The Carousel of Progress

from The Thing That Knowledge Can't Eat by Mike Keneally

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This is the proggy seven-and-a-half-minute epic of the album, and lemme tell you, I’m so honored to have Malcolm Mortimore playing drums on it, he who played on Gentle Giant’s Three Friends album (a HUGE album for me), and who is currently drumming with veterans Colosseum and just killing it. This is another multi-movement piece, and traverses a fair bit of stylistic ground. Many, many hours were spent on this one and I hope you find that it was worthwhile time spent. Lyrically, it’s about managing to survive 2020 (which is when I wrote it). All vocals and instruments by me, except for Malcolm’s drumming (which I still have a hard time believing is true but, yep, he’s really on this song.)

(At one point towards the end of “The Carousel of Progress,” the word “Yielbongura” is sung as a background vocal texture. The word is found in the following quote by author/workshop leader Malidoma Patrice Somé: “In the culture of my people, the Dagara, we have no word for the supernatural. The closest we come to this concept is Yielbongura, ‘the thing that knowledge can’t eat.’ This word suggests that the life and power of certain things depend upon their resistance to the kind of categorizing knowledge that human beings apply to everything. In Western reality, there is a clear split between the spiritual and the material, between religious life and secular life. This concept is alien to the Dagara. For us, as for many indigenous cultures, the supernatural is part of our everyday lives. ” [Quote from Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman.]

I found this quote inspiring, and now you know where the album title came from. (After the album art was completed, I learned that Somé passed away in December 2021. If I’d realized this sooner, I would have dedicated this song to him in the liner notes, so I very humbly dedicate it to him here, instead. Gratitude and respect sent out to Malidoma Patrice Somé – thank you for the inspiration.)

Thank you for reading all of this! I’m incredibly excited to finally be delivering some new solo music to you.

lyrics

Philosophical words
Though I’ve logged quite a few
Ain’t hardly no sager and wiser than you
Time tells us to,
To stay strong
But all the weeks take too long

Four years of this builds you a tougher shell
Tougher shell
Four years of this builds you a shell

I thought I’d stay smart
And then the day shards my heart
Eaten away, cloaks played a part

For years the bliss filled you, a lovers’ spell
Snubbing hell
You’re here, your ducks live free, carousel

On this stage now
Chemical change inflames our plow
I disarrange, dismiss and disavow all fear
and this twisted one-sidedness
Lightning bless me
Frontiers we missed, reveal thyselves now

Haze clouding down the mind, no!
No malaise, drop the shiver.
Wise, that crow playing guitar and
Creaking all over the song

Arm in arm...

Inviting the hate to only dwell
In its correct and true home, hell
Then locking the gate we live to tell
And ride right home on the carousel
Arm in arm
Arm in arm
I gave a deer a lot of corn
(Oh dear, I didn’t know!)
And it took me by surprise
How swiftly and how brutally these
deep lost feelings did arise
(The ground swelled up
The sky closed in
I must not feel this way again)
(Whoa
I felt real lost
I guess I had never felt so all alone
Oh, no!)
So I got mindful with the musk
No hay, no corn, no pies
(We wouldn’t need that statue gone
If that statue being here was wise)
(No fear, no fear, oh dear, no fear)

Being a shame for fun...
It’s not the way to get things done
It’s past time for gliding right into the hum

For years the bliss filled you, a lovers’ spell
Snubbing hell
You’re here, your ducks live free, carousel

Inviting the hate to only dwell
In its correct and true home, hell
Then locking the gate we live to tell
And ride right home on the carousel
Arm in arm
Arm in arm

Yielbongura

We’re standing at a very small door
It’s small and takes time to get through
And just over there, right over there,
the most breathtaking numinous elegant beautiful view

credits

from The Thing That Knowledge Can't Eat, released February 24, 2023
Mike Keneally vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass, fake drums
Malcolm Mortimore drums

Everything but Malcolm done at home, engineer: MK, 2020-2021
Drums done at Malc’s Place, engineer: Jim Mortimore, 2020
Mixed at home by MK, 2021-2022

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Mike Keneally San Diego, California

Mike Keneally has been a lot of things in his 35 year career: stunt guitarist/keyboardist, singer/songwriter, orchestral composer, producer, music director, painter, and more. After getting his start in Frank Zappa’s legendary 1988 big band, Keneally released his first solo album hat. in 1992. Since then he has released dozens more and is working on a new double album.

Learn more at keneally.com ... more

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