New episode this week - "Warm Coke and the Internet of Things." This weeks episode is all about the Internet of Things...it starts with warm Coke at Carnegie Mellon and promised a future where technology has faded into an invisible mesh supporting humans with quiet technology. What we got was a surveillance state where our habits and choices are product-ised and sold back to us.   

But...there's something to be said for the promise of a smart home where the comforts of home learn and adapt to you. So, this week, the song is about walking away from learning devices and missing them. What happens when you wave goodbye to your Ring camera for the last time? No more coffee machine sync'd to your phone alarm clock. No more curated music. A song about losing the comforts of a connected space that adapts to you. 

What better way to convey that loss than with a sad cowboy waltz...but yacht rock style?

Lyrics down below:

[Verse 1]
Pulled the thermostat off the wall
Left a pale square where it hung
It used to know when I was cold
Before I knew it in my bones
The hallway light won't come alive
I'll have to find the switch alone
Funny how a thing that small
Can feel like losing someone known
[Chorus]
Every room I left behind
Knew the space I need
Knew the hour I'd come home
Knew how to keep me warm
Now the walls don't move
And the lights don't learn
Every room I left behind
Went quiet when the last plug turned
[Verse 2]
Wrapped the speaker in its cord
Tucked it in a cardboard box
It never once got my name right
But it listened round the clock
The kettle won't know six a.m.
The doorbell won't see who's there
I keep reaching for a voice
That isn't there no more
[Chorus]
Every room I left behind
Knew the space I need
Knew the hour I'd come home
Knew how to keep me warm
Now the walls don't move
And the lights don't learn
Every room I left behind
Went quiet when the last plug turned
[Bridge]
Last thing was the camera
By the door that watched the yard
I caught my face inside the lens
Standing in the dark
I waved at it like someone
Who was leaving for a while
And the little red light blinked off
Without returning the smile
[Final Chorus]
Every room I left behind
Knew the space I need
Knew the hour I'd come home
Knew how to keep me warm
Now the walls are just walls
And the dark is only dark
Every room I left behind
Is just a room now in the dark
[Outro]
Every room I left...

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