I'm posting the backwards and forwards versions of this song in the same week, cuz I feel a sense of urgency about the whole thing. After this, we'll get back to our regularly scheduled fucked up school album programming.
This song is about wanting to sing the songs of the dead on behalf of them. See, I was writing in my journal one morning, and the words came to me, "I want to sing the songs of the dead; I want to scream them into a microphone."
I was, like, attempting to communicate with the parts of my psyche that might be creating or exacerbating my health issues, and all this crazy stuff came out, including the lyrics of this song's hook. Carl Jung's sermons to the dead came to mind - but then I realized the dead don't have to be this abstract, mysterious concept. What I mean to say is, there're are people who are dead, who have really impacted my life. It makes me sad that they're dead.
So, the idear of singing on behalf of Mister Rogers and Chester Bennington came to my mind; they sang lots of songs while they were alive. So, in a sense, this song is about wanting to sing their songs in order to honor them and stuff. When I say the stuff about Chester bein' a lifelong friend, I don't mean it to sound creepy or stalker-ish. It's more like, his music continues to inspire me an will inspire me for the rest of my life, y'know. Like, his music impacted me the way a good friend impacts your life. That's what I mean when I talk about him in this song.
Mister Rogers, what can I say? He was the speaker at my graduation from Dartmouth. He gave an incredible speech, the best you could imagine. Sometimes when I get scared or sad, or both scared and sad, I think of Mister Rogers. Like, what would he say to me? The world is a kinder place because of him.
The ending/outro part is comprised of excerpts from songs that I've done in the past. Those're songs that I'd like to sing while I'm dying if I have the presence of mind to sing them while I'm dying. They're also songs that I wouldn't mind people singing on behalf of me once I'm gone.
I'm not sure, but I'm wondering if the covid virus is prompting this song, in a sense. It's terrible how many people are dying. I wanna sing on their behalf, too.
Here's the backwards version of the song, which I recorded today.
Fred Rogers said he might be dead
But in our hearts, he's still a part, inside our heads
When Chester said, "It's in the end,"
I did not know that he would be a lifelong friend
It's the songs of the dead, I want to scream them into a microphone
Mister Rogers said
Like you as you are
Wish he wasn't dead
I would have a star
Someone to talk to and listen to real good
A good sun to flock to that glistens, he could
Mister Rogers said
He would like to see
Yes, his name is Fred
Wish upon a tree
I wish that he could come right as I speak
Oh, fuck, I feel like I'm shit up a creek
When my name is nothing more than a momentary pause in the words next door
Hey, hey, trouble shares my name with you
I have ears that don't stop ringing; my mind is broken, but I can't stop singing
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