PLAYER

    

Collection: The Worm
WORM - Rock Meal
Lyrics:
A microbe monster
My breakfast, lunch and dinner
Is the rock below

I eat manganese
And transform it into slime
So the crust can bake

Earth is my meal
I eat sulphur and basalt
And make gold appear

Not to worry though
I’m not too hungry for you
I stick to my task

The earth eats starlight
We’re a one of a kind spot
Inside the cosmos

I’ve got lots of friends
We’re very very busy
Munching the mantle

Keep your eyes peeled
We drip and ooze min’ral juice
Deep down in the earth

Goodnight now above
We work twenty-four seven
Never go to sleep




all copyright, etc.
Release notes
Of the scientific experiments going on a mile or so underground (really!) in Lead, SD, where this musical is set, one is a study of microbial ooze coming out of rocks. The ooze is a product of the transformation from one rock type to another.

Here, the microbes sing and dance. The cast are dressed as slime monsters.
2024-09-18
@yewnorker
So it's a rock opera? The whole plate tectonics thing is pretty deep. Good for you for giving these microbes their moment in the spotlight! Well done!
2024-09-18
@arcane
Fascinating liner notes! The microbs POV is such a clever way to educate and entertain your listeners at the same time. Thanks!
Love the piano/guitar combination and the warm vocals. Great work!
2024-09-18
@billwhite51
seems difficult to make a stage character out of a microbe. since there are many references to "we" i would make create a microbe chorus and write it from the point of of view of a microbe colony, with all of them singing together.
2024-09-18
@fuzzy
The sheer variety of life on this planet always amazes me.
This reminds me a bit of Penguin Cafe Orchestra (I think I may have made that comparison before).
Great piano line.
The repetition here really scratches my itch.
Another great tune here for sure.
2024-09-18
@headfirstonly
So many cracking lines here. The delightful poetics of "The Earth eats starlight" are totally in line with the science and "Munching the mantle" deserves to be an album title.

When your protagonist sings "I've got lots of friends" they aren't kidding. The amount of biomass of all the bacteria in the Earth's crust amounts to something like 70 Gigatonnes. All the animals amount to a paltry 2 Gt.
2024-09-18
@ttg105
The sing-songey melody and innocent lyrics remind me of a children's show tune. Love that we get the microbe's POV. Piano very effective. As always, mix is clear as a bell.
2024-09-18
@jerrypettit
There are another 1 or 2 folks around here working on a series of songs for a musical. Which reminds me of how that's always been something I have wanted to do myself. Keep this stuff coming--it inspires me! Great job on this.