Sci-Fi Song #3: Vilfredo Pareto

Vilfredo Pareto.mp3

Because the world has been clamoring for more songs about turn of the century European economists, I submit to you this week's song based on the life and work of one Vilfredo Pareto.

The last few non-fiction books that I've read(The Long Tail, Wikinomics, Here Comes Everybody, Citizen Marketers) all elaborate on the significance of The Pareto Index. In a nutshell, The Pareto Index states that 20% of the population has 80% of the income.

Because of his relative ubiquity in recent economic texts, I was motivated to do some more research on Pareto. He was quite a compelling figure and his story inspired this song.

Here are some of the tools that I used to record this track:

1. Martin Acoustic Guitar in Standard Tuning with a capo placed at the third fret
   
2. Rode NT-3 microphone (to record the guitar and my vocals)
3. Apple Logic Pro 7 recording software
• Logic's compressor and reverb plug-ins
• The EXS24 Sampler for the drum sound
  
• The Apple Garage Band Symphony Orchestra Jam Pack for the violin, cello, piano, and clarinet sounds.

• Have you ever been inspired to create a song, poem, novel, short story or piece of visual art based on the life of a historical figure?
• Do you have a favorite piece of work that uses a real person as a character? (I'm partial to Neal Stephenson's use of Isaac Newton and other scientists in Quicksilver )

Thanks,
John

Here are the lyrics:

Vilfredo Pareto

Vilfredo Pareto was an economist
He was the son of an Italian nationalist
He earned his degree at the Institute of Turin
Where he worked on mechanical equilibrium

He became a civil engineer for the Italian Railway
Then he lectured in Florence and had plenty to say
He wrote critical essays against the government
for that he faced persecution and fled to Switzerland

He stated 80% of the wealth in the land
was owned by just 20% of the men
The concept of wealth distribution survived
and still to this day its widely publicized

Pareto had a theory of society
there had to be balance amongst the ruling elite
but then Mussolini overtook Italy
when Vilredo Pareto died in '23

Sci-Fi Song #2: Page 123

Page 123.mp3

This week's song was inspired by a meme that has been circulating through some of the book blogs that I read regularly. Here it is:

1. Grab the nearest book
2. Turn to page 123
3. Write down the fifth sentence. (Go ahead, try it!).

I figured that it would be fun to try and write a song based on this meme. The nearest book for me was Wikinomics by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams.


Here are some of the tools that I used to record this track:

1. Martin Acoustic Guitar in Drop-D tuning: DADGBE
2. Rode NT-3 microphone (to record the guitar and my vocals)
3. Apple Logic Pro 7 recording software
   
• EXS24 sampler for the drum, bass, and wurlitzer electric piano sounds
• EVB3 software instrument for the organ sound
  
• Logic's compressor, tremolo, and reverb plug-ins

Are you a blogger who tends to participate in these types of memes? If so, do you have any suggestions for a meme that might make a good song?

Special thanks to the following blogs for the inspiration:

1. Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
2. Fantasy Cafe
3. Fantasy Debut
4. Realms Of Speculative Fiction
5. Fantasy Book News & Reviews

Thanks,
John

Here are the lyrics:

I'm staring at my laptop screen
Scrolling through the feeds
I'm subscribed to a hundred blogs
but there's still nothing to read

While clicking tabs in Firefox
A theme seems to repeat
Grab a book from off your shelf
and find page 123

So turn to page 123
and write the fifth sentence that you see
So turn to page 123
Cause that seems to be the latest meme

So I take "Wikinomics" by Don Tapscott
and Anthony Williams
I open to page 123
and do what must be done

It reads "Firms will still need to invest resources
in internal R & D
to be able to recognize
a commercial opportunity"