Video created by: Ted Sheppard (‪@TheTeddysheppard‬ )
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Spaceman
I had just been evicted from my apt of 22 yrs.. they were gonna tear the building down, & fair enough, it was infested with raccoons, in the walls, the ceiling, all day & night.
Anyways it sucked at the time & me & my friend Ted Sheppard were having a couple drinks.
This song came from a conversation, to the point that there's so much of that conversation in the lyrics that Ted is a cowriter of the song.
We got chatting about all sorts of things but basically narrowed the story down to a guy that hits a wall with the things in his life that are oppressing him so he decides to build his own rocketship & launch himself off the planet altogether
I began to plug instruments into my crude recording console that was outdated in 2002 but that I still use to this day
I got all of the song recorded right there over about 90 mins while ted sat vibrating with joy. So much joy that I had to politely remind him not to yell out hoots & hollers while the mics are live, had to retrack a couple vocals due to his extreme excitement. No big deal, I'll take enthusiasm over pristine audio any day.
Anyways, as I was creating this thing just to hear what it was going to sound like, ted was already dreaming up animated video concepts in his big beautiful brain.
I chose the chords, C,G F
Ted chose CGI.
His plan to animate the story in his head was executed over about 18 months, off & on, by one single man. I did something I've never ever done before when it comes to my art: I stayed completely out of it. In fact I never saw the finished copy of what you're all about to see until a couple weeks ago.
It's riddled with easter eggs & hidden inside jokes & allusions to our friendship, but those aside there's another story at the heart of it. Escape. Release. Transcendence.
So please, check this out, if you like it share it around & spread the word & the genius & vision of the single biggest hearted human being I have ever encountered on this planet.
On a planet that is hellbent on reducing people through fear & manipulation, ted made a story of a little guy with big ideas that had finally had enough & did something we all can still do: use our creativity for something truly beautiful to get somewhere a little more breathable.
"We're coming up for air" 👨‍🚀
Lyrics:
I try to sleep in the morning lights before they turn to dust
I haven't dreamt since the '70's
Da da da da da da
They're tearing down all of these walls, they're trying to smoke me out
But I've been building my own rocket ship
I'm coming up for air
I'm a spaceman gimme space man all the things I had to do to get to space man gimme space man I'm like 10 feet from the moon
I sleep a minute then I get back up & wait for the stars to come out
I get drunk & then I drive around pointing at the pointing crowd
They're like
They're shooting hey you're going the wrong way but I can't hear a sound
Cause I keep piloting this rocket ship so baby just get on board
We're going up for air
I'm a spaceman gimme space man, all the things I had to do
To get to space man, need my space man I'm like 10 feet from the moon
Just trying to get by & trying to survive on the dark side of the moon
I'm a spaceman need my space man but I hope you're coming too...
On my stairway to the stars we'll keep on climbing
Climbing, yeah
Til we run out of air
I'm a spaceman gimme space man all the things I had to do to get to space man, so gimme space man
I'm like 10 feet from the moon
Just trying to get by & trying to survive on the dark side of the moon
I'm a spaceman need my space man
But I hope you're coming too
#ckstaysupallnightsmiling #chriskoster #spaceman #animation