the brief

one of the most-wacked out and most challenging to sing karosongs, an exploration in multiple-voices of the “karo as cosmic rakes make a bet” theory

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The first four songs of the 3.2 set started in spring/summer 2019, my first in the waterfront home I'd bought the fall before. It was also my return to my home recording studio after a year and a half with that equipment packed up and in storage.

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During the winter I'd been listening to a live version of Yanni's Nine, feeling a song there but not able to connect. It's an exhilerating tour de force by Yanni's whole orchestra, fast, with multiple sudden stops, tricky transitions and ten distinct sections.

I could tell watching their performance that Yanni and the orchestra were having a great time. I wasn't. It was just too complex for me to find a way in.

Of course I did eventually find the way in, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here writing about it. I just don't remember much about it.

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no. . . i never wanted to write
a coulda woulda shoulda song
and no. . . i never wanted to be the singer
the young girls swooned over

now if i could make either statement with a straight face
i'd still be a liar

why you ask?

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It was the 36th karosong to start channeling, the 14th asynchronous collaboration with music by Yanni, and one of the most vocally challenging of all.

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because you see I always wanted
to write a coulda woulda shoulda song
and i always wanted to be the singer
the young girls swooned over

I mean it sounded like fun

but i knew it'd never happen
I knew it couldn't possibly be
because you see there was this little problem
between music and me

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It would take almost a year and a half to come through entirely, although I knew the large structure of the song in just a few months.

But there were two large gaps in the lyrics where the orchestra left the main melody of the music for thumping instrumental solos (at least, that's how this idiot musant understands it; there's probably an actual term for it).

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there were brick walls between me and music
and no matter how high i jumped or far i ran
there was no way over, no way round
no way through to music

until along came karo

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And that was it. I couldn't work out either missing section for months. I got glimmers and flashes, a sense of what each section did within the song, finally a sense of how their delivery would fit the music. They would be spokesong. And odd. But they wouldn't fill in.

(The same was happening with similarly missing sections in two other new songs that summer and fall, Damn straight i'm a liar and Shake'n bake. None of the missing sections in the three songs would complete until the next year as the full karo transition ramped up.)

I finally got the lyrics for the first missing section, but there was a change-up in the pace of the delivery about half-way that eluded me for months.

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tick tick tick . . . ticking out a hairline
tick tick tick . . . hairline channel
tick tick tick . . . through the wall
tick tick tick . . . through the brick
tick tick tick . . . towards me

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The first part of the second missing section started with a similar pattern. But then it became a 'conversation' between two voices. A conversation about me, and what I call the 'cosmic rakes make a bet' theory of how I came to channel music. With sound effects.

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tap tap tap . . . widening the channel
tap tap tap . . . starting to echo
tappity tappity tappity . . . time for testing
1 2 3 4 ... 1234

sfx — swoosh

try the first song sir? . . . yes
they say it's a tough case sir . . . we'll see
idiot musant they say sir . . . we'll see

sfx — swoosh

a bit like playing telephone sir . . . he'll get better

sfx — swoosh

satellite phone sir? . . . he'll get better

sfx — swoosh

cell phone sir? . . . he'll get better

sfx — swoosh

he doesn't get any better
what are we going to do?
we'll lose the bet!

look, it's okay, he gets the lyrics
he's pretty good at that really
so just give him the music already recorded
or something

but can we at least try
to teach him to sing?
what do you say?

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Multiple voices. With sound effects. On top of fast-paced instrumental solos. Shit. My every weakness as a singer highlighted.

But it was funi-karo at its most in-your-face. Fun to sing. And in the end (which only came in the late fall of 2020, more than a year-and-a-half after the song started) a satisfying take on the extraordinary experience of channeling this music, and my gratitude for the honour.

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so what if I always wanted
to write a coulda woulda shoulda song
and so what if i always wanted to be the singer
the young girls swooned over

but you see I never thought it could happen
I didn't think it could possibly be
until karo brought the music to me and through me

karo brought the music through me and to me
karo brought the music to me and through me
karo brought the music through me and to me
karo brought the music to me and through me

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Post-script

The 'cosmic rakes make a bet' theory is explored in on singing as a possible explanation for my channeling experience. It is only half in jest.