The first verse was a little ditty I wrote back in the 1990s after my dialup modem got fried by an electrical surge. The remaining verses I wrote for the L Plate Players in 2021. I'm especially proud of the internal rhymes in the third verse.
We re-recorded Old Dead Modem Blues in 2023, having grown as musicians (and me also as a producer). Fun fact: the opening jazz organ notes are (almost) the handshake tones of a V.8bis modem negotiation.
Musicians:
Well, there’s no dial tone, since the lightning left its bruise
You used to have a phone, now it’s just black smoke and ooze
And now you’re all alone, you got them old dead modem blues
Do you remember when the Internet was hard to use?
Then came the NBN with an offer you can’t refuse
Still every now and then, you get them old dead modem blues
It’s a new kind of hell, d’you like your 24/7 news?
Though it’s unparalleled, you’re paralysed for what to choose
And so you get nostalgia for them old dead modem blues
