(AI Gen) TATANKA’s “Random Signals from a Starman”
“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”
— Carl Sagan
This quote from Carl Sagan’s book Cosmos emphasizes the profound connection between human beings and the universe, highlighting that the very elements that compose our bodies originated in the cores of stars. It serves as a poetic reminder of our intrinsic link to the cosmos. goodreads.com
This album tells a gender-bending, nonlinear, dreamlike story of a cosmic traveler who falls into a world of illusion, excess, and existential collapse. It’s surreal, cryptic, and full of Bowie’s signature blend of fluidity, sci-fi, decadence, and poetic despair.
Somewhere in the static, between dying transmissions and forgotten dreams, a voice lingers—part whisper, part wail, part prophecy. “Random Signals from a Starman” is not just an album; it’s a fragmented odyssey, a cosmic fever dream unraveling in nonlinear bursts of neon, longing, and collapse.
A traveler falls from the stars, only to land in a world of illusions—where prophets are machines, gods wear plastic crowns, and memory itself is a glitching frequency. He is Bowie’s ghost, Ziggy’s echo, an avatar of reinvention lost in the labyrinth of time. Through synth-lit dystopias and feverish reveries, through velvet static and shattered reflections, he searches for meaning in the wreckage of identity and the ruins of existence.
This is a transmission from the void. A love letter to those who walk the liminal spaces between who they were and who they might become. A requiem for the dreamers, the drifters, the lost boys of a future that never came.
Listen closely. The signal is weak, but the message endures.
Act I: The Arrival & Awakening (A cosmic traveler, lost in time, arrives in a fractured world.)
– A celestial being falls to Earth, stranded and questioning his purpose.
[Verse]
When I fell to earth
The sky just stared
A rainbow zipping down
The atmosphere
[Verse 2]
My friends said they would search eternity for me
[Chorus]
So I sent word to the center of the galaxy
One by one
Everyone’s saying there must have been
Lightning destroying my communication
[Verse 2]
I can’t be arsed as far as arses go
You know
Are you real when you’re made to feel made up
Mother
Of purpose
Faith
Of existence?
[Chorus]
Has anyone stared down the mouth of heaven
Like I have seven times?
A pro at three tries
Denied at four
[Bridge]
I’ve wandered
Wandered
From starlight to starlight
– He discovers a world ruled by technology, where prophets are machines and faith is synthetic.
[Chorus]
Bang
Bang
You shot down
Slayed
I suppose I’m a small part of whom I thought I’d become
And I said
“Hey
I made some art today
Maybe you might want to come out and play
We can do things differently
A new experience
Do you want to risk what we’ve got?”
And they said
“Bang
Bang
You shot down”
[Verse]
The temples are changing what you believe
You can only dream of heaven now
The demons are inspecting us with lightning from their hands
Riding in and out of the oasis
Seeing things
[Verse]
I was seein’ things
Robots became prophets
And I started growin’ vaguer
People dress like cavemen seekin’ greener pastures
There was water
There was fruit and music in their ears
I didn’t understand
But at least I could breathe
[Chorus]
Bang
Bang
You shot down
Slayed
I suppose I’m a small part of whom I thought I’d become
And I said
“Hey
I made some art today
Maybe you might want to come out and play
We can do things differently
A new experience
Do you want to risk what we’ve got?”
And they said
“Bang
Bang
You shot down”
[Verse]
They said
“Relax
Son
We are just playing a game”
It goes bang
Bang
You shot down
They gave me some magic to create some great art
I didn’t know what I could do; I just got confused
[Verse]
It was crazy
And the prophecy was fadin’
I’d only met half as the devil in the matrix
I suppose he was someone confused
Though maybe in his actions
Certainly very kind
Teaching me the code before they wrote the rules
It goes
[Hook]
Bang (Bang, bang, bang)
Bang (Bang, bang, bang)
Bang
Bang (Bang, bang, bang)
Bang (Bang, bang, bang)
Bang
Bang (Bang, bang, bang)
Bang (Bang, bang, bang)
Ooh
Ooh-ooh
[Chorus]
Bang
Bang
You shot down
Slayed
I suppose I’m a small part of whom I thought I’d become
And I said
“Hey
I made some art today
Maybe you might want to come out and play
We can do things differently
A new experience
Do you want to risk what we’ve got?”
And they said
“Bang
Bang
You shot down”
[Instrumental Outro]
– The traveler wanders through a dystopian city, where neon lights mask a decaying empire.
[Chorus 1]
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
[Verse 1]
Oh what a beautiful night
I’m nodding to men passing by
They’re wandering through neon Reich
So the world doesn’t open its vice
To see what’s underneath
An empire in decay
[Chorus 1]
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
[Verse 2]
Canceled plans declined
But for what sacrifice?
I’m wasted on these dark delights
I danced with you so far from my eyes
The Traveler finds when he lies in bed
He wakes dead and feels alive
[Chorus]
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
[Verse 3]
Oh tonight I tried
Or at least I lied
Not to cry myself to sleep
Standing in line to go to sleep
Lining up for more neon Reich
[Chorus]
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Act II: The Seduction of Identity (He loses himself in excess, reinvention, and the allure of false gods.)
– The traveler is lured into fame, becoming a fabricated icon for a desperate world.
[Verse]
Bejeweled companion
Golden light
S&M and mighty zions
Shutting windows tight
Ghostly mentions
Famous monsters in night
New inventions
Shedding history’s right light
[Chorus]
Clashing shadows
Not homes
When I die shamed or alone
Follow you anywhere
No
I don’t really care about the pain
Bury me in your brain
[Verse 2]
Helpless stay-outs
Tinted glasses cover world
Recluse payouts
Want more brain
Open the curl
Standing sauerkraut
Paper crowns on plastic thrones
Personal hideouts
Higher shelves and public groans
[Chorus]
All kicked out
No surprise to me
In the end
Empty
Think they’d fight for me
A plastic soul
Real entity
No grass at my feet
Kiss my light
Artificial moon to me
Done being me
I’m free to leave
[Outro]
Humble follower
Of something greater
Bet on me all or nothing
– He embraces androgyny, transforming into a symbol of rebellion and fluid identity.
[Chorus]
He’s sexed up and slimy
But morally righteous to the youth
Man up your begotten man of God
He’s sexed up and slimy
But worth of a symbol of Him
Heading back down south to wash away the sins
[Verse]
Lipstick messiah in bright heels
And bloody makeup
This one can be hard to digest
Lipstick messiah’s scary
But also your lover
So
[Chorus]
He’s sexed up and slimy
But morally righteous to the youth
Man up your begotten man of God
He’s sexed up and slimy
But worth of a symbol of Him
Heading back down south to wash away the sins
[Verse 2]
Lipstick messiah in fringes
You won’t catch me lying
Lipstick messiah coats the kingdom
Then coats your throat
Now
Oh [Bridge]
He’s bad
He’s allergic to worrying
He’s mad
He’s loosely attached
To his senses of both joy and peace
He’s spyin’
Dressed as the cucumber kids
Per four syllables
He’s spying
Understand it
But won’t break your bones
Because
He’s sexed up and slimy
But morally righteous to the youth
Man up your begotten man of God
He’s sexed up and slimy
But he’s worth comparing to the Lord
Uninspired
But at least another one
[Chorus]
He’s sexed up and slimy
But morally righteous to the youth
Man up your begotten man of God
He’s sexed up and slimy
But worth of a symbol of Him
Heading back down south to wash away the sins
[Verse 3]
Lipstick messiah feels his flesh peeling away
Lipstick messiah lets his ego go
[Chorus]
He’s sexed up and slimy
But morally righteous to the youth
Man up your begotten man of God
He’s sexed up and slimy
But worth of a symbol of Him
Heading back down south to wash away the sins
[Verse 4]
Lipstick messiah’s my child
Oh
And he moves wildly around the land
I wish you could see him the way I do
I wish you could set him so free
[Chorus]
He’s sexed up and slimy
But morally righteous to the youth
Man up your begotten man of God
He’s sexed up and slimy
But worth of a symbol of Him
Heading back down south to wash away the sins
[Chorus]
He’s sexed up and slimy
But morally righteous to the youth
Man up your begotten man of God
He’s sexed up and slimy
But worth of a symbol of Him
Heading back down south to wash away the sins
[Outro]
– Lost among society’s outcasts, he finds both ecstasy and despair in underground decadence.
[Chorus]
A labyrinth of pleasure
Relentless I thirst
The disruption of blasphemous energy riles me
[Verse]
I can hear ’em callin’
Alleyway angels drone
Satellite junkies roam
Petabites from the throne
[Chorus]
A labyrinth of pleasure
Relentless I thirst
The disruption of blasphemous energy riles me
[Verse]
Time here is broken
Augment my system and circuits
Enhance my retinas
Acknowledge my worth
[Chorus]
A labyrinth of pleasure
Relentless I thirst
The disruption of blasphemous energy riles me
[Bridge]
Alleyway saints
They’re prayin’
To their satellite satellite satellite
Satellite junkies are fazed
By the halo halo
The halo halo
The halo halo
She’s a halo halo
[Chorus]
A labyrinth of pleasure
Relentless I thirst
The disruption of blasphemous energy riles me
[Verse]
I can hear ’em callin’
Alleyway angels drone
Satellite junkies roam
Petabites from the throne
[Instrumental Outro]
– A hallucinatory party, a golden cage of indulgence where the ghosts of the past toast to the end of an era.
[Chorus]
I once pined for a throne
Now I’m warmed by the arms of boredums unknown
A gilded cage
My dusty bones
There are champagne corpses in the ballroom
Whoa
[Verse 1]
There’s fighting on the balcony
The hallways smell of smoke
It’s not a party after all
And all the harlots have gone home
To lay their heads on feather beds of world’s greatest sells
[Chorus]
I once pined for a throne
Now I’m warmed by the arms of boredums unknown
A gilded cage
My dusty bones
There are champagne corpses in the ballroom
Whoa
[Verse 2]
Like children in the fen
The mirrors on their walls reflect their naked knees and elbows
The clock is flashing “7:00”
Though the doctor in the corner says it’s just a lie
[Chorus]
I once pined for a throne
Now I’m warmed by the arms of boredoms unknown
A gilded cage
My dusty bones
There are champagne corpses in the ballroom
Whoa
[Bridge]
The bulls will hang their hats
And the sheep will hang the hats
Papa’s left his throne
Papa’s left his throne
[Chorus]
I once pined for a throne
Now I’m warmed by the arms of boredums unknown
A gilded cage
My dusty bones
There are champagne corpses in the ballroom
Whoa
[Verse 3]
And the moon’s about to fall
The empty bottles clink as the sun stifles its yawn
The ants file in a fashion line
To sacrifice their king and sell their souls for ninety-nine
[Chorus]
I once pined for a throne
Now I’m warmed by the arms of boredums unknown
A gilded cage
My dusty bones
There are champagne corpses in the ballroom
Whoa
[Chorus]
I once pined for a throne
Now I’m warmed by the arms of boredums unknown
A gilded cage
My dusty bones
There are champagne corpses in the ballroom
Whoa
Act III: The Fractured Mind (Madness, memory, and reality collapse as time warps around him.)
– He no longer recognizes himself, haunted by reflections that shift with every passing moment.
[Verse]
Well it would take a sellout
To fill the crowd
Given that my words come
Out of my mouth
Out of yours
Out of hers
Haven’t seen my face
In quite some time
Yesterday
Or last year
Well I don’t know
[Chorus]
Turn around
Turn around
Inside out
Outside in
Turn around
Turn around
You seen him?
[Verse 2]
And it would take a dead man
To still love me
My reflection never sticks
Around to fuck me
Can’t say Jack
Can’t say shit
Can’t say Jane
Sneets with borp
Dah dorah
[Chorus]
Turn around
Turn around
Inside out
Outside in
Turn around
Turn around
You seen him?
[Outro]
Turn around
Turn around
Inside in
Outside out
Turn around
Turn around
– Time is unraveling, and he realizes he has always been a prisoner of fate.
[Chorus 1]
It’s a prisoner’s cage and I wrote its page
And all I can do is delay
It’s a clock that must strike
It’s a wheel that must spin
And though I don’t like it
It’s come again
[Verse]
Another dawn another life
Another world awaiting me tonight
A birth of void into a mind
Of time and space and all that it defines
[Chorus 1]
It’s a prisoner’s cage and I wrote its page
And all I can do is delay
It’s a clock that must strike
It’s a wheel that must spin
And though I don’t like it
It’s come again
[Verse 2]
And I don’t know how this ends
So I run away and run again
I’m losing count
I’m losing track
Of days in years in futures I go back
[Chorus 1]
It’s a prisoner’s cage and I wrote its page
And all I can do is delay
It’s a clock that must strike
It’s a wheel that must spin
And though I don’t like it
It’s come again
[Verse 3]
We are not to know the hour
The parausïa and its hidden stars
I have played and I have lost
I break the glass before its fatal song
[Chorus 2]
Another night another life
Another world awaiting me tonight
And nothing will come of this one too
And I don’t know why it’s today
It’s a beautiful lie
As I fade away
[Chorus 2]
Another night another life
Another world awaiting me tonight
And nothing will come of this one too
And I don’t know why it’s today
It’s a beautiful lie
As I fade away
[Chorus 2]
Another night another life
Another world awaiting me tonight
And nothing will come of this one too
And I don’t know why it’s today
It’s a beautiful lie
As I fade away
[Chorus 2]
Another night another life
Another world awaiting me tonight
And nothing will come of this one too
And I don’t know why it’s today
It’s a beautiful lie
As I fade away
– A mysterious letter arrives, revealing the truth: he is merely a story within a grand illusion.
[Chorus]
Nevertheless I hope you are well
I trust it very strange when one wakes from a spell
When this is spoken my task is complete
On a cold evening by the fireside you shall hear me
[Verse]
I’ve been invited
To see the end
In a letter from a magician friend
It came in a telegram via Western Union
[Chorus]
Nevertheless I hope you are well
I trust it very strange when one wakes from a spell
When this is spoken my task is complete
On a cold evening by the fireside you shall hear me
[Verse 2]
It read
“Dear illusorystone
In a voice which is not your own
Thus you shall hear the abyss’s tune
[Chorus]
Nevertheless I hope you are well
I trust it very strange when one wakes from a spell
When this is spoken my task is complete
On a cold evening by the fireside you shall hear me
[Bridge]
The story’s told
Walking in beds of green
The mechanisms of this dream
Are a mystery to me
[Chorus]
Nevertheless I hope you are well
I trust it very strange when one wakes from a spell
When this is spoken my task is complete
On a cold evening by the fireside you shall hear me
[Verse 3]
You’ll know when I’m blue in the face
My twitching hands will give it away
Are you receiving this transmission?
My channels run
But not before my mission is done
[Interlude]
“Here’s the ending
In truth I’m not joking
I speak when interred
[Chorus]
Nevertheless I hope you are well
I trust it very strange when one wakes from a spell
When this is spoken my task is complete
On a cold evening by the fireside you shall hear me
[Chorus]
Nevertheless I hope you are well
I trust it very strange when one wakes from a spell
When this is spoken my task is complete
On a cold evening by the fireside you shall hear me
– He embraces the void, shedding his former selves like an insect molting its skin.
[Verse]
He slept in my yard
Before he left
He sang me a song
He had no shadow
[Verse]
He talked too much
But you get used to it
He didn’t want anything
I asked him to stay
[Chorus]
My daddy taught me how a man should be
By example and as much by telling me
To see the world
Only through my eyes
It takes pain
And it takes time
And the man who wasn’t there
Saw what he wanted to see
And there wasn’t much advice
So it seemed to me
[Verse]
Here I’ve got a good life
I’ve heard it before
But a dead dog will chase you
He said you’ve gotta move every so often
[Verse]
It was a cheap lunch
With a girl
Who lost her mind
On Kentucky bourbon
[Chorus]
My daddy taught me how a man should be
By example and as much by telling me
To see the world
Only through my eyes
It takes pain
And it takes time
And the man who wasn’t there
Saw what he wanted to see
And there wasn’t much advice
So it seemed to me
[Bridge]
He keeps no mementos
He owns no possessions
He does not know the piano
He writes songs with questions
Who is he?
And where was he?
And what did they say?
But
As father said
He is where he is
And things have to change
[Verse]
In my own bones lies proof
Of what I am
And people can be relied upon
To step all over you
[Chorus]
My daddy taught me how a man should be
By example and as much by telling me
To see the world
Only through my eyes
It takes pain
And it takes time
And the man who wasn’t there
Saw what he wanted to see
And there wasn’t much advice
So it seemed to me
[Chorus]
My daddy taught me how a man should be
By example and as much by telling me
To see the world
Only through my eyes
It takes pain
And it takes time
And the man who wasn’t there
Saw what he wanted to see
And there wasn’t much advice
So it seemed to me
Act IV: The Descent & The Truth (He journeys into the underworld of memory, encountering ghosts and forgotten wisdom.)
– A radio plays love songs from a life he never lived, blurring past and present.
[Intro]
This isn’t how it ought to be
And if we run it back in fifths then we can see before a final exit lest we forget
[Chorus]
Before we all exit
Drain the complex
Then show me where you go when you’re upset
[Verse 1]
I’m driving the lean
With me love
When I hear from above
From this radio playing for me
[Verse 2]
There’s static
Some praxis
This perfect love song
From a past life
Don’t perturb me
[Chorus]
Before we all exit
Drain the complex
Then show me where you go when you’re upset
[Verse 3] The final exit I can see A glow I’m flowing through with anti-gravity I start to see that velvet static where it hit The lyrics and the road signs die as I descend.
[Bridge] Here’s Lilith sauntering And Jezebel
I see her wings
She’s walking through this upper hell. When she gets her wings. ordinateur
[Chorus]
Before we all exit
Drain the complex
Then show me where you go when you’re upset
[Verse] This isn’t how it ought to be And if we run it back in fifths then we can see before a final exit lest we forget
[Chorus]
Before we all exit
Drain the complex
Then show me where you go when you’re upset
[Chorus]
Before we all exit
Drain the complex
Then show me where you go when you’re upset
[Chorus]
Before we all exit
Drain the complex
Then show me where you go when you’re upset
[Chorus]
Before we all exit
Drain the complex
Then show me where you go when you’re upset
– He witnesses the echoes of war and revolution, the price of power paid in blood.
[Verse 1]
The kiss of chemical perfume
Sweet on my cheek
Confirmed by the cacophony of catacombs
That I’m just up the creek
Rebellion’s annual revolution
Led by dilettante demagoguery
The first of which filled their voids
Which left all my foundations torn in twain
[Chorus]
I’ll never forget the day
I saw them cinch the wooden floor
To lay out 13 red epaulettes on the killing floor
I’ll never forget the day
I saw them cinch the wooden floor
To lay out 13 red epaulettes on the killing floor
[Verse 2]
One can easily play the diplomat
Whilst living on borrowed time
The spoils divided which we
Picked apart and reviled
The stomach’s a disease
It’s quelled only by the cost of treaties
Mother still holds place for special treatment
Filling row upon row upon row
Of blank markets
[Chorus]
I’ll never forget the day
I saw them cinch the wooden floor
To lay out 13 red epaulettes on the killing floor
I’ll never forget the day
I saw them cinch the wooden floor
To lay out 13 red epaulettes on the killing floor
[Bridge]
Acumen
Examples
Faithless
Or ethos
[Chorus]
I’ll never forget the day
I saw them cinch the wooden floor
To lay out 13 red epaulettes on the killing floor
I’ll never forget the day
I saw them cinch the wooden floor
To lay out 13 red epaulettes on the killing floor
[Verse 3]
Heed all the lessons borne in blood-red
Never forget them
Don’t postpone them
Don’t gloss over them
[Chorus]
I’ll never forget the day
I saw them cinch the wooden floor
To lay out 13 red epaulettes on the killing floor
I’ll never forget the day
I saw them cinch the wooden floor
To lay out 13 red epaulettes on the killing floor
[Chorus]
I’ll never forget the day
I saw them cinch the wooden floor
To lay out 13 red epaulettes on the killing floor
I’ll never forget the day
I saw them cinch the wooden floor
To lay out 13 red epaulettes on the killing floor
– Deep in the labyrinth of history, he meets an ancient entity that whispers forbidden knowledge.
[Chorus]
We become Him and He becomes us
And we become greater than we were
The worlds that we made have been rusted away
But ours was not the only serpareon
No
[Verse 1]
Down in my Archean home
Under the caves and glowworms
Those interzones
Ancient tones
Echo of His dark and light
Cosmic debris
Far from home
He reactivates my earth stone
In those interzones our union grows
[Chorus]
We become Him and He becomes us
And we become greater than we were
The worlds that we made have been rusted away
But ours was not the only serpareon
No
[Verse 2]
Now I’ve lost myself inside of His light
An effervescing fractal
It aligns
Pulsating throughout spaces
Inside of my mind
Rewiring what I know and all I think is right
His visions play upon my senses like living fire
Dancing on a cathedral’s walls
[Pre-Chorus]
One for the heart
Two for the body
The eleven parts of His soul
Fourteen echoes
And the five are lost
Lost
[Chorus]
We become Him and He becomes us
And we become greater than we were
The worlds that we made have been rusted away
But ours was not the only serpareon
No
[Verse 3]
In silence I wait to hear another call
In my mind is filling with static
A wormhole
Looking for the tunnel to lead me to paradise
[Chorus]
We become Him and He becomes us
And we become greater than we were
The worlds that we made have been rusted away
But ours was not the only serpareon
No
[Verse 4]
Deep within a tomb older than time
There it lies
Sleeping far from home
His form continues to grow
To consume light and bind my soul
[Chorus]
We become Him and He becomes us
And we become greater than we were
The worlds that we made have been rusted away
But ours was not the only serpareon
No
[Chorus]
We become Him and He becomes us
And we become greater than we were
The worlds that we made have been rusted away
But ours was not the only serpareon
No
– Flashes of the past, a memory that hasn’t happened yet, a déjà vu looping endlessly.
[Verse]
Saw it first through yours then mine
A million times
There you were only sometimes they’d say
This is your future yesterday
[Chorus]
Déjà vu loops endlessly
It comes to me
Picture-perfect clarity
A memory
[Verse 2]
Seventeen shots of unripened green
The fist over blue
The pink
White
And gray
We thought it was gone
How unreal it’d be to say
A moment from our yesterday
[Chorus]
Déjà vu loops endlessly
It comes to me
Picture-perfect clarity
A memory
[Verse 3]
Pour vinegar down the drain
It makes crude strings dance
As they fade away
Looked back and realized today
You were my yesterday
[Chorus]
Déjà vu loops endlessly
It comes to me
Picture-perfect clarity
A memory
[Chorus]
Déjà vu loops endlessly
It comes to me
Picture-perfect clarity
A memory
[Verse 4]
Saw it first through yours then mine
A million times
There you were only sometimes they’d say
This is your future yesterday
[Chorus]
Déjà vu loops endlessly
It comes to me
Picture-perfect clarity
A memory
[Outro]
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Déjà vu loops endlessly
Act V: The End & The Beginning (A reckoning, a rebirth, or the end of everything?)
– The world is ending, and he walks through its ruins, a final witness.
[Chorus]
I dressed for the funeral of the sun
For the funeral of just about everyone
The kings and the queens are dying off one by one
And I walk through the ashes as if I am
[Verse]
Tears are coming to the world’s eyes
It’s barely holding on
Its chest is barely moving up and down
Though you still breathe
Mother
[Chorus]
I dressed for the funeral of the sun
For the funeral of just about everyone
The kings and the queens are dying off one by one
And I walk through the ashes as if I am the only one
[Verse]
The world is shutting down her systems
Shutting her blinds and farm
Her blue eyes fade from the skies
To the waters barely moving up and down
[Chorus]
I dressed for the funeral of the sun
For the funeral of just about everyone
The kings and the queens are dying off one by one
And I walk through the ashes as if I am
[Bridge]
The land has cracked beneath my load
It is too heavy
Everything
[Breakdown]
Cracked beneath my load
And it’s almost done
Wrap it up with me
Dressed for the funeral
The funeral of the sun
[Chorus]
I dressed for the funeral of the sun
For the funeral of just about everyone
The kings and the queens are dying off one by one
And I walk through the ashes as if I am
[Chorus]
I dressed for the funeral of the sun
For the funeral of just about everyone
The kings and the queens are dying off one by one
And I walk through the ashes as if I am
– He gathers the misfits, the forgotten dreamers, leading them toward an uncertain dawn.
[Intro]
On the edge of the unknown,
The stars flicker like secrets—
Ziggy’s lost boys walk through fire,
Whispers of Mars beneath their feet.
[Verse 1]
There are weapons he would carry
And some dreams he would share
With the weirdos and the dreamers
Who had gathered themselves there
[Chorus]
And Ziggy’s lost boys
Ziggy’s little Spiders
A new triangle size
But tonight
They trade their
Friendship for ten years of war
And Ziggy’s lost boys
Ziggy’s little Spiders
It’s not a bad day
I just stare straight ahead
Mission Amberley
The trains over to Cables
And Ziggy’s lost boys
[Verse 2]
Then century to century
It’s Cold War and high inflation
With an army fast approaching
Its own ten-year celebration
[Chorus]
And Ziggy’s lost boys
Ziggy’s little Spiders
A new triangle size
But tonight
They trade their
Friendship for ten years of war
And Ziggy’s lost boys
Ziggy’s little Spiders
It’s not a bad day
I just stare straight ahead
Mission Amberley
The trains over to Cables
And Ziggy’s lost boys
[Verse 3]
And the little darlings flocked
To him like drivers to a crash
That stayed and waited patiently
For Ziggy to rise from the ash
[Chorus]
And Ziggy’s lost boys
Ziggy’s little Spiders
A new triangle size
But tonight
They trade their
Friendship for ten years of war
And Ziggy’s lost boys
Ziggy’s little Spiders
It’s not a bad day
I just stare straight ahead
Mission Amberley
The trains over to Cables
And Ziggy’s lost boys
[Verse 4]
Through the fog and into space
He leaves the shadows of a fading trace
Where the Spiders, now lost in the dark,
Search for answers they can never mark
[Bridge]
And they climb through the ruins
Of a future that’s torn,
Where the signals are broken
And the stars are reborn,
But Ziggy keeps walking
With his heart full of fire,
He whispers their names
To the universe higher.
[Chorus]
And Ziggy’s lost boys
Ziggy’s little Spiders
A new triangle size
But tonight
They trade their
Friendship for ten years of war
And Ziggy’s lost boys
Ziggy’s little Spiders
It’s not a bad day
I just stare straight ahead
Mission Amberley
The trains over to Cables
And Ziggy’s lost boys
[Verse 5]
And with closes for eyes
Thousands gathered to watch the sun rise
On the Silk Road at the behest
Of Rivers City crest
[Chorus]
And Ziggy’s lost boys
Ziggy’s little Spiders
A new triangle size
But tonight
They trade their
Friendship for ten years of war
And Ziggy’s lost boys
Ziggy’s little Spiders
It’s not a bad day
I just stare straight ahead
Mission Amberley
The trains over to Cables
And Ziggy’s lost boys
[Chorus]
And Ziggy’s lost boys
Ziggy’s little Spiders
A new triangle size
But tonight
They trade their
Friendship for ten years of war
And Ziggy’s lost boys
Ziggy’s little Spiders
It’s not a bad day
I just stare straight ahead
Mission Amberley
The trains over to Cables
And Ziggy’s lost boys
[Outro]
So here they stand, on the edge of forever,
Ziggy’s lost boys, now and never.
The trains fade out into the horizon’s glow—
Ziggy’s journey, but he’ll never let go.
Through the static, through the sorrow,
On the wind, I hear the call—
All the dreamers, all the outcasts,
Rise together, never fall.
And we are spiders in the starlight,
Drifting through the silver glow.
A hand in the darkness,
A voice in the echo,
He sings, “You were always known.”
By the fire, by the ocean,
He weaves stories into light.
With the broken and forgotten,
He will dance into the night.
And we are spiders in the starlight,
Drifting through the silver glow.
A hand in the darkness,
A voice in the echo,
He sings, “You were always known.”
And the road bends toward the heavens,
With the ghosts of time before,
In the echoes of tomorrow,
We won’t wander anymore.
And we are spiders in the starlight,
Drifting through the silver glow.
A hand in the darkness,
A voice in the echo,
He sings, “You were always known.”
Past the ruins, past the heartache,
Where the neon embers burn,
Ziggy lifts them, tells them, softly,
“This is where the lost return.”
And we are spiders in the starlight,
Drifting through the silver glow.
A hand in the darkness,
A voice in the echo,
He sings, “You were always known.”
So take my hand, take my sorrow,
Take my heart and take the sky.
We are Spiders, we are starlight,
We will never say goodbye.
– The cycle begins again. The traveler fades into legend, and a new story is ready to be told.
[Chorus 1]
For those of you
Think twice ‘for you waste my love
The words ain’t through
And neither it’s season
[Verse 1]
The head dies
The temple burns
The legend ends as the traveler journeys
The veil begins between the world that the sun reflects
And the night descends
[Chorus 1]
For those of you
Think twice ‘for you waste my love
The words ain’t through
And neither it’s season
[Verse 2]
When you need
Think of me
Things to come in dreams now I sleep
You noticed
Right
That the further You traversed
The colder the shoulder
[Chorus 1]
For those of you
Think twice ‘for you waste my love
The words ain’t through
And neither it’s season
[Verse 3]
Thought there’d be changes
On my return after all I’ve endured
Be proud to learn
It’s the same world
But one cannot run from hunger
[Chorus 1]
For those of you
Think twice ‘for you waste my love
The words ain’t through
And neither it’s season
[Bridge]
Run
Run
The seed must grow
When it’s older still
Like the water flows to the roots
[Chorus 2]
But it’s built to ruin
And once-knowns fade
Cycles begin anew
In time
Man
I say
[Chorus 3]
But it’s built to ruin
And once-knowns fade
Cycles begin anew
In time
Woman
I say
[Chorus 2]
But it’s built to ruin
And once-knowns fade
Cycles begin anew
In time
Man
I say
[Chorus 3]
But it’s built to ruin
And once-knowns fade
Cycles begin anew
In time
Woman
I say
Zaphirah Blue was born in the shadows of neon, a child of forgotten alleyways and flickering streetlamps in a city that never called her by name. Her skin, the color of twilight between prayers, carried the echoes of ancestors who had once danced to rhythms older than time. She was neither wholly seen nor entirely invisible—existing in the margins where society discarded the stories it feared to understand.
She lived in the hush of borrowed spaces, her voice drowned out by the static of a world that wanted her silent. A Black, trans Muslim woman, she had spent years fighting for her own reflection, shaping herself in defiance of those who told her she was a glitch in existence. Her voice, when it was allowed to rise, carried the weight of longing, resistance, and dreams yet to be realized. But the world had a habit of turning away.
Then came the signals.
A distorted melody, sent from somewhere she couldn’t yet name, found her in the late-night hum of a pirated radio frequency. A voice, neither past nor present, whispered through the static: Find the music. Let it find you. It was then that she heard of TATANKA’s Orchestra Americana, a symphony of revolution—an ensemble of wanderers, refugees, dreamers, and rebels. It was a place where sound was a sanctuary and melody a movement.
She arrived with nothing but her voice, a storm of untamed song buried beneath years of silence. The orchestra welcomed her not as a stranger, but as kin. Here, the violins wept for the forgotten. The brass howled against oppression. The drums carried the heartbeat of those who had no country but rhythm.
At first, she hesitated. She had been told too often that she was too much—too loud, too different, too complex to be understood. But here, she was told the opposite: Be more. Be all of it. When she sang, her voice painted galaxies where only emptiness had been. Her notes wrapped around the cello’s low lament, laced between the keening wail of the saxophone. She was not an error in the composition—she was its missing key.
And when they performed Random Signals from a Starman, she found herself in the melody. It was the story of an outsider, a traveler, an exile in a world that did not understand. It was her story, and yet, it belonged to every voice in the orchestra. As she stood beneath the stage lights, dressed in silk the color of the Milky Way, she felt the presence of all those who had been told they did not belong.
Her voice soared. The audience—composed of the same people who had ignored her in the streets—stood transfixed. They weren’t just listening; they were hearing her. Seeing her. In that moment, she was no longer a whisper lost in the static. She was a supernova.
And when the song ended, the silence that followed was not dismissal. It was reverence.
Zaphirah Blue’s story is a reminder that no voice is too different, too strange, or too unheard to change the world. Random Signals from a Starman isn’t just music—it is a beacon for the lost, a signal to those who have been silenced, telling them that they are not alone.
TATANKA’s Orchestra Americana is more than an ensemble; it is a home for those who have been told they belong nowhere. And when those voices rise together, they create something greater than music. They create a movement.
TATANKA presents “Random Signals from a Starman,” a concept album described as a gender-bending, non-linear story about a cosmic traveler. The album is divided into acts, detailing the traveler’s fall into a dystopian world, his struggle with identity, a descent into madness, and the search for truth. The lyrics provided showcase themes of societal collapse, artificiality, and the search for meaning. The narrative also intersects with Zaphirah Blue’s story, a Black trans Muslim artist who finds a home within TATANKA’s Orchestra Americana and expresses her identity through the album’s music. The album is portrayed as a beacon for the lost, a call for inclusivity, and a celebration of unique voices. The included quotes from Sitting Bull provide a framework of inclusivity and co-existence. Ultimately, the work points to cycles of ruin and rebirth while the character fades into legend.
Source: Excerpts from “(AI Gen) TATANKA’s “Random Signals from a Starman” – TATANKA”
Overview: This document provides a briefing on the themes and key ideas present in (AI Gen) TATANKA’s album “Random Signals from a Starman,” released on February 11, 2025. The album is described as a gender-bending, nonlinear, dreamlike story of a cosmic traveler who falls into a world of illusion, excess, and existential collapse. The narrative explores themes of identity, technology, dystopia, and the search for meaning in a fractured world, all filtered through a lens reminiscent of David Bowie’s artistic style. The document also includes a highlight of a recent addition to the TATANKA project in the form of “The Starlit Requiem of Zaphirah Blue,” highlighting their inclusive and collaborative approach to music creation.
Main Themes and Ideas:
Key Tracks and Lyrics:
“The Starlit Requiem of Zaphirah Blue”:
Overall Significance: “Random Signals from a Starman” appears to be a concept album that uses a blend of science fiction, dystopian imagery, and Bowie-esque aesthetics to explore complex themes of identity, technology, and the search for meaning in a fragmented world. The addition of “The Starlit Requiem of Zaphirah Blue” showcases the project’s commitment to inclusivity and using music as a vehicle for social change.
Potential Applications:
This study guide focuses on the AI-generated album “(AI Gen) TATANKA’s “Random Signals from a Starman”” released by TATANKA in February 2025. The album presents a nonlinear narrative of a cosmic traveler’s journey through a world of illusion, excess, and existential collapse. The narrative is divided into five acts: The Arrival & Awakening, The Seduction of Identity, The Fractured Mind, The Descent & The Truth, and The End & The Beginning. The album explores themes of identity, technology, dystopia, reinvention, and the search for meaning in a fractured world. The Starlit Requiem of Zaphirah Blue, a story provided alongside the album, touches on similar themes.
Answer the following questions in 2-3 sentences each.
Consider these questions in relation to the album and be prepared to support your arguments with specific examples from the text.
Demagoguery: Political activity or practices that appeal to the emotions of the masses.
Dystopia: An imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one.
Existentialism: A philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of will.
Nonlinear Narrative: A narrative technique in which events are portrayed out of chronological order or in other ways that the narrative does not follow the direct causality pattern of the events featured.
Androgyny: The combination of masculine and feminine characteristics.
Liminal Space: A transitional or initial stage of a process; occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold.
AI-Generated Music: Music created or assisted by artificial intelligence, typically involving algorithms that can compose melodies, harmonies, and rhythms.
LGBTQIA+: An inclusive acronym representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual/aromantic individuals, plus other gender identities and sexual orientations.
Transgender: A person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex.
Marginalized: (of a person or group) treated as insignificant or peripheral.
Avatar: An icon or figure representing a particular person.
Requiem: A mass for the dead.
Serpareon: A reference to the serpent king.
Epaulettes: An ornamental shoulder piece on an item of clothing, especially on the coat or jacket of a military uniform.
Cacophony: A harsh discordant mixture of sounds.
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🚀 "Random Signals from a Starman" is here! 🌌
Are you ready to decode the signal? Listen now. 🎧👇
🔗 https://tatanka.site/starman
A fragmented odyssey of sound, identity, and cosmic reckoning. This genre-bending concept album fuses surrealism, sci-fi rock, and existential poetry, channeling the spirit of Bowie, the chaos of neon-lit dystopias, and the longing of lost transmissions. 🎶
#Music #DavidBowie #ZiggyStardust #SciFiRock #ExperimentalMusic #ConceptAlbum #IndieMusic #FutureSounds #NeonDreams #TATANKA #OrchestraAmericana #Surrealism #CosmicJourney #AIArt #ElectronicSymphony #RetroFuturism #LGBTQMusic #AltRock #SpaceOpera #MusicalStorytelling #Existentialism #NewMusic #BowieLegacy