Pablo Fiasco

I've been recording another song. Here it is, still in the early stages of production:

 

 

As with the other song that I recently recorded, I will keep updating new versions to the linked page as I continue to work on it. Check back regularly to hear them improve.

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Lyrics:

Don't have to be a victim
Of a corrupt, broken system
Serf City and landlords
Billionaires who rob the poor
    It's never enough
    It's never enough
    It's never enough
    It's never enough
        There's always more!

They steal from the working classes
Write the laws and pay no taxes
While infrastructure's left to rot
They'll buy another mega-yacht
    It's never enough
    It's never enough
    It's never enough
        It might take everything we've got!

            Well, I am an honest man
            In a land of disaster
            And I don't understand
            These un-united states of matter
            Has somebody got a plan
            Because all I've got is laughter
            Slapped by the invisible hand
                You can call me Pablo Fiasco...

Worker exploitation
For low pay and no vacation
While shareholders take more than they need
Driven by their endless greed
    It's never enough
    It's never enough
    It's never enough
        We sweat until we bleed!

Late-stage capitalism
Force-fed cannibalism
It comes down to who you know
To maintain the status quo
    It's never enough
    It's never enough
    It's never enough
        Corporate profits have to grow!

            Well, I am an honest man
            In a land of disaster
            And I don't understand
            These un-united states of matter
            Has somebody got a plan
            Because all I've got is laughter
            Slapped by the invisible hand
                You can call me Pablo Fiasco...

This is a call to action
Consumer dissatisfaction
Has reached a fever pitch
Buy nothing and eat the rich
    We've had enough
    We've had enough
    We've had enough
        It's high time we burn this bridge!

Castaways and hungry sharks
Blood-thirsty oligarchs
Soulless and self-absorbed
Sociopathic to the core
    We've had enough
    We've had enough
    We've had enough
        We won't take it anymore!

            Well, I am an honest man
            In a land of disaster
            And I don't understand
            These un-united states of matter
            Has somebody got a plan
            Because all I've got is laughter
            Slapped by the invisible hand
                You can call me Pablo Fiasco...

 

© 2025 Zach Sands, PhD

In the Meantime

Here is a very early demo of a new song. It's still pretty rough, but I think that it's starting to come together:

I'll update the track as I continue to work on it and re-record the various elements, but I thought I'd share what a song sounds like at the beginning of the process. 

This is the first full song that I have recorded and produced on the new PC setup, too, which I am still figuring out. 

Thanks for listening. I hope you dig it. Check back. It'll get better as I keep working on it. 

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Lyrics:

Nothing truly lasts forever
Existence is finite
And all we have is one another
And the moments that make a life
An image emerges from the paper
Of a photograph
I hope you find it some years later
And it still makes you laugh

Don't let your life pass you by
In the meantime
I hope you find a reason to smile
In the meantime
Keep a love that keeps you warm
Through the storm
In the meantime...

Spend our lives making a living
Learn to earn to pay to play
Never wonder what we're missing
Waiting for another day-
dream of an extended vacation
All the places we could go
On some unexpected occasion
Experience is how we grow

Don't let your life pass you by
In the meantime
I hope you find a reason to smile
In the meantime
Keep a love that keeps you strong
All along
In the meantime...

They say life moves too fast
And I don't know if that's really true
Or that the good times never last
Because sometimes they really do
And every once in a while
Everything works out
Or you may walk a thousand miles
Only to turn back around

Don't let your life pass you by
In the meantime
I hope you find a reason to smile
In the meantime
Keep a love that keeps you loved
It's enough
In the meantime
In the meantime
In the meantime...

 

© 2025 Zach Sands, PhD

 

 

Real to Reel

I have been recording music again lately.

I also wrote another feature-length screenplay, which is now in the revision stage.

Over this past week, I worked out some technical issues in my updated recording setup and spent some time getting myself better acquainted with the software. In doing so, I recorded a very rough version of a new song. 

This is the first step. I expect that by the time get through recording another full album worth of material, I'll go back and re-record a lot of it, just because I will likely have learned quite a bit in the process. This is how it goes. Still, having something recorded at this point, even if it's not perfect, is infinitely better than nothing.

With all six of my other self-produced albums, I used GarageBand on an old MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, ever since the most recent update that I did of the operating system, that computer has been ridiculously slow. I suspect that this is part of Apple's planned obsolescence, intended to make people think that they need to invest in a new computer.

Rather that play into that nonsense, I bought a refurbished desktop PC that I can upgrade myself as necessary. However, it has taken some time and effort to get everything working properly, and I'm still trying to figure how to do a lot of the stuff that I was able to do in GarageBand, namely the sequencing of realistic-sounding drum tracks.

It has been a rather steep learning curve so far, but my recordings on the PC are gradually getting better. The song that I recorded this past week is the first one that I've done on there that sounds like a complete song, albeit rather unpolished at this point.

Once I have something from the work-in-progress album that seems worthy to share, I'll post a link to it on this site. 

As always, thank you for supporting independent art.

Write On

I may have finished writing two songs today. Each had a verse or two left to compose, plus some polishing, and I think that I worked them out this afternoon. They are tentatively called In the Meantime and Pablo Fiasco. We shall see if I still like them as I incorporate them into my practice setlists over the next few weeks. 

If all is good, then I might be a little closer to the completion of the album that I've been chipping away at for quite some time now. I also started putting lyrics to another song today. All in all, it was a productive Friday.

Once I have recorded versions that I like of the new songs, I will post them somewhere. 

Stay tuned...

All-In

Human beings are social animals, and for tens of thousands of years, cooperation has been the key to our survival. When we work together toward a common good, we are all better off (including you). 

 

These songs are rooted in a fundamental belief in the intrinsic benevolence of humanity and our collective will to overcome obstacles and obstinance:

Be Civilized

 

Panic Attack

 

Weather Patterns

 

Hand-Me-Down

 

Gravity

Modern Inconveniences

 

Now or Forever?

 

Better Days

 

Entropy

 

Do or Die

 

Fever Dream

Wake Up!

 

Living in Oblivion

 

Plastic Flowers

 

Light Pollution

 

Tunnel Vision (Out of Habit)

 

Shine...

 

Begin

 

Civilization is built upon the idea that together, we are more than the sum of our parts. Optimism fuels progress, which is how we build a better future. 

Don't let cynicism and hatred destroy us. Resist fascism.