[NTLK] Looking for people participating in making a Newton song for Noah's film

[NewtonTalk]

Hi gang, most of you will probably remember that Noah has recently dug out
Avi Drissman's text that is based on the Don McLean song "American Pie".
Quote:

	> secondly does anyone want to sign/play guitar this
	> and record it to include in the film?

Since the response so far has been somewhat less than overwhelming, one
could also say nonexistent, I had an idea that I discussed with Noah. It
would be a really cool thing if this could become a joint effort of
musically inclined list members. For one, it would be much more fun.
Moreover, one's own imperfections would be much less noticeable if one was
singing or playing along with as many people as possible.

Of course this will only work if people sing or play, at least to the best
of their ability, on the same beat and in the same key. This is why I have
searched for a Karaoke track that is all instrumental. This was much more
difficult than expected, because most contain parts of the original lyrics
sung by a choir. But here is an all instrumental one:

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qp7JIelAP8>

The same beat and the same key, however, aren't sufficient. People will also
need to work with the same text. Below is Avi's text after some marginal
modifications by yours truly. I made these modifications because we are now
20 and not one year after the Newton's demise, because I find "the day the
Newton died" easier to sing than "the day that Newton died", because Newtons
will NEVER die, and because I wanted to format the text so that the lines
will better match the text in the Karaoke track, making it easier to stay on
beat.

I will probably provide a guitar track within the next couple of days, so
maybe in the final product we won't need the Karaoke track at all and thus
get around potential copyright problems. The good news is that if you base
your recording on this karaoke track, it will still be usable with my guitar
track, since that'll be based on the Karaoke track, too. Maybe I will also
provide a voice track. That'll depend on whether I'll have a day next week
when I am alone in the house for a couple of hours, and whether at that time
I'll have enough Single Malt Whisky nearby to help myself to some liquid
Dutch courage.

Whoever feels inclined to participate singing or playing an instrument: It
would be cool if you could do a recording WITHOUT the Karaoke track (that'll
make mixing things together much easier) and send it off-list to Noah and
me. Of course, if you know someone who could improve this soon-to-be Newton
song of the century even more: Why not invite him to join, even if he or she
is not a list member! I am sure his or her name will appear in Noah's film,
which will practically guarantee lifelong fame.

Also, if anybody out there has the skill and the software for mixing musical
tracks, please drop me a line. I think I could do it using Audacity on a PC,
but I have never done stuff like that before. Noah could probably do it
using GarageBand, but my impression is that he isn't an audio mixing expert,
either.

So: Don't be shy! Most people sing better than they are aware of. And I
promise that in the unlikely case that your recording sucks, it will not be
used. Just make sure not to wait too long. If I remember correctly, the film
is supposed to be released at the end of February.

Cheers

Frank

Ah, almost forgot: Here's the lyrics.

A long, long time ago,
I can still remember
how Apple used to make me smile.
And I knew 
if I gave them a chance,
that they would make my Newton dance,
improve, enhance its elegance and style.
But February made me shiver
with every press release delivered.
Newton Inc. was gutted;
Newsgroups all were flooded.
I can't remember if I cried
when I saw the power Steve Jobs plied.
And something touched me deep inside
the day the Newton died.

So,

Bye, bye, Newton Inc., Newton PIE.
Drove down to Cupertino but the brain trust was dry.
Yet loyal users look you straight in the eye. 
Saying "I'll use it 'till the day that I die", 
"I'll use it 'till the day that I die".

Read Defying Gravity,
Newtons are not Macs and not PCs.
Do gut feelings tell you so?
Now do you ignore opinion polls?
Is your Newt wired to your soul?
And can you take Rosetta being real slow?
Well I saw the smile on your lips
when up came a cool solar eclipse.
Your words spoke for us all,
"Man, I'm havin' quite a ball!"
I was disorganized, boy did that suck!
Then my MessagePad got me unstuck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the Newton died.

I started singin',

Chorus

Now for twenty years we've been on our own
And support from Apple is long gone,
But that's not how it used to be.
When Steve Jobs sang for Ellen and Gil
the whole Mac world seemed to stand still 
and Newton Inc. was humming happily.
When losses hurt Amelio,
Jobs grabbed the title "CEO".
The board room was replaced;
Then Gil left in disgrace.
And while Steve did Newton Inc. un-spin, 
He did his P.R. with a grin, 
And we felt the RDF kick in 
The day the Newton died.

We were singing,

Chorus

The Newton group was relaxing.
Development had been quite taxing;
The 2100 ready to go.
With Newton Inc.'s obvious fall,
they saw the writing on the wall,
that Steve Jobs at any time could blow.
When the CEO started talking trash,
then engineers left in a flash.
We all could smell a rat,
But the RDF quelled that.
And as Apple offered more RAM room
We saw an awful future loom
Do you recall the sense of doom,
The day that Newton died?

We started singing,

Chorus

None of us felt quite the same
when the day we dreaded finally came.
We wished Newton to again rise.
So, come on Apple, come on Steve,
grant Newton technology a reprieve.
But we just saw its slow demise.
And as I watched Steve take the stage
my hands were clenched in fists of rage.
Critics they all applauded;
We felt we were defrauded.
And as Newton burned into the night--
Such pain in the MessagePad's sad plight-
I saw Steve Jobs laughing with delight 
The day the Newton died.

He was singing,

Chorus