Archives for March 2006
Bokonon’s Calypsos
6 March 2006 | music, elsewhere, athousandtimesno | No Responses
So we’ve been working on a project to set the lyrics of Bokonon’s calypsos (from the Kurt Vonnegut book, Cat’s Cradle) to music, as a kind of tribute. We’ve laid down some scratch tracks on the first calypso we finished, “On the Creation of Bokononism.” We’ll post something for you to hear very soon. Until then, here’s the lyrics, so’s you can whet your appetite.
On the Creation of Bokononism:
Bokonon’s Calypsos
6 March 2006 | music, elsewhere, athousandtimesno | No Responses
So we’ve been working on a project to set the lyrics of Bokonon’s calypsos (from the Kurt Vonnegut book, Cat’s Cradle) to music, as a kind of tribute. We’ve laid down some scratch tracks on the first calypso we finished, “On the Creation of Bokononism.” We’ll post something for you to hear very soon. Until then, here’s the lyrics, so’s you can whet your appetite.
On the Creation of Bokononism:
I wanted all things
To make some sense,
So we could all be happy, yes,
Instead of tense.
And I made up lies
So that they all fit nice,
And I made this sad world
A par-a-dise.
We have some music for 3 or 4 of the other calypsos figured out already, including “On the end of the World,” “On Dynamic Tension,” and “The Hundred-and-nineteenth Calypso.”
So far, it’s so fun I could die. We’ve drawn our calypso influence from some Trinidadian and English calypso artists like Lion, Attilla the Hun, Growler, Lord Beginner, Lord Kitchener, and Mighty Destroyer.
We’ve formed our calypsos from listening to a bunch of songs by these great artists, and distilling what we hear to be the defining elements of the form. Here’s hoping we’re not too far off.
