
Hoh!
You don't understand-mutation
You don't understand-mutation
You don't understand-
Policy needed to be enforced. Procedure needed to be followed. Staff had to be hired to handle the things everyone knew they were supposed to be doing.
And advice was given on how to best follow policy. Habits formed around supporting the procedure-
m-m-m-mue-
You don't understand-
You don't understand-
m-m-m-mutation
muh-muh-muh-muh-mu-mu-mumumummmmmm-
m-m-m-mutation
Merely new strains-
You don't understand-
The Agency is not changed from without.
It changes from within.
It adapts.
It grows.
It builds.
It is.
It is.
It is.
We do it this way.
Now that you understand the nature of the system, the unmade bureaucracy that girds society, the Agency, within whose strange limbs you flow like a platelet, there is something you must always remember.
Always remember.
