Song 6 of 26 - Connections

The sixth of the 26 songs is called "Connections". Scroll down below the following video for the lyrics and a brief discussion of how this song ties into the project. A blog post which lists all 26 songs, including 1 video for each song can be found by clicking here.


You can find a direct link to this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J25WhT8WZQ4

(Edit - you might also enjoy my more recent post "I Know You, You Know Me" which talks further about these ideas.)

The way of visualizing the dimensions that we're exploring here is about much more than physics: it's about patterns in space and time that form the universe, patterns that we can think of as "big-picture memes" that cause one universe to be selected instead of another, and help us to think of life as being something that happens when those patterns become interested in their own propagation across space and time.

What does it mean when we say an artist is trying to communicate a universal truth? Why are we trained to be cynical about lowest-common-denominator entertainment that appeals to the largest number of people around the world? Aren't both of these ideas really strongly related, after all? If a pop song touches a large number of people because it says something that a large group were thinking about or wanted to say, does that mean it should be dismissed as not really being art? Likewise, if a piece of music says something that only a small part of the world wanted to say or hear, but to those people the song is deeply significant, does that make it more or less of a work of art than the piece that spoke to a great number of people? For more about these ideas, please refer to Daniel Levitin's great book, "This is Your Brain on Music".

By the time we've imagined the timelessness that our reality is carved from, and the organizing patterns that have caused our current reality to be the one selected from a great many other possible universes within the multiverse, we have ways to imagine how instinct, empathy, and emotions can be connected across space and time. When a piece of music communicates an emotion, it is drawing from a complex web of physical and cultural resonances that echo back through our shared experience as human beings, and even as living creatures: this is how we can often automatically tell whether a piece of music is about anger, or relaxation, or joy, or agitation, or whatever.

It's all about connections, and this songs pays tribute to the great artists who touch so many by being plugged so deeply into the patterns that define us all in ways we are only beginning to appreciate. Here are the lyrics to this song.

CONNECTIONS
words and music (c) by Rob Bryanton (SOCAN)
Connections in time
Connections in space
Connections we share with the whole human race
Back to the very first chemical chain
That started it all, one thing remains
It’s all about connections

Just another sappy love song
Climbin to the top of all the charts
Go ahead and ridicule it
You can say that it’s not art
But what’s inside that formula
That lets it touch so many hearts?
How could those recycled cliches
Grab so many from the start?

Connections in time…

Shared beliefs, and strong emotions
Connections of common family bonds
Draw us all together
They help to make us strong
This system of thoughts and memories
The “I” inside that I call me
There are parts I share with others here
Now and back through history

Connections in time…

Past life regression
Trips to the psychic fair
If time is an illusion
Then those other lives you share
Parts of them could be right here
Writing the books you love so well
Singing the songs that touch you deeply
Your reincarnate self

Connections in time…

I think I met myself today
I think I saw my eyes
Another me in another body
Livin another life

Here is a blog entry that will connect you to some of the ideas surrounding this song:
FAQ 11 - Is this about memes, creativity, and connections?

Next song: 7 of 26 - Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep