Ben's Songs

In Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky, "Rappaport Digby" is the (translated) name of the host of the radio show "The Children's Hour of Science" on the home planet of a race of spider-like aliens. And of course that sounds just like "Eleanor Rigby", but there is also one particular episode of the show, memorable both to the Spiders themselves and to the humans surreptitiously watching them from space, which touches on some similar themes — who are we and why are we here? Do our timeless traditions still hold true in the face of the passage of time? Is anyone watching, and will anyone remember?

lyrics by Benjamin Newman

ttto: "Eleanor Rigby" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

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lyrics by Benjamin Newman

ttto: "Baby Beluga" by Raffi

lyrics by Benjamin Newman

ttto: "The Times They Are A-Changin'" by Bob Dylan

 

lyrics and music by Benjamin Newman

A song for Mr. Morden — like the symbol of the raven in "I Go Like the Raven", the Shadows (or their ships) screaming across the "dark and dervish sky" herald a wily trickster with a mysterious past and unknown powers.

Dave & Tracy's original song is as notable for its virtuosic instrumental breaks as for its haunting lyrics, and this new recording of my parody finally features a most appropriate theme in that role.

lyrics by Benjamin Newman

ttto: "I Go Like the Raven" by Dave Carter

and featuring the main title theme from Babylon 5 by Christopher Franke

 

lyrics by Benjamin Newman

ttto: "I Saw Three Ships", trad.

and featuring the Close Encounters of the Third Kind fanfare by John Williams

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