the hymn of acxiom (1st draft demo) by Vienna Teng

UPDATE: Official album version now <a href="http://viennateng.bandcamp.com/track/the-hymn-of-acxiom">available for download!</a> Pre-order the album and immediately get two other tracks, <a href="http://viennateng.bandcamp.com/track/close-to-home">"Close to Home"</a> and <a href="http://viennateng.bandcamp.com/track/in-the-99">"In the 99."</a>

***
Sacred music for the age of Big Data.

This was inspired by listening to <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204555904577169562197268518.html">Morten Lauridsen</a> pieces, using <a href="http://www.acxiom.com/marketing-services/">Acxiom</a> reports in my internship work this summer, and reading election news coverage, especially the <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/the-obama-campaigns-technology-the-force-multiplier/">Obama campaign's use of analytics</a> and Nate Silver's <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/">Five Thirty-Eight</a> blog.

Recorded using the <a href="http://www.tc-helicon.com/products/voicetone-harmony-m/">VoiceTone Harmony-M</a>. I actually wish it didn't sound so realistic—the idea was to get enough weird robotic artifacts in there to creep you out.

***
somebody hears you. you know that. you know that.
somebody hears you. you know that inside.
someone is learning the colors of all your moods, to
(say just the right thing and) show that you’re understood.
here you’re known.

leave your life open. you don’t have. you don’t have.
leave your life open. you don’t have to hide.
someone is gathering every crumb you drop, these
(mindless decisions and) moments you long forgot.
keep them all.

let our formulas find your soul.
we’ll divine your artesian source (in your mind),
marshal feed and force (our machines will)
to design you a perfect love—
or (better still) a perfect lust.
o how glorious, glorious: a brand new need is born.

now we possess you. you’ll own that. you’ll own that.
now we possess you. you’ll own that in time.
now we will build you an endlessly upward world,
(reach in your pocket) embrace you for all you’re worth.

is that wrong?
isn’t this what you want?
amen.