Tag Archives: charles darwin

Darwin Day

Charles Darwin b. 12 February 1809

It was almost 2 years ago that I last posted about Charles Darwin, on “Evolution Day” back in 2024. I had read the Origin previously, as well as the Voyage of the Beagle, but subsequently I delved into Darwin’s biography, the life and times that followed that epic voyage, and the prior and post history of the HMS Beagle, a fascinating story in itself.

I cannot imagine a greater confluence of scientific debate and discovery that ever exploded onto the scene than what was happening during Darwin’s lifetime. It was inevitable that someone would figure out that life evolved, had Darwin not written his book, and of course Wallace was thinking the same thing at the exact same time, but Darwin did write his book, and so he gets much of the accolades, for good reason. What makes Darwin even more astounding is that he pondered the evidence for so long, studying all of his collections and notes, and was further distracted by other topics and discoveries for decades after his return from five years on the Beagle. If only more people kept their mouths shut for twenty years until they had something of value to say!

Back in 2024, I had coincidentally been working on a song about Darwin, which was unfinished at that time. Subsequently I finished it and now, in honour of Darwin’s birthday, I present it, with humble respect. I suppose I should have waited 20 years, but time waits for no one, as we all know.

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Filed under History, songwriting, Travel, Travel Books, Uncategorized

Department of Odd Coincidences

Lately I’m into songwriting. I know I should have started earlier if I want to be rich and famous but I was busy. Better late than never, right? Yesterday I was fiddling around on the guitar as usual, waiting for an idea or the beginning of an idea, while putting together various chords. This is how it seems to work for me, messing with chord progressions and imagining a tune to go with them. Sometimes I get ideas for lyrics first and work with that, but this was just some chords. I wrote 16 bars, a common verse length and then waited for further instruction from the subconscious. Somehow this reminded me of a sea song, you know them, lyrical and all about waves and sailors and puking etc. Then it struck me that Charles Darwin spent 5 years at sea on the Beagle, and the poor guy suffered from sea sickness!

So, out came The Ballad of Charles Darwin from nowhere, or so it seemed. With all the ballads about heroes and villains and sad cases, I had never heard of a song about Charles Darwin, so it seemed to be a reasonable idea. After all, the man started a revolution with a book! The odd coincidence happened today, when I found out that today is “Evolution Day”, in recognition of the date of publication of Darwin’s earth shaking book, On The Origin of Species, on November 24, 1859 (On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection).

As of this minute, I’m still working on the song, getting the melody down and messing with various chord substitutions, trying to make it good and also original. But as Mies van der Rohe was said to say: it is better to be good than original. So I try to not be so original that the tune sucks. This applies to architecture and music alike, in my opinion. Of course, to be original and be good is to have the best of everything, a challenging task. I wish I had started writing songs when I was 11, as by now I might have some really good ones. However, I now have the advantage of 60 years of practice on the guitar, as well as a lifetime of experiences to draw on, which is helpful when you want to tell a story.

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Filed under Architecure, Books, History, Music, Uncategorized