The Mad, Joyful Chaos of the Creative Process
Thu 15 January 2026
After yesterday's unhinged, painfully cathartic threnody of a post, I really wanted to post something short, light and enjoyable. I was considering writing down my thoughts on my favorite TV show, The Good Place, but that would have taken altogether much too long, so that is going to remain a somewhat long-term plan, but I might get to it within a week or so.
So anyways, while watching an episode of said show last night, I noticed that I really liked the opening riffs of a song that plays during something akin to a nightmare sequence (or fantasy sequence) in that episode.
Using the FOSS music recognition program on my phone, I determined that the song was Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4." Given the enigmatic nature of the song's title, I knew that there would be some enjoyable sleuthing to be had in learning its background and meaning.
I first looked up the lyrics on genius.com to get some background on the song, but finding that interface a bit annoying to use, I just looked up the article directly on Wikipedia.
I learned that while there had been many accusations of a drug theme surrounding the song, it was actually written very early in the morning: "twenty five or [twenty] six [minutes] to four [am]."
Reading that while getting ready in the morning, I laughed out loud. The story behind the title is also self-evident in the first two lines of the lyrics:
Waiting for the break of day
Searching for something to say
It reminded me of so many times in my undergrad university days when I was scrambling to prepare a paper just a couple hours before class, and somehow knocking out a homer with nearly no time to spare.
And it's so amazing to me that the entirety of this hit song is just the author basically saying, "I have no idea what to write, I'm bleary-eyed and trying to stay awake, here's this song where I'm basically saying nothing."
It's a good day when the Muse is that cooperative. :)
Category: Entertainment Tagged: ADHD Beauty Entertainment Humor Music Non-religious post Non-technical post The Good Place Writing
