1. Mill seems to have been reminiscing on a folly of his teens, not making a
serious forecast. Who among us never dreamed strange dreams?
2. Was he the prototype for the song, "He ain't got rhythm", and the later
one, "Timing"?
3. Dozens of modern compositions are, indeed, lifted from the classics, some
of which were, in turn, lifted from folk tunes. Then after this double
lifting someone inscribes jejeune lyrics and copyrights them and the tunes
together. Maybe that's where Monsanto gets the nerve to patent the gene
pool, and Parker Bros. the nerve to copyright Monopoly. And there behind
them stands the sanctifying shadow of J.B. Clark, who said nothing in nature
has any value until it is privatized.
4. Listening to modern pop "music" one has to wonder if there wasn't
something to Mill's youthful speculation, after all. Running short of notes
and ideas, people now vulgarize cacaphony and copyright that, too.

Mason Gaffney