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The Universe For Beginners

by ballboy

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1.
Kepler's Laws , number 1 Each planet moves in an ellipse with the sun at one focus Number 2 The radius vector from the sun to the planet sweeps out equal areas in equal times Number 3 The ratio cube of the semi-major axis of the ellipse divided by square of orbital period of the planets Is the same for all the planets When Johannes Kepler was staring at the planets and looking at the ellipses and the arcs that they made in the sky he thought about a lot of things About the way that they moved and the way that they interacted with the world and he thought about something else too. He thought about music And harmony And how it all went together The planets And the arcs And the ellipses And the music And here we are The planets are still spinning even if we can see them or not And here's us stuck in the middle with our music And tell me - who's happier? The planets, the music or you and I And as we lie here and watch them spinning and turning and arcing in the darkness I wonder where they get their inspiration from If they are making music they must be getting it from somewhere And sometimes - and yes I admit it - maybe only on our better days Sometimes I think though that maybe they get it from you and I Or at least I like to think so
2.
Sometimes all it needs is a little change a little change can put you so far out of sync that it feels like a big change and so one week instead of passing all the same people on the way to work or rather instead of passing them all at the same time i started to leave the house at different times just by a few minutes each day just by a few minutes each day to see what would happen and that's where i walked i walked down, you know, across the bridges with the sunshine on both sides and a little bit later i passed the ugly kid who goes to private school with his dad and i passed the semi-stylish girl who always seems to be wearing the same clothes even though i know she's not but whenever i remember her she's always wearing the same clothes and she never seems happy and the strangest thing of all is that when i pass the coffee shop where the little girl and her dad sit they're not even there because of the time that i left and that's the strangest thing of all because i've watched that girl grow up she sits every morning with her dad reading her book and i feel invested somehow because i've watched her grow up through the little books the easy ones through her Oxford Reading Tree and beyond and now she's one proper novels and i feel a sense of pride even though all i did was walk by regularly and later, on the way home I walk past Jenners and there's a man upside down standing on his head with his head in a bucket his arms folded across his chest and a little box that said "I didn't want to ask you for money - and so I did this instead" and there's an old Jenners Lady walking past and she says "You know that's the kind of thing that causes accidents" and the gothy grungy kids are standing at the top of the stairs talking about some guy whose girlfriend left him because he spent all his time just staring at a lightbulb "aye and he said he was doing it just for her" said the gothiest, grungiest looking one - did that make him the leader? did these kids even have or believe in leaders or was there some kind of socialist revolution happening here hidden behind the clothes and the makeup and the wings what were the wings for anyway? did they signify something? if they did then i didn't understand it but i guess that's the point and at the bottom of the street I'm standing and watching it's early evening at the start of the Summer and the sun and the sky and the bridges and the parks and the people and the streets and the sounds and the cars they're all just there - lit perfectly and I've been here so many times and I could never quite out what it was that made it what it is but today I get it today I work it out for the very first time and I'm feeling quite pleased with myself for doing it but also a little bit ashamed that I didn't work it out before. and here's what it is: It's that the rich can't buy it And the poor don't have to give it up It's that the rich can't buy it And the poor don't have to give it up
3.
all the thunder and the lightning was exciting for a while all the thunder and the lightning was exciting for a while but now we just stay in bed now we just stay in bed now we get excited about other things instead all the thunder and the lightning was exciting for a while all the thunder and the lightning was exciting for a while (break) and the late bars and the beachfronts kept us busy for a while but here you are and here am I and we have brand new things to try now we just stay in bed now we just stay in bed (break) outside a floodlit night and some motor cars and a missing man a missing man trying to get home outside is another world we watched a missing man a missing man trying to get home
4.
5.
6.
Recede, down the alley with your cold feet Down the alley we have morphine Metaphorically morphine Recede, microcosmically small feet Through the city to amaze me Through the city you amaze----- me (break) I’ve been poorly Dragged my frame around sorely Dragged my frame through the city To depart there with you To recede, down the alley with your cold feet Down the alley you and morphine Down the alley we have morphine I’ve been poorly Dragged my frame around coldly Hitched my shoulders round slowly Can’t take much more of this truthfully And recede Down the alley you and me seem Undervalued in the grand scheme Find the undertow lonely And precede You and me and you only You know what I mean with you only Under covers to love (break)
7.
8.
Love will break your heart Love will break your heart in two Love will break your heart (It doesn’t matter what you do) Love will break your heart Love will break your heart in two Love will break your heart (But I’ll take my chances with you) (It doesn’t matter what you do) (But sometimes you want it to) Love will break your heart Love will break your heart in two Love will break your heart (But I’ll take my chances with you) (But I’ll take my chances with you) (It doesn’t matter what you do) (But sometimes you want it to)
9.
Wrap your own arms around you Pretend the air has come Holidays are here to help you So they say And you are on your own again Your face is pressed against the window pane Strip the photos off the wall Strip the covers off the bed Now you’re moving on again One last time Come wrap your wings around me Watch fragile buildings turn to spray Watch sunsets crawl across the moon Watch streams of atoms lose their way And you’re on your own again Your fingers fade against the window pane Take up the arms that you have left Take up with women on the move Take up the posters from the streets Take all the photos that you need Take aim, take care Come wrap your own arms around me Pretend the air has come Holidays are here to help you One last time Take all the money you have left Take all the women that you need Pick up the leaflets from the street One last time.
10.
And really, it's here That I'm trying to tell you, All the things that I don't really have words for This is where it is, This is where it happens, Here.

about

This is not a ballboy album, but a side project by Gordon McIntyre of ballboy. It is a collection of spoken word and electronic songwriting recorded with Maja Mångård of Sweden in the years 2006 and 2007. It goes by the name of Money Can't Buy Music.

credits

released January 8, 2007

All songs written by Gordon McIntyre
All songs recorded and performed by Gordon McIntyre and Maja Mångård
Additional vocals by Lisa Bradley and David Borthwick

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ballboy Edinburgh, UK

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