GPT-3 is a powerful (170 Billion parameter) language model that can be used to continue just about any piece of text. A version of it is avaliable through a program called AI dungeon. I applied it to numerous samples of Sufjan Stephen's lyrics, in a project I call "ComesWithASwordBOT". What follows is (what are in my opinion) the best ten results.
The full collection of responses I considered at least passably good can be found here: https://deponysum.com/2020/09/17/comeswithasword-bot-gpt-3-continues-the-lyrics-of-sufjan-stephens-first-pass/
1.
Morning comes in Paradise
Morning comes in light
And the sun shines bright on our sins
We're all sinners and you are mine!
Rise and shine, rise and shine
The morn is coming soon
Rise and shine, rise and shine
Just one more night under the moon
Let's make it one to remember
I remember you...
You don't remember?
2.
Sangamon River it overflowed
It caused a mudslide on the banks of the operator
Civil War skeletons in their graves
They came up clapping in the spirit of the aviator
The sound of the engines and the smell of the grain
We go riding on the abolition grain train
Steven A. Douglas was a great debater
But Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipator
This train is going a hundred and fifty miles
We carry on the mission of angels
We cannot be stopped
We will not be moved
We are the men who will lay down our lives
We will follow this train through hell
We will follow this train into oblivion
When the war is over we will be sent back
We will be sent back to die
This I know
3.
In the tower above the earth
There is a view that reaches far
Where we see the universe
I see the fire, I see the end
And I know there's nothing more to find.
The last words of your father are spoken
As you watch him die in his sleep:
"You can't go on forever."
"Why not?" you ask.
He smiles and shakes his head.
4.
Lord, I no longer believe
Drowned in living waters
Cursed by the love that I received
From my brother's daughter
Like Hephaestion, who died
Alexander's lover
Now my riverbed has dried
Shall I find no other?
Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!
I am your slave and you are my master.
You have given me life and now
I give it back to you.
I am a slave but I am not a prisoner.
My heart is free
5.
How much sorrow can I take?
Blackbird on my shoulder
And what difference does it make
When this love is over?
Shall I sleep within your bed
River of unhappiness
Hold your hands upon my head
'Til I breathe my last breath?
Or shall we fly away
From the city lights
To a place where we belong?
I'm so tired of being alive
You're not here to stay
You'll be gone soon enough.
6.
Oh I am not quite sleeping
Oh I am fast in bed
There on the wall in the bedroom creeping
I see a wasp with her wings outstretched
A spider with its legs crossed over itself
An ant crawling on the floor and looking at me
What do they all mean? Look at you, look at me
My eyes can see all your secrets
The first time that you kissed me
7.
North of Sylvanna we swim in the Palisades
I come out wearing my brothers red hat
There on his shoulder my best friend is bit seven times
He runs washing his face in his hands
Oh how I meant to tease him
Oh how I meant no harm
Touching his back with my hand I kiss him
I see the wasp on the length of my arm
And it's so hard and sharp that I can't let go
But then he stops me by kissing me back.
Oh, oh, oh, oh! Oh, oh, oh! Oh! Oh!
(Oh!) Oh! (Oh!) Oh! (Oh! Oh!) Oh! (Oh! Oh!) (Oh!)
We find clams at the edge of the shallows
We hurl them against the rocks
We count them as they bounce
"How many? How many? How many? How many?
8.
Found myself on Spencer's Butte
Traced your shadow with my shoe
Empty outline changed my view
Now all of me thinks less of you
On the sheet, I see your horizon
All of me pressed onto you
But in this light, you look like Poseidon
I'm just a ghost you walk right through
You're so much more than what you seem to be
A phantom that walks by
The sky is blue and the sea is fine
And you're not here, are you?
"Huh. Never thought I'd see you again."
"You never saw me before.
I've always been invisible."
"Yes, but you were also in a purple cloak."
9.
I was dressed in embarrassment
I was dressed in white
If you had a part of me
Will you take your time
Even if I come back
Even if I die Is there some idea
To replace my life
Like a father to impress
Like a mother's mourning dress
If we ever make a mess
I'll do anything for you
But I'm not sure
what it is that you want from me.
And so, the two of us walk
Down the street together.
The sun has set and the moon is out.
The streets are empty
Save for shadows on the walls,
But they're all watching us.
We both know this isn't going to end well.
You can feel her eyes on you,
But she doesn't say anything.
She just continues walking with me.
We get to a bridge, and she stops.
'Listen to me.
Do you want to know why I chose you?'
You nod silently.
10.
You Stare at the sun to see the sublime
Forgetting the light that makes you go blind
You can't help but feel it's too late for you.
I used to sit by the river with my friends
As the sun was setting, and the lights were coming on
DePonySum 