s h u n b a n a l i t y
Prelude to Smoochfest
Released: November 7, 2019 · 7 tracks · Length: 42:54
-
Featuring "Life After Death, Part 2"
This trilogy is what happens when a friend and business associate, an old, namesake chemistry professor from back in high school, and a musician who's been a lifelong inspiration, all die one by one in a matter of a few days.
However, pretty quickly, life, it, well... goes on. Most people will be out partying tonight and many a millenial today would ask, "Neil who"??
A celebration of life and a wonderment at death.
Featuring "A Breach Of Microscopic Fauna"
1. At the Lab 0:00-2:24
2. Breach! Propagate! 2:24-4:43
3. Aftermath: World Without Humans / Nature's Celebration 4:43-7:33
I wrote and posted "A Breach Of Microscopic Fauna" roughly two weeks before the Hunan novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreaks reportedly started.
The song is in three movements.
The first, "At the Lab", is about a deadly virus being experimented with, mutated and replicated at a biosafety level 4 military lab somewhere in the world.
Throughout the song, the piano represents the activity of the virus.
The second movement, "Breach! Propagate!", is comprised exclusively of piano and is about a hypothetical security breach occurring at said lab and the virus now out among the general population. The movement is set conceptually at the microscopic level, from, have you, the virus perspective. It starts slowly, tentatively, to reflect a slower initial replication and gradually speeds up to symbolize how the virus quickly becomes a global pandemic. It ends with the last piano key hits symbolizing the last human "dropping" victim to the virus - after putting up a heck of a fight.
The third movement starts at the same beat that the previous ends, to symbolize the victory of the virus over humankind. Called "Aftermath: World Without Humans / Nature's Celebration", it tells of how Mother Nature is saved from humans via a human mistake through tinkering with one of her agents. She furthermore guarantees her own safety, at least for the time being, by once again Earth becoming a planet without humans, and she rejoices, and she celebrates.
No more good and evil. Just pureness. Wild animals roaming the earth, skies and oceans, plants overtaking infrastructure and cities.
But wait. Hehe. That scenario is certainly nice to think about, from time to time. Enrique Bunbury of Héroes del Silencio did once say, "Los astros no están más lejos que los hombres que trato" (the stars aren't further away than the men I deal with). And Tool's Maynard James Keenan may have longed for Mother Nature to "please flush it all away", back in the late 90's. As humans we can all identify with these sentiments from time to time.
But let's stay around for a bit longer, shall we?
But let's be responsible. Still some good humans out there. Still some uniquely human values here. Kindness. Genuinity. Empathy. Worthwhile human creators, creations and artifacts. The Little Prince, Wagner. Transformers. Gabo García Márquez, Hemispheres by Rush. Bret Easton Ellis and his late 80's New York. Panamanian polleras and molas. The guitar. 80's American automobiles. 2015-and-later craft beer. Peart, Bonham, and Cobham. Eisenman, Gehry, Van der Rohe. Not to mention the lots and lots of isthmified, gothified, hoppified and lubed, certified dime pieces. Not to mention either the love of a son for his father and for his mother. The love of a brother for his sister. The love of a husband for his wife and of a father for his daughter and for his son.
Let's keep the viruses where they belong. Labs and bats. And fellows. Stop eating the flying critters. Will ya?? Just to be on the safe side? Hehe.
Featuring "Prelude to Smoochfest"
Cover image based on "Broken Glass Lip Art" by Karla Powell, licensed under CC BY-NC 4-0. Used with permission.