Ghosts and Robots

Or "Hooray for the Humans" a meditation in Post-Apocalyptic Folk-Rock! Every now and then, someone favorites (or unfavorites) this little line, which I dropped as a comment on a great post about the world after humans. It's actually the opening line to a song I've been mean to post forever. Here's the cleanest version I've got so far.

when the angels leave their silos
white-hot mushroom clouds for halos
to rain fire and leukemia down on everyone below
then the rodent and the roach
the robot and the ghost
will live at peace until the sun turns crimson and explodes

they'll sing hooray for the humans
now that all is said and done
bit off more than they could swallow
but they knew how to have fun
all the arsonists and artists
making news under the sun
Doris Day, Mahatma Gandhi and Attila the Hun

in the depths of nuclear winter
when the snow mixes with ash
they'll build towering statues out of permafrost
with each snowman they erect
the automatons and specters
will pay tribute to a parent they have lost

they'll sing hooray for the humans
who lived and died by the gun
what a lousy sack of sinners
but they knew how to have fun
all the arsonists and artists
making news under the sun
Harvey Milk, Ella Fitzgerald, Georgia O'Keeffe and John Donne


so keep building ghosts and robots
with everything you do and say
while we live let's carve our faces
in the mountain, sea and sky
cuz when the hands of God and Darwin
shake on it and call it quits
ghosts and robots will be all that's left
to tell of You and I

• play
• pause
• min volume
• max volume

posted by es_de_bah (6 comments total)

ten points to the first person who knows where the edit is. It's almost as bad as the one in Strawberry Fields.
posted by es_de_bah at 8:49 PM on January 28, 2008

This one is fun, and the lyrics are great. The recording is a little rough, but it doesn't hurt (and possibly helps draw more attention to) the lyrics, which are what make the track stand out. Especially the opening verse, and the one about nuclear winter and statues of permafrost.

Plus you get bonus points for ghosts, robots, post-apocalyptic vision, and the line about God and Darwin :)
posted by mehum at 6:08 AM on January 29, 2008

I love those lyrics. I am inspired to post some of my post-apocalypse robot songs. I also love the lo-fi sound. keep it up!
posted by notheydo at 4:49 PM on January 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

Good words, and I like the way the recording sounds like it's about to dissolve into distortion.

I think the edit is at 2:45.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 3:26 AM on January 30, 2008

I'm guessing 2:00 during that quiet spot. This almost sounds like you're out busking. Pretty damn cool!
posted by snsranch at 3:55 PM on January 30, 2008

I'm with Karlos: 2:45. The guitar sound changes dramatically there, and the next time the vocal shows up after that, it sounds markedly different.

Also, from Karlos' next comment:

...like it's about to dissolve into distortion.

I'd go a little further and say it does that particular dissolve! That vocal and guitar are definitely distorting. That is, until 2:45, whereupon the sound gets a lot cleaner.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:29 AM on February 1, 2008