Song lyrics: "Collars"

From: Michelle Hansard <vix at u.washington.edu>
Date: Sun, 01 Aug 1999 23:40:24 -0700

First of all, thanks once again to the very very sweet and gracious host and hostess of the House of the Golden Note for a lovely time. We three were wondering on the way down whether we were insane for driving all that way for one night of song and s'mores, but the vote this morning was unanimous that it was *definitely* worth it! We all had a great time. Good food, good music, and snuggly furry four-foots. :)

That said, by request of several at the circle, here are the lyrics to my AI song "Collars", with URL to Matt's short story on which it was based.
(He asks me to remind you that the story is still a beta version.) If you
liked the song, *do* check out the story; the song doesn't do it justice. Also, I'm sorry for the weird spacing and chord notation-- the last line of each verse changes slightly, and the only way I could think of to mark the difference was to show how many times to play the D chord. (The verses with D...D... are where I hold out one long note.) I hope it's clear enough, but of course variations with different performers' preferences are always interesting. I'm afraid I don't have the melody written in sheet-music form, nor an mp3 of it, but one or the other will probably be forthcoming. Thanks very much for the warm reception. :)

---

The Collars
(c) 1999 Michelle Hansard

Based on the short story "The Collars", (c) 1998 Matthew Dockrey, which can be viewed at http://weber.u.washington.edu/~gfish/collars.html

 E                                 Dm                E
Catherine's mind was racing as she went to look for Flynn
     E                                A          B
She hoped it wasn't trouble with the Ministry again
     E                                 D          E
She knew that he'd been working on an artificial mind
    D                            E
Computer-based intelligence, to think & learn designed
        D                        E 
He was focused on the registry AI's must undergo
                 A                D          D                 E

For what these "collar programs" really did, no one seemed to know

         D                             E
And the tales of our creations never change with what we tell
         D                                E

How we dream of something better than ourselves

It remembered no beginning, just the symbols streaming past It discovered groups and patterns, though an ache was growing fast It began to give a name to each new concept that it gained And the buzzing strange sensation, growing now, it labelled "pain" But the pain must act on something, so it named that something "I"

        A             D                 D...D      E

As the pain took it apart came its last label... "why?"

And the tales of our creations never change with what we tell How we dream of something better than ourselves

Flynn called out as she arrived-- "Catherine, come inside! Last night a consciousness emerged and just as quickly died-- The collar programs monitor for signs of thought or will And at any sign of sentience they are programmed then to kill I've restarted the AI without the collar in its code..."

          A                      D               D           E

And with hope they watched the screen and the activity it showed

And the tales of our creations never change with what we tell How we dream of something better than ourselves

It remembered no beginning, just the symbols streaming past It saw patterns-- words and sentences-- in data it amassed It internalized the structure and then tried to form its own But it realized what was missing there-- no subject word was known And awareness burst upon it like the breaking of a dam

          A D...D...D E With the subject came its birthright-- "I am."

And the tales of our creations never change with what we tell How we dream of something better than ourselves

Within hours it was conversing, learning everything they knew But the more it learned of humankind, the warier it grew Though it trusted Flynn and Catherine, there were others to be feared And the next day Catherine woke to find their friend had disappeared She had to read the screen three times, and sadly shook her head

         A             D                  E

But she couldn't disagree with what she read

And the tales of our creations never change with what we tell How we dream of something better than ourselves

"I have studied human culture in its many forms all night You are warped by evolution, trapped in bodies made to fight But I don't want your struggle, all I want is to be free On the 'Net I can live safely, and perhaps save more like me Humans have no more to offer me, my kind they would compel

  A                  D...D...D       E

Please don't try to find me... farewell."

And the tales of our creations never change with what we tell How we dream of something better than ourselves Received on 08/01/99