(previously in Program Eleven/II: Novas 2.2)
(previously in story time: Novas 2.7)
(previously in story time: Novas 5.1)
(previously in story time: Novas 2.8)
(previously in story time: Novas 2.9)
(previously in story time: Novas 3)
(previously in story time: Novas 5.5 Act 1)
Honestly, I was happy with Novas 2.2 being the second of a pair. But then I stumbled on ELO’s “I’m Alive” and it needed a home. So it found some friends. This third part of a trilogy fits in the act gap of Novas 5.5, in the aftermath of Jack’s return to Earth and his strange new relationship with Susan… whatever she’s become.
Yes, there’s also subtext. (Novas is nothing but subtext). I began assembling 1.1 in the first days of COVID-19, when the monster hadn’t yet left China, not quite sure what the tea leaves were telling me. 3.3 was assembled in lockdown. This one is about what comes after the end, about how fearful things can reveal themselves as friends, and how above all in a time of crisis we need to choose what we want to dream.
BEGIN PROGRAM ELEVEN/II MODULE THREE.
01 Jefferson Starship – Winds of Change (1982, USA) SUSAN and THE PROBE
Walk softly through the desert sand Careful where you tread Underfoot are the visions lost Sleeping, not yet dead Hang on Wind's starting to howl Hang on The beast is on the prowl Hang on Can you hear the strange cry? Winds of change are blowing by Mountains crumble and cities fall Don't come to an end Lie scattered on the desert floor Waiting for the wind Hang on Wind's starting to howl Hang on The beast is on the prowl Hang on Can you hear the strange cry? Winds of change are blowing by You've got your life planned carefully But you left out one detail The hidden hand deals just one round And the winds of change prevail Hang on Wind's starting to howl Hang on The beast is on the prowl Hang on Can you hear the strange cry? Winds of change are blowing by Walk softly through the desert sands Old dreams lead the way Nothin' new in the sands of time Just changes every day Hang on It's starting again Hang on There's no shelter from the wind Hang on Like a fire from the sky Winds of change are blowing by
Earth continues to try to cope with the chaos in the wake of the Company’s collapse and the probe’s activation.
Something about 1980s Grace Slick catches some echo of that strange fire of the 8-bit silicon age to me.
I like how the blue outline of the wolf carries through to the next song.
02 Electric Light Orchestra – I’m Alive (1980, England/USA) JACK and SUSAN
I'm alive And the world shines for me today I'm alive Suddenly I am here today Seems like forever and a day Thought I could never feel this way Is this really me? I'm alive I'm alive I'm alive And the dawn breaks across the sky I'm alive And the sun rises up so high Lost in another world far away Never another word till today But what can I say? I'm alive I'm alive I'm alive Suddenly came the dawn from the night Suddenly I was born into life How can it be real? I'm alive I'm alive I'm alive I'm alive And the world shines for me today I'm alive Suddenly I am here today Seems like forever and a day Thought I could never feel this way Is this really me? I'm alive I'm alive I'm alive I'm alive I'm alive I'm alive I'm alive
Jack wakes as his escape pod returns to Earth.
This song – and especially the video – is the spark that started this list.
One of the first songs in the 1980 musical film Xanadu , which (as well as being an American collaboration between Aussie Olivia Newton-John, and the British prog-rockers Electric Light Orchestra) was also a remake of the 1947 musical comedy Down To Earth , which itself was a sequel to the afterlife/reincarnation comedy Here Comes Mr Jordan . Hollywood seems to love the earlier film, which has been remade as Heaven Can Wait (1978), Ice Angel (2000), Down To Earth (2001), and Bollywood gave it a go in 1968 as Jhuk Gaya Aasman .
But poor Xanadu become a “cult film” (probably because of the roller skates), while the 1947 Down To Earth is mostly forgotten. It’s… not a very memorable film, except for those two very good songs.
03 Debbie Gibson – Only In My Dreams (1987, USA) JACK’S DREAM SUSAN
Ah, ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh Ah, ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh Every time I'm telling secrets I remember how it used to be And I realise how much I miss you And I realise how it feels to be free Now I see I'm up to no good (no, no no) And I want to start again Can't remember when I felt good baby No I can't remember when No Only in my dreams As real as it may seem It was only in my dreams Couldn't see how much I missed you (now I do) Couldn't see how much it meant Now I see my world come tumbling down Now I see the road is bent If I only once could hold you (no, no no) And remember how it used to be If only I could scold you I'd forget how it feels to be free No Only in my dreams As real as it may seem It was only in my dreams No, no no no Only in my dreams As real as it may seem It was only in my dreams
Jack is haunted by his failure to save Susan. Meanwhile she is trying to communicate with him.
I always loved this song, and it makes me feel better to know that it really is that good – Gibson is a child prodigy who began writing songs at age 5. It’s been orbiting around the edges of the Novas project for years now, and while it really should be Jack’s voice, I think it still works great here.
04 Alan Parsons Project – Prime Time (1984, England) JACK
Well even the longest night won't last forever But too many hopes and dreams won't see the light And all of the plans I made won't come together But something in the air (something in the air) Maybe for the only time in my life Something in the air (something in the air) Turning me around and guiding me right And it's a prime time Maybe the stars were right I had a premonition It's gonna be my turn tonight Gonna be my turn tonight Well even the brightest star won't shine forever But all of my hands I've played are working out right And every move I make feels like a winner And something in the air (something in the air) Maybe for the only time in my life Something in the air (something in the air) Turning me around and guiding me right And it's a prime time Maybe the stars were right I had a premonition It's gonna be my turn tonight Gonna be my turn tonight Gonna be my turn tonight Something in the air Something in the air And it's a prime time Maybe the stars were right I had a premonition It's gonna be my turn tonight Gonna be my turn tonight Gonna be my turn tonight
Jack starts to sense Susan’s presence but cannot yet believe it.
I love this video so much. Shall we pretend it’s a deliberate and planned callforward to the “empty silhouettes” (no one taught them etiquette) from Solsbury Hill? Let’s do that.
I also like the inversion of meaning of “the stars are right”, a phrase which has had entirely too much bad press ever since HP Lovecraft.
05 Mike Oldfield – Pictures In The Dark (1985, England/Norway) JACK, SUSAN and THE PROBE
Follow the light that glows through your bedroom window tonight, tonight the fading twilight There's a hollow deep in the woods where you know you're crazy to go, to go not even meant to know There are pictures in the dark I see all around voices calling underground and I'm watching the stars since the world was found one, two, three Pictures in the dark I see Morpheus comes to me Pictures in the dark I see Aurora sets you free And in the deepest dark you come to a maze in the night, the night the fading twilight and you shiver the glistening path where you know you're crazy to go, to go not even meant to know There are pictures in the dark I see all around voices calling underground and I'm watching the stars since the world was found one, two, three lost in my dreams this night will never end (lost in my dreams) you can only fly in your dreams (sometimes it seems) midnight will be your friend (lost in my dreams) drift away on starlight beams (sometimes it seems) clocks are ticking the night away (lost in my dreams) you can only fly until dawn ascends Pictures in the dark I see Morpheus comes to me Pictures in the dark I see Aurora sets you free The moon shines in starlight beams And you'll be flying in your dreams
Jack faces his fears and confronts the alien presence in his dreams.
I discovered this song while searching for elements which would fit with the hope of “I’m Alive” and the eeriness of Novas 5.5. And then I realised that yes, of course I’d heard it before, back in the day. There’s a lot going on in this song, musically and thematically, behind its fairytale sheen, and that sense of mixed innocence and menace is exactly what Jack is feeling.
06 Olivia Newton-John – Magic (1980, England/Australia/USA) ENERGY BEING SUSAN
Come take my hand You should know me I've always been in your mind You know I will be kind I'll be guiding you Building your dream Has to start now There's no other road to take You won't make a mistake I'll be guiding you You have to believe we are magic Nothin' can stand in our way You have to believe we are magic Don't let your aim ever stray And if all your hopes survive Destiny will arrive And bring all your dreams alive For you I'll bring all your dreams alive For you From where I stand You are home free The planets align so rare There's promise in the air And I'm guiding you Through every turn I'll be near you I'll come anytime you call I'll catch you when you fall I'll be guiding you You have to believe we are magic Nothin' can stand in our way You have to believe we are magic Don't let your aim ever stray And if all your hopes survive Destiny will arrive And bring all your dreams alive For you I'll bring all your dreams alive For you
Susan reveals herself.
The other good Xanadu song.
All these years, I had never quite realised that “Magic” is a song about a Greek Muse (Terpsichore, the Muse of Dance, to be exact).
07 Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes (1986, England) JACK
Love I get so lost sometimes Days pass And this emptiness fills my heart When I want to run away I drive off in my car But whichever way I go I come back to the place you are All my instincts They return The grand facade So soon will burn Without a noise Without my pride I reach out From the inside In your eyes (in your eyes) The light, the heat (in your eyes) I am complete (in your eyes) I see the doorway (in your eyes) of a thousand churches (in your eyes) the resolution (in your eyes) of all the fruitless searches (in your eyes) Oh, I see the light and the heat (in your eyes, the light the heat) Oh, I wanna be that complete (in your eyes, the light the heat) I wanna touch the light, the heat I see in your eyes Love I don't like to see so much pain So much wasted And this moment keeps slipping away I get so tired Working so hard for our survival I look to the time with you To keep me awake and alive But all my instincts They return And the grand facade So soon will burn Without a noise Without my pride I reach out From the inside In your eyes (in your eyes, in your eyes) In your eyes (in your eyes) The light, the heat (in your eyes) I am complete (in your eyes) I see the doorway of a thousand churches (in your eyes) the resolution (in your eyes) of all the fruitless searches Oh, I see the light and the heat (in your eyes) Oh, I wanna be that complete (in your eyes) I wanna touch the light, the heat I see in your eyes In your eyes In your eyes In your eyes
Susan and Jack’s strange new relationship grows.
Like some of the other songs here or in Novas 5.5, this is one I encountered around 1993, and that left a deep, strange mark. It’s been many years since I’ve heard it and I was delighted to meet it again.
“The light, the heat” is definitely a callback to Novas 5.3 track 16.
08 Grace Jones – Scary But Fun (1986, USA) ENERGY BEING SUSAN
The first time you rode your bicycle down the street you fell on your hand You got little cuts and bruises the first time you walked, then you ran Scary but fun Take a chance in life, you have one A little bit scary but fun Did you forget what it's like to be young? I remember I learned how to waterski and the boat ran over my hand Broke several bones in my body I got right up and did it again Scary but fun Take a chance in life, you have one A little bit scary but fun Did you forget what it's like to be young? See them standing on the curner Crunching ice as the action goes by Hearing music pumping from their neighbours As they sit in the silence hear them cry Hear them cry Hear them cry Hear them cry Hear them cry Take to your wings butterfly Scary but fun Crazy but so much fun Scary but fun Crazy but so much fun Scary but fun Take a chance in life, you only have one Scary, a little bit scary but fun Did you forget what it's like to be young? Fun (fun fun fun fun) Fun (fun fun) Fun (fun fun fun fun) Fun (fun fun) I'm a little bit scary (she's a little bit, just a little bit scary) But I'm fun (she's a little bit, just a little bit fun) Just a little bit scary (she's a little bit, just a little bit scary) But so much fun (she's a little bit, just a little bit fun)
Susan comforts Jack as he leads the revolution.
Susan is definitely scary but fun.
09 Ben E King – Stand By Me (1961/1986, USA) JACK
When the night has come And the land is dark And the moon is the only light we'll see No I won't be afraid I won't be afraid Just as long as you stand Stand by me So darling, darling Stand by me Oh stand by me Oh stand Stand by me Stand by me If the sky that we look upon Should tumble and fall Or the mountain should crumble to the sea I won't cry, I won't cry No I won't shed a tear Just as long as you stand Stand by me And darling, darling Stand by me Oh stand by me Oh stand now Stand by me Stand by me Darling, darling Stand by me Oh stand by me Oh stand now Stand by me Stand by me Whenever you're in trouble Won't you stand by me Oh stand by me Oh stand now
The world crisis continues to grow.
Although it’s been covered so many times (and I think it was following a thread from Julian Lennon that brought it to my attention), I can’t get past Ben E King’s original 1961 version. His phrasing and delivery is perfect. And the 1986 video for the Stand By Me film, with Wil Wheaton just before Star Trek The Next Generation.
10 The Chills – Heavenly Pop Hit (1990, New Zealand) THE ALIENS
Each evening the sun sets In five million places Seen by ten billion eyes Set in five billion faces Then they close in a daze And wait for the dawning But the daylight, the sunrise Are brighter in our eyes Where night cannot devour Golden solar power Well once we were damned Now I guess we are angels For we passed through the dark And eluded the dangers Then awoke with a start To startling changes All the tension has ended The sentence suspended And darkness now sparkles and gleams And it all seems larger than life to me I find it rather hard to believe And so I stand and the sound goes straight through my body I'm so bloated up happy I could throw things around me And I'm growing in stages And have been for ages Just singing and floating and free Oh dum dum, na na na na Oh dum dum, na na na na Oh dum dum, na na na na Dum de dum dum, dum de dum dum It's a heavenly pop hit If anyone wants it Oh dum dum, na na na na Oh dum dum, na na na na Oh dum dum, na na na na Dum de dum dum, dum de dum dum It's a heavenly pop hit It's something that we're humming as we swoop low on trees or we sweep under carpets We could dive into suns though it's not recommended We can hover silent And listen closely It all seems larger than life to me I find it hard to believe So where was our home? Well our home was in tears For its fruit had gone bad They'd been that way for years Yet their lives are elastic They should be fantastic They should be expanding Oh dum dum, la la la la Oh dum dum, la la la la Oh dum dum, la la la la Dum de dum dum, dum de dum dum It's a heavenly pop hit If anyone wants it Oh dum dum, la la la la Oh dum dum, la la la la Oh dum dum, la la la la Dum de dum dum, dum de dum dum It's a heavenly pop hit For anybody For those who still want it
Earth’s affairs are being closely observed by minds vast, warm and sympathetic.
Somehow this song collided into my life in 2010 with a very large emotional charge attached. It’s a very good song. I really ought to pay more attention to the Chills, who seem to have started a whole second phase of their 40-year career in the last decade.
11 Carly Simon – Let The River Run (1988/2009, USA) SUSAN
Let the river run Let all the dreamers Wake the nation Come, the New Jerusalem Silver cities rise The morning lights The streets that meet them And sirens call them on With a song It's asking for the taking Trembling, shaking Oh, my heart is aching We're coming to the edge Running on the water Coming through the fog Your sons and daughters We, the great and small Stand on a star And blaze a trail of desire Through the darkening dawn It's asking for the taking Come run with me now The sky is the color Of blue you've never even seen In the eyes of your lover Oh, my heart is aching We're coming to the edge Running on the water Coming through the fog Your sons and daughters Let the river run (let the river run) Let all the dreamers (let the dreamers) Wake the nation (wake the nation) Come, the New Jerusalem Come, the New Jerusalem Come, the New Jerusalem
The theme song to the 1988 movie Working Girl, which won Carly Simon a Best Song Oscar, and well deserved. But somehow I can’t take that 1988 rendition at all. It’s far too celebratory of a terrible, fraudulent, predatory era in American history that smashed the pillars of the world now crumbling around our ears. Carly’s softer, more brooding and skeptical 2009 take is the one that speaks to me. Opportunity for a new world… but only if we can wake up.
The revolution is on the verge of winning.
(next in story time: Novas 3.4)
(next in story time: Novas 5.5 Act 2)
(next in Program Eleven/II: Novas 0.01) (but many years back in the past)