Dreaming Machine

Music and lyrics by Susumu Hirasawa.

Lyrics

 * 1 "The only reference to scalar pools I've found is in programming (C++). This page, for example, says “Use of a scalar deletion to return array storage allocated from the array pool to the scalar pool is likely to end in disaster”. The sense of movement of data within a machine seems to fit the song."
 * 2 "“Engineer” would also work. I like “technician” for the sound, though."
 * 3 "The Iomante ceremony involves the sacrifice of a young, tied-up bear to send it off to the gods."
 * 4 "The Topaz font was apparently widely used on Amiga computers, which Hirasawa adores. As for the Hopi mother, a note in that P-model Music Industrial Wastes book mentions that the “mother of the Hopi” is the Earth."
 * 5 "Incidentally, bees first appeared 100 million years ago. Assuming the song is set in the present (which it probably is not), 100 million years ago puts us in the end of the Early Cretaceous period, also known as the Albian age."
 * 6 "“Typically an inductor is a conducting wire shaped as a coil, the loops helping to create a strong magnetic field inside the coil”. If this is also a totem, does that mean the machine recognizes the inductor as its ancestor?"
 * 7 "I couldn't decide whether it's “suffering assistant” or “assistant of suffering”. Maybe both?"

Versions
This version features heavy percussion in the chorus and vocal effects not present in most subsequent recordings.
 * The Ghost in Science, 1990
 * Susumu Hirasawa - vocals, all instruments

Replaces the end of the second verse with a single verse of "Fu-Ru-He-He-He". Omitted from the CD release. The footage is notable for a scene where Hirasawa shoots an arrow from a large bow at the beginning of the final chorus.
 * error, 1990
 * Susumu Hirasawa - vocals, guitar
 * Hikaru Kotobuki, Kazuhide Akimoto - keyboards
 * Katsuhiko Akiyama - bass
 * Shingo Tomoda - drums, electronic percussion

Hirasawa forgets a large portion of the lyrics, has a slight pants malfunction, fails to segue into "Fu-Ru-He-He-He", and eventually drops his guitar pick on stage. The acoustic guitar is also replaced with an electric guitar for the first time. This version is slightly infamous as a rare live mishap to receive an official release.
 * Hirasawa error Engine - Hirasawa Three Acts in Three Hours: Lower, 1994
 * Susumu Hirasawa - vocals, electric guitar
 * TAKA - keyboards
 * Toshihiko "BOB" Takahashi - fretless bass
 * Wataru Kamiryo - drums

Contains a new arrangement that prominently features a Zeusaphone (singing Tesla coil) and more orchestral synths. The guitar solo is alternated between Hirasawa on the ICE-9 and the Zeusaphone.
 * Phonon 2551 Vision, 2008
 * Susumu Hirasawa - vocals, all instruments

Similar to the previous version, but with a freestyle electric guitar solo.
 * Live Planet Roll Call, 2009
 * Susumu Hirasawa - vocals, all instruments

A full orchestral arrangement based on the PHONON 2551 version, but with all original synths replaced and the acoustic guitar restored. The Zeusaphone intro is altered as well, and a baka chorus is used in the chorus.
 * Hen-Gen-Ji-Zai, 2010
 * Susumu Hirasawa - vocals, all instruments

Live performance of the Hen-Gen-Jizai arrangement. The Zeusaphone is controlled by Neng and Rang through the Graviton.
 * Tokyo I-jigen Kudou, 2011
 * Susumu Hirasawa - vocals, guitar
 * Rang, Neng - Zeusaphone

Second live performance of the Hen-Gen-Jizai arrangement. PEVO 1go controls the Zeusaphone through a Misa Kitara.
 * Phonon 2555 Vision, 2013

Trivia

 * Satoshi Kon's unfinished animated film Dreaming Machine borrows its name from this song. Hirasawa rerecorded it for the film, seemingly the Hen-Gen-Ji-Zai version, given the timing.
 * The song references "Amor Buffer" (which directly precedes it on The Ghost in Science).