Store Window Reality

 So the first lyric in my Lyric Legacy was originally a poem I wrote in 1969 long before I had a computer. Some time between the time that it was set to music and 2003 when I recorded it for the first time, the paper hard copy was "lost".

At the time (the early 2000s) I had become a member of the USENET writer's group alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo. I decided to write the lyrics down from memory and then fill the gaps in what I remembered with Cyberpunk / Science Fictions themes. The re-write worked well. When I did the recording I used the ACID Pro Digital Audio Workstation to use loops and audio snippets I recorded and the vocal used "Auto Tune" to give it "computerize" sound. This being several years before "Auto tune" became a wide spread "thing". My use was not for pitch correction but as an experiment in manipulating my voice into a kind of voice synthesizer.

Store Window Reality

Lookin' into empty store windows
walkin' down a deserted street
waitin' for a sunrise that'll never arrive
listenin' to your empty heart beat   
The truth cuts to the bone
When you realize you're alone

 

 you know it isn't real

cause you can touch it

and there's nothin' to feel

seekin' the usual suspects
tellin' all the familiar lies
makin' the same old excuses
turnin' away from their empty eyes    
The truth cuts to the bone
but now you're bleeding alone

 

you know they weren't real 

cause you could touch them 

and there was nothing to feel

runnin' the virtual defenses
crushin' the same old ICE
hopin' for a perfect solution
fallin' for the same old vice
The truth cuts to the bone
yet you say you want to be alone

and you know she wasn't real 
cause you could touch her 
and there was nothin' to feel

Lookin' into empty store windows 

walkin' down a deserted street
waitin' for a sunrise that'll never arrive
listenin' to your empty heart beat   
The truth cuts to the bone

When you realize you're alone

you know it isn't real 

 cause you can touch it

and there's nothin' to feel

© 1969, 2002, 2022 copyright by Joel Crook All Rights Reserved

It's not a "happy" song but I was fifteen years old when I wrote the original poem as a moody and isolated teenager. In those days my aspiration in writing was to externalize the feelings I was having although it was many years before I came to understand what I was trying to accomplish. 

The revised lyrics use terminology which comes from the writings of Many of the finest SF writers: William Gibson,  Bruce  Sterling, Neal Stephenson, Walter Jon Williams, and Roger Zelazny -- CyberPunk is desolation... with style.

Looking back now I'm not even sure I used the original music. for the recording. HERE  is am mp3.

A Daunting Task

 Since we last spoke I have begun to built a "master" lyric book which when completed will contain my most significant lyrics. So I have spent  quite a bit of time combing through my computer files collecting materials to be included. 

As I have gone along I've found gaps, missing lyrics, in what I have. So I have expanded my search to include hand written or physical print outs. It's a bit like an archaeological dig. There are many places to look and I haven't got a clue where the things I'm looking for will be found.

The first lyric in the book is "Store Window Reality" which I wrote in 1969. It was originally a "tone poem" my best friend of the time would play music and I would read the poem. It wasn't a song then. Later (1973?) my friend, Rob "Buzz" Martin, (Later he added a PhD. to his name)  came up with a chord progression. Over time I played it less and less until the lyric sheet was lost and my memory of some of the words got hazy. (See the next post)

In 2002 I had some time on my hands and I decided to resurrect the song. I filled in the lost words I had failed to memorize with some new ideas which followed the theme of isolation and unreality. The final take of the song combined my love of words with my love of using things for unintended purposes. 

I'm not going to post the lyrics or the recording just yet. I'm still considering whether I want to offer my whole "Catalogue" for free or as a commercial endeavor

If you're just dying to here it I'll drop the hint that an mp3 is out there on the 'Net. 

Well it's time to get back to digging for lyric sheets... Until next time be safe and be well.