A Series of Contemplations
I
Outside on the street
The gospel choir rings out
Melodies that heal
II
Hearing the crackles
Of sweet-sour expressions.
Confusion is now.
III
Conform to pressures
Of modern worlds and pop soaps.
Basically empty.
IV
Syd’s out of it now.
Dictating incoherence
While strumming the chord.
V
The flames of passion
Blinds the girl into thinking
That she has found love
VI
A call to something
Popular, rocking hip, raw
Different from norm
VII
Laughing at your foe
Standing before dogs of war
Like those scrolling games
VIII
Shrouded in the room,
Fooled by intoxication
He asked, “Who am I?”
IX
In snow-capped mountains
Children of pure, senseless rage
Makes the masses laugh
X
Cries of broken hearts
Promises and vows gave way
Improvement unknown
XI
Losing your freedom
Sacrificing by the Styx
For a woman’s love.
XII
Resist depression,
Find yourself in your own rut.
Pick up the pieces
XIII
The sound of church bells
Easter celebration ends
I walk on my way
Date of First Draft: around April and May 1999
Information: At one point it was written under the pseudonym “William O. Essex” for the Zeal/blur mailing list. This poem was the only accepted to the Scribe (out of the twenty-three other candidates). However, Scribe published haikus I, V, VI, VIII, IX, XIII and renamed them accordingly.
Influence/Annotations:
- All thirteen haikus were inspired by the Blur album 13.
- I (Tender): This song is a gospel-based song. It’s a very cliché scene with someone walking outside a church and lured by the choir; that is what I envisioned.
- II (Bugman): This song is a very heavy distortion song (full of guitar fuzz and other distortion pedal use or weird sound manipulation)
- III (Coffee and TV): This song (a Graham Coxon song) has been called the only “pop song” in the al-bum. So I wrote it from the point of view of someone who was “empty” by the popular world
- IV (Swamp Song): This song reminded me of Syd Barrett, former guitarist and lyricist for Pink Floyd, and his guitar playing.
- V (1992): The lyrics, my interpretation, talks about someone who wants just the bed but ended up with everything that goes with it.
- VI (B.L.U.R.E.M.I.): The song is a tribute to those with new ideas and the executives who are willing to promote it.
- VII (Battle): The poem came from listening to that song while playing a computer game called “Demon Star” (a scrolling game where you fly around and shooting things)
- VIII (Mellow Song): This poem combined Damon Albarn’s lyrics and with the theory that the song was probably written while drunk (actually, it intentionally echoes Pete Townshend and the reasoning be-hind writing “Who Are You?”)
- IX (Trailerpark): This song was originally for South Park (that mostly what the poem is centered around)
- X (Caramel): The lyrics, from what I could gather, is Damon moaning and groaning about Justine Frichmann
- XI (Trimm Trabb): This song is almost 180 degrees different from the actual lyrics but it relates to the theme of co-dependence.
- XII (No Distance Left to Run): This song trying to say “I have to move on.”
- XIII (Optigan 1): The bell sound playing in the background reminds me of church and the last poem could connect to the first one (sort of like Roger Waters Pink Floyd or Roger Waters solo)