Satie frequently wrote bizarre notes and instructions along with his music. From Peter Avis' liner notes to Queffélec CD:

The three Véritables Préludes Flasques (True flabby preludes) composed in 1912 are described as being for a dog. This dog must have been a very well educated one for these "Flabby preludes" are littered with instructions both in French and in mock-Latin. To confuse matters further, a note by pianist Ricardo Viñes at the head of the score suggests that these pieces are very "nine o'clock in the morning."

In 1913 Satie created his Embryons desséchés (desiccated embryos). He describes these dried-up marine creatures in great, if nonsensical, detail while also giving them appropriate scientific names. The first one, 'Holothurie', is said to climb about on stones and rocks, purr like a cat and be inconvenienced by light. The second embryo (Edriophthalmais) is very sad, has immobile eyes and lives in holes in cliffs. While the third (Podophthalma) has eyes on stalks, is a tenacious hunter and is good to eat. Instructions to the performer abound, including one to play "like a nightingale with toothache."