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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
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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
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3. |
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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
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5. |
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6. |
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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)
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7. |
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8. |
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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)
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9. |
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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.
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10. |
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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.
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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.