Although this song is really just a list of some of my favourite books and authors, I’ve put it here as a ‘muse’ song because it contains a big shout out to the works of Ursula Le Guin, my favourite author. She is definitely an inspiration to me. As for the song, it just came up during an improv session, me jamming on bass to a nice little jungle drum-type sample I found on my Future Music disc. Something about the drums reminded me of Tracy Chapman’s Mountains of Things from her first album, and I used that as a starting point for some bass and vocal melody ideas. The choppy strings were inspired by Stevie Wonder’s song Past-time Paradise, which Coolio pinched for Gangsta’s Paradise. I imagined someone like Tone Loc doing the vocal (though I probably ended up sounding like Bob Dylan on a bad day!). I think I came up with the book report idea and the chorus while taking the dog for a walk (always good for getting ideas). I’d had that line about Ursula Le Guin kicking around for a long time and I saw this as my chance to use it. I already knew I would rhyme it with both the Tao Te Ching, and Huckleberry Finn, and that was all I needed to get started. Since it was kind of a hip hop song I knew there would be a breakdown bit, so I had the idea of adding a quote by Rod Taylor from the film The Time Machine where he talks about books. The video contains that scene. I love that scene, and I always had a premonition I would use it in some significant way one day, which is what I’ve done here. The footage actually harks back to the days when I sorted second hand books at my old op shop job. I even got in some shots of the library I now work at. ‘Books? Yes, we have books.’
Book Report, by Russell Forden
Verse 1
Hey there brothers and sisters I wanna talk to you as a friend,
So let me tell you ‘bout some books and authors I would like to recommend.
There’s PKD, and PD James and my man Herbert George Wells.
And don’t forget Dickens and Kipling and Kerouac, so many fantastic stories to tell.
The Lord Of The Rings, The Time Machine, the classic On The Road.
The Grapes of Wrath, War And Peace, even the Da Vinci Code.
And Mark Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
The Shipping News by E Annie Proulx, and anything by Ursula Le Guin.
You know, The Dispossessed, Left Hand Of Darkness.
You don’t? You should read ‘em. Because…
Chorus 1
Books are real, books are cool,
Learn to read, that’s the golden rule.
They’re the reason you should go to school.
Some never read them, but they’re just fools.
Books are real, books are cool,
Learn to read, that’s the golden rule.
They’re the reason you should go to school.
Some never read them, but they’re just fools.
Yeah, books!
Time Machine Breakdown
Alright HG, break it down for me…
Verse 2
(could I see the books?)
Yes my man you can see the books they’re in this place called a library.
Just take a walk around in here, you can read them all for free.
There’s history and biographies of some inspiring lives.
And science fiction and non fiction so many books for you to try.
Imagine a way to learn all the wisdom of the ages
From Buddha to Jesus and Martin Luther King, they’re all writ down in these pages.
The Jung, The Old and The New Testament and of course the Tao Te Ching.
But most of all, I want to emphasise this…anything by Ursula Le Guin!
My man Ged, the Wizard of Earthsea, the boy wizard.
She wrote that long before that Harry fella came along.
Hell, I am the wizard!
Chorus 2
Books are real, books are cool,
Learn to read, that’s the golden rule.
They’re the reason you should go to school.
Some never read them, but they’re just fools...