The Sock Ruse
By Alex Votl.
Cover art by Nick Tucker
hierogriff
Tumblr.
Released 9/9/2017.
Duration: 3:06.
Listen on Bandcamp or YouTube.
Read artist commentary.
Contributors:
Tracks that reference The Sock Ruse:
Tracks that sample The Sock Ruse:
Lyrics:
Bro have
Bro have you seen my socks around anywear
No dude again with the socks
What is it even with you and socks man its like youMust be tokin up on a
Joint to make you stoned or
Something I can't even think of who
Leaves all there socks lyong around like thatSock ruse was a distaction
The sock ruse was a distactionThe sock ruse was a distaction (Woah woah, I have the car)
The sock ruse was a distaction (Woah woah, I have the car)
The sock ruse was a distaction (Woah woah, I have the car)
The sock ruse was a distaction (Woah woah, I have the car)Bro have, bro have
Bro have you seen my socks around anywearBro have, bro have
Bro have you seen my socks around anywearIt's like you must be tokin up on a joint to make you stoned or something
(Again with the socks what is it even with you)
I can't even think of who leaves all their socks lyong around like that
(Again with the socks what is it even with you)The sock ruse was a distaction
The sock ruse was a distactionThe sock ruse was a distaction (Woah woah, I have the car)
The sock ruse was a distaction (Woah woah, I have the car)
The sock ruse was a distaction (Woah woah, I have the car)
The sock ruse was a distaction (Woah woah, I have the car)Woah woah, woah woah
Woah woah, woah woah
Artist commentary:
Alex Votl: (muisc, booklet commentary)
this project was pieced together over the course of 5 years with tons of help from my friends. it started out as an inside joke from the homestuck tinychat community around 2011, but i see it more as an homage to the series and the fandom. thanks for the memories everyone. it was a blast.
Nick Tucker: (i HAVE the arts, booklet commentary)
The most common way of perceiving the passing of time into a concept that humans can understand often involves the idea of moving forward through time, as if we foresee what is in our path, and approach it in a straight line. A more accurate way of looking at it is that we are reversing into the events of tomorrow, with no real idea of what awaits us. When we look ahead, we see our past, and that informes our actions. The Maori turn of phrase, "ka mura, ka muri" means to walk backwards into the future.
In the modern classic piece of literature, "Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff: The Sock Ruse", the titular Hella Jeff orchestrates an intricate plot to distract his compatriot Sweet Bro with the most unassuming of items: a pair of lost grey socks. The items in question, the socks, are lying in plain sight. However, there is an unintended turn. Sweet Bro spins off into a monologue, nay, a soliloquy as to the nature of socks and marijuana consumption. Hella Jeff did not forsee this consequence. But he does not hesitate to capitalise, fulfilling his desires nonetheless.
The vehicle in possession, the theme of walking backwards into the future is rendered physically manifest, with the metaphor of reversing Sweet Bro's car into a large body of water outside the companions' lakeside property. This is the point from which I drew my inspiration for my illustration. This is the now. This is the moment. Where is Hella Jeff going? He knows not. There is dramatic irony here: we, the readers and long-time followers of Dave Strider's work know full well what will unfold: nothing, ad infinitum. But Hella Jeff is living in the moment: he HAS the car. He knows not what awaits him.
He makes eye contact with you, slyly breaking the fourth wall. Almost... beckoning. Come with me, he says. Live for the present. Become an animal of the now.