Novas 5.3: The Wire Full Of Light
Act 2: Games
09 Ann Steel and Roberto Cacciapaglia – Measurable Joys (1979, Italy/USA)
Tell me now, don't you think, artificial is great?
Don't you feel near to it, light, euphoric and bright?
Don't you agree that, it's like spray-air,
We can't do without its wonderful flair
While nature makes you feel sad?
Nature always leaves you that one only thought
There is something missing in its earthy taste
Tell me now don't you think, punk is just out of style?
Don't you feel it's as old as a medieval trunk
Don't you agree that this is just true,
Vain is rebellion and so stupid too?
Moans creak like broken TVs
Complaint and riots we should leave to cats
Check emotions output, bear an open grin
Joy is measurable, this is glad art
And emotions are distilled
Joy's measurable, this is glad art
Hide behind an open smile
Joy is measurable, this is glad art
And emotions are distilled
Joy is measurable, this is glad art
Hide behind an open smile
Tell me now, don't you think that precision is great?
The degree you should know of humidity flaw
Don't you ever measure intensity of light?
The Eiffel tower has a height you should know
Can't you tell volumes exact?
Don't you reckon the diametre of apples?
Don't you want to know the size of streaked bananas?
Tell me now, don't you think that technology's great?
Through feedback we control all our thoughts and actions Screens are alluring, like mermaid songs
Electronic beeps scan a graceful rhythm
Romantic poems just lack
Stained glass windows never glow as our TVs
Time and space are lovely and simultaneous
Joy is measurable, this is glad art
And emotions are distilled
Joy is measurable, this is glad art
Hide behind an open smile
Susan wakes in the Facility where she is being monitored by an advanced computer system.
I think this one is the best, or at least the most approachable, track from the ridiculously influential Ann Steel album, and yet… it was very hard to find the right setting for it, being such a not… straightforward song. (I think anyone who thinks this song is praising technology is completely ignoring the bleak and cynical undertones in it. Much like OMD’s ‘Genetic Engineering’.) But I think as the voice of the System it works perfectly. Welcome to your perfect designer future!
10 Thompson Twins – Perfect Game (1981, England)
Somebody's crying now, his head is full of pain
Taken to the building, where they're playing the perfect game
Perfect game
Perfect game
He's staring at the window to watch the falling rain
No matter how he sees it the view remains the same
Perfect game
Perfect game
They don't know what to call him
Doesn't have a name
But they still know how to force him
To keep playing the perfect game
A set of perfect criminals is hard to criticise
When you're watching the perfect crime through a pair of perfect eyes
Perfect eyes
Perfect eyes
Everybody else is simply wondering why we came
Maybe it's because we're all playing the perfect game
Perfect game
Perfect game
They don't know what to call us
Cause we don't have a name
But they still know how to force us
To keep playing the perfect game
So if you want to find out why you call someone insane
Just sit inside the building where they're playing the perfect game
Perfect game
Perfect game
They won't know what to call you
Cause you don't have a name
But they still know how to force you
To keep playing the perfect game
Perfect game
Perfect game
Perfect game
Perfect game
Jack discovers that the explosion at the weapons lab was a test by the mysterious group running the Company. He is given a security position at the Simulation, where he feels more of a pawn than a player.
11 Nine Circles – Twinkling Stars (1982, Netherlands)
Twinkling stars far above me
prove me there must be more than this
Strength what is coming down
I feel and I just receive
We got the message from far away
This spirit I can feel close to the other world
But not far enough to reach
Twinkling stars far above me
prove me there must be more than this
There must be more than this
There must be more than this
In my dreams I reach to the other world
Clear erotic with a band of heroes
No one to say you are a zero
This spirit I can feel close to the other world
But not far enough to reach
Twinkling stars far above me
prove me there must be more than this
There must be more than this
There must be more than this
Somewhere
The night sky at the Facility leaves a deep impression on Susan.
Lydia Fiala’s story seems to be a symbol of the whole lost punk / New Wave era, and its ongoing rediscovery thanks to the Internet from around 2010 on. Such a strangely moving song, and I only know it thanks to Youtube.
12 The Warlord – The Ultimate Warlord (1978, England)
I am the ultimate warlord
So kneel before my sword of light
I am the ultimate warlord
So burn or put your planet to right
People down on Earth
Don't you realise what your life is worth
I can see you clear
Time is growing short
I am getting near
I am the ultimate warlord
So kneel before my sword of light
I am the ultimate warlord
So burn or put your planet to right
The alien presence telepathically communicates with Susan again.
The initial Warlord single – presumably triggered, like so much else in late 1970s pop culture, by post-Star Wars space fever, as well as the heating up of the Cold War. The Warlord was David Garrick from Uriah Heep and Peter Green from… I dunno.
13 Brain – D.I.X.O. (1982, France)
All my life I've been alone
Plugged in like a telephone
Placed for safety on a shelf
They question me, "Well, can it help?"
No one talks, they come and go
It's like I wasn't there at all
Atomic chip, a programmed brain
Crying at this growing pain
Call me D - I - X - O
My name is D - I - X - O
Breakdown on one
The lighting is out
The temperature's rising
The program's in doubt
Nothing wrong, I'm not insane
Electric heart, electric brain
Please understand this programmed thing
Just like you I feel and think
Call me D - I - X - O
My name is D - I - X - O
Oh what a drag
Turn off the switch
The damn thing's not working
There's always a hitch
Breakdown on one
The lighting is out
The temperature's rising
The program's in doubt
All my life I've been alone
Plugged in like a telephone
Placed for safety on a shelf
They question me, "Well, can it help?"
No one talks, they come and go
It's like I wasn't there at all
Atomic chip, a programmed brain
Calling out this glorious name
Call me D - I - X - O
My name is D - I - X - O
Call out the boss
Short circuit on four
Machine's going crazy
Need help on this floor
Call me D - I - X - O
My name is D - I - X - O
A part of the System malfunctions as Susan merges with the Simulation.
A weird French one-off dance band and yet somehow I managed to come across this in the 1980s and thought it was amazing. It is, actually.
14 The Seekers – When The Stars Begin To Fall (1963, Australia)
My Lord, what a morning
My Lord, what a morning
My Lord, what a morning
When the stars begin to fall
My Lord, what a morning
My Lord, what a morning
My Lord, what a morning
When the stars begin to fall
You will weep for the rocks and mountains
You will weep for the rocks and mountains
You will weep for the rocks and mountains
When the stars begin to fall
My Lord, what a morning
My Lord, what a morning
My Lord, what a morning
When the stars begin to fall
You will hear the shout of victory
You will hear the shout of victory
You will hear the shout of victory
When the stars begin to fall
My Lord, what a morning
My Lord, what a morning
My Lord, what a morning
When the stars begin to fall
My Lord, what a morning
My Lord, what a morning
My Lord, what a morning
When the stars begin to fall
When the stars begin to fall
When the stars begin to fall
Susan has an ambiguous vision of the future.
The obligatory 1960s anthem, this was on The Seekers’ first album. Why do I like it so much? I think just because of Judith Durham’s voice.
15 The Warlord – I Shall Return (1978, England)
Humanoids of Earth
I shall return
Put your planet to right
Or you will burn
Humanoids of Earth
I shall return
Put your planet to right
Or you will burn
The alien presence fades as the System takes control.
The B-side of the Warlord single. Was it just cut for time, I guess?
16 Strange Advance – Till The Stars (1988, Canada)
We'd sit and dream of other days
Before she took our breath away
With hope and faith and other lies
Winter called and summer cried
You came to me one starry night
Through the wire, full of light
With a thing called love, I'd searched in vain
And I'll never be the same again
Till the stars fall from the sky
I'll want you till I die
Baby's called a thousand names
Now I've got a heart in flames
Till the stars fall from the sky
I'll love you till I die
Baby's called a thousand names
Now I've got a heart in flames
In danceland our souls are ice
But in our minds it's paradise
We lost the world the other night
But we tried
Baby, lady, hold me
The message reads: enfold me
You make me strong when I am weak
But you, you don't save one dance, lady
Till the stars fall from the sky
I'll want you till I die
Baby's called a thousand names
Now I've got a heart in flames
Till the stars fall from the sky
Nothing's what it seems
I'll want you till I die
In post atomic dreams
Baby's called a thousand names
Now I've got a heart in flames
Now I've got a heart in flames
Till the stars fall from the sky
Till the stars fall
I'll want you till I die
I'll want you
Jack falls in love with Susan and decides to enter the Simulation to meet her.
Strange Advance have had a bit of a revival in the last decade with ‘Worlds Away’ from 1982 seemingly being everywhere on US TV, but it’s the 1988 ‘The Distance Between’ album that really oozes cyberpunk for me.