Songs of a Re-Wired Man
Songs of a Re-Wired Man
"I wrote Songs of a Re-Wired Man because the pandemic hit me hard, stripping away my routines and forcing me into an isolation that brought a lot to the surface. I was going through a really tough time, and these songs became my way of processing it all, a raw, honest self-assessment in musical form. It was through writing them that I finally began the road to self-healing and growth, which ultimately led to my AuDHD diagnosis. This show is my journey, and hopefully, yours, into embracing a mind that was always custom-built, never broken."
**Act I: The Assessment**
Jamal, a neurodivergent individual, begins a digital self-assessment. He is initially overwhelmed by digital noise and anxiety, compulsively seeking information online. The assessment questions prompt him to confront his struggles with executive dysfunction, masking, difficulty forming friendships, fear of rejection rooted in his identity (Black, queer, neurodivergent), and a past passion for cello versus his struggle to find his authentic voice. The act ends with Jamal feeling overwhelmed in social situations, linking his social overwhelm to his cognitive processing.
**Act II: The Integration**
Act II shifts to a more hopeful tone as Jamal begins to understand his "custom-built" mind. The assessment results are presented as a dynamic, Afrofuturist neural network, which Jamal sees as a "blueprint" of his mind, not a list of symptoms. He connects his "High Degree of Pattern Recognition" to his heroes, Norm Lewis, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Sammy Davis Jr., who become foundational nodes in his mental architecture. He attempts to engage with the world online but realizes social media algorithms exploit his anxieties, leading him to choose to log off and "stay on his own network." Jamal then embraces his "special interests" as the "source code" of his being, weaving diverse musical styles into a "new, hybrid sound." He receives "Recommended Strategies for Neuro-Integration" and begins to apply them, tangibly working on a previously ignored envelope. An optional question about fear of rejection in relationships triggers a deeper, more vulnerable reflection on his struggle with intimacy. The act concludes with Jamal realizing his mind was "never broken" but "custom-built," accepting himself as the "author of his manual" and the "coder of his soul," ready to "write his own programs."
Song Titles
Demo Recording
Act I: The Assessment
The Pinball Fugue
The Masking Variations
NPC (Non-Playable Character)
Mirror/Static
The Diction Song **
Lonely Maze
Act II: The Integration
The Blueprint **
The Leading Men
The Algorithm Knows
My Symphony
Well, What Next? **
Fool
Songs of a Re-Wired Man **