I have a song gestating, about the “Dream Time” concept (in the Robin Hanson sense).
In the aboriginal mythology, the dreamtime is the time-before-time, when heroes walked the earth, doing great deeds with supernatural powers that allowed them to shape the world.
In the Robin Hanson sense, the dreamtime is… well, still that, but *from the perspective* of the far future.
For most of history, people lived on subsistence. They didn’t have much ability to think very far ahead, or to deliberately steer their future much. We live right now in a time of abundance, where our capacity to produce significantly outstrips our drive to reproduce, and this gives us (among other things) time and slack to think and plan and do things other than what is the bare minimum for survival.
The song I have in mind is in the early stages before a few pieces click together. (Songwriting is a form of puzzle-solving, for those that don’t know)
Constraints of the puzzle so far:
1. I want it to be more of a summer solstice song than winter solstice one, of the sort that you can easily sing while gathered around a campfire, _without_ having lyrics available.
2. Due to the above (and because of which non-lyric-requiring-songs I *already* have written), the verses have each line in two parts. The (A) part of each line is new each time. The (B) sections are consistent, such that even if you’re hearing the song for the first time you can sing along with at least part of the verses (in addition to the chorus)
((#1 and #2 are the core requirements, and if I ended up having to sacrifice the dreamtime-concept for the song, would do so)
3. Summer Solstice is focused on the present moment (contrasted with winter solstice, which is very distant-past and far-future oriented). The dreamtime concept came to me as something that could be framed from within the far-future perspective, while still having the bulk of the song focusing on the present moment.
4. Aesthetically, my current thought is for the song to be kind of a mirror-image of Bitter Wind Blown:
– the singer is a child, asking her mother to tell stories of the Before Time – Structurally, fairly similar to Bitter Wind Blown, except the “Little one, little one” equivalent is a bit more complex – where Bitter Wind Blown is, well, bittersweet, this is dwells more on the positive, and when looking at the negative, does so through a lens of acceptance (not in the “this is okay”, but “this is what is, and was.”)
However:
As I reflect on what the platonic ideal of the song wants to be, I’m noticing a bit of tension between a few directions. Here we get to the “how do you slide the pieces around and solve the puzzle?” bit (this is at the higher level, before you start _also_ sliding around individual lyrics)
a. The theme of presentness, being mindful of the here and now
b. The subtheme of abundance – right now is the dreamtime because our capacity for production gives us the affordance to thrive, and to think
c. The subtheme of power/heroism – the dreamtime is when heroes walked the earth and shaped the world that will one day become “the normal world.”
(a) feels a bit in tension with (b) and (c). I think it’s possible to blend them but not sure it’ll quite work out.
I think a major issue I ran into is that it felt dishonest (or, like, appropriative?) to write a song about “The Dreamtime” that wasn’t Hansonianly cynical, and… I dunno I’m just not Hansonianly cynical.
The central metaphor of “child asking mother for song” also just felt sort of weird because the implied Em-World people just… probably wouldn’t do that sort of thing.
It occurs to me that if one was to write the song anyway, it could either be set in a Billions/Trillions Year stable state, or it could be set just as the universe winds down, while Fades at Last the Last Lit Sun.
Also, another major issue I ran into was “well, no one commented on it and I lost motivation.” :P Although maybe that part can be fixed now.
I have a song gestating, about the “Dream Time” concept (in the Robin Hanson sense).
In the aboriginal mythology, the dreamtime is the time-before-time, when heroes walked the earth, doing great deeds with supernatural powers that allowed them to shape the world.
In the Robin Hanson sense, the dreamtime is… well, still that, but *from the perspective* of the far future.
For most of history, people lived on subsistence. They didn’t have much ability to think very far ahead, or to deliberately steer their future much. We live right now in a time of abundance, where our capacity to produce significantly outstrips our drive to reproduce, and this gives us (among other things) time and slack to think and plan and do things other than what is the bare minimum for survival.
The song I have in mind is in the early stages before a few pieces click together. (Songwriting is a form of puzzle-solving, for those that don’t know)
Constraints of the puzzle so far:
1. I want it to be more of a summer solstice song than winter solstice one, of the sort that you can easily sing while gathered around a campfire, _without_ having lyrics available.
2. Due to the above (and because of which non-lyric-requiring-songs I *already* have written), the verses have each line in two parts. The (A) part of each line is new each time. The (B) sections are consistent, such that even if you’re hearing the song for the first time you can sing along with at least part of the verses (in addition to the chorus)
((#1 and #2 are the core requirements, and if I ended up having to sacrifice the dreamtime-concept for the song, would do so)
3. Summer Solstice is focused on the present moment (contrasted with winter solstice, which is very distant-past and far-future oriented). The dreamtime concept came to me as something that could be framed from within the far-future perspective, while still having the bulk of the song focusing on the present moment.
4. Aesthetically, my current thought is for the song to be kind of a mirror-image of Bitter Wind Blown:
– the singer is a child, asking her mother to tell stories of the Before Time
– Structurally, fairly similar to Bitter Wind Blown, except the “Little one, little one” equivalent is a bit more complex
– where Bitter Wind Blown is, well, bittersweet, this is dwells more on the positive, and when looking at the negative, does so through a lens of acceptance (not in the “this is okay”, but “this is what is, and was.”)
However:
As I reflect on what the platonic ideal of the song wants to be, I’m noticing a bit of tension between a few directions. Here we get to the “how do you slide the pieces around and solve the puzzle?” bit (this is at the higher level, before you start _also_ sliding around individual lyrics)
a. The theme of presentness, being mindful of the here and now
b. The subtheme of abundance – right now is the dreamtime because our capacity for production gives us the affordance to thrive, and to think
c. The subtheme of power/heroism – the dreamtime is when heroes walked the earth and shaped the world that will one day become “the normal world.”
(a) feels a bit in tension with (b) and (c). I think it’s possible to blend them but not sure it’ll quite work out.
That’s what I got so far. Interested in thoughts.
I like the idea of this song existing. Any progress?
I think a major issue I ran into is that it felt dishonest (or, like, appropriative?) to write a song about “The Dreamtime” that wasn’t Hansonianly cynical, and… I dunno I’m just not Hansonianly cynical.
The central metaphor of “child asking mother for song” also just felt sort of weird because the implied Em-World people just… probably wouldn’t do that sort of thing.
Maybe that’s fine? Dunno.
It occurs to me that if one was to write the song anyway, it could either be set in a Billions/Trillions Year stable state, or it could be set just as the universe winds down, while Fades at Last the Last Lit Sun.
Also, another major issue I ran into was “well, no one commented on it and I lost motivation.” :P Although maybe that part can be fixed now.