FAWM: "Megalopolis"

Megalopolis

2025 by @dasbinky · @tfish77

Liner Notes

Tfish sez: Last December, after Binky introduced me to the absolute unclassifiable insanity that is (formerly) acclaimed director Francis Ford Coppola's "Megalopolis," I knew we would end up writing a song about it. And a week later, I started writing, thus making this one part of my #CheatersDozen.

I believe this is our third song together (so far) about a midnight movie, and for a movie this big, we had to go big, too. That means heavy guitars, screaming vocals, and gratuitous use of the same sample over and over again. Which, in a way, feels very Megalopolis.

Binky of course provided amazing guitar and bass, drum programming, and production chops. I contributed vocals and a couple synth lines. We collaborated on the lyrics.

And of course we had to sell off a couple wineries to finance the production of this song, but what artist hasn't gone down that road?

Binky sez: Seriously, have you seen Megalopolis yet? It is soooo everything. Like, every adjective ever. It's that. I was fortunate enough to see it in a theater, with 5 other bearded men. I immediately wanted to stay for another screening. It is incredible, in the literal sense of the word; it stretches any sense of credulity.

So, this is a meta song about a meta movie. Like the movie, the guitar solo is a rambling, manic burst with no respect for timing or key. The rhythm guitars are, in spots, intentionally out of tune and are time-shifted about 50ms from each other in post. The vocals play panned in different channels with completely different sets of effects. Everything about this should make you mildly uneasy, just like the movie itself.

To be clear, I love this movie. I've now seen it four times, and I might watch it again after I post this. It is everything so right and so wrong about the art of filmmaking. It's always fun to make dumb sounds with Jordan, one of my main musical collaborators since 1992. Happy to continue our tradition of whatever the hell it is that we do.

#rawk

Lyrics

[V1] a power broker in a broken world he's got superpowers and a platinum girl this kind of man he don't care about time he's got too much going on in his mind

[chorus] cuz he's living in a megalopolis where things don't make much sense megalopolis where the present is always tense

[V2] This guy’s a genius with a Nobel Prize He sees a future you won’t recognize A world with no war, anger, pain, or strife Motivated by his hella-dead wife

[chorus] oh yeah he's living in a megalopolis where things don't make much sense megalopolis where the present is always tense

[bridge] oh yeah, he's got enemies trying to bring him to his knees they're all standing in his way but time is on his side they say

cicero and crassus too clodio he's comin for you vesta girl, you'd better believe he'll drop you like a winery

[solo]

[chorus] megalopolis yeah the story don't make much sense megalopolis where subplots are irrelevant

megalopolis you won't believe how much it cost megalopolis where the audience is always lost

Comments

@leslie 2025

Great lyrics! Especially "where the present is always tense". I always expect insanity when you two make music together and you have delivered once again. I can tell this is a movie I don't need to see, but I love the song you've made about it.

@headfirstonlyMod 2025

Back to give this another listen before I dive in to the full 4K experience in the living room. Yes, I'm going in...

@tfish77 2025

@junomat yeah that's me on vocals and keys. Thanks for listening!

@junomat 2025

Oh wait, is that Jordan?!

@junomat 2025

Love the arpeggios. Has a dope late 80s club (NYC/Detroit) feel. Then I dont know what happened?! Love the guitars!

@emplate 2025

Great rocking energy, and the vocals are friggin' AWESOME! I'm mad about that old heavy metal/hard rock style. Goddamn, almost like Bruce Dickinson kind of ripping. The riffs groove hard. This is perfection.

@sapient 2025

Ok. I need to admit to you both that I haven't seen it. Sorry. But now that you've made this song, maybe I dont need to? Right? This tune rocks more any anything has any right to rock. Congrats, gents, on another fantastic collab 👍🤩👍

@nadine 2025

After a friend told me about me that movie I was thinking of you two and literally waiting for your song. Thank you for that! This movie seemed to be horrible but the song is on fire. Especially your vocal performance.

@dudachris 2025

Oh man this was super-mega-awesome fun to listen to! Great lyrics and unbridled play in the music. Great inspiration too, I wanna go watch it now. 👏 👏 👏 👏

@bethkille 2025

Oh hell yeah!! The free world has been RAWKED!

@sph 2025

One more film I need to see - or not. But I wholeheartly enjoyed your song. Is Ranting and rocking already a genre?

@headfirstonlyMod 2025

"Where the audience is always lost" - oh, that's savage. And very funny.

And what @spikedirection said: Francis's entire career trajectory consists of making a masterpiece that earns him a fortune only to blow it all on an insanely hyperbolic production that nearly kills his career, and then somehow reinventing himself and persuading his backers to let him go through the whole process again.

@spikedirection 2025

I haven’t seen it yet, but when Mark Kermode tells you it’s the worst film he’s ever seen and he’s been a critic for like, 50 years, how can you not want to see that? The word Megalopolis is God’s gift for a catchy chorus apparently. I’ll likely be singing it to myself today.

@mikeskliar 2025

ha!! wow-- so glad you guys did this! I saw Megalopolis in the theater here in NYC- and yeah, its everything you say it is (and more, and less!) quite wild, and so many ideas (both good and bad)- its a shame that while 'the brutalist' has been getting lots of oscar buzz, megalopolis has been totally passed over (nothing against the brutalist, as long long epics go, but its too bad mega has been ignored). Fun song, love the lyric, (love the references to the movie) and the music is suitably over the top...i laughed out loud at 'subplots are irrelevent' and 'where the audience is always lost'! and love that clip from the movie, adam driver driving it all!