Sage | Ambient Folk Ballad | Erec Stebbins “Daughter of Time” Trilogy | Lyrics

“Sage” lyric video by Mazandarani (“Songs from the Sands” album). A poignant ambient folk lament with beautiful harmonies and harp. Verse from the science fiction “Daughter of Time” trilogy set to music. This song and album accompany the release of the 10th Anniversary edition of the trilogy, a complete rewrite of the books by Erec Stebbins (preserving plot, characters, and scenes, but altering the style to reflect his evolution as a writer). Order or download free the 10th Anniversary Trilogy: https://www.erecstebbinsbooks.com/dot... Song Highlights 0:00 Harp Intro 0:23 First Verse: Disillusionment 1:10 Second Verse: Delusion 1:53 Third Verse: Discernment 2:34 Short Interlude 2:44 Final Couplet: Eyes to See ──────────────────── Lyrics They call me Sage and marvel at my sight as mysteries beyond their minds I speak, and most my charms and coded spells delight: each year I sicken more before this reek. The blinded acolytes so rarely see immersed in study, spellbound by the art, deluded they ignore the mystery. With faith they close their eyes but to a part. A few reach out into the unknown dark and recognize we write these spells with hands. But on these able limbs we have no mark from man or god. Our house is built on sand. This image lives unharmed in but a few. The others shield their eyes and paint anew. ──────────────────── BACKGROUND Mazandarani is the name of a minor but tragic figure in the trilogy. He was deeply but unrequitedly in love with, and utterly devoted to, the Daughter of Time. And he served her well. His poems decorate the opening of each of the seven parts of the third book, “Maker”. The conceit in this new project, mirroring that of the trilogy itself, is that powerful forces from the future who can shape space, time, and consciousness, have reached back in time to communicate with the author's mind. This is in order to pass on messages in the “now” that will positively affect the future. As the first novel, “Reader”, notes in its first chapter: “On the cover of this book, you’re reading an author’s name. He believes this story is full of his ideas, born from his own mind. It’s not. I am writing it through him. In his delusion, it’s all part of a clever plot he’s stitched together, down to this very sentence saying he isn’t writing it. Instead, it is the effort of my mind reaching out, back through what you call time. I inspire him, shape his thoughts, convince him of this reality.” In this musical project, the Daughter of Time chooses to speak through the poetry of Mazandarani, not only in the static verse on the pages of the novel she inspired Erec Stebbins to write, but also through music that she has led him to produce. It is another attempt through various media to shape the consciousness of the past toward building a better future. SYNTHETIC MUSIC Because of the controversy around and the frequent abuse of the technology, to be completely transparent, the music in “Songs from the Sands” is 100% AI generated. Given the author's current means, time, and talents, he could never have composed or commissioned 8 songs in completely different genres that are made to his own tastes and hopes for the poetry. With AI (and thousands of generations and many iterative edits of music and prompts), he could afford to produce this music and shape it toward something that is emotionally moving and meaningful to him. For the AI-pathic: In the midst of how the greedy billionaires and power-drunk rulers of our world abuse all technology, you might consider “Songs from the Sands” as a positive example of what this tech could be. Plowshares or swords, every technology was built upon the efforts of many in our species and each has brought beauty and horror depending on how it was wielded. AI is no different. AI is a new, powerful tool for the creative process. While some pervert it for the darkest evils and mundane slop, it doesn't have to be that way. In that spirit, “Songs from the Sands” is offered as a counter example. Imagine the better future if our tech were used exclusively for beauty and good. The choices are always in front of us. ──────────────────── The “Daughter of Time” trilogy rewrite (including poems) and associated synthetic music are placed into the public domain (CC0) by the author and producer, Erec Stebbins, with no restrictions on use. There is no monetization.