[TITLE: THE NEON BARNYARD MANIFESTO] [ARTIST: EARTHLING] [STYLE: Psychedelic bluegrass × mutation funk × experimental phonk × swaggering blues rock. Fingerpicked acoustic guitar, tape-echo banjo, greasy slide guitar, heavy upright bass, swung beat, mandolin, and distorted harmonica. Weathered male baritone with playful gang vocals.] [TEMPO: 96 BPM stomp → 108 BPM bluegrass sprint → 96 BPM breakdown] [KEY: A Mixolydian | MOOD: Rowdy • Strange • Joyful] [INTRO — screen door slams; crickets pulse in time. Upright bass starts a crooked funk riff. Banjo echoes into the distance.] [Spoken] Well, the moon’s up. The barn’s open. Something’s gotten loose. [VERSE 1] Neon dripping off the rafters Blue light running down the wall Three-eyed possum at the doorway Says, “I wouldn’t miss this ball” Banjo found a busted speaker Slide guitar bent out of tune Somebody stomped a hole in Thursday And we all fell through to June [PRE-CHORUS — handclaps, rising harmonica] Floorboards talking, windows shaking Hear that old foundation wake One more beat and something’s breaking Let it shake, let it shake! [CHORUS — full band; huge bass and gang shouts] Hey! Let the barnyard go electric Hey! Let the whole night misbehave Bluegrass running through the backbeat Mutant blues coming in waves Kick that dust up to the rafters Hear the banjo catch the flame We’re psychedelic earthlings And we came to play! [POST-CHORUS — chopped vocal over a phonk beat] Stomp-stomp, let it roll Bassline rattling in your bones Stomp-stomp, let it roll [Gang vocals] Let the wild thing find its own! [VERSE 2 — bass and beat; tremolo guitar circles the vocal] Preacher saw a burning bush On a television set Possum said, “That’s something, But you ain’t seen nothing yet” Then the fiddle took a left turn And the mandolin took flight We watched a hundred years of ghosts Come dancing through the night [PRE-CHORUS — harmonica trades phrases with mandolin] Floorboards talking, windows shaking Hear that old foundation wake One more beat and something’s breaking Let it shake, let it shake! [CHORUS] Hey! Let the barnyard go electric Hey! Let the whole night misbehave Bluegrass running through the backbeat Mutant blues coming in waves Kick that dust up to the rafters Hear the banjo catch the flame We’re psychedelic earthlings And we came to play! [JAM — 108 BPM double-time. Banjo and fuzz slide guitar trade short, frantic solos. Bass holds the groove while the drums tumble around it. Harmonica cuts through; everything stops on one stomp.] [BRIDGE — back to 96 BPM; bass, boots, and whispered baritone] They can fence the pasture They can pave the creek Put a tidy little label On the sound they want to keep [Pause; guitar amp hums] But the dirt has got a rhythm And the roots know what to do When the ground begins to answer We answer with it too [FINAL CHORUS — full band, wider harmonies] Hey! Let the barnyard go electric Hey! Let the whole night misbehave Bluegrass running through the backbeat Mutant blues coming in waves Kick that dust up to the rafters Hear the banjo catch the flame We’re psychedelic earthlings And we came to play! [OUTRO — instruments drop away one by one; upright bass keeps the opening riff] [Spoken, close-mic] Keep the dust dancing. [One stomp. Amp buzz. Silence.]
