Philosophistry's first song.

by phil on Thursday Nov 11, 2004 1:33 PM

I'm reading Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. A geisha is "one of a class of professional women in Japan trained from girlhood in conversation, dancing, and singing in order to entertain professional or social gatherings of men." geisha comes from the Japanese word gei which means art, implying that a geisha is a sort of "artisan."

And so, I laid in bed this morning, dreaming of being a danna, or one of the rich patrons of a geisha, wishing for a lady with art in her life.

Anyway, here's the first song I've ever made: Philosophistry - Memoirs. (Note, it starts off choppy but then smooths out later--all intentional of course)

Lyrics

What I discovered that afternoon was that when my body felt heavy, I could move with great dignity. And if I imagined the Chairman observing me, my movements took on such a deep sense of feeling that sometimes each movement of a dance stood for some little interaction with him. Turning around with my head tipped at an angle might represent the question, "Where shall we spend our day together, Chairman?" Extending my arm and opening my folding fan told how grateful I felt that he'd honored me with his company. And when I snapped my fan shut again later in the dance, this was when I told him that nothing in life mattered more to me than pleasing him. (page 153)

Guitar Tabs

E----2----2----2----5----3-----
B----3----2----1----5----3-----
G----2----2----2----4----3-----
D------------------------------
A------------------------------
E------------------------------

(Inspired by The Chemical Brothers "Pioneer Skies")

Book Cover

Waveform

A Little Background

The song is about a conflict I had with a girl who fashioned herself as a modern geisha (instead of Kabuki, she did film). Consider the spoken word to be her voice, and the guitar to be my experience. In other words, I'm the Chairman.