Less than Nothing
KŌAN B breath koan: where does a breath come from: viruses alive yes and no, sleepwalking through stillness, hope you find less than nothing outta this song.
Listen: Spotify·Apple Music
ISRC QZDA82294198 (soundexchange)
Track ten on KŌAN, KŌAN B (May 29, 2022), after instrumental Jolly Roger Bay (64). Luke solo. The title is an anti-deliverable: I hope that you find less than nothing outta this song, not zero but less than nothing, the payoff withheld on purpose, the same move as the EP note a koan is and isn’t a paradox (KŌAN essay).
The hook treats breath as a dumb question (where does a breath come from? well, that question is a little dumb) and answers with dialogue rather than anatomy. Verse one makes the sick body the paradox: I haven’t breathed normally for about a week, are viruses alive? Well, yes and no, a koan right inside of me. Same yes and no as Schrödinger on Think About It, but internal and respiratory. The rest is a self-portrait of motion addiction (comfortable with a fear of sitting still) and contradiction, capped by I’m the model of a modern man, man, a Gilbert-and-Sullivan echo turned burnout diary: the modern man as someone who drowns in the shallows.
It returns to the breath hook with no answer, only less than nothing. Pairs with More to Lose and 無門関 on the can’t-solve-it-only-sing-it thread.
Written, performed, and mixed by Luke Francis Walton. Mastered by Riley Knapp. Artwork by Grizzard Graphics.
Lyrics
Where does a breath come from? Well, that question is a little dumb An exchange A quiet conversation I hope that you find less than nothing Outta this song Where does a breath come from? Well, that question is a little dumb An exchange A quiet conversation I hope that you find less than nothing Outta this song I haven't breathed normally for about a week Are viruses alive? Well, yes and no A koan right inside of me I'm sleep walking I'm comfortable With a fear of sitting still I'm comfortable I'd hate to be too bored Of that, I'm fairly sure Platonic solitude In goggles I'm amused I'm sleep walking I'm comfortable With a fear of sitting still I'm comfortable Got no use for the useless Can't laugh at the serious I go shallow in the deep end I'm the model of a modern man, man Where does a breath come from? Well, that question is a little dumb An exchange A quiet conversation I hope that you find less than nothing Outta this song