I woke up today to a very tough decision: Picking a song that has meaning in my life. First, understand there isn’t a dearth of songs for me to choose. That is exactly why the choice is so hard, coupled with the fact that a blank page is the bane of the writer. Pink Floyd’s “Fearless” rung in my head, along with The Velvet Underground’s “Heroin”. I listened to an alternate version of Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away”, and Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” (often confused with the album, Harvest). The answer came to me in the place where all the world’s great minds have always found inspiration: frying eggs for breakfast. That answer was “Race For The Prize” by The Flaming Lips.

My history with The Flaming Lips is on the shorter end of the spectrum, and isn’t one of total respect. I admire their wackiness because if they are anything, it is unique. At the same time, they are a little too avant garde for me at times (see their remake of Dark Side of the Moon). Despite all of this background, they have made a few songs that have really touched me. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is on my classic album list with the crown jewel being “Do You Realize”. This essay isn’t about my opinion of The Flaming Lips or their discography or anything but “Race For The Prize”. So Here Goes.

Describing songs is always a hard thing to do, at least for me. It is like describing color or emotion. This is subjective stuff, and it takes a adroit paper to objectify it. The song opens up with pounding drums and an absolutely soaring synth. If I had to give the song an emotion, I would call it hope with a melocholly heart. It earns the title of hope for the lyrics “Two scientists were racing / For the good of all mankind / Both of them side by side / So Determined / Locked in heated battle”. These two scientists are working for the cure, running against one another. One is bound to lose, if not both. “Theirs is to win / If it kills them / They’re just humans / With wives and children” That may be the most beautiful chorus I have ever heard. It isn’t bright, but it is trying to make a hopeless situation hopeful. It is also a slower, softer contrast to the blaring synth and drums before it.

If you have ever had an existential crisis, this song will touch you.

I kn\ow I have. There is no emptiness like sitting in a class room and suddenly feeling that he world has no meaning,

and there is no awe like asking yourself why anything is. So I understand the plight of the scientists. They want to mean something. They give themselves a reason. But they are just human. I am just human, and that is the most beautiful and most terrifying thing about life. I can’t help but wonder if at the end of this race for the prize,  will there be a prize? the final chorus changes from “theirs is to win / if it kills them” to “theirs is to win / it will kill them”.

This is a thin first draft for a school paper. Feel free to give me comments. I will be expanding on this.

-Turtle

What difference would it make
If tomorrow I awoke a turtle

All my hope, dreams, fears
Traded for scales, a shell, a beak

Would I cry turtle tears,
Or laugh a turle laugh?

And which would touch me more:

Knowing that which I had lost

Or

Knowing that which hadnt changed

As of right now, I am stuck in Whitehall, MI. It is a small town in western Michigan, hugging both white lake and lake Michigan. Up here, one has to do many different things to occupy himself because the small town life doesn’t provide many opportunities to o so. My little brother and I are sitting in the back of the local coffee shop mulling over ideas for our new animated TV show, “Potentially Crabapple”.

The idea for our main character, Crabapple, is the culmination of maybe twenty minutes of thought between my brother and I. The idea originally sprung from King Tuff (one of my favorite bands right now) and their occult referencing song “Sun Medallion”. The other day I was singing and playing it, and my brother joked that I should play dirty grunge songs at kids birthday parties. From their our main character, potentially named Crabapple, was born.

He is a dirty, hunch backed antique store owner who is or isn’t human. He is versed in witchcraft and sells magical antiques. he has long, pale bony fingers covered in jewels and tattoos. He always wears sunglasses, a stained top hat, coattails and the likes. Think Slash meets the classic Scooby Doo vibe. Everything is dirty and creepy. Voice wise, I’m thinking gravely smokers voice. My brother is fascinated with this show being disturbing, and wants crabapple to have a penchant for dirty carrion birds.

Of course, no animated TV show can be complete with one character. Crabapple may be a witchman, but he is physically a puss puss and needs someone to do his heavy lifting. Im obviously reaching into already used tropes here, but Crabapple is going to have a lackey named Boom Boom. Boom Boom is of Arabic origin, wears a fez and genie garb ( I don’t  know the names for any Genie wear). He isnt very bright and is kind of cliche but this show is never going to actually happen so who cares.

Other characters include a recurring typical suppressed suburban family that is always fucked over by Crabapples antics. We potentially have a marine boot camp father, 1950’s blond mother, and two children. If we really wanted to tie this family into the show, one of the children could be a little sweet looking girl who hangs with Crabapple and is really evil.

Potential episodes are abound. Crabapple is low on funds so he whips out an enchanted guitar and plays at children’s birthday parties (a perfect place for me to write in some music). Crabapple needs to clean his store and we just get to see all the weird shit he has inside. Fez’s family comes to visit, the army father tries to get Crabapple thrown in jail, etc. Honestly, the settings are more of a starting point than a necessity. This show has some potential in my mind to be really punk, and thats what I would like. punk. Punk. PUNK.

To bad this show will NEVER happen. Ever.