We On The New Space Race LYRICS
We on the New Space Race
nocturnal bath in the light of a neon sign
they made this city shine with their electrical lies
an avalanche of plastic made by tiny little hands
caused the tidal wave that broke upon our pretty little lives
the world went from greens and golds to 1 and 0s
pictures of pictures of pictures of pictures
there’s glamour in the gloom
forgiveness for a life lived in prayer
these tragedies were tethered to unknown light
born of a million sons
we are rotten fruit we are flowers we are confused bits of dust
we are all that we should have been
suffered so much pain until we forgave them for being human
suffered so much pain till we forgave
wrote this on the last dollar in my pocket
gave it away today
washed my feet in the ocean
now i found my soul
washed my feet in the ocean
now i found my soul
found my soul, found my soul, found my heart
We often refer to the song as “intro”. The beginning of a story - about the disparity and acceptance of a man that had turned into a robot……. and back into a man again, a robot that turned into a man, a robot that was a man that was a robot…..both robot and man.
Derek wrote the beginning of what would become this song on a dollar bill on some travels in NYC. He lost his friends and the place where he was supposed to sleep that night. He stumbled the streets where he rapped a bit with a homeless man, and subsequently handed the dollar bill over. The words stuck with him. He’s got a way of sharing.
I returned to Whole Dudes one night to find Derek in the studio having just laid out the lyrics to this song. You may never hear it, but he first used a phone filter on the voice at the beginning and the vocoder stood alone at the second half. The result had a really nostalgic effect - the words reminded me of a disparate time in my own life. It was beautiful. My eyes teared up as I listened to it for the first time.
We were new - I was just learning his talent and I didn’t expect the severity or the beauty.
- Betsy
Barbara
