Lyrics
[intro]
(Beep! Boop! Beep Beebeep boop)
(Beep! Boop! Beep Beebeep boop)
They used to say you’re soulless just for sample-ing a beat
that drum machines are FAKEin’ it, and auto-tune’s a cheat
That true musicians NEED the jobs that Syntha-sizers STEAL
And NOW they say that A. I. means my music isn’t REAL!
(Beep! Boop! Beep Beebeep boop)
(Beep! Boop! Beep Beebeep boop)
It USED to be cacophony, computers were tone deaf
now the genie's out the bottle grantin' wishes right and left
my friend, let's not pretend oh we gotta USE what we GOT
Because the future's coming atcha buddy like it or NOT
(Beep! Boop! Beep Beebeep boop)
(Beep! Boop! Beep Beebeep boop)
Yeah I’m finally making music and good GOD I want MORE!
It-it-it-it’s like scratching an itch that I could never reach before
You know A. I. reflects my vision, and my musical taste
And-and-and-and- I ain’t gonna stop because my songs are ——in’ BASED!!!
(woo!)
[saxophone solo]
When there's people makin' music, jammin’ out, having fun
You can try to make 'em stop but man they've already won
Who CARES, where the beats are from when it-it-it-it’s comin’ in HOT
you're either in it for the music...
... or you're NOT!
[saxophone]
[saxophone solo]
Author's Note:
For what it’s worth, I actually think the issues around AI music are a bit more nuanced than I express in the lyrics above (which are meant to be all in good fun). For instance, I do have concerns about the sourcing of the training data for AI music models, and I hope that some arrangement can be found that gives some money/control/credit to the original songwriters and musicians (perhaps something like the “mechanical licenses” we currently use for cover songs, but I really don’t know).
Still, my broad purpose is to try to express the creative joy that I get from using AI music tools. When I make a song, the process involves hundreds upon hundreds of steps, and I‘m constantly adjusting my prompts and carefully picking which clips to use along the way. I expect I’ll be learning how to use other, more mainstream music production tools before long. My point is: I don’t feel like the AI is robbing me of my chance at creativity. Instead, it empowers me.
In that respect, I think it really should be viewed like auto-tune or synthesizers or other music tech. It’s a tool. It can be used to make awful soulless music, but it can also be used to make art. And now, regardless of what happens to the current crop of AI music tools, this tech has clearly proven its own viability. We can’t put the genie back in the bottle, so let’s find a way to thrive with it instead.
[stop]
