Category: The journey to “Player characters”
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About “Eternal Echoes” album
The concept Every morning, millions of Cinderellas wake up to prove themselves in corporate boardrooms. Countless Little Mermaids sacrifice their authentic voices to fit into new worlds. Modern-day Prometheus figures share forbidden knowledge through viral tweets, while digital-age Pandoras unleash chaos and hope with data leaks. Our daily lives are not just reflections of ancient…
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Did I Write Anthems for War?
Part 1: The Theories of War Prologue: The Myths We Fight For War continues in the world. Some conflicts may end, but new ones emerge – like hydras growing new heads. Personally, I find it astonishing how many resources – let alone human lives – we sacrifice for war. Second, our inability to stop these…
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Player Characters in Dialogue: The Weight of Our Choices
This summer I was reading Plato’s dialogues on holiday (as one does…) and got to wondering: what if the characters from my Player Characters album had their own philosophical conversations? Not the formal Socratic stuff, though, but something messier. More like what happens when three people realize they’ve all made choices they can’t take back,…
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The Narrative Arcs of “Player Characters”
When you listen to a music album, do you hear individual songs, each with its own melody and emotion or do you perceive a larger story, like in concept albums such as Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love” or David Bowie’s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust”? I recently asked myself this question about my…
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He Who Walks Behind The Rows
The story The members of a blood cult in midwestern corn field town sing about their two gods who keep on demanding sacrifices The philosophy The song is about how, why or if to sacrifice something in your life to gain knowledge, success or survival. Are the sacrifices worth it? Only you can tell. The…
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Landscape Fantasy
The story A robot pop trio develops existential feelings in a dystopian party city that treats them like machines The philosophy Landscape Fantasy is asking whether you are blown away by all the world’s glamour and glitter, fashion and fame or can you see what lies beneath? The song All streaming links here. The lyrics…
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Red And Blue
The story A female secret agent in a big city dreams of a quiet life on the countryside with a family, but is turned into one of the bad guys after an accident The philosophy Are you more comfortable with beautiful lies or do you want to know the truth about yourself even if it…
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All These Worlds Are Yours
The story A frustrated social media influencer starts basing his brand on masked biblical stories and gains international, the universal success The philosophy What is the legacy you leave behind? Do you even want to leave one? What do all our legacies matter? The song All streaming links here. The lyrics The lyrics video The…
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Stand By You
The story The history of mankind in three minutes from an agrarian society to joining the stream of other races in the universe. The philosophy Do you want to use your powers for good or evil and how can you know in advance which of your life choices will cause either of these? The song…
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World Renewed
The story An ordinary person meets someone exciting in a bar only to realise he’s the Devil himself. But it’s all set up by the protagonist themselves. The philosophy What are you ready to do to gain whatever it is that’s important in your life and how much you care what the consequences are? The…
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Ancient Manager
The story A senior corporate manager is doomed to “sail” the dangerous business markets, but manages to take the company back to green together with other Ancient Managers. The philosophy Are we able to change when the rules of the game change, and how much do you even want to play the games people play?…
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Ordinary Day
The story A famous celebrity housewife learns something about her marriage and drops everything for a new life in Brazil. The philosophy You live a virtuous life and make all the right choices. What will you do if you realise that life may still disappoint? The song The lyrics The video The fiction The gallery…
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About “Lover Costing Average”
The Story The inspiration for “Lover Costing Average” came from observing the dating culture in today’s world, where apps and algorithms often dictate our choices. The song is the story of an investor playboy who maintains multiple intimate relationships simultaneously, treating them like investments to see which one yields the best return. He’s a strategist,…
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Lyrics to “Lover Costing Average”
“Lipstick’s cherry all over the lens as we’re falling into the blue”
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Lover Costing Average
The story Lover Costing Average is a story about an investor playboy who maintains multiple intimate relationships to see which of them starts working out the best The philosophy If you have developed your personal truth about something, will you share it or keep it to yourself? The song Spotify player below, links to all…
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Journey to “Lover Costing Average”
The other day, Poliphilos was reviewing the footage from Aurélie’s revolutionary fashion show at Ostara’s garden. He couldn’t help but smile at how the ancient goddess had helped transform not just Aurélie’s designs, but the entire fashion industry’s approach to sustainability. His phone rang. The caller ID showed “Marcus Chen, CTO, Meridian Exchange.” “Poliphilos? I…
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The Ancient Manager’s Chess Game: When Students Outsmart Teachers
Introduction A king playing chess with a student (or peasant) in the middle of the night, while two dogs fight in the corner—this medieval woodblock print from Pérez-Reverte’s “El Club Dumas” provides an example of several forms of power in action (French and Raven, 1959). In addition, the positioning of the characters in the picture…
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About “Stand By You”
The Story “Stand By You” started by me reading one of my favourite sci-fi books ever, Arthur C. Clarke’s fantastic novel “Childhood’s End“. The book explores humanity’s transformation through the arrival of mysterious alien Overlords who guide Earth toward a new cosmic destiny. While Clarke’s story focuses on the global impact, I wanted to zoom…
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Journey to “Stand By You”
It was a perfectly ordinary Thursday afternoon when, through his window, Poliphilos saw the massive spaceship appearing above the city. The vessel hung silently in the sky, its enormous form seeming to dwarf both the ancient domes and modern office buildings below. As he watched tourists and scooters scurry to all possible directions from under…
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Lyrics to “Stand by you”
When I wake the house upI put on my blue jeansand become a man of the worldWhen I shake things upTake off my blue jeanswhat is left is just the outside worldI don’t do the tangoI do the cowboyin the nearby Underworld barSome people call me Mauricethough not a joker‘cos I’ll stand by you no…
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About “All These Worlds Are Yours”
(Listen to the song in here) “All These Worlds Are Yours” was by far the most painful song to write for the “Player Characters” album and took five months to write. Here’s a video about my frustrations from that time. I have no idea why it just didn’t come out like the others did. Sometimes…
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Lyrics to “All These Worlds Are Yours”
(Listen to the song in here)You seek your creatorI am looking at mineYou watch reels by othersWhy are you not as fine?”Mister, I googled youand I didn’t like what I saw”Your videos come.And their videos? They go.But when is your time to shineon your own show?Everybody’s liking but then fightingwith strangers in the night.And your…
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Journey To “All These Worlds Are Yours”
The other day, Poliphilos was visiting Phil Collins in Switzerland and they were listening to one of his all-time hits, ‘In The Air Tonight’. There, the talk went to the drowning incident. ‘There was no drowning incident!’ Phil said. ‘I’m sure there wasn’t!’ Poliphilos agreed. ‘Anyway, it’s interesting how one can base a whole album…
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About “Red And Blue”
The Story I got the thematic inspiration for “Red And Blue” from Luc Besson’s movie Nikita: a secret government organization fakes the death of a female prisoner, then recruits her as a secret agent. She becomes good at it but struggles to find balance between professional and personal life. The song also references William Gibson’s…
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Lyrics to “Red and Blue”
(Listen to the song in here)Moving on the floor now,the perfect smile,A flick to the left now,you see the signYou’re not here to make friendsYou’re not here to socialiseThat’s your style,they sayThe lights in the twilight paint the roomThis night is not over, it is red and blueThe agents are looking for a clueAnd you…
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Journey to “Red And Blue”
Somewhere en route from Paris back to Singapore with Poliphilos’s “Landscape Fantasy” in her headphones it hit her: she had been here before. The views. The sounds. The fusion kitchen and the Krug. All of it had meant something for someone many years earlier. But was that someone her? Or someone else? She couldn’t decide.…
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About “Ancient Manager”
Ancient Manager is the myth of the Flying Dutchman set in the modern corporate world. Listen to it here. In my verision, the Ancient Manager is struggling between corporate forces of customer demands, legal requirements, employee worries and top management pressure, but manages to turn the tide and bring the company back to green with…
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Lyrics to “Ancient Manager”
(listen to the song in here)Beneath the moon’s soft and silvery glow:Towers Of Steel standing stillSilver moon over the sleeping steeplesI set my course to where the trade winds blowThe Seven Markets vast and deepThe Ancient Manager picks up his fleetWith a flock of suits he’s cursed to sail the seas”With the Silent Period loud…
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Journey to “Ancient Manager”
The other day, Poliphilos was planning the “Player Characters” album again in his apartment overlooking the city. “Messenger!”, he called. Nothing. “Messenger?!”, he repeated. In a whoosh he was there. Disheveled with twigs and pine cones hanging in his…” “Is that moss???”, Poliphilos asked. “Don’t ask”, the Messenger said, tidying up. “I guess I better…