Lyrics and Notes
Bruce Clendenin - Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Bass, Drums, Banjo, Flute, etc.
R. Mageddon - Lyrics and Concepts
Mike Musal - Drums when we play live
With
Dana Whitehead - Vocals on Dream On, Piece Of My Heart, Somebody To Love
Mike Itishiki - Fiddle on Alexander Hamilton
John "Hootis McGrootis" Oldaker - Banjo on Alexander Hamilton
R. Mageddon Notes:
Comments may address background, dates and other. The works will speak for themselves.
Anyone insisting on "knowing" more, please read
Master Zappa's comments regarding the lyrics of "Uncle Meat."
All lyrics copyrignt 1975-2001 R. Mageddon. Used with permission
Kaleidoscope
Fearlessly the ageless come
A silhouette against the sun
they hear no lies
and seek not justice
An iron tower sways and bends
as work of man falls prey to wind
the winter calls
yet who will answer
Gliding through the mist of night
I won my place beside the light
and gained their love
but lost my name
Cast into the world again
I catch a glimpse of childhood's end
for earth below
a new beginning
And somewhere in the frozen waste
a voice calls out "we must make haste"
the visions fade-
so here we are:
quietly talking
about the lifeforce within us all
The painted faces overhead
proclaim the truth in things unsaid
eternity
the only freedom
Then an angel, then the son
cries "lo" and we have just begun
there is no end
to revelation
I drift through ever changing scenes
and realize it's all a dream
and light another cigarette
a seperate reality...
Bruce Notes:
This song was written around the summer of 1977, which would mean that we were around 19.
I remember thinking of the opening line (the part that's in 3/4.)
I was alone in the house (which was rare in those days).
I was having a good day and I managed to catch it in a bottle.
That's what writing music is all about, really.
The part in the odd time signatures (in the intro just after the bells ring)
was written as a demonstration for a friend.
I was trying to explain that 4/4 time was only one choice of many,
despite the fact that virtually every measure of music that you hear on the
radio (or in all of pop music really) is in 4/4 time.
I jotted this little exercise down for us to play through in an attempt
to help him break out of the 4/4 mold.
I decided to weave it into the song I was writing at the time,
which turned out to be Kaleidoscope.
R. Mageddon Notes:
Written, as Brooce says, in the Summer of 1977. I lived in one of those apartments
where the bed pulls out of the wall into the ONE ROOM.
Brooce and I had been exploring alternate musical forms and extended works for some time by now,
and Kaleidoscope was actually more mainstream than our recent efforts at the time.
We thought it was "commercial."
For whatever reason, Brooce and I saw Kaleidoscope as significant,
and I look back on it as the catalyst for the intense productivity that was to follow.
Color (Main Theme)
Bruce Notes:
This was originally written as the theme to the Dr. Fangus Video Clinic TV show that I produced during the mid 1980's.
The program featured local music. Everybody from local bands (of course) to kids playing their piano lessons were featured. A very eclectic mix of talent.
It was totally unpredictable (just the opposite of MTV!)
You never knew what was coming next.
There were several versions of this piece that were used as incidental music in the show.
This version is identical to the opening/closing theme music,
except that the vocal interlude was removed from the TV version.
Suffer Me No More Lifetimes (lord)
living in circles it seems
in a dream
looking for reasons of things
we don't mean
talking the future
of hard times and wars
passing on blind the subtle presence of doors
dying to see you
emerge from the mist
grant my desire for this
spiritual bliss
talking the rainbow
of sun after storm
grab for the freedom - pass at being reborn
while the sky rides a moonbeam
resultant shadows shake the earth
with their calm / till pierced by sunlight
and the cycles of a thousand years
lay waste within a pool of tears
I'm crying: for the cameras and
a picture of your face
that remarkably reflects the here and now of the race
come on, man, I just can't do it again
the lower chakras I'll faithfully ignore
suffer me no more lifetimes ( ).
Bruce Notes:
This song was written around 1980.
It was the result of many hours of classical guitar instruction,
along with my love of acoustic guitar music.
I have always felt that the intro is the strongest swatch of classical guitar I have written.
My original intent (believe it or not!) was to do
Crosby, Stills & Nash style "wooden" music.
It didn't turn out like anything I've ever heard them do,
although the accompaniment consists entirely of one acoustic guitar and one classical guitar.
The percussion in various segments is me hitting the guitars during rests as I played.
I recorded each voice in the vocal mass at the end without listening to the other tracks,
in order to avoid any similance of harmony.
R. Mageddon Notes:
I wrote the words to this song in 1978, some time before Brooce put it to music.
A very nice tune.
The musical setting caputres the angst of the lyrical content to an excruciating degree.
10,000 Saucers
Found you
on a dreary night
and did not know your name
you were slowly dying
from a dead love's piercing pain
really had to bring you in
I'm Shelter, from the Rain
and now I just can't force myself to turn
you out again
10,000 saucers pass my window pane
it's all the same
Hear the
howling wolves at night
I wonder where they've been
they sound as sad as Eurydice
I think I'll cry again
for all the souls that wander hells
for Orpheus once again
and for the love you borrow from though having
none to lend
10,000 snowflakes on my window pane
melt into rain
it's all the same
See the
autumn moon tonight
it beckons with a smile
to things we've shared -- too numerous
to list in this short while
still somewhere up above
beside a throne there lies a file
bursting with The Poet's omnipresent
silent style
10,000 teachings on my window pane
the glass of my brain
breaks for refrain
it's all the same
And here
am I alone tonight
though you lie by my side
I love you now and evermore
that cannot be denied
the fact remains: I'm just a place
you often come to hide
you'll never know, never care this place inside
has died
10,000 lives dance past my window pane
they're all the same
10,000 saucers pass my window pane
whisper your name
it's all the same
Bruce Notes:
This song was probably written sometime around 1980.
I have always had an affinity for "magnum opus" rock songs like
Stairway to Heaven, Freebird, etc.
(Sure, they're overplayed, but there's a reason for that!)
This song starts out with classical guitar, adds acoustic guitar,
and then builds to an electric guitar duet section, which is based on a short phrase
extracted from the verse.
R. Mageddon Notes:
I started on this about the same time as Alexander Hamilton (see below),
but it was completed later in 1975.
I put a lot of time into this song and it remains one of my favorites.
Brooce put a lot into this as well.
It was worth the wait. One of our rare "love songs." Baby, baby, baby.
Early Morning Maiden
She sits cross-legged in a chair of leather
wearing white silk stockings
drinking hot tea
reading The Times
She looks in a mirror
thoughtfully
leans on a fence
She knows she's beautiful
self reassured
that love is out there waiting
Bruce Notes:
Written around 1981.
This is my contribution to the traditional vocal with piano accompaniment arrangement.
By the time I finished writing the piano part,
I realized it would take three hands to play it!
Fortunately, the computer made this possible.
R. Mageddon Notes:
Written while I lived in the country house with Jim and Cyndi north of Denton, circa 1981.
Brooce and Mike lived at "the ranch" several miles away.
Trying to avoid getting stuck in a "long song" mode,
this was one of my increasing experiments in a minimalist form.
To Ours
Bruce Notes:
This instrumental was probably conceived sometime in the mid 1980s.
I recorded demos of it until I finally decided that one of them was useable.
Guess how long it took to record this...
Alexander Hamilton (1897)
Dedicated to the Quackers
Last Monday night when the moon had rose
I heard a noise among the buffalo
and went outside to investigate
I knew all along that it could not wait
I saw a slowly descending ship of the skies
not more than forty rods before my eyes
I called to Gid and to my son, Wall
we each grabbed an axe and ran for the corral
It was pencil shaped and a hundred feet long
dark red in color (can't be wrong)
it had a little carriage underneath
that was clear as glass for all to see
Inside were six of the strangest men
that I've ever seen or will again
they were talking together above our heads
but we couldn't undersand a word they said
We stood amazed with wonder and fright
but they saw us and turned on a light
we were scared to death as you can see
I looked at Gid and Wall looked at me
A turbine wheel just about then
under the craft was starting to spin
they hovered above a buffalo calf
and I'd swear I heard those creatures laugh
Airship,
creatures
calf and all
they rose into the dawn
Airship,
creatures,
calf and all
they rode into the dawn
and then they were gone
I don't know if they're gods, angels or devils from hell
but I've had enough of them as you can tell
they took my calf but what's even worse
is I know we aren't alone in the universe
Bruce Notes:
This was written around 1980.
This is one of our few attempts at something called "country & western".
When I first saw the lyric, I knew that this was a banjo song.
At that time, I was working a summer job with a guy called Hootis
(at least that's what I called him, because that's what he called everything else.)
Mike and I were living on a ranch at the time.
Hootis (banjo in hand) came for a visit.
We recorded banjo and acoustic guitar live to a cassette deck.
I transferred that tape to an eight channel master at the local studio.
The studio was owned at that time by a great violinist named Mike "I'm From Chicago"
Itishiki who was touring with Ray Price at the time.
He volunteered to add the fiddle tracks which are featured at the end.
R. Mageddon Notes:
The lyrics to this were written in Fall of 1974. (Brooce has always been a procrastinator.)
I was living with Bill Painter, an Austin College student,
and his wife in a two story duplex directly across from the girl's dormitory.
A great environment for a guy just beginning his Junior year of High School.
"The Quackers" were a looseknit group of hippie/artist college students who would gather
at the duplex each evening.
We would do hippie/artist things and enjoy the finer points of life.
This song is based on an actual U.F.O. sighting by Alexander Hamilton, a Kansas farmer.
Brooce tinkered with this one way back when,
but it eventually appeared years later in it's current form.
Chronicles
(a) for d.l.
The Road goes ever on
through the night
I've got this feeling deep inside
like the swelling of the tides
for I've been blessed with single sight
The god of time came to my bed
touched my head
And said "Now rise into the days
when men have taken quiet ways
and even darkness reeks of dawn"
The Road goes ever on, ever on
And I could hear voices
above the storm:
Just before freezing one feels warm
so I grabbed my hat and coat
and made my life along The Road
Looking for a reason not to cry
I've heard that life is happiness
but I've never found out why
Looking for an answer in the sky
He drove me to the airport
and there we said good-bye
(b) flying:
Spent fifteen minutes at the terminal gate
trying to board the plane of consciousness
the passengers were ready but
the pilot was late
He said "My name is fate
and our goal is simply
emptiness"
So I bought my ticket and I found my seat
awaiting our departure with eagerness
when we began to taxi felt
a rush of relief
Like an innocent thief
my being was bombarded by
inward bliss So
high
caress the sky
flying
paradise on wings
I sing of laughter and disaster
without speaking
(c) exalted thus:
City lights shine in the distance
the only known resistance to the night
amidst the forest noise he sits
a copper cross stung 'round his neck
and for an instant
he understands:
Anything you do is relative
Anything you do is magic
Anything you do rejoice in
while it lasts; while it lasts
(d) visions of tomorrow:
Look into my eyes and see who I am
Protector of the all elusive plan
revealed neither by wisdom
nor teachings of man
but by Love
Listen, the earth calls my name to the wind
Father of Virtue and brother to Sin
I have spoken the one word
and traversed the centuries
flown through the spiritual sky
witnessed destiny's end
But it's all of the same
place your faith in the master's claim:
There is no pain without pleasure
as sweet refrain
Arise from the grave
of your narrow and useless ways
for though the ship sinks
There'll be some who are saved
by the shores of salvation
before reclamation
is made
I bring the lightening
I send the thunder
casting inherent apostles asunder
rebutting the gods of your ignorance
thoughtful and picturesque
fools of forgiveness
they stand
I am the moonlight
I am the starshine
I am the master of all space and time
proclaiming a change of the seasons
that no one contests
salutant treasons
will stand
Look into my eyes you know who I am
Protector of the all elusive plan
revealed neither by wisdom
nor teachings of man
but by Love
Bruce Notes:
(a) for d.l.
I first started working on this before I left Sherman, probably around 1977,
during which time I wrote this section. The lyrics were about a journey down a road.
For me, this conjured the image of a marching legion. This was a chance to add a march
to the array of musical genres offered in this collection.
(Having spent 3 years in the marching band in school may have had something to do with this one as well.)
(b) flying
This movement is based on two primary motifs. A motif in 5/4 is first presented on the bass and drums.
This motif consists of three measures for a total of 15 beats. The melody in 4/4 is sung over this 5/4 motif,
resulting in rhythmic dissonance. Next, a 4/4 motif is presented on the piano. This motif consists of three 4/4 measures
and a 3/4 measure, again for a total of 15 beats. The melody is reintroduced against it, and since both are in 4/4 it
snugs in very nicely. Finally the bass and piano parts are played at the same time accompanied by various improvised
melodies in either 4 or 5, resulting in absolute chaos. The idea for this movement came to me one day
while I was away at college, probably around 1980. I think it would make a great extended "jam" section that could be
drawn out and extended, with lots of room for additional improvisation.
(c) exalted thus
The lyrics of this movement always come to mind when I find myself flying into a major metropolitan airport at night,
or even when I approach a major city by highway and I come over the last hill and see the city in the distance.
In both cases, the city lights are visible twinkling in the distance. The second half of the lyric of this verse
was presented to me (as best as I can recall) many years before as an embellishment to the second movement of
Times Of Greater Quiet. I decided to plagiarize myself briefly here and use a portion of that movement
as a platform for this section. These four lines were actually written by our old friend Steve Engel as I understand it.
(d) visions of tomorrow
I have always thought that this was one of Mageddons strongest lyrics.
During the summer of 1980 I was working at the women's university on the grounds crew.
I used to sneak up to a piano room in the music school during my lunch break and spend the hour playing.
It was during this period that I wrote most of this section. It has always been one of my favorite things
to play on piano.
During the initial phase of writing Chronicles I was so stumped by the (b) section that
I set this one aside and didn't pick it up again until I redesigned my recording studio in the fall of 2004.
This recording was the "shakedown cruise" for the new set-up,
when I finally recorded the first and last section and finished writing the second and third sections,
completing the piece 26 years after beginning it.
R. Mageddon Notes:
I wrote the lyrics to Chronicles, I believe, in spring of 1978. To break it down piece by piece:
(a) for d.l.
This was a somewhat veiled tribute to a very close friend and fellow writer, David Lewis. I admired David and his writing style, though very different from my own. Nevertheless, he saw some type of potential in me and constantly encouraged me to continue writing. So, David, if you're out there somewhere, thank you, for showing me The Road!
(b) flying
To maintain my position that each individual should interpret my works for themselves, thereby finding their own true meaning, I have no comments.
(c) exalted thus
Here I must confess, I stole the last four lines of this piece from Stephen Engel, a.k.a. Uglie. As I recall, he had these four lines jotted down with several other ideas. So, knowing Steve would never use them, I incorporated them into Chronicles. Steve was a keyboard player that we hung out with and another good friend. Later, he was my roommate for 4 years. Though he never really got seriously involved musically (other than jamming on occasion) with Brooce, Mike and me and our projects, he eventually did put out (well, not really put out) some of his own material. I have copies of Uglie - Trying To Fit In and The Music Of Other Worlds From Inner Space Voyages. So there Ug, you got a plug. (Also, the Sound City piano I'm shown writing on at Brooce and Mike's "ranch" belonged to Steve.)
(d) visions of tomorrow
What else can I say?
All The Differents
When all your hopes have been betrayed
and there's nothing left to save you but your fears
I'll be here
to take the pain upon myself
and still I'll smile well knowing that life is
deadly bliss
for after night must come a dawn
when all the tricks of night are gone
into the day and back to night
as from all wrongs emerges right
and so the cycles ever pass
like young bare feet o'er broken glass
the cause of suffering, cause of life
revealed within a single sight
and as we see we understand
reality dissolves to sand
till all the differents seem the same
the difference being in the name
Bruce Notes:
This song was written around 1981.
It was another attempt to write something approachable.
During this period,
I was constantly trying to find ways to write rock music without incorporating
all of the standard rock elements.
The one that seems to be the hardest to do without is the rock drum set.
Classical music existed for hundreds of years without a drum beat.
The trick is to have something moving at any given instant
so that the beat is constantly defined.
The opening section of this song is one of several examples
in this collection where the drum set is notably absent.
R. Mageddon Notes:
1978, some nice wordplay.
Another cheerful examination of life.
Contains one of my favorite lines depicting the bloody feet of children. Rock on.
Trio For Flute
Bruce Notes:
This is one of the oldest compositions in the collection.
Probably dates back to 1977.
Mike had found a girl who played flute.
She wanted to jam with the various bands in our sphere at that time.
Of course, there are precious little material in the literature that include flute.
I wanted to write something for her to play,
hence this Trio which features flute, piano and bass.
This is a recent version.
The flute actually isn't a flute at all.
It's the electric guitar processed by a guitar synthesizer!
The Only Dance
The lonely bluebird
carries out her day
Nothing new for a bluebird to do
but she's singing anyway
Carried on in the
endless stream of time
Her lifetime but a second
in life's endless line
Somehow you lost your train of thought,
your mind won't click, it's going to slow
The world flies by, but you can't jump on
No matter how fast you go
'Cause you missed your chance
you blew it again
and you're sitting there
watching the tail
of a flying star
flying
Finding out things that you've
never before let yourself know
Life isn't dying it's
waiting for you to let go of all the other
games that you must let
continue as you dance
the only dance that will keep you
inside your own mind
Disattach, proceed
Time will not let you avoid the day
When all you have gained will be taken away
and you'll fly
Seeing a chance
you watch yourself
passing it by
It's no wonder
you were lonely
why didn't you try
You couldn't find love
it was there all the time
When you saw it
you left it
wasn't worth your time
Go to sleep and dream yourself
back into the real world
See this second come back to life
as backwards in time you're hurled
When you close
your eyes
not even Apollo
can shine inside you
But the lesson
of the other side
will never, never,
never leave you alone
But somehow you lost your train of thought,
your mind won't click, it's going to slow
The world flies by, but you can't jump on
No matter how fast you go
'Cause you missed your chance
you blew it again
and you're sitting there
watching the tail
of a flying star
flying
Bruce Notes:
This one came about when I found some lost lyrics in Mageddon's handwriting
in my room around 1977 and wrote some music for them.
When I pulled it all and showed it to him, he informed me that the lyrics I'd found
weren't original at all. He'd only transcribed them from a record for me to read.
At that point I had music with no lyrics,
so I decided to take a stab at writing lyrics myself. This song constitutes my first and last
attempt to write lyrics. We included it in the set during
the period we worked on the slide show. Soon after, I decided the lyrics weren't up
to standard and I abandoned the song.
When the opportunity came to use a computer to reconstitute the slide show,
I rediscovered the images we'd shot to accompany this song and it occurred to me
that they were among the best of the slides. It seemed a shame to leave them out,
so I decided to rerecord the song and include it in the set.
To me, the song suggests missed opportunities, particularly in the arena of romance.
It's always seemed to me that "chance encounters" don't really happen by chance at all.
It takes a certain amount of courage and a sustained effort to instigate them. It's easy to
get discouraged and give up, especially if one isn't naturally gregarious. Here I was
exploring the internal tension we experience each time a situation presents itself that
might allow us to foster one of these "chance encounters," or that might result in
rejection.
Druids Do It
Birds do it -- bees do it
even the flowers and the trees do it
people just like you and me do it
please, do it
even Druids do it
do it, do it, do it
even Druids do it
I'll do it if you'll do it
even the monkeys in the zoo do it
lady I can pull you through to it
let's do it
even Druids do it
do it, do it, do it
even Druids do it
Bruce Notes:
I have always been interested in a capella music because it is so portable.
If you can get 4 or 5 people who can sing a capella,
you can do it anywhere, anytime.
I actually wrote this song around 1982 between classes while I was at school.
I literally remember practicing this song the day I recorded it
while running up and down stairwells in some cavernous building on the campus ant NTSU.
By the time I got to the studio that evening, I knew exactly what needed to be done.
We started the tape,
and I played the bass along with a metronome track while counting the measures.
I added each vocal track without listening to the others.
I never heard any of the harmony until the whole thing was finished and we played it back.
This song was rerecorded in the summer of 2002 using digital technology. In this version,
I only sang the song once, then manipulated that version into the five part round. The bass sound
was done this time by blowing into jugs.
R. Mageddon Notes:
More wordplay from 1978.
Brooce was in the midst of one of his first serious live-in love affairs,
and I remember him telling me how this piece infuriated his girlfriend.
Apparently she had just completed some very serious "Epic Poem" about Druids.
I didn't know.
I laughed. He put mine to music.
Color (Acoustic)
Bruce Notes:
This is a classical guitar version of the music for the Dr. Fangus Video Clinic TV show,
probably recorded around 1984.
My intent to avoid the "Dick Clark Syndrome" led me to write and perform
the incidental music for my TV show.
If I was going to pontificate on the subject of music and associate myself with musicians,
I should be able to play some of it!
(Most radio "personalities" suffer from this syndrome as well.
This is one of the reasons that pop music is in such sad shape.)
Planetary Breakdown
Religious Heads and Ancient Memories
what do you see there
reflected in the sky?
sit here beside me
gotta let the day go by
try to make decisions
try to make it rain
try to keep the world in your eye
to get that feeling once again
you've just gotta know
roll, revolve and evolve
get involved
it's your planet
and damn it
it's fading fast
while you
dream, dream on
know you aren't as tall
as the shadow on the lawn
(just a note in the song)
be, belong
beat it down a narrow path
that will one day, too, be gone
into the dark and mystic past
which alone will all outlast
and all foreshadow
what do you see then
reflected in the sky?
and what but the face of a clock
is the mystery of time?
try for inspiration
try to win the game
try to live and quietly die
to realize it's all the same
you've just gotta know
roll, revolve and evolve
get involved
it's your planet
and damn it
it's fading fast
Refugee
hear that talk of revolution
(it's revolution, only revolution)
as I wage this inward fight
-- pure as fire
ours the right
youth betrays me to my face
age controls my tears
seeming some fogotten race
left standing o'er the years
has fallen now a victim of
it's dark and narrow fears
so: be it said that the truth
is revealed in silence
Garden Wind
walk in the garden
earth is rejoicing
watching as the water falls --
sky's the limit over all
a beautifully radiant blue light wall
talking to old friends
the kind of love that never ends
from on further spaces
it descends
as if the garden wind
you know
roll, revolve and evolve
it's you planet damn it
it's fading fast
Bruce Notes:
Religious Heads and Ancient Memories
Written primarily on piano in 1979.
The beginning is one of several "retrogrades" featured in the collection.
I opened the piano, held down the sustain pedal and raked a pick across the strings.
Then I flipped the tape over and recorded the same effect backwards,
so that the two met in the middle.
This is followed by a brief introduction that is built out of various themes that appear later.
This section also features liberal use of a 12 tone row.
This is a melody that includes each note in a chromatic scale before repeating any.
The idea is to avoid implying any harmonic structure,
another attempt by "modern" composers in the early part of this century
to make new music.
The 12 tone row is used in this way in the intro,
and then later set against a chord progression.
Refugee
Another song for two guitars.
This time, I used an acoustic and an electric.
This section is written in the "Phrygian" mode, which has a
lowered 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th
relative to the traditional major scale.
The voices that separate this section from the first section was constructed from
recordings I made of foreign students working in a factory where I was employed
during part of my college days.
Garden Wind
Another rock song with no drum set.
This was written on one of the many wonderful old pipe organs at the university.
Anything played on one of those monsters sounded majestic.
There's just no way to get that effect without one.
This section features organ, acoustic guitar and voice,
with handclaps thrown in for percussion.
R. Mageddon Notes:
Further introspection from 1978, in three parts.
Written, as I was increasingly doing by this time, in one session.
My "pretentious" title (thanks, Brooce)
was an obvioulsy missed reference to Steppenwolf's "Foggy Mental Breakdown",
itself a take on the title of the Bluegrass standard "Foggy Mountain Breakdown."
Lots of different takes on Breakdown titles, it seems.
So much for subtle references.
Brooce omits the last few lyrical lines, but it works well.
Giant Among Men
And lo, the darkness of unopened eyes
allowed a Giant to arise
foul of smell and covered with flies
arms that reached across the seas and to the skies
and he did wield his power across the land
passing judgement with his mighty hand
to make a slave of every man
capture the women and...
Yea, in the darkness it came to pass
that every house was made of glass
as he tortured, accused and harassed
The Giant conjured demons from the past
and neighbor was turned against neighbor
seeking to gain The Giant's favor
as The Giant grew by myths and fables
he invited no one to his table
On the darkness The Giant gorged
with no second thought for the flesh his teeth tore
he envisioned and created a machine of war
and controlled his soldiers with priests and whores
then The Giant marched his army across the plains
left in it's wake were death and chains
people writhing in endless pain
bruised bodies and battered brains
The people of the land led The Giant's rise
for they looked upon him with unseeing eyes
while man sleeps man is blind
when man awakes he is out of time
as it was no champion would arise
to smite The Giant 'tween the eyes
no one realized the countless lives
lost when the darkness settled on the skies
And The Giant spread his evil will
through every valley, on every hill
those who would not be slaves were killed
ten thousand graveyards were filled
and The Giant walked across the bones
and each man was alone
not safe on the run, in danger at home
in the dark of the night the sword of The Giant shone
The Giant crushed the few who would resist
and the ones who did not pass his test
and lo, The Giant did not rest
until everything that existed consisted of
The Giant
Bruce Notes:
Giant was written in the spring of 1995.
I had recently acquired a MIDI setup.
I held out until a program came along that allowed me to actually write
music on the staff using a mouse.
I had completed a few short experiments
(including the Beethoven featured elsewhere in this collection),
and I was ready to begin the next short incursion into composition
It was an unlucky spring.
I was sitting in my room with the window open, and as it often does in spring,
it started to rain.
I approached the computer with my usual intention of seeing how complex a piece of
music I could come up with.
I guess it was just the mood of the afternoon,
but instead I started with a single whole note on a bell.
During the next few weeks (writing music like this is a gruelingly slow process),
I produced about two minutes of very dark music.
It reminded me of a poem that Mageddon had given me several months earlier.
I dug it out and as I read it,
I realized it fit exactly the mood of the music I had been writing.
I began weaving the poem into the music I was composing on the computer.
Most pop music consists of a "verse" and a
"chorus" that are repeated 4 times each.
The third time, the verse and sometimes the chorus are instrumental.
This song is "through" composed.
That means that each section is written independently of the others,
without repeating sections, so that each verse is unique.
Thematic material from the vocal sections is used to
construct the instrumental segments that separate the verses.
All of the accompaniment is done on the computer,
with the brief exception of the guitar solo towards the end,
which includes electric guitar, bass and drum set.
R. Mageddon Notes:
Written during a very depressing personal period in April or May of 1992.
I had just irreparably mutilated the middle finger of my left hand in an industrial accident.
An admittedly dark, yet hopefully enlightening piece
about the role governments choose to take in our allegedly "free" existances.
Laws will soon be passed concerning the grades of sandpaper one is allowed to use
while wiping the ass. Beware.
Color (Electric)
Bruce Notes:
Yet another version of the incidental Dr. Fangus Video Clinic TV music.
Twilight Tribal Trial
The sun set through the painted glass
a collage of colors shining
a home of men who walk the path
a home of women sighing
the books lie on the alter fast
as silent prayers are crying
to the gods above: lower you mask
rituals can be trying
And they smile as they cry
and they scream through the laughter
here I'm floating so high
wondering what they're after
I reach you I touch you
I feel you everywhere
I love you I know you
and can't believe you're scared
of really seeing within you
here's to being within you
here's to being without you
the waves wash by my feet so cool
erasing footprints in their wake
I come here for a sight of you
to give as well as take
and then I see by an inlet pool
the silhouette of light you make
with arms outstreatched you invite me to
cast 'way my blindness and awake
Then you clear the board with a single move
catching one of my mistakes
but all the winning here's no use
save it for some other day
as I don't believe in man made rules
I don't believe in state
(you say) even wiser men are fools
and jesters in this place
And they smile when they die
and they scream while they're living
but I'm floating so high
I can't believe it's really ending
till I reach you I touch you
I feel you everywhere
I love you I know you
I can't believe you're scared
of really seeing within you
here's to being within you
here's to being without you
here's to being beside you
I've just decided
The trial is over
the jury was hung
and everybody's getting in their cars
Bruce Notes:
Written around 1982.
The instrumental section after the 1st and 3rd verses is a
blatant example of retrograde.
In the forward section, a melody on electric guitar is imposed over a chord progression.
A short section of improvised electric guitar separates the forward section
from the reverse section.
The reverse section consists of the chord progression from the forward section played backwards.
I then flipped the tape over, which resulted in the progression playing forward again
(even though it all sounded like tape playing in reverse.)
I played the melody over the tape while it played in reverse.
When the tape is played in the right direction,
the result is a melody in the reverse section that is the same
as the melody in the forward section, only backwards.
A perfect retrograde!
R. Mageddon Notes:
Written Spring of 1979. Brooce (again) omits the last two lines of lyric.
Buy the book if it's ever pulished.
-- Love the backward guitar treatments. John Lennon. I'm Only Sleeping...
Country Pie
Anytime I can find weed
growing wild in the city
think I'll have to jump and shout
without a doubt
You say you gotta leave
well I think it's a pity
hate to see you down and out
but roundabout
You'll have to give more than you take away
leave a little something for another day
lady when you make your country pie
it gets me high
Bruce Notes:
Written around 1980.
By this time I had acquired a banjo of my own,
and this song was written as a vehicle for it.
This song wasn't arranged and recorded until late 1998.
R. Mageddon Notes:
Summer of 1974, at my parents farm.
A short love song to an early girlfriend who I continue to see whenever possible.
Love you, Mary Jane.
Home Again (Bird of Love)
As thoughts drifting side to side
relay the greater news
asking time cause soldier love
a picture of our views
yet Sweetness sings so sadly now
of wasted days to choose
listen to the dreams of angels
reaching out for you --
they call you home again
The seventh hand moves faster still
and Death walks ever near
the flute plays lifetones from us all
his master's voice rings clear
standing pools of colored light
her hymn provokes a tear
while knights in armor crucify
the night of our deeper fears
and call you home again
Listen to the music,
it speakes unto the soul, the soul
Bird of Love, Bird of Love,
Bird of, Bird of
Listen to the lyrics
they speak unto the soul, the soul
Read between the lines of age
Friendships of the faith prove true
and nearer to the heart
like gentle lovers' first caress
the planets and the star
asking nothing giving all
freedom from the start
time and space can't seperate
the soul that wanders far --
yet calls you home again
Bruce Notes:
This is one of the oldest songs in the set.
Mageddon wrote the original section (the verses) back in the mid 70's.
Later, we added the verse (the "Bird of Love" part).
This sat on the shelf as a rough demo from around 1974,
until I got around to recording this vesion of it in the winter of 2000.
R. Mageddon Notes:
Home Again was written in 1976, Dedicated to C.
The "Bird of Love" section was written several years earlier at Brooce's house,
most likely in 1974.
This was probably a victim of my "ritualistic burnings" as I had completely forgotten it.
Brooce found a copy on an index card and resurrected it with this insertion.
Rapids
On the other side there lies a key
to a door I'll never see
for I'm imprisoned here
a victim of my time and not my deeds
still the wind blows
Free:
I hear the sirens wail
oh my Jesus
behind the gates of hell
the smoke is slowly rising
and the night is red
All through my head:
oh Jesus
oh my Jesus
I've got no time to sit and smoke with you, man
the gods above have seen and they have spoken
those crazy lights are dancing
with the sound now
and the few will drive the masses
underground
Oh my Jesus
the sirens wail
oh my Jesus
help me now
Bruce Notes:
Written around 1982, this was another song produced as a class assignment at NTSU,
this time for an Audio Production class.
This was a pretty basic class and the assignment was simply to combine several sounds onto tape.
The first step was to collect all of the sounds that I wanted to combine.
I carried around my cassette deck for a few days.
I began by collecting lots of sound effects from records I found at the school.
Then I found an old slightly out of tune (aren't they all) piano in an empty classroom.
I improvised around 20-30 minutes on the piano with the cassette recorder running.
Instead of using the ill equiped studio at the university,
I once again decided to put the song together at Average Joe in Denton.
I took the tapes along with a floor tom, an electric guitar/amp and some other noise makers
to the studio and ran them onto the master tape. Then I sang the vocal tracks.
The entire piece is completely improvised.
The result was the recording included here.
I have since transferred the master tape to computer
in order to achieve an automated digital mix.
R. Mageddon Notes:
A true story from 1977. Busted by Texas redneck cops while taking a trip with friends. Literally, on both counts.
Brooce's avant garde/sound collage/incidental music soundtrack depicts the chaos of that midnight encounter
better than any lyrics ever could. Thick white smoke and flashing red lights. Violence and violations of rights.
No recourse. The "Legal System." Riding the rapids.
Clockwork
I was thinking to myself
about all the times you've lied
when an angel full of inner wealth
descended from the sky
and here I sat in misery
o'er a love that would not be
I said "Who would dare to rescue me
from the clutch of destiny?"
she said "All these things will soon be gone"
I said "that all sounds well and good"
knock on wood, knock on wood
clockwork is as clockwork should
so I said "free me if you would"
yet here I sat beneath the skies
couldn't fly no matter how I tried
I said, "it's those familiar lies,
those old familiar lies"
and she said "All these things will soon be gone"
The hands of time are waving by
and she's with me to this day
my love is trekking through the night
but I've long since come that way
so here I sit in mystery
now I know we're never free
and there's no one to rescue me
or is that the mystery?
just remember --
"All these things will soon be gone"
Bruce Notes:
This was an attempt around 1982 to write something that
might be a little more approachable to the typical music consumer than some of
the more experimental pieces. This
is as close to "radio rock" as it's gets here.
R. Mageddon Notes:
Lyrics written in 1978.
I thought Brooce did the music for this song long before 1982, but who's to say?
I concur with his comments, otherwise.
A "knockoff" basically, with a few nice lines.
Automotive Breakdown
Bruce Notes:
This instrumental was written in 1979 as my 3rd
quarter music theory class project.
There were several requirements, such as modulation via pivot chord, etc.
I don't remember exactly what they all were, but they are all included in this piece.
The title is obviously a jab at Mageddon's rather pretentious title
of another song included in this collection.
A Scent Of Jasmine
Saw you sitting on your porch with
cloudy face and rainbow eyes
they say that you've been living death
breathing smoke and speaking sighs
so I thought that I'd come say hello
knowing well you'd say good-bye
Casting stones into the water
bodies that defy the sun
tabs of lightening vials of rain
and suddenly you're on the run
arms outstretched you brim with laughter
remembering things you should have done
The twilight comes without a warning
a scent of jasmine fills the air
in the distance lies the morning
say the word and I'll be there
for only you can give me life
and take from me this dark despair
Bruce Notes:
This is the only song in the set that Mageddon wrote the music for.
He has been after me to record it for quite a while,
so in early 2002, with his coaching, I completed the first recorded version.
R. Mageddon Notes:
I wrote the music to a number of songs, including several instrumentals over the years.
I would usually put music to my own lyrics when Brooce was moving too slow for my taste,
or when the lyric meant something special to me personally (althought, by definition, they all did.)
I should note here that Brooce also wrote some of his own lyrics, some of which I quite admired.
Over the years, however, we were both smart enough in our partnership to take the roles
we were best suited for: he the meticulous musician and me the fly by the cuff lyricist
with the occasional idea or two. At any rate, this is the only one of my compositions
to appear in this collection, written in 1977. Brooce was working on "Times of Greater Quiet" when I put
this to music, so it is appropriate that they appear together here. It would take a book to
explain the inspiration for the lyrics, so I won't. The music I just thought sounded good.
Arrangement and recording courtesy of Brooce. Thanks, Brooce.
Times of Greater Quiet
Emory Nine
The Lord of Years has left his mark
and shadows come from out the darkness
all too soon the mornings come
(still we wait the night) fall
now's the time to make your move
for all you gain someone must lose
the wind blows paper down the block
and out onto the freeway
There -- I'm driving aimlessly
scattered groundlings in the streets
watch now as the world takes shape
weaving webs of fantasy
and suddenly you're standing there
with silver sunlight in your hair
your careless laughter on the wane
Initiation
Empathy rushes like a river to the sea
flowing ever faster
via the firth of destiny
|
Reaching we touch as initiated higher we climb |
Reaching this mental freedom a seperate mind-plane embracing heaven and the stars till finally |
|
Reaching we know and may discontinue all unbroken mores |
Reaching the destination this desolation that we've known dissolves to dust before our eyes |
| DISC THREE | |||
| Track | Song | Original | Length |
| 1 | Layla | Derek & the Dominos (Eric Clapton) | 4:32 |
| 2 | Good Morning, Good Morning | The Beatles | 2:30 |
| 3 | Mood For A Day | Yes (Steve Howe) | 2:24 |
| 4 | Substitute | The Who | 3:49 |
| 5 | Dream On | Aerosmith | 4:23 |
| 6 | Gaudete | Traditional 1582 (inspired by Steeleye Span) | 1:59 |
| 7 | Keep Yourself Alive | Queen | 3:44 |
| 8 | Jewish (excerpts) | Spirit | 0:57 |
| 9 | Idiot Bastard Son | Frank Zappa | 2:24 |
| 10 | Excerpts from Sonata #9 For Violin | Beethoven | 3:07 |
| 11 | The Big Money | Rush | 5:28 |
| 12 | Once In A Lifetime | Talking Heads | 3:54 |
| 13 | Piece Of My Heart | Big Brother & the Holding Company (Janis Joplin) | 4:15 |
| 14 | Horizons | Genesis (Steve Hackett) | 1:33 |
| 15 | For Michael Collins, Jeffery & Me | Jethro Tull | 3:45 |
| 16 | In The Mood | Glenn Miller | 1:11 |
| 17 | No Time | Guess Who | 3:30 |
| 18 | Classical Gas | Mason Williams | 3:34 |
| 19 | We Can Work It Out | The Beatles | 2:10 |
| 20 | Northern Lights | Renaissance | 4:41 |
| 21 | Somebody To Love | Jefferson Airplane | 3:00 |