I put this presentation through ChatGPT.

 

 

Piqued, from the French, piqué (as in l'abeille m'a piqué).

A friend of one of my daughters was playing around with the ChatGPT site. I asked him to get it to write a country song about a guy and his pickup truck. I think it's got hit written all over it.

Verse 1:

He's got a beat up Ford, with a rusty bed

Been through the mud, and the rain, and the sweat

He's got a few dents, and a few scratches too

But that truck's been with him, through and through

Chorus:

It's a simple thing, that pickup truck

But it's his pride and joy, and it's never gonna get stuck

He'll take it out on the open road

And let the wind blow through his hair, as he's rollin' on

Verse 2:

He's got a gun rack in the back, and a CB too

He's got a few hunting dogs, that ride shotgun too

He's got a few stories, of the one that got away

But he'll keep on fishing, till he catches em' one day

Chorus:

It's a simple thing, that pickup truck

But it's his pride and joy, and it's never gonna get stuck

He'll take it out on the open road

And let the wind blow through his hair, as he's rollin' on

Bridge:

It's not just a truck, it's a way of life

It's the memories, and the struggles, and the strife

But he wouldn't trade it, for anything

Cause that pickup truck, it's his everything

Chorus:

It's a simple thing, that pickup truck

But it's his pride and joy, and it's never gonna get stuck

He'll take it out on the open road

And let the wind blow through his hair, as he's rollin' on

Outro:

And when he's gone, and that truck's long gone

His memory, will live on, in that pickup truck song.

This reminds me of the philosophical conjecture about an infinite number of monkeys. 

Per my "vanilla" commentary, these lines, as examples, are just drivel:

It's a simple thing, that pickup truck

But it's his pride and joy, and it's never gonna get stuck

He'll take it out on the open road

And let the wind blow through his hair, as he's rollin' on

Remember in Mel Brooks's Frankenstein that they booed the monster and threw vegetables because he couldn't dance all that well? Maybe the novelty here is that AI can do this, but not that it does it so well. I think it was Samuel Johnson who said about a talking dog, "The point is not that he talks poorly, but that he talks at all."

You think it's just a song, but use the monkeys to generate the actual musical notes, play them backwards, and Skynet launches the missiles…insidious

Funny you should mention those illustrations. I was talking with a friend yesterday and the topic of child "prodigies" came up. A 10-year-old who plays the Moonlight Sonata is great, but most music connaisseurs and virtuosos would say "It's impressive -- for a kid -- but not for a true professional musician at the height of his powers."

By the way, have you checked the lyrics of pop songs lately? Most are written by committees, sometimes with up to a dozen people getting some writing credits. Turns out that it results in the lowest common denominator winning out because how else can you get 10 or 12 people to agree to something.

The state of pop music today is pretty awful. Taylor Swift makes a kajillion dollars catering to 13-year-olds. In my gym, when they get to the rap playlist, it's one F bomb or MF bomb after another, separated by suggestions of violence against women. It's disgusting. I find most contemporary music simplistic and derivative, so where is ChatGPT when you really need it?

Oh, to be back in 1970, when all you needed to generate lyrics was a drunk George Harrison & Ringo Starr tandem –– and some bad handwriting of course

Fans of Cream will get the reference…

@Roberta Matuson shared this the other day on FB.

And we're a far cry from Rush lyrics...

On the state of music today: I've been listening lately to a podcast that is based on the premise that there were a couple of decades of 'the album years'.

Between about 1967 and the mid 90's the concept of the 'album' was developed, taking listeners on a journey through ten songs or so that hung together as a cohesive whole. Digital music, and now streaming, largely destroyed the integrity of this concept. Each episode is a single year of great albums. 

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-album-years/id1514009373

I love the way they banter about music -- and, yes, I wonder what people would say about music of the 2010s and 2020s in 40 years time. 

Andrew

14 hours ago, Alan Weiss said:

I think it was Samuel Johnson who said about a talking dog, "The point is not that he talks poorly, but that he talks at all."

Johnson actually said that about women preachers . . . that seeing a woman preaching was like watching a dog walk on its hind legs: it's not done well, but remarkable to see it done it all.

The album concept was developed by none other than Sinatra and his arrangers, I believe. (Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely, etc.)

On 1/31/2023 at 8:07 PM, andrewhollo said:

 'the album years'.

Andrew,

Thanks for this podcast.  What do they say about Rock Operas, the ultimate in an album. The Who's Quadrophenia is one of my all time favorites.

If you love music like I do, Pete Townsend's Biography is a great read.

On 2/1/2023 at 10:45 PM, Alan Weiss said:

The album concept was developed by none other than Sinatra and his arrangers, I believe. (Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely, etc.)

I doubted that it could have been that early, but here's the argument for it for those interested: https://themusicnetwork.com/frank-sinatra-the-godfather-of-the-concept-album/#:~:text=In 1946%2C Frank Sinatra released,one mood and emotion throughout.

Never doubt me.