“If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule
to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week.”
-- Charles Darwin
“Where words fail, music speaks.”
-- Hans Christian Andersen
“Life is for the living.
Death is for the dead.
Let life be like music.
And death a note unsaid.”
-- Langston Hughes
“Nature’s music is never over; her silences are pauses, not conclusions.”
-- Mary Webb
Once Upon Deep Time was conceived, written, and performed by Matthew Bonnan except:
You Can Hear Us (Maxwell Bonnan, lead guitar; Quinn Bonnan, supporting vocals)
Rightside Down (The Lickerish Quartet [Eric Dover, Roger Joseph Manning Jr., Tim Smith], supporting vocals; David Hess, lead & rhythm guitars)
Distant Touch (Maxwell Bonnan, lead guitar; Samantha Giancarli, tenor saxophone)
Blindsight (written by Maxwell Bonnan and Matthew Bonnan; Quinn Bonnan, lead vocals; Maxwell Bonnan, all guitars)
Storytellers (Stockton a Cappella, Directed by Neil Aaronson, supporting vocals; David Hess, lead & rhythm guitars)
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Matthew Bonnan
Saxophone on Distant Touch and Stockton a Cappella on Storytellers recorded by Neil Aaronson
All songs (c) 2022 Matthew F. Bonnan, Aardonyx Music Publishing, all rights reserved except "You Can Hear Us" and "Blindsight" (c) 2022 Matthew F. Bonnan, Quinn Bonnan, and Maxwell Bonnan, Aardonyx Music Publishing, all rights reserved.
Sound effects and samples:
Forest birds, rain, waves, and frogs: Ableton Live 11; Blowing wind (Mark DiAngelo: https://soundbible.com/1810-Wind.html); Underwater ambience: Fission9 (https://freesound.orgpeople/Fission9/sounds/504641/); City birds: Keju Luo
(https://freesound.org/people/thegreatbelow/sounds/546794/); Sonar pings
(Breviceps: https://freesound.org/people/Breviceps/sounds/493162/); Whale
song (https://freesound.org/people/Breviceps/sounds/493162/); Field crickets
All lyrics (c) 2022 Matthew F. Bonnan, Aardonyx Music Publishing except "Blindsight" (c) 2022 Maxwell Bonnan & Matthew F. Bonnan, Aardonyx Music Publishing.
Once Upon Deep Time
Put away your screen
And I’ll tell you a story
Once upon deep time
If you close your eyes
I can take you back
In the theater of your mind
You can hear my voice
You can hear these notes
Because oh so long ago
Changes occurred
In our bones and our minds
Or so the story goes
But I’m getting ahead of myself
And these dusty bones on a shelf
Well, they won’t tell the story themselves
Voices and music
Vibrations of air
A movement of fluid and bones
Connect us to the past
To the now and forever
To ancestors long ago
So let the story
Take you back
Once upon deep time
Let this story
Take you back
In the theater of your mind
You Can Hear Us (feat. Quinn & Maxwell Bonnan)
We can hear the evolutionary past we carry within us
Seconds into hours into eons time will pass
It ticks by very slowly, but it goes so very fast
If time is a vast ocean and each life a tiny cup
What will echo to the future when our time is finally up?
Can you hear us?
Time’s arrow points one way and you can never turn around
The changes keep on coming and there’s no way to slow down
No map to guide us onward and it’s hard to comprehend
How did all of us get here and how might this all end?
Can you hear us?
Once our spirit level began to sway
To tremors in the rocks and the rolling waves
A link to the past that echoes till this day
Descendants of survivors that paved the way
Well, I know you feel the vertigo
Looking back into deep time
A message echoes from the past
You can hear us, deep inside you
You can hear us, all around you
You can hear it in the voices carried on the wind
In a chorus of crickets when the night rolls in
This symphony of life it will bring you alive
A gift from antecedents only trying to survive
Can you hear us?
Once our spirit level began to sway
To tremors in the rocks and the rolling waves
A link to the past that echoes till this day
Descendants of survivors that paved the way
Well, I know you feel the vertigo
Looking back into deep time
A message echoes from the past
You can hear us, deep inside you
You can hear us, all around you
You can hear us, deep inside you
You can hear us, all around you
From the jaws of a fish
To the sounds in your ears
All our stories converge
Through these millions of years
Speak your mind with a tongue
That once opened your mouth
As old bones with new roles
Keep the notes pouring out
As we carry the song
Pass the genetic baton
You can hear with your ears
That we’re not really gone
No, we’re not really gone
No, we’re not really gone
You can hear with your ears
That we’re not really gone
You can hear us, deep inside you
You can hear us, all around you
We are here with you
Rightside Down (feat. The Lickerish Quartet)
Hearing evolved from an ancient balancing organ our ancestors used to tell rightside up from rightside down
-- Early Animals --
In the beginning no control
The currents take you wherever they go
Or fastened to rocks on the ocean floor
Holding on, holding on
Then with cells like wires
Rapid signals were fired
To living motors inside
Wresting control from eternity
Gravity pulled a tiny rock inside
Stretching our piece of mind
Our spirit level was born
At the current’s whim no more!
Rightside down
You can feel your world turned over
Spirit level inside
Help me turn rightside up again
Rightside down
Can you feel your world turned over?
Spirit level inside
Help me turn rightside up again
-- Jellyfish --
As you push against the tides
Your gelatinous body glides
Snagging prey and making your way
Feeling the world all around you
But things can easily go astray
And you can quickly lose your way
When waves come crashing down
Tumbling and tumbling around and around
Rightside down
You can feel your world turned over
Spirit level inside
Help me turn rightside up again
Rightside down
Can you feel your world turned over?
Spirit level inside
Help me turn rightside up again
-- Horseshoe Crabs --
More time has elapsed
Than you can ever possibly grasp
When our horseshoe-shaped bodies
First emerged to breed in the moonlight
The waves show us no mercy
As we fulfill our destiny
Tossed around in our search for mates
Tumbling about in the foam and sand
Rightside down
You can feel your world turned over
Spirit level inside
Help me turn rightside up again
Rightside down
Can you feel your world turned over?
Spirit level inside
Help me turn rightside up again
-- Our Bony Ancestors --
A mutation … or three
When our bony ancestors lived in the sea
New awareness came online
Now there was sound with the up and down
And it’s rightside down
You can feel your world turned over
Spirit level inside
Help me turn rightside up again
Rightside down
Can you feel your world turned over?
Spirit level inside
Help me turn rightside up again
So, if you’re rightside down
And you feel your world turned over
Now you know the reason why
Music turns you rightside up again
So, if you’re rightside down
And you feel your world turned over
Now you know the reason why
Music turns you rightside up again
Music turns you rightside up again
The music brings you back to life again
Distant Touch (feat. Samantha Giancarli)
Fish perceive and navigate the world by hearing and sensing water movement across their bodies – once, long ago, so did we
I can touch you from a distance
I can feel your state of mind
When you move I feel the pressure
As our bodies turn and glide
Whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa, oh
It has been like this for eons
Peering out through lidless eyes
I can chart my destination
With my body and my mind
Whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa, oh
Can you imagine navigating with sound
Your body and mind as a compass
Pointing you homeward bound?
All life’s chords, they can show you the way
A melody map you touch with your mind
Your guide beneath the waves
When I move, I can move you
Like a team, we move as one
I can feel you in the darkness
Or beneath the shining sun
We will reach our destination
While the waves around us pound
My body is an eardrum
And I lay the course with sound
My body is an eardrum
And I lay the course with sound
Above the crashing surf
In the air it’s different now
We’ve lost our ancient compass
A melody disavowed
Whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa, oh
Can you reach me from a distance
As we stand on solid ground?
We will only bridge this difference
When the harmony is found
Into Thin Air
Our ability to hear in air relies on tiny, vibrating bones that evolved from our fishy ancestors’ jaws. The evolution of a voice followed …
When we emerged from the sea
The silence was roaring
We had no ears, no way to hear
The danger coming
Before there could be birdsong in the air
Or a chorus of frogs in the night
Bones from the jaw were repurposed
And airborne sounds came to life
Whoa, fish out of water
Into thin air
Listen! The past speaks loud and clear
From the jaws of a fish to the sounds in your ears
We’re all fish out of water
In the thin air
Hearing the danger was only the start
Voices were absent in that sunlit world
As long as we remained in light
Being seen not heard was connection enough
Yet so many ways in those long-ago days
Each was led from the sun to the night
To evolve through a tunnel of darkness
And emerge with a voice in the light
Whoa, fish out of water
Into thin air
Listen! The past speaks loud and clear
From the jaws of a fish to the sound in your ear
We’re all fish out of water
In the thin air
In the absence of light, the frog calls ignite
While feathered dinosaurs learn to sing
When you pass through the dark the sound is the spark
From which all of our voices spring
So, don’t let the darkness overtake us
In the night I need to know you’re still there
From the jaws of a fish to the sounds in your ears
You can hear us, we’re a chorus
Floating free on the air
Whoa fish out of water
Into thin air
Listen! The past speaks loud and clear
From the jaws of a fish to the sounds in your ears
We’re all fish out of water
In the thin air
We are fish out of water
Singing in the thin air!
Chatter
A frog’s perspective – once you can vocalize, you might meet your mate … or become dinner
Hey! Hey! Listen to me
Are you tuned in to my frequency?
I hope you hear my voice cut through the noise
And it guides you right here to me
Hey! Hey! What can you say?
You gotta time your notes for in between the waves
Of the chorus sounds all around
I hope my voice will win the day
And every note brings you closer
Closer and closer to our destiny
Yes, every note brings you closer
To the fusion of our futures, you and me
Hey! Hey! You have to be brave
To call out in a world where you’re never safe
Listen through the chatter and decide for yourself
When to stay and when to escape
And every note brings you closer
Closer and closer to our destiny
Yes, every note brings you closer
To ingesting me, for my energy!
So, hey! Hey! If you need to be told
Life is short and you gotta be bold
You’ll never touch the future if you hide from today
Life is more than simply growing old
Life is more than simply growing old
Life is more than simply growing old
Dinosaur Songs
Listen outside your window: there are dinosaur songs in the air …
Inspired by Dr. Irene Pepperberg and her work with Alex the gray parrot,
and the short story The Great Silence by Ted Chiang
You hear but you don’t listen
You hear but you don’t perceive
A message profound was spoken
But not by a human being
One night in the Age of Reptiles
Though we can’t say just when
Feathered dinosaurs began to sing
And everything changed then
So, listen outside your window
There are dinosaur songs in the air
A message echoes from the past
Can you hear us? Are you there?
We go through our days hearing
That which we don’t comprehend
Feathered dinosaurs serenade us
The Age of Reptiles never came to an end
How can we take this for granted?
When dinosaurs on the wing
Visit us daily, singing their songs
Yet we all look down at our screens
So, listen outside your window
There are dinosaur songs in the air
A message echoes from the past
Can you hear us? Are you there?
Can you hear us? Are you there?
No monkey has ever uttered a word
No dog has ever told us their name
No cat has ever stated their opinion
No other mammal has ever said a thing
But feathered dinosaurs have spoken
Yet we haven’t heard the call
One said, “You be good. I love you”
Will the words ever reach us at all?
Now listen outside your window
There are dinosaur songs in the air
It’s not too late to realize
All the magic that is there
All the past that is near
You can hear us … in the air
Theater of the Mind
Our hearing evolved from tiny ancestors surviving a dark, dangerous world – in the theater of the mind, sometimes we believe we’re still there
Not so long ago
In a different time and space
We hid in the shadows
A nocturnal hiding place
While avoiding the daylight hours
When great reptiles ruled the light
A chain of little bones freed from our jaws
Helped us navigate the night
Then imagination took over
From our eyes so nearly blind
With sound we found our way
In the theater of the mind
In the theater of the mind (Still hunted)
In the theater of the mind (Still blind)
Our imagination runs astray
In the theater of the mind
In the darkness you awake
But you’re not sure you know why
You listen while your heart pounds
And your eyes strain for a sign
In those moments your mind races
Flung back in deep time’s haze
You’re just a tiny creature
Hiding from a reptile’s gaze
When imagination took over
From our eyes so nearly blind
With sound we found our way
In the theater of the mind
In the theater of the mind (Still hunted)
In the theater of the mind (Still blind)
Our imagination runs astray
In the theater of the mind
In a past riddled with danger
Just trying to stay alive
Sound and imagination
Were keys that helped us survive
But if you don’t see or hear reality
You imagine the worst in me
If we place our trust in what isn’t there
We all become the enemy
In the theater of the mind (Still hunted)
In the theater of the mind (Still blind)
Our imagination runs astray
In the theater of the mind
In the theater of the mind (Reach out)
In the theater of the mind (Open your eyes)
Don’t let the past push us away
In the theater of the mind
Blindsight (feat. Quinn & Maxwell Bonnan)
Some mammals used the three little bones in their middle ears to hear the echoes
of their high-pitched voices to see using sound
-- Giant Squid versus Sperm Whale --
Oh, a tentacled predator, down in the deep
I can sense that I’ve become prey
Though my eyes are huge, in the dark they strain
As rapid clicks keep c-c-c-comin’ through my brain
As the sound gets louder and more intense
I’ve got nowhere to hide, no defense
Intense sounds that make me reel
Whale teeth, the last thing I feel!
It’s echolocation, using sound to see
Blindsight when the light is missing
With loud clicks, you resolve the scene
And the predator becomes the prey
Three little bones from the jaw
Some mammals dialed up the higher frequencies
Sound was the spark to see in the dark
Echoes converging, blindsight emerging
-- Moth versus Bat --
On gossamer wings I traverse the night
Searching for mates and nectar
High pitched pulses all around … !
As those pulses keep getting closer
Our silhouettes tumble across the moon
Flapping wings, high-pitched pings
Bat teeth, the last thing I feel!
It’s echolocation, using sound to see
Blindsight when the light is missing
With rapid pulses you resolve the scene
And overtake your prey in the night
It’s blindsight!
It’s blindsight!
It’s blindsight!
It’s blindsight!
Connection (Into Thin Air Part 2)
Humans are social primates that connect through storytelling and technology – we’re only doomed to repeat the past if we choose not to learn from it
With the big reptiles gone
A new world met the dawn
Among the branches we made
Connections
With language at last
We emerged from our past
Telling stories enhanced these
Connections
We’ve begun to see
We’re enmeshed, you and me
With the tree of life we are
Connected
The night is always dark (so, don’t let the darkness overtake us)
Yet the sun returns each day (the past speaks loud and clear)
When it seems the hope has gone (well, I know you feel the vertigo)
I can touch you from a distance
And our voices light the way
Though we’re changing so fast
If we learn from our past
We can still make the human
Connection
Storytellers (feat. Stockton a Cappella & David Hess)
We learn best from stories: they are the gift that connects us with our long-lost ancestors and with each other’s humanity
And a personal discovery as a scientist – the story, not the data, is the power
I, I can tell you a story
But it’s not only mine to tell
It’s made of our shared anatomy
And ancient rocks that sing as well
Oh us, only we possess this gift
To know all of our ancestors long gone
A story, bringing us all together now
United through flesh and blood and time and song
Oh, and we, we’re all storytellers
Yeah, we, we are all the story
We’re just chemo-electric souls
Telling stories with vibrating bones
And that’s how the past comes home to you and me
And we, we are all the story (you can hear us)
Yeah, we, we are all the story (deep inside you)
Oh, me, well I’ve been siloed for too long now
Suffocating in this ivory tower
Oh, I, I thought the data did the speaking
But now I know the story is the power!
So, can I reach you from a distance?
Can you feel my state of mind?
Has our imagination run astray?
Have we all run out of time?
If I can hear you
And you can hear me
And if we hear each other’s stories
Then there’s still time
Oh, you, you want to hear a story
It’s the most human thing we need
Oh, us, we’re all a part of this story
This tree of life, you and me
Oh, and we, we’re all storytellers
Yeah, we, we are all the story
We’re just chemo-electric souls
Telling stories with vibrating bones
And that’s how the past comes home to you and me
Oh, and we, we are all the story (you can hear us)
Yeah, we, we are all the story (all around you)
There are walls where none should be
So, we must tell each other’s stories
And I believe that will help to set us free
Because we, we are all the story
Yes, we, we are all the story
Once Upon Deep Time Reprise
So, now you know
‘Cause I’ve told you this story
Once upon deep time
It is far from complete
With mysteries replete
For all of humankind
Well, there’s only so much we all know
And there’s still so much farther to go
Till we see how the parts make a whole
It’s not too late
To realize
All the magic that is there
From the jaws of a fish
To the calls of a frog
To dinosaur songs in the air
So as the music takes us back
Once upon deep time
We connect to a living past
In the theater of the mind
Acknowledgments & Thank Yous
This project began in isolation during the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic. What began as a way to work through a difficult time ultimately became something greater thanks to so many people.
Sincere thanks to the 2021 Stockton University Research & Professional Development committee, Dean Peter Straub, Provost Leamor Kahanov, and President Harvey Kesselman for supporting the sabbatical that helped produce Once Upon Deep Time. My heartfelt thanks to Neil Aaronson for help and advice with audio and for arranging and directing the choral portion of “Storytellers” with Stockton a Cappella; and to Michael McGarvey for his assistance and recruitment of art students to the project. Stockton a Cappella*, your vocals on “Storytellers” will mean more to me than you can ever know. A shout out and much love to David Hess for killer guitar parts on “Rightside Down” and “Storytellers.” Samantha “Sam” Giancarli, your tenor sax knocked it out of the park on “Distant Touch.” To the guys of The Lickerish Quartet - Eric Dover, Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Tim Smith, thank you for making “Rightside Down” sound amazing. Joe Talvacchia, thank you so much for giving Maxwell Bonnan the foundations necessary to rock, and thank you for inspiring me to learn piano. To my children, Quinn and Maxwell Bonnan, thank you for putting up with dad’s annoying project. Maxwell, thank you for your original guitar work on “You Can Hear Us” and especially your songwriting and composition for “Blindsight.” Quinn, thank you for your vocals on “You Can Hear Us” and your Cherie Currie-inspired voice on “Blindsight.” I love you both. Finally, Erin Oswald, thank you for your love and support, and for helping me
see myself and nature with new eyes.
*Stockton a Cappella Fall 2022: Abby Rose Alcalde, Megan Baldwin, Ean Boakes, Anahi Boone, Barbara Branco, William Brust, Gracie Buondonno, Paige Butler, Bianca Capolupo, Chelsea Carbajal, Jessica Cerasaro, Maxwell Clayton, Robert Clemens, Olivia Commesso, Suzanna Cook, Emma Desiderio, Anthony Difelice, Olivia Di Spigna, Ryan Dooley, Isabelle Eisenstein, Caroline Eng, Reagan Erwin, Kierre Fenderson, Emma Fengya, Mariah Fishman,
Rabiyah Footman, Juliana Gonzalez,Reilly Hodge, Emily Jackson, Morgan Kahn, Jaclyn Kobilis, Hunter Kovach, Leah Kowalski, Jessica Lagary, Nicole Lampariello, Emily Magyar, Winnie Mei, Nicollette Mendes, Kimberly O'Beirne, Sophia Piparo, Tyler Raske, Carly Schenck, Kennedy Smith, Melissa Taps, Ava Troxel, Violet Vogel, Yamirah Williams, & Rebecca Yamoah
My childhood, teenage, and college inspriations - you were always in my headphones:
The Alan Parsons Project, Asia, The Beatles, The Cars, Crowded House, Dada, Def Leppard, DJ Shadow, The Eagles, Elton John, Freestyle, Genesis, Heart, Steve “Silky” Hurley, Imperial Drag, Indigo Girls, Jellyfish, Jesus Jones, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, M|A|R|R|S, Nine Inch Nails, Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, The Police, Queen, Queensryche, REO Speedwagon, Lionel Richie, Rush, Talking Heads, They Might Be Giants, Toad the Wet Sprocket, UNKLE, Eric Woolfson, Yes
My audio heroes:
Trevor Horn, Quincy Jones, Robert “Mutt” Lange, George Martin, Alan Parsons
Mom & Dad - thanks for always filling our house with music!
Family & Friends - thank you for your support and encouragement!
About Matthew Bonnan
Matthew Bonnan is a Professor of Biology at Stockton University, a vertebrate paleontologist, an author, and a singer/songwriter. Since childhood he has been passionate about the evolution of life on Earth and music. Once Upon Deep Time combines both of these passions. (Photo by Erin Oswald.)
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