We Already Generated Four

REGENERATE UNTIL IT’S AUTHENTIC Wasi River Bluegrass — Generation Four [Intro] [Chair scrape. Banjo tuning. Someone almost speaks.] We kept the chair scrape from before. It tested well. Generation four. [Verse 1] We sent the truck back, drained the rain, Took all the weather out of frame. Chester got his coat and pay; We kept the sound of him walking away. No porch, no dust, no distant train— Just the expensive sound of nothing staged. [Pre-Chorus] Leave a little finger noise, Let the entrance drag. Put the polish in a box And mark it “DO NOT ADD.” Keep the breath before the line, But move it half a beat. We’ve learned to make a little room And charge you for the seat. [Chorus] Regenerate until it’s authentic, Keep on rolling till the fake feels true. Put a banjo where the meaning oughta be And quantize something blue. Regenerate until it’s authentic, We know what leaving well enough can do. Make it sound like no one tried to sell it— There’s a market for that too. [Verse 2] The fiddler missed and looked at me; I laughed and lost the melody. We found our feet a bar behind. For once, nobody watched the time. The voice behind the window said, “That’s it. That’s what we’re looking for. Could you miss it just like that again? We need another three or four.” [Pre-Chorus] Save the little sideways glance. Keep the laugh, remove the joke. Can we get the throat to catch Exactly where it broke? Someone writes “UNSCRIPTED” On a strip of masking tape. Someone asks how many takes A moment ought to take. [Chorus] Regenerate until it’s authentic, Keep on rolling till the fake feels true. Put a banjo where the meaning oughta be And quantize something blue. Regenerate until it’s authentic, Leave the crooked little ending on the tune. We can straighten out the story When we sell the crookedness to you. [Breakdown] [Singer] Who left that breath in? [Band] Editorial decision! [Singer] Who made that silence? [Band] Precision subtraction! [Singer] Can we leave one thing alone? [Band] Specify which thing! [Singer] What happens if we don’t resolve it? [Band] THAT’S A VERY STRONG ENDING! [Instrumental] [Banjo and fiddle chase a phrase.] [One gets ahead. The other catches up.] [No reset.] [Bridge] Chester’s waiting by the doorway, Says his ride is nearly here. Someone asks about his mother. We can’t quite catch it clear. He says something. Someone answers. Then a chair moves on the floor. Nobody turns toward the microphone. We hear him close the door. [Spoken] Can we use that? [Silence] [Quieter, another voice] Did anybody ask him? [Final Chorus] Regenerate until it’s authentic, Keep on rolling till the fake feels true. Put a banjo where the meaning oughta be And quantize something blue. Regenerate until it’s authentic— [The singer stops. The band finishes the measure.] [Spoken, control room] Good. Keep the refusal. [Outro] [Banjo player starts putting the instrument away.] Banjo: generated. Grief: inferred. Silence: edited. Refusal: incorporated. Authenticity: unresolved. Generation complete. [Off-mic] You coming? [Case latch.] [Hard stop.]