"Theater of the Mind" is now available for download and streaming!
You can stream or download the song on all major streaming platforms: https://matthewbonnan.hearnow.com/theater-of-the-mind-single
Or you can download the song on my Bandcamp page: https://matthewbonnan.bandcamp.com/
See the music video on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/ttQRGuOuYGw
Meaning of the Song
"Dinosaur Songs" was about the living dinosaurs among us known as birds. "Theater of the Mind" is about the tiny mammal ancestors we carry within us. Humans are mammals. The first mammals appeared during the Age of Reptiles approximately 200 million years ago (depending on how certain fossils are interpreted). We are descended from tiny, furry, egg-laying ancestors - some of these earliest mammals and close relatives were the size of a paperclip! These tiny ancestors of ours appeared just as the dinosaurs were becoming large plant-eaters and predators. To the predatory dinosaurs, we were tiny snacks!
One way our ancestors appear to have avoided dinosaurs was by being active at night. In the dark, eyesight is less important, but a good sense of smell, hearing, and anticipating (imagining) where your prey was (insects) and where the predators were (dinosaurs) became important. At the same time, a chain of little bones that were once part of our jaws were repurposed to transmit a range of sounds into our ears. This lifestyle of chasing prey and avoiding predators at night seems to have transformed our brains into danger-imagining machines.
I've always liked the term "theater of the mind" - having worked in radio (where the term appears to have originated) it's the concept of using sound in a way that conjures visuals in the audience's mind. In this song, I'm using "theater of the mind" to point out that we still have this danger-imagining machine in our heads. Although humans are naturally active during the day, when we are afraid and cannot see, the parts of our minds necessary for survival in the distant past create a theater of the mind where we imagine the worst. In a world where we sometimes hide our humanity behind screens, if we can't see or hear reality, we often imagine the worst in each other. The song serves in part to remind ourselves of our shared humanity - don't let the past push us away in the theater of the mind.
Lyrics
© 2022 Matthew Bonnan, Aardonyx Music Publishing. All rights reserved.
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
Learn More / External Links
Mammal evolution: How ancient fossils are revealing the secrets of our earliest ancestors by Stephen Brusatte ancestors: https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/the-secret-world-of-mammal-evolution/
The Tiniest Mammal Ancestor by Stokstad: https://www.science.org/content/article/tiniest-mammal-ancestor
Lend an ear to a classic tale of mammalian evolution by Simone Hoffman: https://media.nature.com/original/magazine-assets/d41586-021-00064-5/d41586-021-00064-5.pdf
Visit the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Resources for Educators and Students for more information and helpful links: https://vertpaleo.org/resources-for-educators-and-students/
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