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The Philosopher

by Vold Book

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1.
2.
Nova Cabana 04:06
Fate bends into chance Like a swing on the breeze Atmosphere breathes behind Her clues on the leaves Caught one on the way home Just the other day Feral people line up to take apathy Methane rain clouds, thunder distorts irony By definition, there can be only sunrises
3.
4.
A Souvenir 03:41
There was a time when I didn't notice, accept I would not even doubt that I was here at all Then a lantern lit up outside my treehouse If you want to, would you please come along? I don't have many friends Who can see me , only a few Because I'm feeling for me When I imagine hope
5.
It was all fun and games The maiden voyage of the Nautilus Was filled with illustrious guests And entertainers of all kinds But then it happened so quick Everything changed in a heartbeat And when travelling that fast It was no laughing matter Forever frozen in the moment of explosion Trapped in hyperspace Beyond the furthest reaches of the mind Somewhere time cannot go Somewhere time is not yet permitted to go The decorated party of artists and philosophers The old and nouveau riche found themselves Aviation and cigar in hand Suspended in animation Outside the perimeter of sensible expectation Brass and woodwork, copper and fusion Melted in their moment of desperation Laughter and sadness, terror and delight All paused for an eternity Subjective reflection is all that exists For the travelers aboard that vessel The Nautilus was not the first of its kind However, it was the first to make such ominous distinction To meet destruction beyond the speed of light There they were, frozen in time, for all time Trapped inside a mirror, fractured as they were At the very moment of collapse Stars exploding, the symphony erupting In cascades and crashes forevermore
6.
The track of dancing lights shown boldly and without reservation It was programmed by the technician, who fought to keep his job Amidst the pressures of modern day Rome. Inward were these pressures cast Bombarding the natural tranquility of his mind With grotesque and deformed impressions Of stress and illusion The result of strain and fractured remedies That society prescribed to keep the cogs of the machine well-lubricated There was nowhere to turn, except back to the work day The assembly line was unjustly wicked Carving out bodies like meat Every rivet had its place And the connectors must perform without hesitation Again and again, without fail September happenings spoke of the clarity of frosted panes The cold was creeping in fast, all around And he knew that he was alone in making it through the night Watchful wanderers sent the evil eye his way It was a hall of broken mirrors Deflected light shattering perception His hands burned of limitless tools Each one primed to do its job All combining in unison To weather away the quorum of sanity Slipping into the meticulous plan The consensus of atrophy turned to stone Toxic ruminations circled around heretical belief That there was another way to get through this life Collective justification enshrined misery And the altar of sadness appeared before his eyes It was everywhere that light colonized A manifest destiny of hypocritical vexation Whether or not the reality appeared did not matter For the droves of contractors performed best under veils of deceit Secondary misfortune: Sleep was in tune with this denial and restored only the necessary indentations The integrity of the machine was unsustainable, precisely as designed Unfit for work Seven undertows claimed passersby who wallowed in halcyon drifting Expectations that sovereign luck would save them However, this was merely an apparatus of visual, beleaguered idealism Succumbed to surrender and usurped for the purpose of additional grief Steel arms and inlaid sockets fought with furious force against conspirators Who motioned silently with signals, gesturing defeat To gain higher ground against the juggernauts of progress Hieroglyphics volunteered ancient meaning to rattle the cause But all had been consumed ages ago And there was nothing left to rectify destiny nor callous friction Misfortune! Tinkering with all of us Finds its way, regardless of unified front Hidden passageways, canaled beneath the surface Like fossils of ancestral effort: arrows, sharper than death In violently calcuated suggestions Echoing footsteps Appealing to the younger folk So soon to transform riddles into epithets And eulogies unwritten by a disgusting mind That conquered entire cities without remorse Far along its journey toward the stars Technological evolution heaved constructions Uniform causeways that furthered the hiatus of reason Philosophically invalid fallacies, the currency of standard trade Motioning onward, beneath the salty, dusted plume The threshold’s knee revealed vulnerability Questions of volcanic debris undermined the cyclops Whose behemoth yawn swallowing ships sailed Creating the winds that we know today All of this said, the seed of majestic correction lay buried for a million years, unmoved Futuristic fantasies are the bourgeosie commodities of speculating teens, vaping in the metaverse What’s real is not a fixed proposal But rather a shifting orb of foggy gradients Unlocked by the tokens found at a museum The Nautilus was being constructed Along the assembly-line, but fate would intervene An older revision of a mechanical part was mixed in inventory And the tensions placed upon that joint were not qualified for hyperspace The collapse of a million stars into solitary perspective, naturally rippled out of control And stately ceremony was postponed, as the fallout was analyzed And its implications ascertained Before the antecedent branch had matured Revolutionaries seized their opportunity to deal the death blow To capitalistic dogma and its foregone conclusions At times of darkest dictatorship, nihilistic resolve is necessary To restore the absence of a negative Concrete mistakes are no better than uncertain forecasting With something to replace it, becomes possible to grow And change, but somehow I suspect that we’re not ready for the reins We never were, and that is our problem We cannot stop the march of time, nor should we But also, we are not prepared for its responsibilities Compassion is a simple tool, simplistic yet effective An underrated device that has not been given the chance to prove its eventual worth Overlooked and forgotten We all ask, “What is wrong with the world today?” And do not want to hear a sensible answer Objectives remain unclear, and vision is limited at best An avalanche of glacial proportions the poets spoke of long ago But they were marginalized and outcast No one asks the philosopher what he thinks about the disease Because he is touched by it the most And outward appearances are all that matter here So he is blamed for his own lack of utility And the Earth, in revolution, sails around the sun As it will continue to do, once the skyscrapers have all settled And the vines and ferns have reclaimed the metallic aperture Of the crimson eye Of humanity’s misplaced crusade
7.
Twin Hands 04:37
On top of the world Fell into outer space But there's no one there So, I designed a maze Invited you to stay You turned the other way I didn't know what to say So, I escaped today When everything's bleaker Than new worn-out speakers Put your headphones on And tune into the cause And anything that's lost Should come back to you Except the way that You looked at me today Once you're gone, I'm gone babe There's nothing we can say No message is louder than Our twin hands in quicksand
8.
I'm super busy Can't get no sleep Gotta instill some magic belief I'm a person exactly not like you Just like you, I want to believe I'd always make some more time just for you If I could, then I'd be a God I'd believe destiny She don't lie There is a reason God brought me to you Don't believe such childish things There is a season for every mistake Love is true, as gifts are to break Following numbers down rabbit holes Your brain is wired out of control If you want to send me your autograph There is an address just on my sleeve I can't believe in anything at all Because if I do, I lose you
9.
Twenty Years 06:09
10.
11.
Take Flight 04:19
Singing is a virtual privilege And living is a real lesson There’s a way to an understanding Life can be so fucking demanding Make yourself a future Give yourself a break Don't forget to say hi Or else wave goodbye I wanted to tell you all That we really care, love ya! This is not the end of the story Help me out I'm just getting started I am older than I want to be There's nothing I can do about that I am so astonished that you're with me still Darling that's the end of the broadcast Thank you all for listening to me

about

'The Philosopher' is the companion album to 'Caverns of Egypt,' also deriving from the 'Starlight Fence' sessions. Take a listen. It has many interesting nooks and crannies, such as "Light Speed Disaster" and the title track, which both feature spoken word over music and are loosely connected. Another track of interest is the nearly 20 minute "Stairway to Kyiv," a meditation on a journey through the creative process and dedicated to Ukrainian people scattered around the world.

credits

released June 13, 2023

All songs written, recorded, and produced by John T. Trautman

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about

Vold Book California

Vold Book has been making music in Austin, TX. since 2014 and recently relocated to SLO County, central coast.

Stay tuned for "A Humanist's Story with Vold Book," on September 15, 2023. It is a four-episode radio program that introduces new listeners to my work. Dive deep with me into the meaning of the music and words.

John T. Trautman - b. October 27, 1981 in Ridgewood, NJ.
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