Experiment IV

There is a song by Kate Bush that I really love a great deal called Experiment IV (video embedded below). The song is basically about a secret government project to create a weapon that uses sound to kill people.

My mind was drawn to this song today as I read about musicians who have requested a list from the US Govermnment of songs used to torture prisoners in Guantanamo Bay Cuba. Yes, we actually used music to torture people. It saddens me to think of music being used in this way. I think music can be a powerful tool for healing. As this article brings to light, the opposite is true as well.
(Read The Article)

A note about the video. One of the main doctor's is played by Dawn French. For those of you who aren't familiar, she is one half of the comedey duo French and Saunders who created the hit BBC comedy show Absolutely Fabulous. Another doctor in the video is played by a younger Hugh Laurie aka Doctor House.

cocoon

cocooned in your arms,
a chrysalis of human skin
pulsing like a distant drum
warm and full
humid like the Amazon
sleepless in wonder
sleepless under cover next to lover
discovering

digitized.

Photo by Carrie Thomas

The girl next to me on the train was bobbing her head back and forth, madly, almost ritualistically. The sound of the overcompressed over digitized music with its sterile sound devoid of human warmth and emotion filled the air, reflecting off her damaged eardrums. She's a maneater, whoa oh. If I can hear every word of your music, my dear, then you will soon not hear music at all. I look at the eyes of the passersby.

Your pulse is digitized.
You're plugged in to the circuitry.
You don't even realize you're plugged in to the circuitry.
gotta get out
gotta get out
gotta get
gotta get get get get get get get
Lord bless my soul. I'm going home.

The doors to the train open. the people pour out onto the platform like a dam has burst. They flow up the stairs like gravity defying water. There's a rock in the stream a woman suddenly loses the ability to move, paralyzed by the need to send a text message, oblivious to the existence of anyone else. The water diverts its course and flows around the rock.

Her pulse is digitized. She's plugged in to the circuitry.

Spring in my step Fall in the Air

Photo by the very talented ms.
Carrie Thomas

There's a certain spring in my step
as in spring has sprung. I must be all
turned around, because I am ready for the flowers to bloom
just as the crisp air laced with the smell of burnt wood and apples
inundates my senses.

Having just returned from a nine day voyage, I feel changed in some strange way.
I can't quite put my finger on it, but everything around me feels bizarre, unfamiliar, different. My brain is still in Montréal where the sidewalks bustle with people speaking French in full surround sound stereo. My brain is tuned to french, making it hard for me to overhear subway conversations. My brain is trying to translate english to english and english just ends up sounding like french. I know it won't make sense to you, but it does to me.

Well, I have delightful news of things accomplished on my journey. I finished mixing my 2nd album and will soon have the tracks mastered, which then means artwork, photos, the manufacturing process, touring, press, etc. The wheel is beginning to turn. Soon things will be moving with their own life and speed, perhaps dragging me along for some interesting ride.

The tracks are as follows:
SUNRISE AT THE SPEAKEASY by ROBERT GERMAN
1. Flapjacks
2. Mamma Don't Like No Chocolate
3. Throw That Box
4. Glitters and Sparkles
5. Unplug
6. Mr. Carpentier
7. Life Was Simple
8. Chickens and Eggs
9. Duct Tape and Superglue
10. Ashes and Dust

There you have it folks... 10 songs. The album could have had 12 but 10 just felt like the right number for this one. But don't worry, b-sides are coming. How do we feel about some basement tracks? Demos and b-side? Is it too soon for such things? Do I need to Release The Ocean and The Easel first?(the working title for album #3)