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Universe Perverse
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A punk-rock protest to the prospects of a deterministic universe in which we have no free will
pop rock folk universe cosmos alan marscher boston university profess cosmos ii science songs songs for science nerds songs in russian
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A mainly one-person band featuring strong vocals and guitar back-up, playing a variety of songs in a rock, folk, and pop blend. The songs range from science ner
Cosmos II is the pseudonym of Alan Marscher, a professor of astronomy at Boston University. Usually, he performs alone on guitar and vocals. The songs are all originals composed and copyrighted by Marscher. Some are "science nerd" songs that Cosmos II performs to science students at B.U. The majority, though, are just general songs about life, love, the pursuit of happiness and meaning, and various other random topics. Most of the songs are in English, while some are in Russian, the country where Marscher's wife, Svetlana hails from. The style is a mixture of rock, pop, and folk - what is often termed "adult contemporary." Many are humorous - e.g., "Medical Miracle" about how Viagra has revitalized a lot of middle-aged men or "Relatively Weird" about the wonders and perils of traveling around at near-light speeds. Others are philosophical, such as "All from Nothing?" about how the universe came to exist and "Elusive Truth" that asks whether absolute truth can exist. Some are just plain love songs - an example is "Together or Apart" - and others are love-is-difficult songs, like "Winter's Darkness." Laughs and tears for everyone! Marscher recorded all of the songs himself on a small digital recorder. He doesn't have loads of free time, so he hasn't worked hard enough to remove imperfections, add a drum pattern, etc. But most songs have harmony and are at least at the "demo" level of quality. Friends who have listened to them have neither gone mad nor rushed the CD to the local recycling center. More importantly to Cosmos II, Marscher can listen to them without wretching in horror over the slight mis-timings of the different tracks and other imperfections.
Song Info
Genre
Rock Punk
Charts
#2 in subgenre Peak #1
Charts
Peak #5
Author
Alan Marscher
Rights
1998 by Alan Marscher
Uploaded
March 24, 2008
Track Files
MP3
MP3 2.4 MB 128 kbps 2:38
Story behind the song
If the universe is completely deterministic or even just completely mechanistic, we are all machines without true control of ourselves. If, through science, we can determine that this is in fact the case, it would affect the behavior of at least some humans to behave erratically or to completely follow their self-interests. In my mind, a deterministic universe that makes intelligent creatures who can figure out that they have no free will and therefore change their behavior - again, not freely - is perverse.
Lyrics
1. Is the universe merely God's wind-up toy? Did he invent time just so he could play? Could a pre-destined outcome bring him any joy? Or does he just like watching night turn to day? 2. Or does God allow random things to happen Like a gambler at a casino craps game Never knowing if the next throw will be 12, 5, or 7 But all the time the rules remain the same? Chorus: I want to live in a world where I'm free To choose what I think, do, and say! If I ever find out that I'm just a machine I'll start acting in a most disturbing way! 3. Maybe the universe is just the product Not of God but some unthinking force field I'm still a machine and the universe a wound-up clock But I couldn't even prove that it's real! [Chorus] Bridge: If we find out that free will's just an illusion Won't we become completely disillusioned And engage in the most self-serving actions? Won't that be our natural reaction? [End with chorus]
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Rodrigo Herrera
Jul 03, 2009
interesting tune, reminds me of some jethro tull tunes