(bitter)sweet symphony

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Musicians often use food analogies to describe the colors and emotions they wish to bring out in a phrase; I remember the delightfully delicious “double chocolate D-flat” my violin teacher once wished for me to express. So why not relate food to music? A truly great bowl of ice cream consists of an ensemble of flavor notes that spiral and sing together to create the perfect symphony of a sundae, and in that orchestra I play the part of chocolate.

I don’t have a favorite flavor of ice cream – with so many sweet creations to choose from, how can anyone pick just one? Cookie dough, cookies and cream, mint chocolate chip, tin roof sundae, fudge brownie – the list goes on. But all of those names have one thing in common: chocolate. Whether in the form of firm chips, chewy cookie pieces, or sweet, sweet fudge swirls, chocolate is most definitely a musical food. It captures the darkness of timpani rolls and bass tremolo, along with swelling melody lines as the first violins milk the spotlight. It is pure amorous emotion, or it is silky smooth euphoric pleasure. Woodwinds signal fruity, upbeat tones, and as a violinist my sweet tooth will always crave rich, fudgy chocolate. The crucial caveat: it can’t be that gray, gummy stuff. No, give me an earthy, maestoso chocolate, genuine and heartfelt in all its forms. It sings to the soul, a steadfast friend and always approachable, there to get the job done right – just like me.

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put me in the ice cream maker
churn up my insides
turn them to goo

no wait
don't do that
i think i like the way my insides look right now

meditate on the double-chocolate d-flat
delightfully delicious, delectably deep

we are round, we feel the fullness of our bodies
what can you even express?

the flavor notes are an ensemble
they spiral and sing together

will you hide in the darkness of the timpani browl?
will you ground to the earthiness of the bass's tremolo?

the melody lines swell, the first violins milk the spotlight
their amorous emotion, their silky-smooth euphoric pleasure

the woodwinds are fruity and upbeat to our step
their signal the overtone of our mood to be set

sing, sing, sing in the analog

dance, dance, dance in the digital

odd

even

male

female

left

right

out

of sight

me to you to me
it's the fine

(goodbye)

dance a fudge swirl with me
circle the floor and lose yourself in it

(don't fall, if you please, the show must go on and i won't we can't stop to lift you up)

the sundae's a perfect symphony
will you listen?

come quickly

i'm going to melt