I used the phrase “too on the nose” in an earlier post regarding my choice of name for one of the ships in Food. In light of further developments on Mars in Part Three, it might be time to examine that phrase in more detail. Let’s break it down.
Too: to an excessive degree; to such a degree as to be regrettable
On the nose: exactly right; precisely
So, the phrase “too on the nose” can be understood as describing a regrettable degree of rightness.
Does my use of Sly and the Family Stone’s “I Want To Take You Higher” as a launch song fall into that category? Maybe. But when that churning bass line merges with the vibration of the engines and the ship begins to rise, who cares?
There is a degree of rightness that is so right that all possible regret shrivels in the searing white light of its righteousness.
Get over yourself. Beat is there to make you move.
Excerpt:
There was a pause, then the voice said “T-minus 10… 9…”
A guitar and bass played a syncopated descending line. A voice yelled Hey! four times on the down beat. The guitar was joined by an organ, both playing a funk counterpoint to the bass as it settled into a churning distorted riff that seemed to shake their seats, though Cas knew that wasn’t the music doing that. A voice sang that it wanted to take them higher while a trumpet played syncopated notes between the words. Their weight suddenly increased, and they knew the Peregrine was rising from its pad as the voice continued to beckon them higher and higher. Cas thought the music might be too loud for Ori, but then she heard her sister yelling Higher! Higher! in the comms.
-- from Food: Generation Mars, Book Four
Food: Generation Mars, Book Four is available at https://www.amazon.com/Food-Generation-Mars-Book-Four/dp/1733731083