Rui Santos
Mandatory reading and listening for all in search of self knowledge. Love this song and also anything by "Ursula Le Guin". Thanks Grover's Mill.
I’ve been writing a few songs on the bass lately and this is one of them. It just came up during an improv session, me jamming on bass to a nice little jungle drum-type sample I found on my Future Music disc. Something about the drums reminded me of Tracy Chapman’s Mountains of Things from her first album, and I used that as a starting point for some bass and vocal melody ideas. I imagined someone old skool like Tone Loc or Coolio doing the vocal. Anyway, that's what I was going for, but maybe I ended up with Bob Dylan on a bad day. Bob and books just go together, don’t they?
I think I came up with the book report idea and the chorus while taking the dog for a walk (always good for getting ideas). I’d had that line about Ursula Le Guin kicking around for a long time and I saw this as my chance to use it. I already knew I would rhyme it with both the Tao Te Ching, and Huckleberry Finn, and that was all I needed to get started. The song was gonna be just a list of some of my favourite books and authors at this point. Since it was kind of a hip hop song I knew there would be a breakdown bit, and the idea of adding that stuff with Rod Taylor from the film The Time Machine seemed a funny and appropriate thing to do. To avoid the inevitable copyright hassles, I got a friend to do Rod's part instead.
By the way, this one comes with a music video. Check out the Youtube link.
lyrics
Hey there brothers and sisters I wanna talk to you as a friend,
So let me tell you ‘bout some books and authors I would like to recommend.
There’s PKD, and PD James and my man Herbert George Wells.
And don’t forget Dickens and Kipling and Kerouac, so many fantastic stories to tell.
The Lord Of The Rings, The Time Machine, the classic On The Road.
The Grapes of Wrath, War And Peace, even the Da Vinci Code.
And Mark Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
The Shipping News by E Annie Proulx, and anything by Ursula Le Guin.
You know, The Dispossessed, Left Hand Of Darkness.
You don’t? You should read ‘em. Because…
Books are real, books are cool,
Learn to read, that’s the golden rule.
They’re the reason you should go to school.
Some never read them, but they’re just fools.
Books are real, books are cool,
Learn to read, that’s the golden rule.
They’re the reason you should go to school.
Some never read them, but they’re just fools.
Yeah, books!
Alright HG, break it down for me…
(could I see the books?)
Yes my man you can see the books they’re in this place called a library.
Just take a walk around in here, you can read them all for free.
There’s histories and biographies of some inspiring lives.
There's science fiction and non fiction so many books for you to try.
Imagine a way to learn all the wisdom of the ages
From Buddha to Jesus and Martin Luther King, they’re all writ down in these pages.
The Jung, The Old and The New Testament and of course the Tao Te Ching.
But most of all, I want to emphasise this…anything by Ursula Le Guin!
My man Ged, the Wizard of Earthsea, the boy wizard.
She wrote that long before that Harry fella came along.
Hell, I am the wizard!
Books are real, books are cool,
Learn to read, that’s the golden rule.
They’re the reason you should go to school.
Some never read them, but they’re just fools.
Books are real, books are cool,
Learn to read, that’s the golden rule.
They’re the reason you should go to school.
Some never read them, but they’re just fools...
credits
released August 13, 2016
Will Greeves, all instruments. Special guest breakdown vocal: Rod Taylor (thanks Rod!)
Grover's Mill is a one-man home studio wizard called Will Greeves. He likes writing songs with quirky lyrics that mean
something, with music that's eclectic and that usually combines samples and his own noodlings. He's a bit like the band name - he cuts it up and mixes it up....more
Marc Mac, of 4Hero, uses vintage gear to conjure up irresistible, futuristic, jazz n'boogie flavored electronic music. Bandcamp New & Notable May 3, 2013
