Instead of trying to say what should be said about the great Dylan documentary by Martin Scorsese, here's a tribute to the Man. It may seem parodic or downright lame -- but hey -- he's Dylan the Pretender always. So here's a song written in the spirit of Dylan -- more spirit than genius definitely. The structure is a dead rip-off "Desolation Row" -- a song that I've never paid much attention to until I saw the documentary with the ghostly face of Dylan performing it live. The tune's a combination of "Desolation Row" and "Every Grain of Sand (?)".
Here's the song ...
And the lyrics given my garbled singing and less than Dylanesque voice:
"Live Forever", says the Preacher
His voice echoes through the hall,
And the rich red carpets keeping running
From doorway to the wall.
In a spotlight stands a Prophet
He's much too blind to see
The collar creeping up his neck
As he dances in ecstasy:
And I'm waiting for that final hour
Beyong all space and time
But the ticking of a hundred clocks
Is always on my mind
"Those paragraphs need correcting"
Is the teacher's angry boast
Write to convince your audience
Not to converse with Ghosts
And blieve instead in the powerful myth
That my ideas are best
A sentence is only good enough
If it puts commas to their deaths
So my students wait for that final workd
Beyond all space and time
But the ticking of a hundred clocks
Is always on my mind
"I Love This City" the T-Shirt says
It's heart beating blood red,
As lovers walk in paired attire
Beneath the Penny Arcade
And in burnt out corners the iron rails
Of subway lines still run
Hoping to roll out meaning where
The Fall dares to meet the Sun
And I'm travelling in no direction
Beyond all space and time
But the ticking of a hundred clocks
Is always on my mind.
Here's the time for a poet's license
Before the Courts of Law
When money speaks for everyman
Wagging it's tongue sore
And throats are clogged with jealousy
Coughs and threats are loud-
The clown is dancing without his mask
The Jester's got his shroud
And I'm singing a strange melody
Trespassing space and time
But the ticking of a hundred clocks
Is always on my mind.
Goodbye to all that Rubbish
That swims about gleefully
Like Rodents drinking poisoned deaths
And flies that never flee
The Plague, he paid a visit
Not so long ago
Hawking his wares to the highest bidder
Desperate for his soul
And I'm buying with my final coin
A place beyond all time
But the ticking of a hundred clocks
Is always on my mind.
可能我 陪伴過你的青春， 可能我 陪伴自己的靈魂
4 years ago
6 comments:
Just want you to know that I listened to this and have listened to it a few times, and I think it's really awesome. Good that once in awhile, you remind us of your musical talent! The significance behind the lyrics are, of course, incomprehensible to my measly little intellect...
You should do more stuff like that!
-Andrew
hey dude -- thanks -- the song is supposed to chart my existence in new york in all sorts of quirky ways --
got a few questions about this:
what exactly does Penny Arcade refer to?
and on a less literary side... what exactly did you use to record this, in terms of hardware / software? If you don't mind me asking...
1. Errr -- the Penny Arcade doesn't refer to any specific New York landmark although the picture I had in my mind was the South Street Seaport ... Where you can walk UNDER the shops and the rest of the Amusements ... A proper Penny Arcade would have all sorts of games / pinball machines that presumably cost very little to play. Think about a primitive Wywy Wonderspace ...
2. I used my Mac and the free GarageBand software -- which allows you to lay down multitracks and then mix the whole thing and convert to MP3.
oh, for a moment Zhihan (you do remember him, don't ya?) and I were wondering if you made a reference to a webcomic by the name of Penny Arcade (which we subsequently decided, naaaah).
Ah yes, the utility belt that is the Mac =\ I should have expected that! Seems so clear now, in retrospect... Thanks for clearing things up!
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