The Patterico Music Project: The Lyrics to “Alien Song”
Yesterday I debuted Parthenon Huxley’s amazing performance of my tune “Alien Song.” It’s part of my project in which, to my amazement and delight, some of my favorite rock musicians have recorded songs I wrote in the 1990s.
Here are the lyrics to the song, which is about reptilian aliens conquering the world through their songs. (Whether they are conquering it benignly or aggressively is for you to decide.)
Alien Song
His fingers slide and slither
Over scales and chords
He strikes and never misses
Pleasuring the hordesAnd you notice something
Absent for so long
Wind up in his alien songHer voices are entwined
In perfect harmony
Her seven smiles all seem
As if they’re meant for meLong dead feelings are
Returning clear and strong
Awakened by her alien songYou feel excited
You’ve been invited to the show
It’s been decided
The time has come for you to goTheir music has the charms
To soothe our savage breast
We hear the music of the spheres
And we are blessedSounds so beautiful
We know it can’t be wrong
(To be) conquered by their alien songI feel excited
I’ve been invited to the show
It’s been decided
The time has come for me to go(Background:
We must all go to the show
Now it is time, time to go)We feel excited
We’ve been invited to the show
I still like these lyrics: the progression from second person to first person singular to first person plural, the references to thought and literature from olden times, and the description of the aliens. I think it all still holds up. But as I said yesterday, what really makes this is Parthenon Huxley’s performance. Please set aside a moment to listen to it and to leave some feedback.
This is the only post I’m putting up today, in the hopes that people will be more likely to listen to the song.
Patterico (9c670f) — 4/21/2015 @ 7:30 amsince the main page shows a video still of Shrillery, with a title of “likable?”, i doubt many people are going to click on it.
redc1c4 (cf3b04) — 4/21/2015 @ 8:54 amI just finished my first listen. Outstanding performance and arrangement! Wonderful composition. A most satisfying mix of dissonance, syncopation, and tertian harmony. I also like the the ending.
Congratulations, sir, on a resounding success. I suspect that your original harmonies were preserved.
felipe (56556d) — 4/21/2015 @ 1:41 pmYour song reminded me of this little ditty from the video game Portal.
felipe (56556d) — 4/21/2015 @ 1:53 pmI’m not artistic so you may want to skip this comment. I like the key changes and the increasing alien-like sounds in the arrangement. I’m not a sci-fi person but I appreciate the alien imagery, especially the seven smiles. And I like the lyrics a lot once I quit thinking about it as an alien song and thought about it as a human song. For instance, I could identify with it as a human wanting to understand aliens, but it didn’t speak to me. I could identify with it far more as a human wanting to find common ground with other, very different humans.
DRJ (e80d46) — 4/21/2015 @ 3:02 pmmid-way through i thought it sounded rubber soul like and enjoyed it to a strong finish.
mg (31009b) — 4/21/2015 @ 3:40 pmWell, put a smile on MY face. Always trust content from Patterico, I say. 🙂
Richard654 (f3073a) — 4/21/2015 @ 3:42 pmHer seven smiles all seem
As if they’re meant for me
Absolutely lovely.
Dana (86e864) — 4/21/2015 @ 4:45 pmNot salacious, as was Julie Brown’s classic eighties novelty hit “Earth Girls Are Easy,” which, in retrospect, seems like it inspired a generation of perverted Japanese animators.
L.N. Smithee (291dc4) — 4/21/2015 @ 4:54 pmOne great thing about art and music is that it can mean anything you want it to mean.
Patterico (9c670f) — 4/21/2015 @ 6:01 pmThanks very much to everyone who commented. I appreciate the kind words. I’m very excited about this.
Patterico (9c670f) — 4/21/2015 @ 6:49 pmI don’t think that’s how they grade art, music, or art/music history classes. If they did, I took the wrong majors.
DRJ (e80d46) — 4/21/2015 @ 7:50 pmYeah, but we’re not grading here. Works of art are meant to be interpreted, and so are songs like this. (I’m torn about calling it a work of art; it feels wrong to say that about my song, but it feels right to say it about Parthenon’s recording.)
Patterico (9c670f) — 4/21/2015 @ 8:59 pmArt can mean different things to different people, but I like it when the artist explains what he meant. Will you do that?
DRJ (e80d46) — 4/21/2015 @ 9:53 pmI agree with DRJ. I cannot tell how many times my eyes almost rolled outof their sockets from listening to some critics “explanation” of art. Mind you, I do not object to an interprettion of art – just someone implying that their interpretation is THE meaning of some work of art.
felipe (b5e0f4) — 4/22/2015 @ 5:49 amSpeaking of an interpretation of a work of art (or maybe not), my original version of this song is posted.
I hope you can tell this took courage.
Patterico (9c670f) — 4/22/2015 @ 7:36 am