From the recording The Neurofibrillary Tango
The cover photo was taken by Suzanne in Buenos Aires. We took a tango lesson from the couple who were dancing in the street.
A few notes about the lyrics:
The opening two lines are a paraphrase of an H.L. Mencken quote from 1917: “There is always a well-known solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong.”
Lorem ipsum is used as placeholder dummy text for publishing and graphic design. It derives from a scrambled version of a treatise by the Roman philosopher Cicero. The fragment “lorem ipsum” is a truncation of “dolorem ipsum”, which means pain itself. While unsubstantiated internet sources purport that its use dates back to the 16th century, more rigorous scholarship suggests that it arose sometime between the publication of a 1914 edition of Cicero’s text and the 1960s, when lorem ipsum was popularized on Letraset dry-transfer typeface sheets. You can generate lorem ipsum in Microsoft Word by typing =lorem() and pressing Enter.
Neurofibrillary tangles are one of the core pathological features of Alzheimer’s disease. They are composed of paired helical filaments of misfolded tau protein. Senile plaques are the other core pathological feature of Alzheimer’s disease, made up of aggregated beta-amyloid peptide.
Astrocytes are star-shaped cells that normally surround and support neurons in the brain but can also become involved in neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease.
Milonga was a precursor to tango that incorporates elements of Afro-Cuban habanera, polka, and Argentine folk music. It is typically faster and more syncopated than tango. Traspiés are rapid, syncopated milonga steps where the dancer stops mid-movement and continues with the same leg, stepping twice. In a broader context, the word means stumbles or blunders. Contrapasos are milonga steps that entail crossing one foot behind the other before stepping forward.
The hippocampi are parts of the brain that are involved in learning and memory. Synapses are the connections between neurons that allow for electrochemical impulses to be communicated.
Lyrics
For every complex problem
there’s a simple, wrong solution.
As if we could go back in time
and override our devolution.
The answer for insomnia
is simply not to sleep.
The way to solve a mystery
is not to think too deep.
All my songs have been unstrung
and I don’t know how to fix ‘em.
The melodies are monotone,
the lyrics lorem ipsum.
Things that once seemed obvious
are impossibly abstruse.
Every train of thought derails
from cowcatcher to caboose.
It’s harder to distinguish
between fantasy and facts.
Neural networks are disconnecting
around the tangles and the plaques.
My astrocytes proliferate
like the stars of Vincent Van Gogh.
Our limbs entwined in helixes
dance the neurofibrillary tango.
I frequently repeat myself.
Where did I put my keys?
I frequently repeat myself.
Is this Alzheimer’s disease?
Still, I keep on searching
for the things I cannot find.
I try to hold on to your hand
before I lose my mind.
With traspiés and contrapasos
we dance to the milonga.
Our limbs entwined in helixes
dance the neurofibrillary tango.
My hippocampi atrophy.
My synapses degrade.
Misfolded proteins aggregate.
Memories begin to fade.
Before I leave this party,
let me say this in advance.
My darling, please remember.
Save for me the final dance.
My astrocytes proliferate
like the stars of Vincent Van Gogh.
Our limbs entwined in helixes
dance the neurofibrillary tango.