Saturday, October 31, 2009

My Mac 'N' Keys

Music and lyrics by Jonah Rank (C) 2009

All instruments mixed, recorded and produced by Jonah Rank


I figured I’d record this song in the studio,

But there weren’t any drums.

How can I make a hip-hop hit or a pop song

Without any drums?

When I realized that my lack of a drumset

Wasn’t an uncommon situation,

I gave in and turned on the UltraBeat Drum Machine

Out of common desperation.

Then it seemed the only chords I could play

Were the tonic, sub-mediant, subdominant, and dominant.

Though that progression has been featured in other songs,

I figure it still has the right to be prominent.

After all, after all is said and done:

This music I’m making is hardly amazing; it’s just mildy fun.


I thank God for my Mac ‘n’ keys.

With a MIDI synthesizer, I appear just that much wiser.

I thank God for my Mac ‘n’ keys.

I don’t need to play the bass to play a bass in your face.

So, when I found out that my cowbell orchestra was running late;

I fired them, found a percussion patch, and attempted to replicate.

And then I thought:

Why did I need a cowbell orchestra in this song?

I’m not sure that it would work.

So, I turned it off.

I saw John Williams on the New York subway train,

So I hummed the theme from Jaws.

I tried to articulate to him my love for him

In an independent clause.

And then I asked Mr. Williams if I could borrow

The London Symphony Orchestra’s first-chair flautist.

But I couldn’t make out his response because, of all the sounds on the train,

The mariachi band was the loudest.

See, I could have found a musician, and our personalities might not have clicked.

But, I get by anti-socially relying on my digital tricks.

I thank God for my Mac ‘n’ keys.

Got my Apple and my keyboard; now there’s nothing left that I can afford.

I thank God for my Mac ‘n’ keys.

I broke up with my band because I don’t need a hand.

When I found out that my glockenspiel player died,

I sat in a corner and I nearly cried.

But I looked around and then I found

A sufficiently similar sound.

Do you like my glockenspiel?

I want to thank the pirates on the Internet

For giving me these Plug-ins for free.

Baby, you ain’t heard nothing original yet.

But at least the songs I program are superior to me.

I thank God for my Mac ‘n’ keys.

Can you hear me rock-n-rolling with my RAM and my Roland?

I thank God for my Mac ‘n’ keys.

I use my Kurzweil in mainstream style.

I wonder how long it’s going to be before we agree that musicians are extinct.

After all, it’s been a while since I’ve heard a hit song that was relatively distinct.

Maybe you can be my witness

As we slaughter the music business.

I thank God for my Mac ‘n’ keys.

Virtuosity is minimal when the musicians are all digital.

I thank God for my Mac ‘n’ keys.

I’m keeping people out of work with my Moog and my Korg.

I thank God for my Mac ‘n’ keys.

Place a sound on a plate and make it reverberate!

I thank God for my Mac ‘n’ keys.

I thank Gosh for my Macintosh.

I thank God for my Mac ‘n’ keys.

I thank Gosh for my Macintosh.

I thank God for my Mac ‘n’ keys.