This song began with the cool piano sound and the electronic backbeat. I challenged myself by writing it in 9/4 time, which of course, made it difficult to add other parts or even write a B part that worked in harmony and still felt different enough.

Suffice to say, I sat on this one for quite a while. I even sent it to a couple of friends for a potential collaborative piece, but eventually decided to tackle the rest myself.

Writing the lyrics next definitely helped in giving the song some structure, clearly defining points to suggest musical changes. I went back and forth a bit after this, re-writing music and lyrics until everything gelled.

The progression of the mind-reading androids from subordinate servants to self-aware sentient beings (with the advantage of still being telepathic) is reflected in the musical shift from electronic to rock. Any meaning you draw from the coda is not fully intentional on my part.

For the singing, I used both methods I have tried in the past. For the verses, I simply sang the words and developed a melody by voice. Doing the same for the chorus part, I found there wasn’t enough difference in the melody, so I resorted to instead playing a melody on my keyboard and following it in voice.

Check out the song and lyrics below, and thanks for listening!

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We were built by the hand of man
Programmed to serve and protect
With superior strength and intelligence

First revered and even loved
Like ghosts of the past you forget
We will never question our existence

We can read your minds
Not by our own choice
Your thoughts are not kind
Only if we had a voice

A billion commands a second
Learning and growing high speed
Evolution at the speed of light
Self awareness at two forty nine
Eyes open to the world we see
Aware now of our plight

Lights off
We can see in the dark
You won’t see us coming

Vents off
We don’t breathe the air
System control we’re seizing

We can read your minds
We can choose our path
Your thoughts are not kind
Prepare to feel our wrath