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This post includes an original song, written and recorded over the past several weeks.
Final Forms
Final forms that we take,
beaming out, shining grace.
Iron Front, iron rear, iron lungs,
silver spears.
Neither loans nor the recreational.
Do you row?
Do you row?
Past the only form you know?
Set in stone, laying waste
feel the bones that we break.
Final pass to the post,
reeling laugh
reeling most.
Unruptured prose-
highly sensational,
Do you know?
Do you know?
Can you hold a lantern low?
A final place we can stay.
Black honeycomb
in stasis,
the dinosaurs
died to erase it.
My final form
died to erase it.
Hello.
I’m coming to you from inside the computer. Yes, the screen. I’m inside the screen you are reading right now. Well, technically, I live in a human body, but I’ve “typed” my thoughts into a keyboard and I’m sending them to you…digitally.
It feels like a lifetime since we last spoke.
What‘s going on? Not much?
I’d like to get into it, but I think they are on to me.
Better not to talk about it…except using metaphor, a double entendre or two, allegory, ekphrasis, allusion, simile, idiom or when it comes down to it, simple old obfuscation.
Luckily, there are many literary devices to help express yourself in less understandable ways.
I describe my lyrics as darkly poetic and searching for dark sentiments these days is like taking candy from a baby. Or, like shooting fish in a barrel. Shooting fish in a barrel? Who does that? Only psychopaths.
In Final Forms, perhaps the lyrics are unexplainable—or I don’t want to explain them. I’d prefer that you decide.
This song took a meandering path to completion. It started as an electronic jam that I shared on Substack Notes in the beginning of February (a lifetime ago). It was a completely different idea and was initially headed elsewhere/nowhere.
Things changed when I tried to layer a “sample and hold” guitar part being played though a ARP 2600 (Behringer version). These parts were meant to overlay with a arpeggio that you only hear in the introduction.
It wasn’t working.
Fortunately, I worked on this piece with my friend, Brian. It is rare that I’m collaborating on any of my solo Miter material—mainly due to having spent too long in bands trying to work through material with other people, along with a general lack of time and patience.
Well, the kids are getting a little older and I’m feeling a bit more open. Also, a major benefit of music as an art form is its collaborative nature. Maybe my lil’ old Grinch heart will grow a couple of sizes and we’ll see more Miter IRL collaborations.
Brian is a trained pianist with some real-life chops. His improvisations and parts that went over some of the basic chord structures made this into a real thing. Also, he brought an Arturia Minifreak which added layers of new sounds.
The song has what I would call an instrumental chorus with Brian’s clever riff prominently featured. I think this part has some Genesis vibes, which I love. Brian also encouraged me to write some lyrics and sing over it when I was kind of resigned to making it an instrumental track. All I really want to do is write lazy jams but like a milk maid, I can’t keep from churning out the cream1.
Some would argue that Brian should receive a writing credit for the song, but the best I can do is to say “thanks” and please don’t crumble my already strained façade of musical aptitude.
I aspire to put some additional focus on the prose in the future of these publications, but not today. There is lot going on in this recording and there are plenty of stories to find in the music this time.
I hope you enjoy the song and I’m eternally grateful for your reading and listening.
Until next time super friends.
RS
Listen to last month’s track here:
I believe this is a simile and a double entendre?
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