The multi universe presents some interesting escape routes...

IN A FAR COUNTRY

In the vast fields of my mind
I can see a world so divine
Where the shadows hide and the sun always shines

No shite - no compromise
Pure truth is always line of sight
If ya haven't got a word to say, it's alright
Your dreams will invent them

In a far country - not so far away
Stretch out and let your third eye be your guide
In a far country - the believers place to play
Jump the track but stay on course
Kiss the spirits - use the force
In a far country

Like the soul after when we die
Memories shoot off through the ether
They return back to the hive
Which one will you choose to surrender to?

While angles and demons raise the heat
The ying - the yang - that's how the friction goes
The end result outweighs defeat
Enough to make us sailors stow - to get to the other side
Where decisions and destiny meet

In a far country - not so far away
Stretch out and let your third eye be your guide
In a far country - the believers place to play
Jump the track but stay on course
Kiss the spirits - use the force

I remember a time and place
I remember a happy face
I remember a oneness
And it's happening now

Credits:
Jim Dexter: Garage Band Programming and Electric Guitar
John Tabacco : Vocals, Additional keyboard
Mixed at Suburban Hermit Studios III, Ronkonkoma, NY
Cover art © 2024 by Jim Dexter 

In A Far Country

Howard Roark explains to Peter Keating the motive behind his work and why he will design Cortland Homes.

Lyrics

before you can do things for people, 
you must be the kind of man 
who can get things done. 
But to get things done, 
you must love the doing, 
not the secondary consequences. 

Love The work, 
not the people. 
Love your actions
not any possible object of your charity.

[chorus]
The only thing that matters, 
my goal, my reward, 
my beginning, my end 
is the work itself.
My work - done my way.

I know they're all against me. 
But I have one advantage: 
they don't know what they want. 
I do.

[verse]
Bricks and steel are not my motive. 
Neither are the clients. 
Both are only the means of my work.
I don’t build in order to get clients
I get clients in order to build

Love The work, 
not the people. 
Love your actions
not any possible object of charity.

[chorus]
The only thing that matters, 
my goal, my reward, 
my beginning, my end 
is the work itself.
My work - done my way.

I know they're all against me. 
But I have one advantage: 
they don't know what they want. 
I do.

Bricks and steel are not my motive. 
Neither are the clients. 
Both are only the means of my work.
I don’t build in order to get clients
I get clients in order to build

Love The work, 
not the people. 
Love your actions
not any possible object of charity.

I want to design Cortlandt. 
I want to see it built. 
I want to see it built exactly as I design it.

The only thing that matters, 
my goal, my reward, 
my beginning, my end 
is the work itself.
My work - done my way.
My work – done my way.


I know they're all against me. 
But I have one advantage: 
they don't know what they want. 
I do.
I want to design Cortlandt. 
I want to see it built. 
I want to see it built exactly as I design it.


"You’ll get everything 
society can give a man. 
You’ll keep all the money. 
You’ll take any fame or honor. 
I want to design Cortlandt. 
I want to see it built. 
I want to see it built exactly as I design it.

"You’ll get everything 
society can give a man. 
You’ll keep all the money. 
You’ll take any fame or honor. 
And I—
I’ll take what nobody can give a man, 
Except himself. 
I will have built Cortlandt."

The only thing that matters, 
my goal, my reward, 
my beginning, my end 
is the work itself.
My work done my way.
My work done my way.
My work done my way.



My Work Done My Way - Roark to Keating

Dominque explains to Howard Roark why she married Peter Keating.

Lyrics

When I think of what you are, 
I can’t accept any reality 
except a world of your kind. 
Or at least a world
in which you have a fighting chance 
and a fight on your own terms. 
That does not exist. 
I can’t live a life 
torn between that which exists—
and you.


[chorus]
I will live for you - through every minute 
and every shameful act I take,
I will live for you in my own way, 
in the only way I can!

I’ll refuse to permit myself happiness in their world. 
I’ll take suffering. 
That will be my answer to them, 
and my gift to you!



[verse]
It would mean to struggle 
against things and men 
who don’t deserve to be your opponents.
to beg of them a chance for you, 
beg them to let you live, 
to let you function, 
to beg them, - Roark -  
not to laugh at them, 
but to tremble 
because they hold the power - to hurt you. 


[chorus]
I will live for you - through every minute 
and every shameful act I take,
I will live for you in my own way, 
in the only way I can!

I’ll refuse to permit myself happiness in their world. 
I’ll take suffering. 
That will be my answer to them, 
and my gift to you!

[ bridge]
"You’re not aware of them. 
I am. I can’t help it, I love you. 

The contrast is too great. Roark, 
you won’t win, they’ll destroy you, 
but I won’t be there to see it happen. 
I will have destroyed myself first. 
That’s the only gesture of protest open to me. 
That’s my answer to them.
What else could I offer you? 

[verse]
Am I too weak 
because I can’t do this? 
I don’t know which is the greater strength:  
to accept all this for you—
or to love you so much 
that the rest is beyond acceptance. 
I don’t know. 
I love you too much."

[pre-chorus]
And only within my own mind, 
there will be the thought of you 
and the knowledge of you, 

and I shall say ’Howard Roark’ to myself 
once in a while, 
and I shall feel that 
I have deserved to say it.

[chorus]
I will live for you - through every minute 
and every shameful act I take,
I will live for you in my own way, 
in the only way I can!

I’ll refuse to permit myself happiness in their world. 
I’ll take suffering. 
That will be my answer to them, 
and my gift to you!

I’ll refuse to permit myself happiness in their world. 
I’ll take suffering. 
That will be my answer to them, 
and my gift to you!

"You’re not aware of them. 
I am. -- I can’t help it, 
I love you.
 


My Answer - Dominique to Roark

Howard Roark offers his closing statement to the jury in his trial for dynamiting Cortland Homes - explaining why he did it while declaring his terms for his work and his life.

Lyrics

I came here to say 
that I do not recognize anyone's right 
to one minute of my life, 
nor to any part of my energy, 
nor to any achievement of mine
no matter who makes the claim.

My terms are: 
A man's RIGHT to exist for his own sake.


[verse]
Thousands of years ago the first man 
discovered how to make fire. 
He was probably burnt at the stake 
he'd taught his brothers to light
but he left them a gift they had not conceived 
and he lifted darkness from the face of the Earth.

His truth was his only motive.
His work was his only goal.
His work -- not those who used it.
His creation

((bridge))
The creator stands on his own judgment; 
The parasite follows the opinions of others.

The creator thinks; the parasite copies.
The creator produces; the parasite loots.

The creator's concern is the conquest of nature; 
The parasite's concern is the conquest of men.


[verse]
‘No creator was prompted 
by a desire to please his brothers. 
His brothers hated the gift he offered. 
His truth was his only motive.
His work was his only goal.
His work -- not those who used it.
His creation. Not the benefits of other men. 

((bridge))
The creator thinks; the parasite copies.
The creator produces; the parasite loots.

The creator's concern is the conquest of nature; 
the parasite's concern is the conquest of men.


[Chorus]
The creator requires independence. 
He neither serves nor rules. 
He deals with men by free exchange 
and voluntary choice.

[bridge]
The creator thinks; the parasite copies.
The creator produces; the parasite loots.

The creator's concern is the conquest of nature; 
the parasite's concern is the conquest of men.

[Chorus]
The creator requires independence. 
He neither serves nor rules. 
He deals with men by free exchange 
and voluntary choice. 

The choice is not self-sacrifice or domination. 
The choice is dependence or independence. 
The code of the second-hander 
or the code of the creator.

the creator does not exist 
for any other man--
and he asks no other man 
to exist for him.

the creator recognizes 
no obligations toward men 
except one: 
to respect their freedom.

((Chorus 1))
The creator requires independence. 
He neither serves nor rules. 
He deals with men by free exchange 
and voluntary choice.

The parasite seeks power. 
He wants to bind all men together 
In common action - in common slavery.

He claims that man 
is only a tool for the use of others – 
that he must think as they think, 
act as they act, 
and live in selfless, joyless servitude 
to any need but his own.

I came here to say 
that I do not recognize anyone's right 
to one minute of my life, 
nor to any part of my energy, 
nor to any achievement of mine
no matter who makes the claim.

I am a man who does not exist for others.
My terms are: 
A man's RIGHT to exist for his own sake.

These are my terms.
I do not care to live on any others.

The creator requires independence. 
He neither serves nor rules. 
He deals with men by free exchange 
He let’s them choose.

My terms are: 
A man's RIGHT to exist for his own sake.

My terms are: 
A man's RIGHT to exist for his own sake.







My Terms - Roark to The Court

Howard Roark offers his closing statement to the jury in his trial for dynamiting Cortland Homes - describing the ultimate source of all wealth and art.

Lyrics

Man cannot survive except through his mind. 
He comes on earth unarmed. 
His brain is his only weapon. 

Man has no claws, no fangs, no horns .
He must plant his food or hunt it.
To plant, he needs a process of thought. 
To hunt, he needs weapons, 
to make weapons—
he needs a process of thought.


[pre-Chorus]
From the simplest necessity 
to the highest religious abstraction, 
from the wheel to the skyscraper, 

[Chorus]
Everything we are 
and everything we have 
comes from a single attribute of man –
his reasoning mind.

[Bridge]
the mind is an attribute of the individual. 
There is no such thing as a collective brain. 
There is no such thing as a collective thought.

[verse]
The primary act--the process of reason--
must be performed by each man alone. 
We can divide a meal among many men. 
We cannot digest it in a collective stomach. 
No man can use his lungs to breathe for another man. 
No man can use his brain to think for another. 

[Chorus]
From the simplest necessity  
to the highest religious abstraction, 
from the wheel to the skyscraper, 

everything we are 
and everything we have 
comes from a single attribute of man –
his reasoning mind.

[verse]
The reasoning mind cannot work
under any form of compulsion. 
It cannot be curbed, sacrificed or subordinated 
to any consideration whatsoever. --
It demands total independence 
in function and in motive. 

[Chorus]
Everything we are 
and everything we have 
comes from a single attribute of man –
his reasoning mind.

[Pre-chorus] 
We inherit the products of the thought of other men. 
We inherit the wheel. We make a cart. 
The cart becomes an automobile, which becomes an airplane.
But all through the process 
what we receive from others 
is only the end product of their thinking.--
The moving force is the creative faculty 
which originates the next step


[Chorus]
From the simplest necessity  
to the highest religious abstraction, 
from the wheel to the skyscraper, 

No man can give another the capacity to think. 
Yet that capacity is our only means of survival.

Everything we are 
and everything we have 
comes from a single attribute of man –
his reasoning mind.
his reasoning mind.
his reasoning mind.

The Reasoning Mind  - Roark to The Court

Gail Wynand walks and talks to the streets of New York City after approving The Banner's campaign against Howard Roark.

Lyrics

It’s only a bottle cap, 
a bottle cap ground into the pavement. 
The pavements of New York are
full of things like that--
bottle caps, safety pins, sinkchains; 
sometimes--lost jewels;
I am a man who became a bit of tin in the pavements, 
for the trucks of New York to roll over.

(pre-chorus)
You don’t run things around here. 
You’ve never run things anywhere, Gail Wynand.
You’ve only added yourself to the things they ran.

[chorus]
He owned nothing, 
but he was owned by any part of the city.
My city, the city I loved, 
the city I thought I ruled.

Here I am, my masters, 
I am coming to salute you 
wherever you want me, 
I shall go as I’m told.

I’m the man who wanted power.

[bridge]
You were a ruler of men. 
You held a leash. 
A leash is only a rope 
with a noose at both ends.


[verse]
There is a beast on earth, 
dammed safely by its own impotence.
I broke the dam. 
I released them all. 
I made every one of those 
who destroyed me. 

[pre-chorus]
I gave them the weapon.
I gave them my strength, 
my energy, my living power. 
I created a great voice 
and let them dictate the words.
I made it possible for them

[chorus]
I owned nothing, 
but I am owned by any part of the city.
My city, the city I loved, 
the city I thought I ruled.

Here I am, my masters, 
I am coming to salute you 
wherever you want me, 
I shall go as I’m told.

I’m the man who wanted power.

My masters, the anonymous, the unselected. 
They gave me a penthouse, an office, a yacht. 
To them, to any one of them who wished, 
for the sum of three cents. --
I sold Howard Roark!
Mea culpa--mea culpa--
mea maxima culpa.

[pre-chorus]
Anything may be betrayed, 
anyone may be forgiven. 
But not those who lack the
courage of their own greatness. 
But not I. 
I was not born to be —
a second-hander.

[chorus]
I owned nothing, 
but I am owned by any part of the city.
My city, the city I loved, 
the city I thought I ruled.

Here I am, my masters, 
I am coming to salute you 
wherever you want me, 
I shall go as I’m told.

I’m the man who wanted power.


there is hidden net around you;
it is strapped to you, 
and the wires lead to every hand in the city. 
there are people whom you will never see 
and who are your masters.

At the supper tables, in the drawing rooms, 
in their studies and in their bathrooms. 
they are my masters. My owners, 
my rulers without a face.

[chorus]
Here I am, my masters, 
I am coming to salute you 
wherever you want me, 
I shall go as I’m told.

I’m the man who wanted power.


[chorus]
I owned nothing, 
but I am owned by any part of the city.
My city, the city I loved, 
the city I thought I ruled.

Here I am, my masters, 
I am coming to salute you 
wherever you want me, 
I shall go as I’m told.

I’m the man who wanted power.
I’m the man who wanted power.
I’m the man who wanted power.
 


The Man Who Wanted Power - Wynand To The Mob

Howard Roark explains the concept of ownership to Gail Wynand.

Lyrics

What you feel in the presence of a thing you admire is just one word--
’Yes.’ 
The affirmation, the acceptance, the sign of admittance. 
And that ’Yes’ is more than an answer to one thing,
it’s a kind of ’Amen’ to life, 
to the earth that holds this thing, 
to the thought that created it, 
to yourself for being able to see it. 

But the ability to say ’Yes’ or ’No’
is the essence of all ownership. 
It’s your ownership of your own ego. 
Your soul, if you wish. 

((chorus))
Your soul has a single basic function--
the act of valuing. 
’Yes’ or ’No,’ 
’I wish’ or ’I do not wish.’ 
You can’t say ’Yes’ without saying ’I.’

Yes’ or ’No,’ 
’I wish’ or ’I do not wish.’ 
You can’t say ’Yes’ without saying ’I.’
There’s no affirmation without the one who affirms. 

In this sense, 
everything to which you grant your love 
is yours."


But the ability to say ’Yes’ or ’No’
is the essence of all ownership. 

And that ’Yes’ is more than an answer to one thing,
 It’s a kind of ’Amen’ to life, 

if you say you own ’Amen’ to it--it’s also yours

((chorus))
Your soul has a single basic function--
the act of valuing. 
’Yes’ or ’No,’ ’
I wish’ or ’I do not wish.’ 

You can’t say ’Yes’ without saying ’I.’
There’s no affirmation without the one who affirms. 

In this sense, 
everything to which you grant your love 
is yours."

You can’t say ’Yes’ without saying ’I.’

The Essence of Ownership - Roark to Wynand

Gail Wynand tells Dominque that he loves her - even though she does not love him.

Lyrics

I love you, Dominque
I love you so much 
that nothing can matter to me--
not even you. 
Can you understand that? 
Only my love--
not your answer. 
Not even your indifference. 

I’ve never taken much from the world. 
I haven’t wanted much. 
I’ve never really wanted anything. 
Not in the total, undivided way, 
not with the kindof desire that becomes an ultimatum, 

’yes’ or ’no,’ 
and one can’t accept the ’no’ without ceasing to exist. 
That’s what you are to me. 

But when one reaches that stage, 
it’s not the object that matters, 
it’s the desire. 
Not you, but I.

The ability to desire like that. 
Nothing less is worth feeling or honoring. And I’ve never felt that before. 
I’ve never known how to say * ’mine’*  about
anything. 
Not in the sense I say it about you. 
Mine. 

Did you call it a sense of
life as exaltation? 
You said that. 
You understand.
I can’t be afraid. 
I love you, Dominique--
I love you--
you’re letting me say it now--
I love you."

Love is reverence, 
and worship, and glory, 
and the upward glance. 

Once you’ve felt what it means to love–
the total passion for the total height–
you’re incapable of anything less..

The ability to desire like that. 
Nothing less is worth feeling or honoring. And I’ve never felt that before. 
I’ve never known how to say * ’mine’*  about
anything. 
Not in the sense I say it about you. 
Mine. 

Did you call it a sense of
life as exaltation? 
You said that. 
You understand.
I can’t be afraid. 
I love you, Dominique--
I love you--
you’re letting me say it now--
I love you.
I love you.
Did you call it 
a sense of life as exaltation?

Life As Exaltation - Wynand to Dominique

Howard Roark explains to the court and the jury the motivation of creative human work.

Lyrics

The selfless man 
does not think, feel, judge, or act. 
These are functions of the self.

Men have been taught 
that it is a virtue to agree with others. 
But the creator is the man who disagrees.

Men have been taught 
that it is a virtue to swim with the current. 
But the creator swims against it.

The code of the creator
is built on the needs of the reasoning mind 
self-sufficient, self-motivated, self-generated.
He holds his truth above all things
and against all men.
A first cause, a life force, a Prime Mover. 

Men have been taught 
that it is a virtue to stand together. 
But the creator stands alone.

Men have been taught 
that the ego is the synonym of evil, 
But the creator is the egotist 

The code of the creator
is built on the needs of the reasoning mind 
self-sufficient, self-motivated, self-generated.
He holds his truth above all things
and against all men.
A first cause, a life force, a Prime Mover. 
A first cause, a life force, a Prime Mover. 



The creator serves nothing and no one. 
He lives for himself.
"His vision, his strength, his courage 
comes from his own spirit. 
A man’s spirit, however, is his self. 
That entity which is his consciousness. 

To think, to feel,  to judge, to act 
are functions of the ego.
The creators are not selfless. 
It is the whole secret of their power


The code of the creator
is built on the needs of the reasoning mind 
self-sufficient, self-motivated, self-generated.
He holds his truth above all things
and against all men.
A first cause, a life force, a Prime Mover. 
A first cause, a life force, a Prime Mover.


"The first right on earth 
is the right of the ego. 
Man’s first duty is to himself. 

the only cardinal evil on earth 
is that of placing your prime concern 
within other men.

The code of the creator
is built on the needs of the reasoning mind 
A first cause, a life force, a Prime Mover. 
A first cause, a life force, a Prime Mover.

"The first right on earth 
is the right of the ego. 
Man’s first duty is to himself.

The Code of The Creator - Roark To The Court

QUESTIONS KEEP GETTING DEEPER

Lo Behold the watchdog yeah - ho...
Lo' behold the watchdog yeah?
Lo Behold the watchdog yeah - ho...
Lo' behold the watchdog yeah?

Many times we’ve been stranded here when the water gets too high
Pay respects to eternity waiting for a hopeful sign

Well the questions keep getting deeper as perfection swells the tide
As the answers smile the wise old child within us flies

And the questions keep getting deeper
Sons and daughters out to sea
As the aeons ebb and flow
The answers will unfold

Many ships will have traveled here in the name of many gods
Charting clues, bobbing up ahead where the even meets the odd

Where the questions keep getting deeper as perfection swells the tide
As the answers smile the wise old child within us flies
And the questions keep getting deeper
Sons and daughters out to sea
As the aeons ebb and flow
The answers will unfold

How long is on and on?
How long for the dead and gone?

Well these questions keep getting deeper as perfection swells the tide
As the answers smile the wise old child within us flies
And the questions keep getting deeper
Sons and daughters out to sea
As the aeons ebb and flow
The answers will unfold
As the aeons ebb and flow
The answers will unfold

How long is on and on?
How long for the dead and gone?

As the aeons ebb and flow
The answers will unfold

How long?

Credits:
John Tabacco : Lead vocals,Keyboards, FX, Harmonies
Jim Dexter : Guitars, Dulcimer, FX
Recorded and mixed at Sonic Underground Studios, Stony Brook, NY 

Questions Keep Getting Deeper

John Tabacco is an American composer, singer songwriter, producer, recording engineer, multi instrumentalist and graphic artist. He has engineered /mixed and mastered music for hundreds of New York recording artists as well as projects released on BMG: The Kemelions, RCA: Faze, Rampage/Rhino: Rhett Forrester, Columbia: Rebbie Jackson, Rykodisc : Bob Marley, Columbia: Chris Jasper, Electra: Sonia Dada and Nickleodeon’s Are You Afraid Of The Dark? He is the CEO of It Iz What It Iz Music Publishing which currently holds over 750 songs in its catalog. He has been an associate producer for IndiMusic TV and hosts a bi-weekly radio program (CLAM RADIO) on college radio WUSB.fm since 1999. He is currently the head of A&R at Modern Voices Digital Distribution.

His musical background consists of extensive study of orchestration with noted 20th century composer John Lessard, harmony with the late electronic music maverick Bulent Arel, and composition with Stony Brook University professor Peter Winkler. He received his BA in Music from Stony Brook University in 1983. 

Like an unfolding musical diary / puzzle, Tabacco’s music and art are constantly being re-worked, juxtaposed and intertwined. His style is a melding of pop - jazz -rock - avant garde / aleatory, classical and comedy.  He has been recording his music non stop since 1979.

Of note: In 1989 the satirical, absurd house song "Go House Yourself" co-written by Tabacco, Pati and DiMauro reached position 39 on Billboard's dance chart. 

In 2014 Tabacco signed a record deal with Texas, indie label, Muffin Records. They released his CD “Unfulfilled Shopping Carts Syndrome” internationally.

Telling Empowering and Inspiring Stories. HeroicMeaning.com - AynRandHero.com

New tracks tagged #philsophical