Here’s one of the latest results of my ongoing experimentation with AI. This is DeepSeek’s upbeat version of a song about the US as a metaphorical dumpster fire that I promised to share with you in this 10 October 2025 blog post, The USA as a Metaphorical Dumpster Fire. It’s not bad, but it’s not what I wanted.

Two versions of the song are linked below after the lyrics. What do you think? Does it live up to its promise, or is it lame? Which version do you prefer?

Postscript: The reference to “beautiful” reminds me of something Dear Leader would say. 🤣

Peace, MAA

(Verse 1)
I see the glow from the interstate
A flickerin’ light at a frightening rate
Some call it ruin, some call it fate
This burnin’ pile that we call a state
It’s fed by papers and broken vows
The angry shouts from the angry crowds
And all our idols, they wear tarnished crowns
In these burning-upside-downs

(Chorus)
But a fire, my darlings, can also be
A brutal kind of clarity
It shows you what you have to lose
In every brilliant, broken hue
So don’t you look away tonight
From these beautiful, terrible, hopeful lights

(Verse 2)
Yeah, the smoke gets heavy in the air we breathe
It’s chokin’ out the lies we once believed
The paint is blisterin’ on the old town green
Revealin’ histories that were unseen
The heat warps the stories we were told
Of silver linings and streets of gold
Leaving just the truth, both brave and old
A story waiting to be re-told

(Chorus)
‘Cause a fire, my darlings, can also be
A brutal kind of clarity
It shows you what you have to lose
In every brilliant, broken hue
So don’t you look away tonight
From these beautiful, terrible, hopeful lights

(Bridge)
And I know you’re tired, I feel the strain
This long, hot night of fear and pain
But look around at the faces there
Your neighbors standing in the glare
No, we are not the kindling, nor the spark
We are the promise in the dark
We are the hands that won’t retire
We are the builders from the fire

(Final Chorus)
And this fire, my darlings, is our chance to see
This painful, raw necessity!
To burn away what we outgrew
And build a world that’s brave and true!
So don’t you dare look away tonight!
We’ll rise together from this light!
From these beautiful flames, we will aspire!
From this dumpster fire!

(Outro)
From the cinders…from the ash…
A new morning from the crash…
We’ll plant a seed inside the soot…
With tired hands and hearts put-root…
From this dumpster fire…
Yeah, from this dumpster fire…

Version 1

Version 2