IO Pan! A Song and Invocation to Pan.

When I was writing an article on Pan, my wife suggested I come up with my own personal invocation for him. Slowly, but surely, I took her advice.

At the same time, I had known for a while that I wanted to write a song about Pan, so I was playing around with lyric ideas in my head.

I think the invocation turned into a song and the song turned into an invocation. That makes sense, right? Either way, I threw them both together and recorded an acoustic demo. I’d like to share it with you.

If you’re reading through the lyrics, the invocation begins with the italicized text.

The Lyrics

IO Pan!

Entering the wild of the forest,
I’ve come to find the master of the hunt.
Come horned one! Come forth the King of Arcade.
Teach me of your mysteries, reveal to me your history!

IO Pan! IO Pan!
IO, IO, IO Pan!
Are you beast or are you man?

Though you driven many men to madness,
I come to you with tribute of a song.
I heard a voice that said, “the great god pan is dead,”
But I know the truth. Now I proclaim, “The great god Pan lives on!”

IO Pan! IO Pan!
IO, IO, IO Pan!
Are you beast or are you man?

Through the veil to worlds between,
And in the thick of forest green,
There sits the door to Arcade,
A door without a key.

I come to seek the great god Pan.
IO Pan, IO Pan, IO Pan, IO Pan.

Who is this great horned one?
Is he all or is he none?
I see a beast. Nay! I see man.
I behold the mighty Pan.

IO Pan, IO Pan, IO Pan.
Come, oh great god. Come again!

Play me your sweet serenade,
As we steal away to empty glade.
The shepherds watch and stand in awe,
As we bow before the great god.

IO Pan, IO Pan.
Shepherd King. Half goat and half man.

Suddenly, a fiercesome roar.
Atop my head, I feel his horns.
A mighty voice then spoke to me,
And this is what it said…

I am Pan!

IO
IO
IO
Pan
IO Pan

IO Pan! IO Pan!
IO, IO, IO Pan!

IO Pan! IO Pan!
IO, IO, IO Pan!

IO Pan! IO Pan!
IO, IO, IO Pan!
Are you beast or are you man?

-IO Pan! ©2023 Aerik Arkadian

The Challenge

I frequently get bogged down in recording sessions because I always want to make things sound perfect. I record tracks and then I record them again. And again. And again.

Instead of doing that this time, I spent about 30 minutes and set up a template in my audio software — one track for vocals and one track for my guitar, minimal effects. I wanted it to sound somewhat like a live performance. I recorded “IO Pan!” and thought “huh… that sounds okay.”

In this case, “okay” is enough to get the job done. I’m not going to let perfection be the enemy of “okay” for a while.

Now I have this template. All I have to do is sit down, turn the camera on, and play a song. Prepare to see more tracks like this being uploaded to my YouTube page over the next couple of weeks. I’m going to try for one every day.

If you like the song, I’ve put it up as a download on my Patreon page. If you support me by becoming a subscriber there, you’ll not only have access to downloads and other extras, you’ll also have my eternal gratitude.

Feel free to try out this invocation in your own practice! It worked pretty damn well for me.

IO Pan!