Download the song on my Bandcamp page: https://matthewbonnan.bandcamp.com/
See the music video on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/MI0L7Wtd-3A
After Monday, November 21, you can begin to stream or download the song on all major streaming platforms as it becomes available: https://matthewbonnan.hearnow.com/rightside-down
I am excited to announce my latest song, “Rightside Down” which features The Lickerish Quartet on vocals! If you don’t know The Lickerish Quartet, they are a power pop band comprised of Eric Dover, Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Tim Smith, all former members of the 1990s pop band Jellyfish and each an outstanding pop/rock musician in their own right. I am over the moon that they lent their sparkling vocals to my project! And I think it's fitting that some jellyfish make an appearance in the music video. If you like their contribution to my song, check them out and please support the artists whose music you enjoy. The song also features my good friend David Hess on rhythm guitar which added a much needed organic feel to the track.
Unlike the previous two songs, this song is a bit more rockin'!
I also wanted to give a big shout out to Erin Oswald (Atlantic County (New Jersey), Pleasantville Branch Public Library), John Fornshell (Smithsonian), and Win Watson (University of New Hampshire) for all of their input and expertise on horseshoe crabs - all mistakes in the music video regarding horseshoe crabs are mine and mine alone.
Meaning of the Song
Rightside Down focuses on the story of how our hearing came to be in the first place. Hearing as we know it evolved from sensory cells whose original purpose was sensing how our bodies were positioned in the water. Today, your inner ear still has these sensory cells – they have hairlike extensions embedded in a gel that become stretched when tiny calcified rocks above them are pulled by gravity as you move around. Some of these cells were eventually modified to sense the vibrations we call sounds. In fact, many modern fishes hear, in part, using portions of their inner ear we use solely for sensing movements of our head. In you and me, a specialized part of our inner ear called the cochlea has evolved specifically to detect sounds. What is even more incredible is when we examine the majority of animals, we find they have similar balancing organs that depend on movements of sensory hairs stretched or pulled by some kind of rock-like particle. So, as the song goes, if you're rightside down, and you feel your world turned over, now you know the reason why music turns you rightside up again.
Lyrics
Lyrics (c) 2022 Matthew Bonnan
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 currents' 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
Learn More / External Links
Discovery of Sound in the Sea: How do fish hear? https://dosits.org/animals/sound-reception/how-do-fish-hear/
Directional hearing and sound source localization by fishes https://asa.scitation.org/doi/10.1121/1.5082306
Invertebrate solutions for sensing gravity https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2008.12.024