I was startled to [hear]...

Well, okay, not really. Anymore when I notice some coincidence or other it doesn't surprise me because it's been happening so much. If I were to be surprised at every coincidence or what have you that I noted, I would be in a constant state of shock, which would probably be bad for my longevity. I also don't startle easily, so there's that.

Anyway, I was again listening to music in my car since my drive home is about 20-30 minutes and I honestly have nothing else to do. There's this particular song I like right now (which you can listen to here if you so desire) by Sick Puppies called So What I Lied. I will append the lyrics in their entirety to the end of this post for everybody who doesn't feel like once more experiencing my eccentric musical tastes, which this time hail from Australia.

I digress. To be relatively succinct, this song reminded me of The Magus when I really started listening to the lyrics, like these: "So what, I lied / But the truth would've been suicide" (every answer is a form of death!). Or like these: "I did my best to try and be / A mirror of society / But we both know the mirror's cracked / And everybody's in the act / Faking what they cannot feel / Hoping they can make it real / Reality is killing me" (Nick in the midst of Conchis' machinations, perhaps?). I don't actually know what the story behind he song is; the whole song is so close to The Magus that I can't help but think it must have been partly inspired by it or at least by a similar idea, but even Google the Omniscient unfortunately didn't know what the backstory was.

Here are the lyrics, which I think could have been written by Nick toward the middle-ish of the story.

The window's cracked, I'm looking out
I see her and I'm filled with doubt
I don't know if this parking place
Is just another empty space
Words I've said aren't coming true
I don't know if it's me or you
This promise is too hard to keep
I have to speak

So what, I lied
But the truth would've been suicide
Monogamy is all she wants from me
But I see my life
And it's way too short
Don't blame me for not being subservient to others' needs
I'm at the point where honesty just doesn't fucking work for me

I did my best to try and be
A mirror of society
But we both know the mirror's cracked
And everybody's in the act
Faking what they cannot feel
Hoping they can make it real
Reality is killing me

So what, I lied
But the truth would've been suicide
Monogamy is all she wants from me
But I see my life
And it's way too short
Don't blame me for not being subservient to others' needs
I'm at the point where honesty just doesn't fucking work for me

Monogamy is all she wants from me
But I see my life
And it's way too short

Erect a life I'll never see
I'll stand back from the scenery
And laugh at all the other guys
Who never could escape in time
Stuck like flies on sticky tongues
Chewed up 'fore their life is done
I'm not here to compromise or apologize

So what, I lied
But the truth would've been suicide
Monogamy is all she wants from me
But I see my life
And it's way too short
Don't blame me for not being subservient to others' needs
I'm at the point where honesty just doesn't fucking work for me

Life-is too fucking short
It's too fucking short
It's too fucking short