Song Yin Song Yang
This record includes 18 songs about 9 concepts. For each concept, there is a pair of songs. The first song in each pair is the Yin version of the concept. The second is the Yang version. Some think of Yin and Yang as a philosophy. To me, it is a way to think about how interdependent we are; not just with each other, but with the biosphere that makes it possible for us and most other forms of life (that we know of) to exist. Our interdependence includes many types of interactions. One of the oldest is sharing stories. Music can add color to stories; give them shape; enhance emotion. As with all stories, the songs on this record are intended to invoke feelings or deliver messages. Each pair of songs encompasses good and bad; dark and light. Some of the songs in Song Yin Song Yang are enhanced by personal experience, but the intent in each case is to tell a story.
Evolution isn’t debatable; it’s real. It is one of the reasons humans exist. A large number of my fellow humans do not agree. They believe that some type of supreme being or beings had something to do with our creation. And some of us believe that our species is devolving. We’re past our peak; falling back. Is it possible that our genetic codes, like the 99’s credit cards, have been maxed out? Maybe. I’m not a coder, and I may not have a good enough feel for it. Regardless, I think that over the course of millions of years, our genetic code should have evolved, not just to improve our reproduction success rate, but to make us better stewards of the biosphere that sustains us. However, that’s not what I am observing as of 2022. Can even A Call To Mind make a difference? Will we continue to allow depressed dictators, like the madman in Russia, to threaten humanity with extinction via nuclear war? Will we let climate change severely limit the number of humans our biosphere can support? Will fundamentalists continue to deny science until they get their rapture? Will the 1% continue to fund media outlets that profit from convincing the fundamentalists that they should go on denying science? The answer to that one is yes, however, the fundamentalists are merely part of one tribe. There are four others. The Yang version of this concept is There Are Only 5 Tribes. This song is the vocal version of HUMANS 5. It tells the story of the 5s, who use religious fundamentalism and dogmata to control billions of humans. For more detail, you need to read infinitwav’s HUMANS.
Elitism has been part of human experience from the start. The first member of homo sapiens was elite by definition relative to the species her genetic mutation had separated her from. As further mutations occurred, we discovered many ways to separate ourselves within our new species: flesh tone, body type, physical strength, height, hair length, adornment, language, culture, philosophy, creed, ad infinitum. One differentiator, within tribes, and humanity at large, ultimately came to be more significant than all the others - Wealth. There are other ways to gain power, however, if you want to be elite in the 21st century, wealth accumulation is the way to go. As of 2022, 60% of what most humans perceive to be wealth is owned by just 1% of our fellow humans. With that kind of wealth, the 1% don’t have to fight for power; they just buy it. The 99 celebrates the 99% - those of us who make the 1% possible. We have a lot to do and say. Many of us still believe that we have enough; we’re doing all right. A comfortable middle-class existence still seems within reach. We know we are not being treated fairly, but are not willing to behave as badly as the mob that invaded the Capitol on January 6th; a mob whose members clearly did not understand whose tribe they were serving, or that the political leaders they thought they were fighting for are merely marionettes. Those so-called leader’s strings are manipulated by the 1%, who think the members of the mob that committed insurrection for them, aren’t fit to walk through the front doors of their palaces. New State Of Union celebrates those who may ultimately unleash a real revolution; one that brings us together; not one that tears us apart.
War defines much of human history. There are many types of war. Humans are geniuses at inventing reasons to fight them. When Tears Just is about a divorce; not a legal divorce; a split; 2 rendered into 1s; a split so ragged, so deep, only love could have caused it. War Zone Nerv is about courage in the face of horror; putting your life on the line for your fellow human; pursuing truth at all cost; like the medics and journalists in Ukraine as of February 2022. Inspiration for the song was provided by an anagram of the title. The song’s lyric was inspired by human valor and fortitude; character traits that helped define a human named Roland.
Idealism can lead to good and bad outcomes from a societal perspective. It can be an opposing force to elitism, but it also played a role in the creation of our current version of elitism. Capitalism, when properly regulated, is a good thing. When an idealistic version of capitalism that allows a massive number of corporate mergers and acquisitions to destroy competition in one industry after another is allowed to run amok for four decades, you end up with extreme inequality. As of 2022, U.S. income distribution has gone backwards to 1922. We all know what that led to. It’s time to change direction, and go forward again. Cosmically Connected is a love note to an idealistic form of spirituality; the opposite of religion. The story told in this song may be a bit cynical. Maybe more than a bit, but there is optimism here as well. And, just to state the obvious, if these are not days that beg for cynicism, then those days will never exist. PCV is the composer’s take on his U.S. Peace Corps tour of duty, and while cognizant that each volunteer’s experience is unique, this song is an attempt to describe the PCV experience in a way that would resonate with his fellow V’s. All of them were, and are, idealistic enough to devote years of their lives to the concept of peace. Through them, our culture melds with the cultures they meld with. Most of them return to the States, and they share what they learned about the other culture’s perspective. For some, the other culture’s perspective makes more sense, and they stay. Either way, perspective is shared.
Love is the epitome of human capability. We can aspire to nothing more. Being loved doesn’t count. Loving is what matters. Sometimes, though, love slips away from us. Crystal Blue Skies is about a woman who comes to the realization that her marriage is not a partnership. It is time to free herself from it; time to admit that continuing to love him would lead to her not being able to love herself. Living In The Third World is a story of two people who crashed into love. They were sharing the experience of immersion in another culture. They had both volunteered to dedicate two and one-half years of their lives to the concept of peace. The love just happened. Nothing amazing about that. That’s how it happens for most of us. In this case, though, love hung around.
Empathy is in practically all of us. In fact, the inability to express empathy is defined by the science of psychology as a disorder. Being empathic may be the norm, but some of us are clearly more empathic than others. Woman Warrior is an ode to female PCVs. They don’t just meld with new cultures. They meld with new cultures that value women even less than we do here in the States. It is more difficult for them than the men. Still, they fulfill their mission. They leave the community they made themselves welcome to a better place than when they arrived. He’s A Batman is about all of us humans whose instinct to protect the ones we love is part of our code.
Spirituality is a concept that humans used to have a much better understanding of. The spirits were in the land, water and air. Our spirits were collectively our environment; what gave us life. To respect those spirits was to respect life. Well, you know what they say; you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. At some point, the invention of religion gave control freaks a power base they used to tell other people how to behave. (For more on this, see HUMANS: chapter 5.) I understand humans abusing power; that’s what we do. What I don’t get is how humans that worship Christ, also claim some humans should be hated - for all sorts of reasons. What Christ commanded was: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” That seems clear to me. How is it possible that there are Christians who hate other humans? Yin and Yang accommodates Christians; even the hypocritical ones. Yin and Yang accommodates Muslims, Jews, Wiccans and Atheists. Yin and Yang even accommodates people that respect land, water and air. Talk about inclusive. Yin and Yang is not above or below anyone’s belief. It just is. Stripping The Jesus is about a bowling tournament that never happened; a nonevent recognized only by a tribe whose members refer to themselves as Achievers. It might also be allegorical. The song flows like a wave through the essence of Yin. Time Knows No Master is about now and forever; the most Yang song ever written. Those who believe in an eternal afterlife tend to think they can control access to it. They can believe whatever they want, but control is elusive. The afterlife believers long for what they call “rapture.” For the rest of us, there is nothing we should fear more than what they long for. What they call rapture, is what the rest of us call an extinction event; in this case, the extinction of humanity. Here’s another thing that seems clear to me; longing for human extinction is not spiritual, but it’s massively Yang.
Insanity is scary. Bearing witness to dementia is horrifying. You’re watching the self-consciousness of someone you love, and who loves you, degrade; little by little, until it evaporates – their self, evaporates. They steal napkins from restaurants; get lost on a trip to the grocery store six blocks away; lose control of their bladder; randomly punch their husband of more than 50 years; sit at the table every Saturday morning at the senior care center’s “memory unit,” unable to converse; unable to recognize their son and daughter; unable to state their own name. What could possibly be more frightening than loss of self? My Mom Is In The Psych Ward is deeply personal. Cold Sweat is about a serial killer who knows how to count.
Triumph can sound like a military parade for the tribe that won the war, or a soundtrack for any of us that managed to have a good day. In my case, that would involve sitting in an Adirondack chair with a view of the back entrance to my house, while drinking a pumpkin beer, and wearing my favorite sweater. It’s orange, with a couple horizontal black stripes, just in case you wanted to know. I’m wearing it because it is a wonderfully brisk 50 degrees in mid-autumn, and my family is sitting around a fire. That’s the sound of infinitchill. infinittrek is the sound of the parade. It would also be a marvelous soundtrack for the next iteration of a science fiction television/movie franchise. March with it if you feel the urge. Or dance, or just sit and listen. Whatever you do while listening will be Yin or Yang, or some combination of the two; your unique connection to the soundwaves flowing through you.
Credits
All songs on this record were written by Stephen Latin-Kasper except: Living In The Third World, written with Sarah Latin-Kasper, and PCV, written with Ramiro Zapata. All songs on this record were performed/recorded by Stephen Latin-Kasper except as noted below.
Lead Vocals
Sarah Latin-Kasper: on When Tears Just and duet on Living In The Third World
Kiley Moore: duets on The 99 and Crystal Blue Skies
Backing Vocals
Sarah Latin-Kasper, Alyssa Latin-Kasper and Ramiro Zapata: on A Call To Mind
Sarah Latin-Kasper: on PCV
Guitars
Ross Monagle: War Zone Nerv, He’s A Batman and Stripping The Jesus
Bob Monagle: New State Of Union
Trumpet
Steve O’Brien: PCV
Instruments
Most of the percussion was created with a Roland Octapad.
The drum kit used on Cosmically Connected and Batman is a Yamaha Custom Stage (birch shells). The cymbals are Zildjian K Hybrids. The congas on Living In The Third World are Cosmic Percussion (by LP). LP bongos and a Navajo shaker were used on Woman Warrior. Keyboard, guitar, choir, woodwind and other voices (including drum parts on infinitchill and infinittrek) were created with a KORG-M50. The synth track on PCV, and the vocoder generated voice in Cosmically Connected were created with a Roland JD-XA.
Recording
All of the tracks on Song Yin Song Yang were recorded live. Pitch correction was not used at all.
Mixing, mastering and production
All songs were mixed/mastered/produced by Stephen Latin-Kasper except PCV by Ramiro Zapata. Recording and mixing were done with a ZOOM R16. Most of the vocals were recorded with Shure and sE microphones run through a PreSonus tube amplifier/compressor/equalizer. Mastering was done with a PreSonus Studio One DAW.
Cover Art designed by Stephen Latin-Kasper; produced by Charles Snowden.
Thanks to Kevin Rowland, Dan DuChaine, Dave, Wyatt, Laura, Steve and Mark for listening to demos and providing feedback. Massive appreciation to Scott Finch (Velvet Sky Studio) for provision of sage advice, and Jack Niedenthal for asking me to write a song about Batman.
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You may wonder why the first song is numbered zero. Mostly because odd numbers are associated with yang and even numbers are associated with yin. In the yinyang school of thought, dualism is paramount – neither yin nor yang precede the other. They are perceived as part of the same cycle, and balance each other. In most other cosmologies, though, dark precedes light. If applied to yinyang, yin would be first. And since Song Yin Song Yang is a record, it is impossible to avoid order – a particular song has to come first. The concept of yinyang existed long before the concept of zero, and how zero fits into yinyang remains a subject of debate, mostly because zero is unique. You may argue that zero simply doesn’t fit in yinyang because there is no duality, and dualism is a core tenet of yinyang. Zero, though, can be thought of as nothing. It may not be negative or positive in mathematical terms, but since zero is clearly nothing, it forms a duality with something. Also, while it may seem obvious that nothing precedes something, you might want to think about that. What I know for a certainty is that two does not precede one.
Hopefully, the use of zero as the number representing A Call To Mind will serve as a reminder that while dualism is associated with balance, it isn’t true that balance is always desirable. Peace and war may constitute a dualism, but that doesn’t mean they balance each other, and the existence of a dualism doesn’t mean we have to tolerate it. The yinyang cosmology is an interesting way to think about our existence, but it is not comprehensive and is rife with contradiction. Knowledge and love may be dualistically tied to ignorance and hate, but there is no need for them to balance each other.
I would like to live in a global culture where those dualisms disappear; a culture in which knowledge and love are neither Yin nor Yang, because ignorance and hate no longer exist.
Take it from me,
Mark Time
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