Aquarius
Running time	5:58 (Aquarius, MHTRTC) 6:24 (Peel Session) 7:43 (Warp10)
Appears on	Aquarius MHTRTC Peel Session Live @ Warp10

Samples/Lyrics

• Aquarius contains a sample from the song of the same name on Galt MacDermot's 1979 soundtrack for the film "Hair" (the slap bass riff that's present throughout the Boards of Canada version).

Screen capture from "Orange" Sesame Street vignette

• Contains a sample from a sketch in a vintage Sesame Street episode (Orange).
• Contains samples from yet another vintage Sesame Street episode (children's laughter and the "yeah, that's right" sample).
• At 2:40, Aquarius (Version 3) from the Peel Session contains a sample from Audiotrack 12 from Old Tunes Vol. 1 side A.
• A sequence of numbers is read by a professional-sounding woman's voice that strongly resembles the voice-over in One Very Important Thought, except that domain-specific speech synthesis is used, giving the numbers a robotic quality. The sequence varies:
  • On Music Has the Right to Children: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 44, 68, 27, 35, 42, 58, 47, 63, 85, 74, 67, 66, 51, 79, 42, 24, 45, sixty-ten, 6, 7, 56, 65, 44, 53, 44, 17, 13, 23"
  • In Version 3, the sequence ends with "...42, 24, 45, sixty-ten, 64, 47, 52, 23, 23, 23, 23, 23".
  • On the Aquarius release, the sequence ends with "...42, 24, 45, sixty-ten, 6, 7, 56, 65, 44, 53, 44, 67, 42, 55, 86, 20".
  • In all versions of the Aquarius single, the counting sequence begins in order with 1 to 36, then the count goes to random numbers. The sum of each number from 1 to 36 is 666.
• The same voice that recites the number sequence says "Orange".
• A chorused male voice sings "I'm listening" (Version 3 only)
• At 4:40, a synthesized male voice says "sixtyten new aquarius" (Version 3 only)
• A girl's voice saying the phrase "for sand and stars". The sample is especially clear at the end of the live version at Warp 10.

Comments

• From [quiller], from an interview with Karlheinz Stockhausen:

"I'm referring to the time in which we live, time in an extraterrestrial sense. I'm refering to the twelve universal months, each lasting approximately 2,100 years. I'm refering to our coming from the bimillenium of Pisces, which goes from 150 BC to 1950, and which is also the sign of Christ, preceded by the sign of Aries. The era of AQUARIUS began in 1950 and will end in 4050. I'm referring, of course, to a characteristic trait of the sign: AQUARIUS gradually circumscribes the radiating force of the arts inherited in the era of Pisces. So, the artist, deprived now of every individual or public defense, limits his activity to a kind of esoteric expression, and ends up performing in fringe clubs, as a phenomenon intended for the select few."

• [Kaini Industries] points out something in relation to the repetition of the number 23. "The Illuminatus Trilogy" (authors Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson) abounds in occurrences of the numbers 17 and 23, and might shed some light on this. I'll let readers ponder for themselves why these numbers are important in connection with BoC's music (and they are - it's obvious when you know what it is). On one of those authors, note the following from the EHX interview:

They claim that taking the positive aspect of a product does not always provide food for their thought, but rather the underlying meaning or cosmetic triviality, "we are interested in everything that we can reinterpret. I don't want to give you list of names, but you know we could be just as easily captivated by a piece of T.V. theme music, or Eighties' pop, for instance. The enlightened parts in our music are relative to the banal or naïve parts". When pushed for particularly prominent players ... "Hundertwasser, Svankmeyer, New Scientist, Robert Anton Wilson, Documentary films and articles, Jamie Nelson, The Archdrude ... we are interested in everything!".

Cultural References

• One number heard throughout the sequence is sixtyten, a reference to the song of the same name on this album but also the brother's own label, Music70.
• 23, another number heard in the sequence (especially in Version 3), is a prominent theme in the Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. "23" occurrs five times at the end of the sequence in Version 3; another major theme in the same book is the "law of fives". The band has cited Robert Anton Wilson as an influence on their work, and their music has appeared on the sountrack of Maybe Logic: The Lives And Ideas Of Robert Anton Wilson.

Versions

• Has appeared in several forms, notably on the Aquarius 7" Single and also on the Peel Session recordings. This track also appears on Hexstatic's 2003 "Solid Steel" mix for the electronic label Ninja Tune.

Chords

A discussion on Twoism: Aquarius Synth Chords

External Links

• The original Aquarius, from the movie "Hair"
• The Sesame Street vignette which contains the Orange sample
• The Sesame Street vignette with the children's laughter and the "yeah, that's right" vocal heard in Aquarius (heard at roughly 10 seconds into the video)