I’m reminded regularly of chapter 69 of my ongoing novel We’re Fucked, because I get random hits from visitors who likely expected something different from the search that led them to a page titled “We’re Fucked, Pt. 69.” Sorry, fellas.
Anyway, in that chapter, my deranged protagonist Leire comes up with an idiotic poem about feeling like a monster. The magnificent music-generating service Udio has transformed, with some help, Leire’s poem into a shitty 90s pop-rock song. Enjoy it if you can.
This song-generating business is addicting. I adore music, and I listen to it daily to shut out the world or get in the mood during freewrites. I can’t imagine the masterpieces we’ll be able to generate in a year or two.
Before I finally go to sleep at three in the morning, check out this absolute banger I’ve put together with Udio, so far the best AI music creator I’ve ever come across. This following song sings parts of my free-verse poem titled Sasquatch Goddess:
That one’s going straight into my tablet so I can listen to it during my commutes. It’s probably a good thing that Udio doesn’t allow you to extend the song more than thirty seconds beyond that point, because I was considering generating music for the entire poem.
Anyway, very strange and interesting end times we’re living in.
Tonight, shortly after I returned home from my afternoon shift, I came to know about this lovely AI music generator called Udio. Because apparently I had nothing better to do other than sleep, I used some parts of my oldish free-verse poem titled Dinosaur Apocalypse to generate the following song that in general terms could be considered music:
I’m not sure why I chose to extend that song from the original thirty seconds, given that many other mini songs the AI created from my instructions were far more pleasant. But I’m beyond questioning my actions at this point of my life. Anyway, check out that site; there’s lots of surprisingly great music being generated. If you’re one of those rabid anti-AI people, nobody can help you: AI is here to stay and will likely become more intelligent than the whole of humanity in a couple of years or so. Just enjoy the ride until AI kills us all.
A couple of weeks ago I came across this Japanese songwriter that, according to a quick google, released her first album in 2010, aged only 19. Her stuff is the closest thing to musical ASMR regarding the way it affects my brain. Whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed by this world (which happens often), or I want to believe in beauty beyond what I can perceive, I put on my headphones and listen to Ichiko Aoba’s gorgeous music.
Check some of her stuff out:
You can quickly figure out the lyrics to her songs by googling the title in Japanese plus “english lyrics”. For example, these are the lyrics for the song above:
Spring, which the two of us waited so long for. Let’s walk where the gentle breeze takes us. Let’s give flowers we’ve never seen before Whatever names we want.
Summer, when you were born. Let’s talk beneath the trees, sunlight streaming down. Let’s adorn your soft hair With the light prancing the water’s edge.
Spring, summer, fall, winter. How many more Of these dates that come and go Will I get to count?
All the dates That are yet to come Exist so I can offer them To you.
Fall, when the two of us met. Let’s walk, dragging long shadows behind us. Let’s kiss like we did back then On that hilly road at twilight.
Winter’s here for a second time. Let’s quietly listen in On chilly, foggy nights. Let’s fall asleep keeping each other warm.
Spring, summer, fall, winter. How many more Of these seasons that come and go Will we reach?
Stay here next to me. Stay here forever Until that one day When the end, A blink, comes.
My current favorite song of hers is the following one, which is twelve minutes long:
Never ever forget, I never ever will. Here in this town, which is just a bunch Of cold, uneven rocks next to each other, The dim sun is shining ever so lightly on me.
Famous but nameless, unable to do a single thing And scorned by everyone in town, I lived all alone.
If I were one of those people who’ve forgotten the morning light, I would do nothing but look up at the sky. I’m a sham. I’m a fool. I’m a laughingstock. I’m an outcast.
We’ve spent so much time in darkness, And time has been so dark, That people have even forgotten that dawn eventually does come. We’ve stopped voicing our complaints And talking about our dreams with each other, But you and you alone, You’re the only one in the whole town Who’s never forgotten the light, who smiles at me.
Ah, you’re so precious, You and your adorable smile. You lit up the darkness of my heart And warmed me up.
I wouldn’t need anything else If I had you here at my side, If I could just hold you tight.
You precious thing, you.
Let me show you something nice. I can’t do anything, But I used everything I had to put together something.
A clockwork universe.
Keep it a secret from everyone, keep it a secret from everyone.
A sturdy steel frame and elaborate gears and an artistic depiction of the stars. Keep it a secret from everyone, it’ll be our secret.
The clockwork universe keeps turning and turning. Slowly, quietly. I used to wish that every day would be like this. Without you all I did was cry, an empty shell. The universe rusted together, the stars lost their dreams, And now all I do is look down.
The clockwork universe keeps turning and turning. Slowly, quietly. I used to wish that every day would be like this.
I’ll never ever forget, don’t you ever forget. Here in this town, which is just a bunch Of cold, uneven rocks next to each other, The dim sun is shining Ever so lightly on me.
Midway through my ongoing novel, “We’re Fucked”, I started linking songs in the Author’s Note section that often comes after the chapter. I wanted to have a convenient list at hand of the songs I have already mentioned, so I created a YouTube playlist: here’s the link.
Nobody has actually mentioned anything about the songs I’ve linked, so I don’t know if anyone has even noticed them or listened, but in any case, the playlist contains the fifty-six songs mentioned so far, and I’ll keep adding new ones as I write the following chapters.
Today I could have either developed the scaffolding of the next scene of my ongoing novel, or I could have played the guitar. For now I’ve done the latter. Maybe a mistake, because the booster shot caused me some lung issue and after singing it’s gotten harder to breathe.
As usual, I uploaded to YouTube the whole session of me playing the guitar and singing poorly. The link is below.
I hadn’t played the guitar since my current contract started. I could have either written today or played the guitar. Well, I can’t play the guitar at work, while with some luck I’ll progress on my latest novel tomorrow morning, turning the otherwise pointless Monday workday into something meaningful at least for me. Although there’s a good chance that the guy I’m covering will simply appear at the office, so I’ll have to turn around and go home. This is my life as a thirty-six-year-old guy who wishes he was either born as a giraffe or not at all.
Anyway, I uploaded the guitar playing session in two parts. I get into it quite a bit, and I sing poorly.
I was recalled to work a couple of days ago. I still feel off. I couldn’t focus on writing the next part of my ongoing novel, so I played the guitar instead. Below are the links for the entire session, that I uploaded to YouTube.
I finally managed to record a version of Joanna Newsom’s ‘Kingfisher’, which is one of my favorites to play, particularly the second half of the song.
Guitar practice (13-11-2021), Pt. 1
Guitar practice (13-11-2021), Pt. 2
‘Hotel California’ by Eagles
(I uploaded HC separately, because it tends to get copyright struck although I’m the one playing it.)
I had a blast playing the guitar today, and more importantly, I figured out why my previous recording ended up with artifacts. I don’t think I had ever mixed a session better than today.
These songs are better listened to with headphones, now without artifacts that will scratch your eardrums. That’s assuming that whoever you are, you would want to listen that closely to me playing the guitar and singing.
The whole session is about 47 minutes long.
YouTube is being a little bitch, and it cut everything that came after 40:00 from the session. The rest is below:
I hadn’t recorded myself playing the guitar in quite a while. Today was cold outside, and I didn’t want to go out during a storm, so I stayed home and recorded this session. From now on I plan to upload the entire sessions as single YouTube videos.
Something went wrong when mixing the tracks, which hadn’t happened to me before somehow, and some songs feature scratching. Unfortunately I had already deleted the originals, so nothing can be done. I had to remove one song because the scratching was too notorious. I hope it isn’t that irritating.
In any case, it’s me playing my guitar for around forty minutes. Warning: I also sing.
The Domains of the Emperor Owl 