Twisting in the Wind
Pseudointellectual commentary on the state of society

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Twisted Music Player

Renaissance: Art, Philosophy, and Science (13:42) Love (5:04) Relationships (5:20) Technology (4:20) Oppression (7:48) .mp3 download lyrics

This is not pop music. Everything is here for a purpose (except the guitar solos, which is just me wanking off). The songs are also listed below with a brief comment regarding the composition. Clicking on, or selecting, the name of a song will take you to the song with the lyrics, and the opportunity to hear the sound in stereo MPEG1 Layer 3 (mp3) format (approximately one MB/minute).

Dislike a song? Think the logo is cool? You can rank them in the opinions page. Also, check out the review section.

Renaissance: art, philosophy, and science (13:42)

This is a song with three parts to it: Art: abstraction in its purest form; Philosophy: no contributions, only contradictions; and Science: a religion that questions itself. The three parts are mixed in a palindromic fashion; there are five distinct pieces of music in here and even though they're somewhat separated, they're also all related. The song lyrics for Art are based on the abstract nature of art with references to famous and obscure works of art; The song lyrics for Philosophy are inspired by the great composer John Cage's response to a question he was once asked: "do you think there's too much suffering in the world." He responded with "there's just the right amount." The lyrics could be thought of as commentary on the Yin/Yang (seemingly dualist) nature of life reconciled by Zen (all dualist perspectives form a circle or any other closed strange loop, but it also points out the various sorts of contradictory Orwellian style philosophies that exist in society to justify its actions (for example, making peace happen through war)---it's a form of control. Finally, the lyrics in Science highlight some of the important scientific discoveries and perhaps some that will occur in the future. This relates to the ideas discussed in my Big Evolution as well as the actual scientific research we do. (21/8, 6/8, 4/4)

Love: infatuation in a societal guise (5:04)

This is a straight-forward love song that is arguably one of the most mainstream songs I've written, but it's still twisted (wait until you hear the song that follows it). This is also the first song that I've recorded using an acoustic guitar. (4/4)

Relationships: the lie within a sadomasochistic ritual (5:20)

This is a song about abusive relationships and a remake of The Lie from Traversing a Twisted Path. The original version was essentially written and recorded in one take. This is far more complex, but still borrows ideas from the original version. (11/4, 5/4 and 4/4)

Technology: the mind is a terrible thing to waste (4:20)

This is a song about our dependence on technology to do our physical labour for us and what it means as far as human evolution is concerned. An echo-flanger once used by The Residents for processing vocals is used by me for the same purpose. (4/4 with a tiny bit of 3/4)

Oppression: the thought police are coming (7:48)

Technology threatens the state, inevitably leading to censorship and oppression of thought itself (this song was influenced particularly by the passing of the Communications Decency Act). The vocal processing (and the entire song itself) reflects the mood of the three "first they came for" quotes (again, influenced by The Residents' vocal inflections over the years). This is a difficult song and not for the faint of heart, but it is my favourite. (9/8 and 4/4)

This work is released in accordance with the Free Music Philosophy; there is no abridgement on your freedom to copy, modify, distribute, and use this work, for any purpose (commercial or noncommercial).

All instruments (vocals/guitars/keyboards/programming) by Ram. Cool bass laden riff in the third segment of Renaissance: Art, Philosophy, and Science by Naomi. Additional vocals on Love and Oppression by Takara; additional vocals on Relationships by Heather; additional vocals, vaccuum, and spray on Technology by Maureen; and door knocks on Oppression by Jason. All songs were recorded, mixed, and produced by Ram. Graphics and design on this page and on the album also by Ram. Moral support and guidance: Maureen, Jason, and Aaron.

Thanks to Maureen, Jason, and everyone else for putting up with my music torture in more ways than one, and helping me grow as a musician.