>>Imogen Heap: Pleasure to be here.
Thank you so much for having me.
I've heard about Google Zeitgeist for a few years and I'm very happy to be here.
I'm just going to give a little brief story about the song that I'm going to sing.
I'm just going to play one song, and I decided that this one was -- in the same way that
Zeitgeist is the spirit of the time, perhaps this song for me was the Tsartgaist, the spirit
of the day, because I wanted to find out -- I wanted to, first of all, begin my new album
with the fans.
I wanted to ask them -- I wanted them to begin the process by sending me in sounds from whatever
it was.
Maybe it could be a dishwasher door opening or an egg in a bowl or somebody scratching
their knees.
Whatever it was, I wanted them to send in their sounds, and then I would make the beginnings
of this song out of it.
So one of my favorite sounds is somebody's slinky going down a staircase.
It made a nice -- (making sound) -- sound.
And then also my brother's -- my brother and his wife had their first child, which is my
niece, and on that day, the heartbeat of her -- my heartbeat is going quite fast -- her
heartbeat became the tempo of the song, which kind of beautifully matched the tempo of the
slinky.
So on the second day, this was -- that was for four hours I gathered sounds from six
different -- one every six hours, to capture most of the time zones, and then on the second
day, I asked people to send in words.
I wanted to find out if there was some kind of subconscious thinking on that day with
all my fans all over the world.
And they sent in words like "gravity," "wave," "hope," "love."
And just the weekend before was the Sendai earthquake, and so I found it would be difficult
to write a song about something huge that I didn't have a direct connection with, but
then I read this article in the paper which was about this man who was desperately trying
to kind of, you know, wade through his life with a wave behind him on his bicycle, and
it -- I burst into tears.
And the next day, I asked him to send in visuals -- so that became the artwork -- and the next
day, to send in videos, which are then projected onto my back and turned into the music video.
So I wrote this song, did the video, did the artwork, released it all -- did the whole
process in two weeks, and then released it exactly the second Monday after I began it.
Anyway, I'm going to play this song now.
So this is called "Lifeline" and most of the words you hear in it, even the word "teaspoon,"
for some reason, that became very big on the word and I have a new joke with me, and I
ended up turning that into lyrics.
So you'll hear lots of words that were given to me by the fans and when you hear the music
-- I don't know if you'll ever get around to listening to it online, but you'll hear
all these wonderful sounds.
And whenever I -- you know, I'm washing up at home and I hear this kind of -- (making
sound) -- sound, it reminds me of somebody's pen that they send in which leads me into
the first course.
So no dishwasher doors, no London underground here today.
Just the piano.
So I hope you like it.
This is called "Lifeline."
[ Music ] Freeze frame on me
Mmm, can you read it on my face?
Data mining from old memories.
Sunflowers and a smile catching.
Welcoming a heartbeat to the family.
Light tie lanterns, wish bound in the night.
Who?
What?
When?
All in one stir of a teaspoon.
I'm shaken and gasping for air.
Lifeline, before and after.
In an instant of great white gravity.
Hold tight, 'cause all is against me.
Every cell in my body, brace.
And keep breathing.
Keep breathing.
Gracious future.
Won't you lend a hand to pull me through?
'Cause me and you've got some things we need to see to.
Adventures in the multiverse.
Effervescent candlelit closeness.
Plus, I feel like I've just got the hang of this living thing.
Who?
What?
When?
All in one stir of a teaspoon.
I'm shaken and gasping for air, air, air, air.
I will, on one day.
And sometime, in some place.
I've still got some go in me yet.
Lifeline, before and after.
In an instant of great white gravity.
Hold tight, 'cause all is against me.
Every cell in my body, my body brace.
Rise high, cling to the laughters.
For that moment of broken tragedy.
Bright-eyed, the world is against me.
Every cell in my body, brace.
And keep breathing.
Keep breathing.
My bones stay strong.
My days, still long.
My heart has many heartbeats.
And home is where love is.
Lifeline, before and after.
In an instant of great white gravity.
Hold tight, 'cause all is against me.
Every cell in my body, brace.
Rise high, cling to the laughters.
For that moment of broken tragedy.
Bright-eyed, the world is against me.
Every cell in my body, brace.
And keep breathing.
Keep breathing.
[ Applause ] >>Imogen Heap: Thank you.
[ Applause ]