One Prereader's Songs In Honor of the End

[Valles]

The sun struggles up - another beautiful day
And I felt glad in my own suspicious way
Despite the contradiction and confusion
Felt tragic without reason
There's malice and there's magic in every season
From the foaming breakers of the poisonous surf
The other side of Summer
To the burning forests and the hills of Astroturf
The other side of Summer
The automatic gates close up between the shanties and the palace
The blowtorch amusements, the voodoo chalice
The pale pathetic promises that everybody swallows
A teenage girl is crying 'cause she don't look like a million dollars
So help her if you can
'Cause she don't seem to have the attention span
From the foaming breakers of the poisonous surf
The other side of Summer
To the burning forests and the hills of Astroturf
The other side of Summer
Was it a millionaire who said "Imagine no possessions?"
A poor little schoolboy who said "We don't need no lessons?"
The rabid rebel dogs ransack the shampoo shop
The pop princess is downtown shooting up
And if that goddess if fit for burning
The sun will struggle up the world will still keep turning
Madman standing by the side of the road saying
"Look at my eyes, look at my eyes, look at my eyes, look at my eyes"
Now you can't afford to fake all the drugs your parents used to take
Because of their mistakes you'd better be wide awake
From the foaming breakers of the poisonous surf
The other side of Summer
To the burning forests and the hills of Astroturf
The other side of Summer
The mightiest rose
The absence of perfume
The casual killers
The military curfew
The cardboard city
And the unwanted birthday
The other side of summer
The dancing was desperate, the music was worse
They bury your dreams and dig up the worthless
Goodnight
God bless
And kiss "goodbye" to the earth
The other side of summer
Elvis Costello - The Other Side of Summer
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"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[Valles]

Told my little Pollyanna
There's a place for you and me
We'll go down to Transverse City
Life is cheap and Death is free
Past the condensation silos
Past the all-night trauma stand
We'll be there before tomorrow
Pollyanna take my hand
Show us endless neon vistas
Castles made of laser lights
Take us to the shopping sector
In the vortex of the night
Past the shining mylar towers
Past the ravaged tenements
To a place we can't remember
For a time we won't forget
Here's the hum of desperation
Heres the test tube mating call
Here's the latest carbon cycle
Here's the clergy of the mall
Here's the song of shear and torsion
Here's the bloodbath magazine
Here's the harvest of contusions
Here's the narcoleptic dream
Told my little Pollyanna
Here's a place where we can stay
We have come to see tomorrow
We have given up today
Down among the dancing quanta
Everything exists at once
Up above in Transverse City
Every weekend lasts for months
Here's the hum of desperation
Heres the test tube mating call
Here's the latest carbon cycle
Here's the clergy of the mall
Here's the witness and the victim
Here's the relatives' remains
Here's the well-known double helix
Here's the poisoned waves of grain
Here's the song of shear and torsion
Here's the bloodbath magazine
Here's the harvest of contusions
Here's the narcoleptic dream
Here's the hum of desperation
Warren Zevon - Transverse City
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"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[Valles]

(4-Aminobiphenyl, hexachlorobenzene
Dimethyl sulfate, chloromethyl methylether
2, 3, 7, 8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-
para-dioxin, carbon disulfide)
(Dibromochloropane, chlorinated
benzenes, 2-Nitropropane, pentachlorophenol,
Benzotrichloride, strontium chromate
1, 2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane)
I went walking in the wasted city
Started thinking about entropy
Smelled the wind from the ruined river
Went home to watch TV
And it's worse when I try to remember
When I think about then and now
I'd rather see it on the news at eleven
Sit back, and watch it run straight down
Run straight down
Run straight down
I can see it with my eyes closed
Run straight down
We've been living in the shadows all our lives
Where it's stand in line and don't look back and don't look left and don't look right
So we hide our eyes and wonder who'll survive
Waiting for the night...
Fluorocarbons in the ozone layer
First the water and the wildlife go
Pretty soon there's not a creature stirring
'Cept the robots at the dynamo
And it's worse when I try to remember
When I think about then and now
I'd rather see it on the news at eleven
Sit back, and watch it run straight down
Run straight down
Run straight down
I can see it with my eyes closed
Run straight down
Warren Zevon - Run Straight Down
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"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[Valles]

They say the devil's in the details
Well, I know what they mean
And I'm walking in the wasteland
With the Ghost in the Machine
There's a simulated sunset
Starlight in my eyes
The skies are filled with miracles
And half of them are lies
Are you real or not?
It's a fine line
Are you ready or not
For the light of day
Are you real or not?
These are strange times
And I don't want to live this way
When you wake up from a nightmare
And it's worse when you're awake
And there's no one you can turn to
And there's nothing you can take
Are you real or not?
It's a fine line
Are you ready or not
For the light of day ?
Are you real or not?
These are strange times
And I don't want to live this way
Warren Zevon - Real or Not
Blessed be.
-n
(Zevon much? Actually, these four are the songs that I've always associated most closely with cyberpunk in general and BGC in particular, so I thought it was fitting.)
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"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[Bob Schroeck]

Very cool. I don't know nearly as much Zevon as I should, but this has certainly helped.


-- Bob
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There's no wrong way to eat a Rhesus.