prozac puppet

i've got my act together
i'm as peachy as can be
since i've been on prozac
there's been nothing much to see

i have got a ready smile
and a quick and easy grin
too bad it's all a lie
there's just nothing left within

chorus:
i'm just a prozac puppet
my affects are all lies
i'm just a zombie actor
a dead man in disguise

i used to cry through the night
when i couldn't sleep at all
now if it's after nine
i won't even hear your call

i never would have thought that
it could ever be like this
that being a real boy
is a thing that i could miss

chorus:
i'm just a prozac puppet
my affects are all lies
i'm just a zombie actor
a dead man in disguise

bridge:
well i don't feel love
and i don't feel pain
all of my "feelings"
are just thoughts in my brain
and i don't feel hope
i don't feel despair
yeah i don't feel a thing
and i really don't care
because

chorus:
i'm just a prozac puppet
my affects are all lies
i'm just a zombie actor
a dead man in disguise

if there ever comes a day
when my heart feels as before
pinocchio will die
and my soul will live once more
but until then

chorus:
i'm just a prozac puppet
my affects are all lies
i'm just a zombie actor
a dead man in disguise

(copyright 2013, Moon Jester Radio, a division of Anarchic Syllogisms Unlimited)

Where the Music Came From

No one is born knowing music. We encounter it at different moments in our lives, introduced to us by different people or circumstances. Here's my history (note, I may have heard of groups before the moment listed, but I didn't start really listening beyond the hit-and-miss of the radio until these people and these moments coincided to "turn me on" to the music listed. Also, note that I don't necessarily still listen to all of these...)

Roughly, in chronological order:

• Nursery rhymes, Disney songs, Herman's Hermits: Mom
• Classic country: Dad
• Kiss, Alice Cooper: Darrin
• Beatles, Pink Floyd: Glen
• Weird Al: uncertain (likely: Jim or Jeff)
• Queen, Prince: Jim
• Blue Oyster Cult, Hawkwind: a letter in an Elric comic book
• Styx: John
• Rush, Motley Crue, Quiet Riot, Ratt: Mike B
• Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan: Mike P
• Larry Norman: Scott (my old boss at Joy Unspeakable)
• Stryper: Time magazine article
• Bob Dylan: uncertain?
• Steve Taylor: Kathy R
• Daniel Amos: Kathy J
• Musicals, Sarah Brightman, classical music: Julie
• Todd Snider: Radio station played "Talking Seattle Grunge Blues"
• Tori Amos: Amy (not my sister)
• Alanis Morrisette: Radio station playing pretty much everything from Jagged Little Pill

From the late 1990s on, most of my music discoveries have come from the Internet. Especially noteworthy are:

• Filk: general web surfing
• Luke Ski: unConventional was mentioned on a Firefly website
• Michelle Dockery: "Mal's Song" was mentioned on a Firefly website
• Devo Spice, Worm Quartet: Luke Ski related surfing (which eventually led to thefump.com)
• Warp 11: cdbaby.com (where I had previously purchased a Luke Ski CD)
• Steve Goodie, Robert Lund, Insane Ian, Flat 29: the fump.com
• Carla Ulbrich: cdbaby.com
• Marc Gunn: cdbaby.com
• Garfunkel and Oates: cdbaby.com
• Nerdcore: Discovered a copy of Nerdcore Rising at local video store (not really an Internet discovery, but all the nerdcore I own, I've downloaded/bought online; especially MC Lars and Zealous1)
• Baba Brinkman: Mentioned online in connection with Darwin celebrations
• Bad Religion: interview with Dr. Greg Graffin on Skepticality podcast
• Wizard rock, Adam WarRock: GeekDads HipTrax podcast
• Meekakitty: "Star Trek Girl" was mentioned on an online ballot
• Ministry of Magic, All Caps: friends of Meekakitty

Exceptions to the "Internet-based discovery since the 1990s" rule:

• "Once More, With Feeling": Jeff
• Video game, computer game, and movie soundtracks: Nate (from whom I learned to actually listen to these "background" instrumentals)
• Flight of the Conchords: Holly
• Avril Lavigne, Taylor Swift, Glee: Kara

My deep thanks to everyone who has introduced me to music, shared my enthusiasm for this music, and, of course, made the music that has been a part of me. There are far more musical influences than those listed (and some of those listed are significantly less influential than others... but at one time, even if only for a moment, each musician has quickened a part of my soul). 

All This For One Little Rhyme?

Lemon Demon has a delightful little tune about the infamous Spring Heeled Jack (lyrics). I make this post only to document my quoting of this line:

And people in the area reek of mass hysteria

For some reason, this line has been making a lazy circuit in my head (completing a lap once every two and a half hours, which, perhaps, sheds light on the size of my head...)

So Long, Larry!

Every Christian I know has people who helped them grow when they were young in the faith. Some of those people you know personally, and you form very close bonds of love with them. Others you know through their books, others through their songs.

When I was a young whippersnapper, moving from a religiously varnished humanism to a deeper relationship with my Creator and Redeemer, one voice that spoke to me through the headphones on my Sony Walkman was Larry Norman. Larry was one of the early of the so-called "Contemporary Christian musicians." His music moved my feet, and his lyrics moved my heart. I spent, literally, hundreds of hours listening to Larry, stopping the music to pray or reflect on something, and then hitting "play" and going back to some strange blend of worship and entertainment.

Larry has been sick for a long time, including some serious heart problems (which is weird, because no one can say the guy didn't have a big heart). Anyway, Larry has gone on to sing for his Lord in a face-to-face kind of way, or, more prosaically, he died, last Monday. He's undoubtedly happy, jamming out with the heavenly band. But, as is typical of us fallen people on this side of the vale, we're faced with loss and more than a bit of sadness. I'm not a huge fan of "Christian" music, but Larry's music truly brought me into a state of mind where I realized I was a fallen human living by the grace of a wonderful God. God bless, Larry, I hope I'll see you in Heaven.