(previously in Program Twelve: Novas 3.4)
(previously in story time: Novas 5.5 Act 2)
It is 1989. In the last days of the Final Concert, Jack and Susan have reunited… almost. There’s one last thing left to do before the world ends…
BEGIN PROGRAM TWELVE MODULE FIVE.
… the wonders of the world and all in colour…
Novas 3.9: He Bring In The Morning
01 Joan Armatrading – What Do Boys Dream? (1983, West Indies/England) ENERGY BEING SUSAN
Do boys dream about living in a constant ecstasy? Do boys dream about the same kind of thing that the young girls dream? What do the boys dream? What do the boys all dream of? What do the boys dream? What do the boys all dream of? Do boys dream about life in space and hallucination? Do boys dream about the killing of a friend, the investigation? What do the boys dream? What do the boys all dream of? What do the boys dream? What do the boys all dream of? Do boys dream about the great escape of the mythical monster? Do boys dream about the big romance with the girl of their dreams? What do the boys dream? What do the boys all dream of? What do the boys dream? What do the boys all dream of? What do the boys dream? What do the boys all dream of? What do the boys dream? What do the boys all dream of? Do boys dream about the wonders of the world and all in colour? Do boys dream about the big romance with the girl of their dreams? What do the boys dream? What do the boys all dream of? What do the boys dream? What do the boys all dream of? What do the boys dream? What do the boys all dream of? What do the boys dream? What do the boys all dream of?
Susan is calling.
The jagged, angular tones of this song, that eerie New Wave dissonance, bring us back full circle musically to Novas 1.
02 John Paul Young – War Games (In The Video Arcade) (1983, Scotland/Australia) JACK
What to do, Saturday night? And the heart of America Is beating like a time-bomb ready to explode In this union town the hammer comes down and echoes in my ears And life becomes so predictable and far too real So good night, America, good night, good night Good night, America, good night, good night They're playing war games in the video arcade They're playing war games, war games in the video arcade They're playing war games in the video arcade War games, war games in the video arcade Twilight alone in your bed The sounds are in your head Your fingers twitch and push your imagination The combat zone, the wind in your hair, a helicopter blade Is chanting like a choirboy in the jungle heat So good night, America, good night, good night Good night, America, good night, good night They're playing war games in the video arcade They're playing war games, war games in the video arcade They're playing war games in the video arcade War games, war games in the video arcade They're playing war games in the video arcade They're playing war games, war games in the video arcade They're playing war games in the video arcade War games, war games in the video arcade War games in the video arcade They're playing war games, war games in the video arcade They're playing war games in the video arcade War games, war games in the video arcade
Jack watches the post-Corporate world situation with something close to despair. Unless something changes, it’s all going to repeat itself.
John Paul Young’s “One Foot In Front” album released in July 1983, while the film “WarGames” released in June 1983. Surely there was no obvious coordination between the two? Or was it a case of perhaps advance production and marketing materials influencing the direction of a song? Or just another one of those weird “cyberpunk was just in the air” coincidences around the 1980s scene.
03 The Pointer Sisters – Jump (For My Love) (1983, USA) ENERGY BEING SUSAN
Your eyes Tell me how you want me I feel it in your heartbeat I know you like what you see Hold me I'll give you all that you need Wrap your love around me I'm so excited I can feel you getting hotter Oh baby I'll take you down I'll take you down Where no-one's ever gone before And if you want more If you want more, more, more Then jump For my love Jump in And feel my touch Jump If you wanna taste My kisses in the night Then jump, jump For my love Jump You know my heart can make you happy Jump in You know these arms can fill you up Jump If you wanna taste My kisses in the night Then jump, jump For my love You told me I'm the only one that's for you Nobody does it like I do Then make a move Before you try to go much further Oh baby You are the one You are the one And heaven waits here at my door And if you want more If you want more, more, more Then jump For my love Jump in And feel my touch Jump If you wanna taste My kisses in the night Then jump, jump For my love Jump You know my heart can make you happy Jump in You know these arms can fill you up Jump If you wanna taste My kisses in the night Then jump, jump For my love When you are next to me Oh I come alive Your love burns inside Oh it feels so right So come to me if you want me tonight Jump Jump in If you wanna taste My kisses in the night Then jump, jump, jump, jump Oh you know You know my heart can make you happy Jump You know these arms can fill you up Jump in If you wanna taste My kisses in the night Then jump, jump For my love
Susan reminds Jack that it’s possible for humanity to make a quantum leap in consciousness, and that time is running out.
I thought from the sound that this must be a Georgio Moroder production but it isn’t, it’s Richard Perry. Though Perry did work with Donna Summer too, so there’s some kind of link there.
04 Peter Bjorn and John – On The Brink (2020, Sweden) JACK
On the brink of my eternity The well I almost fall into I've been thinking about what's called destiny And the things you never do I've been trying hard Yes I've been trying hard I've been trying hard To do them too Like the things you never told me then Did you try too hard to please? Did you ask yourself what if and when? Did it fly off in the breeze? I've been trying hard Yes I've been trying hard I've been trying hard To catch those dreams These things Matters more than we know And these dreams Sends us to the stars And this life Is the only one And your luck Is my guide In the hour of our confession In the times we fear the most We get judged beyond dimension For our silly little falls But I've been trying hard Yes I've been trying hard I've been trying hard To make it right These things Matters more than we know And these dreams Sends us to the stars And this life Is the only one And your luck Is my guide We all carry guilt and burdens So our backs get crooked and bent And we rarely never mention The forgiveness heaven-sent I've been trying hard Yes I've been trying hard I've been trying hard To let it in I've been trying hard Yes I've been trying hard I've been trying hard To let it in Let it in Let it in
Jack is hesitant to push the button.
I only knew Peter Bjorn and John from “Young Folks” (2006) which isn’t really even representative of them at all. But this strange little 2020 song from “Endless Dream” is kind of exactly what I wanted here.
Did you ever watch Tarkovsky’s “Stalker” (1979) (based on Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s “Roadside Picnic”? Then maybe you get some of what’s going on in the story at this point. Imagine if there were a button you could push, a device from a ludicriously advanced civilization, that you could turn on, which could… make it so things you wished for happened. Things anyone wished for. Whether or not everyone understood what they were wishing for.
You might be hesitant to push that button too.
Tarkovsky had previously done much the same theme with his 1972 take on Stanislaw Lem’s “Solaris”. I guess “but what if we got what we wished for?” was a recurring dissident artist take on Communist utopian futurism.
Novas has a slightly more positive spin on this idea… that the human race could survive actualising our collective unconscious, and in fact, that we are being guided in that direction… but it’s still supposed to be a harrowing decision to make.
05 FM – The Love Bomb (Universal Love) (2015, Canada) JACK AND THE ARTIFACT
Deep down under the night Something sacred is found Earthbound manchild Caught in the systems of life He's about to give ground The impossible dream: Fight to live, not to die Earthbound manchild Picks up the alternate stream And remembers to try To put down the sword And pick up the key To unlock the door The undeniable truth The indescribable joy The unmistakable source Of universal love Every battle reminds Nothing ever is won And the Love Bomb Older and wiser than time Knows it's over and done When we live for today When we stop keeping score And the Love Bomb Waiting for someone to say "We will make love not war" Now put down the sword And pick up the key To unlock the door The undeniable truth The indescribable joy The irresistable force Of universal love I float on the morning breeze The feeling of somewhere in between Something as simple as it seems The faces I can't recall The people I barely even knew Drifting around me in the light But here is the truth That now is the time we can awake To put down the sword And pick up the key To unlock the door The undeniable truth The indescribable joy The undisputable power Of universal love We put down the sword And pick up the key To unlock the door
With no option left, Jack activates the Artifact he discovered in the deserts of Australia.
06 Who Said Charge? – Sunarise (1982, England) SUSAN AND THE ARTIFACT
Sun arise he bring in the morning Sun arise bring in the dawning Fluttering all the skirts all around Sun arise she come with the dawning Sun arise come with the dawning Spreading all the light all around Sun arise on the kangaroo's paw Sun arise on the kangaroo's paw Glisten on the dew all around Sun arise fill in all the hollow Sun arise fill in all the hollow Lighting up the hills all around Ah-ooh Sun arise come with the dawning Ah-ooh Sun arise she come every day Ah-ooh Sun arise bring in the morning Ah-ooh Sun arise every every every every day She drive away the darkness Every day She drive away the darkness Bringing back the warmth to the ground Sun arise ooh-ooh Sun arise ooh-ooh Spreading all the light all around Sun arise bring in the morning Sun arise bring in the morning Spreading all the light all around Ah-ooh Ah-ooh Ah-ooh Ah-ooh Every every every every day Sun arise Sun arise
The Artifact awakens
This wonderful little single appears to be from an English band, doing a cover version of the Rolf Harris song from 1961. I’m sure I came across it in the actual 1980s, to much puzzlement.
The lyrics in this one are a little different from the Harris original, I think.
07 Craig Safan – Record Breaker (The Last Starfighter) (1984/2015, USA)
Instrumental
This time Jack isn’t playing a videogame
The music is from 1984, but apparently this track was only released in album form on the Expanded Edition reissue in 2015.
08 The Beatles – Here Comes The Sun (1969/2019, England) JACK
Here comes the sun Here comes the sun And I say It's all right Little darling It's been a long cold lonely winter Little darling It feels like years since it's been here Here comes the sun Here comes the sun And I say It's all right Little darling The smiles returning to the faces Little darling It seems like years since it's been here Here comes the sun Here comes the sun And I say It's all right Sun sun sun here he come Sun sun sun here he come Sun sun sun here he come Sun sun sun here he come Sun sun sun here he come Little darling I feel that ice is slowly melting Little darling It seems like years since it's been clear Here comes the sun Here comes the sun And I say It's all right Here comes the sun Here comes the sun And I say It's all right It's all right
A wave of psychological transfiguration breaks across the globe
And this is the 2019 remaster of the 1969 original, and the accompanying video is also from 2019.
Think something a little like “Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion”, only perhaps not quite so goopy. Whatever happened at the end of “Send Love Through” in 5.5 was a little similar, but on a smaller scale.
Also, you know what? With all the storm imagery in the last two playlists, I might roll “The Weather War of ’89” (from “Escape From The Citadel) into the years 1987-1989 on Novas Earth as well. Why not.
09 Amy Sky – Heaven (Opened Up Its Doors) (1998, Canada) SUSAN
When the sky is a midnight coal And the thunder begins to roll And the rain falls on me Like pebbles on my soul There's a lantern that's burning bright Like a moon shining in your eyes And it pulls me closer Until I'm in your arms It's like heaven opened up its doors And I've never been so high before It's like heaven opened up its doors To me I wanna go When the sun's waking up the sky And beside me I feel you lie It's a prayer so holy I hear the angels cry And the echoes and memories That sometimes get the best of me Disappear like shadows In your love's sweet light It's like heaven opened up its doors And I've never been so high before It's like heaven opened up its doors To me I wanna go It's like heaven opened up its arms And I've never been so far from harm It's like heaven opened up its arms Just to me When I need ya When I breathe ya When I have ya When I feel ya When I hold ya You make me believe I believe in heaven Heaven opened up its doors I believe in heaven And I've never been so high before It's like heaven opened up its doors To me, to me Baby I believe Heaven opened up its arms I believe in you, yes I do And I've never been so far from harm It's like heaven opened up its arms To me And I want you here forever more with me It's like heaven opened up its doors To me
Susan and Jack are finally on the same frequency, as the Probe opens the final gateway.
Song Titles (With Parentheses) seems to be a feature of this playlist, so let’s run with that.
10 Walk Off The Earth – Home We’ll Go (2015, Canada) JACK, SUSAN AND COMPANY
Don't let your head hang low You've seen the darkest skies I know Let your heart run child Like horses in the wild So take my hand and home we'll go The sun it glows like gold Feel it warm as a burning coal Let your soul shine bright Like diamonds in the sky So take my hand and home we'll go Home we'll go Home we'll go Home we'll go Home we'll go It's a long road but we're not alone Together we'll stand and we're coming home It's a long road but we're not alone Together we'll stand and we're coming home Don't let your head hang low You've seen the darkest skies I know Let your heart run child Like horses in the wild So take my hand and home we'll go Home we'll go Home we'll go Home we'll go Home we'll go Home we'll go Home we'll go Home we'll go Home we'll go
Susan and Jack step into the next dimension
I am so very very happy that this song exists. It is a good song.
And this pretty much, at least chronologically, ends Jack and Susan’s story. Their story spills over into Novas 6, but that’s not really their story, or even their Earth. On Novas Earth, something climactic and definitive and mind-alteringly happy happened in 1989, such that it’s really hard to look beyond it. Or at least to find music that would describe what happens there next.
For bonus cuteness, completely unknown and unintended: there exists an electro-dance remix of Home We’ll Go featuring Steve Aoki, which seems to be part of a (so far) four album cyberpunk-dance-opera project called Neon Future, that began in 2014. Novas isn’t the unlicenced rustbucket scavenger sibling of Neon Future, but… well it’s just funny what seems to be in the air, and what songs seem to attract science fictional ideas.