Ben's Songs
Posted by: bnewman Opinions within the gamer community differ widely regarding the ethics of emulation — copying old games onto modern computers where they can be played by using software tools to mimic the behavior of older console hardware. Most video game publishers are strongly opposed of course, and fans agree that the people who make our games should be able to profit from them. But,…
Posted by: bnewman The Eagles' original has been crying out for this pun for a long time, and I'm certainly not the first to think of it or mention it, but I may be the first to expand it into a complete story-song. This is a shapeshifting huntress's tale in the vein of "Velvet" or "Golden Eyes". lyrics by Benjamin Newman ttto: "Lyin' Eyes" by Don Henley and Glenn Frey listen to this song ( Read…
Posted by: bnewman This one began with just the pun(ch) line, but when I realized what piece of media it could be about, it grew (ahem) into something deeper. Miyazaki's Nausicaa, like Frozen 's Elsa, is a bold heroine who discovers a dangerous secret, an inner connection to an unstoppable natural force, and her own sense of purpose on the edge of the wilderness. lyrics by Benjamin Newman ttto:…
Posted by: bnewman If you're at all familiar with action adventures or comic books, you've surely heard Justin's name before, but did you know he has a twin brother? This concept was a long time in preparation, and finally took shape in something of a Les Barker x Tom Smith form. by Benjamin Newman listen to this poem ( Read more... ) comments
Posted by: bnewman Hekate is a mysterious and complex goddess, associated with magic and witchcraft, liminal spaces, and threes — such as places where three roads meet; or the upper, middle, and lower worlds. I know Her primarily through Her supporting role in the story of Persephone, about Whom more is written elsewhere . Speaking with Hekate around the time of Sukkot, a Jewish (not…
Posted by: bnewman In Hebrew, "chochmah" means "wisdom", and "kavanah" means "intention", often particularly referring to a statement of intention or mystical formula recited before the main part of a prayer or ritual to set an appropriate tone — so a "chochmah kavanah" would be a mystical formula to invoke wisdom. Of course it also sounds like a certain classic lounge song... lyrics by…
Posted by: bnewman According to a meme that has been going around, the name of OpenAI's flagship product sounds especially funny if you know French. lyrics and music by Benjamin Newman listen to this song ( Read more... ) comments
Posted by: bnewman Having disposed of certain people's ambitions of Mars colonization, let's plant the seeds of a more egalitarian vision for our future on the red planet — a future we can build together if only we keep marching Martian. lyrics by Benjamin Newman ttto: "Bread and Roses" by James Oppenheim, set to music by Mimi Farina listen to this song ( Read more... ) comments
Posted by: bnewman Avinu Malkeinu (Our Father, Our King) is a solemn hymn chanted on the holiest days of the Jewish year, reminding us of the G-d before whom we stand. Modern progressive Jews vary in their relationship to those particular metaphors. This new, um, translation, reveals a surprisingly modern and scientific view of the Source of Life in the coming together of simple organic molecules…
Posted by: bnewman Just in time for Purim, a chant from the Scroll of Esther, and a midrash (interpretation). The Book of Esther begins with the King, a bit of a buffoon, throwing a huge drunken party for everyone, and this sets the tone for everything that follows. ( Read more... ) listen to this song ( Read more... ) comments
Posted by: bnewman Just in time for Purim, a classic verse from the Scroll of Esther: "Who knows, maybe it was for just such a time as this that you came to royalty?" The Hebrew word "malchut" means royalty, sovereignty, kingdom, but also (as a kabbalistic term) physical reality. Each of us has a role to play in standing against evil in our time — who knows, maybe it was for just such a time…
Posted by: bnewman In the memorable Babylon 5 episode "War Without End" (for which spoiler alert but I will, like the character who sings this song, try to keep them vague), the alien Zathras is assigned by Cmdr. Sinclair to a time travel mission in which he is taken prisoner by Sinclair at an earlier point in the timeline. To avoid, well, spoilers, at first all Zathras will say to the earlier…
Posted by: bnewman I began writing this song when the current assault on the federal bureaucracy was just a talking point and a twinkle in a candidate's eye. After the inauguration, when the assault began in earnest, I realized the urgency of the moment and made finishing the song a priority. No modern nation can be "great" without a civil service whose mission is firm and doesn't change with…
Posted by: bnewman Updated song titles and added recordings for three older Dave Carter parodies: Solitary World Gandalf the White Orodruin comments
Posted by: bnewman Based on a haunting and pointed Advent hymn, this song is a pointed rebuke to religious conservatives who blame natural disasters and the decline of nations on the "sins" of the same people they've always picked on, while ignoring the very real sins that scientists agree are responsible for the weirding of Earth's climate — the very sins, even, that the Bible calls out as…
Posted by: bnewman Skroderiders are one of several iconic alien races in Vernor Vinge's classic A Fire Upon the Deep — cyborgs consisting of a sessile, frond-like intertidal animal and a wheeled cart with computing faculties. Behind this marriage of organic and machine components lies a long-forgotten legend and ultimately a deep tragedy (but spoilers !). "41 Thunderer" by Dave Carter also…
Posted by: bnewman Explorators are sentient, self-replicating and self-improving space probes sent out by a race of makers who developed AI but not the technology to sustain organic life across interstellar distances. Outliving their makers, they've since colonized the galaxy and built a lasting machine civilization based on wonder and curiosity— and, in accordance with the known laws of…
Posted by: bnewman Zoe's original song tells the story of a set of heirloom crystal glasses that become fewer in number but dearer to memory as time passes. In software development, classes (modules of code) can also break if they are not carefully looked after over time — although, especially in a large enterprise, their number is more likely to increase than to decrease. The term "tech…
Posted by: bnewman This song sets out one of the foundational myths of the Storytellers' World, an original fantasy setting. Zoe Mulford's original song, "The Street That Wasn't There", could practically be set in that world already, which is one reason why the first verse is so little changed. The identity of Professor Oceanstone (or, if you think that's too easy, why his name is "Oceanstone" )…
Posted by: bnewman In Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky , "Rappaport Digby" is the (translated) name of the host of the radio show "The Children's Hour of Science" on the home planet of a race of spider-like aliens. And of course that sounds just like "Eleanor Rigby", but there is also one particular episode of the show, memorable both to the Spiders themselves and to the humans surreptitiously…
Posted by: bnewman 326-3827, the number of the trash compactor unit in Star Wars: A New Hope , may not have anything in common with 236-6132 besides being someone's telephone number, but something about the tone of the song seemed to fit the scene, setting it up to join a long list of Dave Carter/Star Wars parodies — once I figured out the extremely tangled rhyme scheme. lyrics by Benjamin…
Posted by: bnewman Durian is a large tropical fruit known for its tough, spiky exterior (you don't want to be hit with one), delicate yet unctuous floral taste, and a peculiar and penetrating smell which to some resembles rotting garbage. Some countries where it is popular don't allow it to be carried in enclosed spaces such as subways for this reason. If black tea flavored with bergamot is Earl…
Posted by: bnewman This song was inspired by a social media post about Asherah, the Canaanite goddess who was sometimes worshipped as the consort of the G-d of Israel. I've seen fellow pagans (but usually non-Jewish ones) argue that Judaism is to blame for historically sending the goddess into exile, while proudly rescuing the feminist sparks from the patriarchal shells of their own ancestral…
Posted by: bnewman One of the wonderful things about Persephone is that She is a many-faced goddess who means different things to different people. Vixy's original song uses the myth of Persephone to tell a story that's deeply personal to her. For myself, I felt moved to borrow the tune to capture what Persephone means to me as a devotee — but that's something that has changed over time.…
Posted by: bnewman This one was done just for the pun at first, but it ended up as a touching (I think) crossover fanfic mashup. It will make more sense if you've seen Babylon 5 and read A Fire Upon the Deep : In each story arc, at a climactic moment (the turning point in the middle of the story in one case, the denoument in the other), one of the many protagonists in the ensemble cast chooses to…