Another day old
Recently, prior to April Fool's Day, I was pleasantly tricked. Clicking on YouTube videos, I came across a song called "Another Day Old" by one Eddie Dalton, who is enjoying a growing online following. Well, I was attracted to the song because I have been counting my days in this eighth decade. I have been and continue to be thankful and grateful for each added day of living. I don't mind getting old. As Maurice Chevalier popularized the sentimental phrase, "I prefer old age to the alternative."
I listened intently to the lyrics. The ballad was of a blues/soul genre. The visual identity of the singer was a middle-aged black man, and his voice had a gravelly, soulful, slightly raspy tone. Liking it very much and playing it immediately a few times, I thought, now that is someone whom I would like to see and hear in concert, or someone whom I would like to see perform in a nice nightclub. I especially liked the verse:
“We're just passin' through time, like the wind through the pines
Just small little pieces, in a bigger design
The older I get, the more that I know
There ain't nothin' wrong with being another day old”
You, perhaps, may not have a preference for blues or soul music. But that’s okay, because there are many timeless pop, rock and country songs out there that reference the feelings of aging and growing older.
I’m never going to meet Eddie Dalton, because he is made-up and his voice is synthetic. That’s why I say I was pleasantly tricked. The song was AI-generated, and it went viral on streaming and social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music and TikTok, even hitting No. 1 on iTunes. Eddie Dalton was created by a company called Crusty Records in Greenville, South Carolina. His voice, image and backstory were computer-generated by a production team led by Dallas Ray Little, the producer who is credited with writing the words.
The production team remains anonymous to protect their proprietary technology. Their breakout star and singer, despite being an AI persona, follows the same business model for human artists and thus earns and receives royalties.
Louis Armstrong said, “Musicians don’t retire; they stop when there’s no more music in them.” Should all singers and musicians stop, AI will generate models, blending patterns from many voices into a new one.
It’s important to know that even though AI artists are proliferating with universal themes, they will not replace famous superstars like BTS and others. However, AI artists may replace independent artists that are not well-known. Psychological illusion works, but fans continue to enjoy human charisma and the weight of cultural presence.
Now, I love everything that’s old — old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old songs, old age, etc. Yet, I can embrace the unexpectedly novel tech-driven music, providing that the creations touch me.
The author (wrjones@vsu.edu) published the novella “Beyond Harvard” and teaches English as a second language.