• Music and Lyrics: Oleg Atbashian and Conrad Peterson
• Instruments played by AI
• Video by Oleg Atbashian
• Graphics by Oleg and AI

GIVE ME SOMETHING

Is it my imagination, or am I still alive?
I look at the clock, wondering how it survives.
Thought it was tomorrow, but it’s yesterday again,
Running blind, circling back where I began.

I gave you all I had, I gave you my soul,
But you always want more—you always want it all.
"Give me your dreams, give me your name,
Give me your mind, give me your pain.”

Give me something that runs, give me something that spins,
Give me something that loses, give me something that wins.
Give me something that rises, give me something that falls,
Give me something that answers when nobody calls.

You take my time, leave me nothing to keep,
While you spend my money, I’m out here losing sleep.
Dreams go down the drain, right where they belong,
Give me a reason to stay when it’s all gone wrong.

Give me something I can touch, give me something to feel,
Give me some proof, give me something that’s real.
You say, "Oh, hell no," like it’s all on me,
But I’m tired of chasing shadows in a crooked machine.

Give me something that stays, give me something that cries,
Give me something that lives, give me something that dies.
Give me something that whispers, give me something that shouts,
Give me something to see when the light burns out.

Not been this way before—maybe once or twice,
Or six, or seven—it’s a roll of the dice.
Round and round, the same old sound,
Just another day again, when I’m being robbed blind.

You keep your smoke, you keep your cries,
There’s nothing in my future but another lie,
I’m done with your promises, I’m done with your show,
I’m stopping the clock, I’m letting it go.

Conrad and I improvised this song a few years ago. Now AI helped me to turn that lame smartphone recording into a real song. And then all I had to do was to create this animated music video.

The actual process wasn't all that simple, however. Initially, I was playing the guitar and Conrad was improvising the words and the melody. Then I rewrote that improvisation, creating meaningful lyrics. Then I uploaded our rough draft audio to AI, with new lyrics, and it produced a cleaner version of the song. I generated multiple versions with different instruments and vocal delivery, then split them into tracks, chopped them up into small pieces, and layered them the way I wanted in my editing program. AI isn't yet advanced enough to create a song like this in its entirety.