ESOPUS #12 CD: BLACK AND WHITE LYRICS/CREDITS
1. Sand Pebbles, “Blue Eyes in Black and White,” based on Hud (1963).
FILM CLIP
Vocals, guitar: Tor Larsen
Vocals, guitar, organ: Andrew Tanner
Bass: Christmas Hollow
Acoustic guitar: Ben Michael X
Drums: Westley Holland
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2. Caledonia Mission, “The Ballad of Blaze Tracy," based on Hell’s Hinges (1916).
God, I ain’t been knowing you real well.
But if you mean what you say,
I want her.
I’ve been riding the wrong trail.
I’ve been riding the wrong trail.
And will you please stay with her
Until I get back.
Then purple shadows fell on the hinges of the doors to hell.
Then purple shadows fell on the hinges of the doors to hell.
And how the sky changed when the face of God turned away.
Over yonder mountain skies,
Is where our future lies.
Where bands of angels cry
Where bands of angels cry
But today I pray, my love, that you dry your eye.
Then purple shadows fell on the hinges of the doors to hell.
Then purple shadows fell on the hinges of the doors to hell.
Hell needs this town…
Hell needs this town and I’m sending it down…
Written, recorded, and produced by
Angelo and Anthony LaMarca
Vocals, acoustic guitars, piano rumble: Angelo LaMarca
12-string, electric bass, organ, piano, vibraphone,
vocals: Anthony LaMarca
Jason Bemis Lawrence: drums
Andrew Carlson: acoustic bass
Megan Sears: cello
3. Me Succeeds, “Eine Symphonie des Grauens,” based on Nosferatu (1922).
FILM CLIP
And the shadows reveal the light
All the corpses I left and the harm I spread
I can't care I've been left just the same
All the lives I lived I more died
And that curse is a burden on me
Saw all the centuries all the pain in it
What had been written falls to dust to no need
I can't breath anymore I more die
And the shadows reclaim the night
Put a shroud upon thee push my claws in too deep
I can sense the fear sense the fault
Just that thick and sweet stick my fangs into it
And I waited decades to get by
Try to escape from my destiny by running away
But it kept me down here deep inside
I can't hide from the task and the guilt to live on
And I die and I die I'm long dead
Just the rats stay with me I'm a phantom a threat
Where's the warmth in my hands and the hue they once had
I will touch your throat and steal all the red from your neck
My body my friend
Will you lead me to the end
A million pieces I have touched
But nothing can be held at last
A gentle stroke above my arm
My veins fill up with red
The grief will win
This meat is still alive
And I do what I've done passed the years passed the time
And I hold on that hope to feel warmth to feel warmth
And I am cursed to move on in the dark in the cold
Without life without loss just my eyes show my loss
And my head and my head just an add to a cold
There's no heart and no warmth and no love no more love
And I do what I've done spread the plague spread more harm
Sate my urge haunt the young just I'm not just I'm not
And my hands and my hands what they do what they've done
Missed all days take the nights make them die make them die
And my fingers so cruel they are tools just some tools
And my nails are the knives cutting through cutting through
I begrudge what I bring I abhor what I do
And I bring just the cold take the warmth take all warmth
Leave the flesh leave the old leave me here leave my soul
And I am what I was what will be what we are
And I do what I've done I will slay I will slay
Push my claws in your throat bolt the fear devour moan
And my thirst and my will to live on and live on
Sacrifice me the young just I'm not cause I'm not
And I die and I die and I die I'm long dead
See my will is long gone just this longing instead
I'm a ghost I'm a shadow I am dead I can't feel
Feel the light feel your heart we are dying we are dead
And I die and I die and I die I'm long gone
Take that curse upon me let me fall let me fall
And I do what I've done what I ever will do
I will go spread more harm take the young take it all
And I am old I am dead and I die and I die
Feel your heart feel your pulse on my fangs see the light
Feel the warmth sense the love on my tongue and my hands
Feel the heat feel the fear feel the pain feel the loss
Performed and recorded by Me Succeeds
Copyright ©2009 I Saw Music
NOSFERATU (1922)
4. Two Dark Birds, “The Saddest Music in the World,” based on The Saddest Music in the World (2003).
FILM CLIP
Bright white morning sunlight
Steam rises from rivers
The flocks and the farmers
The takers, the givers
It's just beat-up old farmland
I drive down this same road
They offered me nothing
I took what I felt I was owed
Way back in my childhood
Before the days knew their names
My father, he did some bad things
I guess they still hold their sway
Oh my sisters, my brothers
This is no cry for help
We hide ourselves from each other
We hide ourselves from ourselves
Now I've got my own family
Got my own little house
My own precious daughter
With her sweet little mouth
And she blows me sweet kisses
And she whispers sweet jokes
Her mother, a stranger
I keep myself closed
Oh my sisters, my brothers
This is no cry for help
We hide ourselves from each other
We hide ourselves from ourselves
The sons and the daughters
Abraham and the alter
Bright white morning sunlight
Steam rises from rivers
The flocks and the farmers
The takers, the givers
Written by Steve Koester and Ben Wildenhaus
Recorded by Jason Mills at Little House, Brooklyn, NY
Produced by Jason Mills and Steve Koester
Copyright ©2009 Herr K Music (ASCAP)
5. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, “Ciao Manhattan (First Draft),” based on It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).
FILM CLIP
the fifth of december/ i'm new 2 the city
snow falls on avenue a
i am grinning and grasping and giving myself up to the grey
a couple years later
world framed by her window
the heats always on much too high
we played rich girl and poor boy
and lord did we love to lie
lord did i try
how could you know?
i guess i should have told you
still i'm not feeling sorry just strange
with the emptiest hands
well i did unfold you
found a plot that was not what i'd planned
i hear you got close up
and it shot right thru u
and yr issue comes out in july
...but it will not catch the corner of my eye
yes i bid the bitter industry goodbye
i'm leaving with winter
a drunken dissenter
half-old and doubley dumb
i must have looked so young
i must have looked so young when it came undone
there's no hole that i'm leaving
the gears won't be greiving
the kids'll just queue til the end
i was just like them
drawn to the light drawn to the light drawn to the light
...from the very first night
i will be gone
but they will not miss me
the shop girls and avenues long
i'm moving along/ but not moving on
headed somewhere i hope i belong
i was weak and wrong...not that u were that strong
kid there was nothing we couldn't cum on
what could've been or never was begun
goodbye, i do not blame you
i was young
i tried to stay true and i tried to hold on
but it took 2 long
tried 2 stay true and i tried 2 stay on
but it took too long
i'm unsure if it really was a lie
i knew i'd lose but lo i had to try
i am not married to this city
or you
so i'm leaving
yes i'm leaving new york
Written, performed, and recorded by
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
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6. Sam Amidon, “Vance,” based on The Furies (1950).
FILM CLIP
My persecutors have gained their request
their promise to make good
they oft times swore they never would rest
'til they gained my heart's blood
but they and i together must meet
where all things are unknown
and if i've shed the innocent blood
i hope there's mercy shown
bright shines the sun on clinch's hill
and soft the west wind blows
the valley's covered all over in bloom
perfumed by the red rose
green are the woods where sandy flows
the red buck roves the marsh
conflict that flames across the dark domain
no peace that dwelleth there
vance no more shall sandy behold
'til our eyes next meet
it's not what they see
they gained my heart's blood
you stop telling lies about me
and i'll stop telling the truth about you
it's me you should have hung
conflict that flames across the dark domain
of the furies
Composed by Sam Amidon and Valgeir Sigurðsson
With elements from the traditional Appalachian song
“Vance No More” as taught by Bruce Greene and
Kore Loy McWhirter
Vocals, fiddle, guitar: Sam Amidon
Prepared piano, Wurlitzer, bells: Valgeir Sigurðsson
Recorded and mixed by Valgeir Sigurðsson at
Greenhouse Studios, Reykjavik, Iceland
Additional recording by Paul Evans
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7. DJ/rupture, “El Verdugo,” based on El Verdugo (1963).
FILM CLIP
Written and produced by DJ/rupture
Violin: Abdelhak Rahal
Gate noises from the cemetery of Lomeña in Potes, Spain
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8. , “Scout Meets Boo,” based on To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).
Secrets kept inside a house
Lord knows what he does there.
All day, he stays inside.
We are always looking for him.
Try to figure out a grown-up world from a limb of a tree. Try to figure out a grown-up world from a tire swing.
They talk over my head in a code I do not know.
Shadows, how will I know what to fight or run away from?
Try to figure out a grown-up world from a limb of a tree. Try to figure out a grown-up world from a tire swing.
Then he gave us two silk dolls, an old watch,
a tarnished chain, an award, and our lives.
Our lives.
I stood on his front porch after walking him home.
So close, I know he brings no harm to anyone.
We’re safe and loved.
Written by Lisa Cerbone
Vocals, guitars, percussion: Lisa Cerbone
Bass: Bryan Jones
Copyright ©2009 Little Scrubby Music, BMI
9. The Ruby Suns, “I’d Like to Go Swimming,” based on Metropolis (1927).
FILM CLIP
i want to go swimming on a bed of green leaves freshly fallen.
no concrete in sight and nobody to tell me what to do
go to the beach, run to the hills
go on a long walk with the friends i want to be with
tell them "leave all your tools where they live"
let them rot in a pool of their own lubrication
i released myself at the top
of arches bound with studded rings
stutter steps trip enemy poses
with broken wrists and slow footprints
in the eyes of many faces
in the clutches of darker numbers
the mirror's bravest battles
tracing retreats to paths of victory
with spotlighted gold hands holding
heavy weights of an end unknown
Performed by Ryan McPhun and Bevan Smith
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10. Nat Baldwin, “Darker Numbers,” based on Raging Bull (1980).
FILM CLIP
I want to go swimming on a bed of green leaves freshly fallen.
No concrete in sight and nobody to tell me what to do
Go to the beach, run to the hills
Go on a long walk with the friends I want to be with
Tell them "leave all your tools where they live"
Let them rot in a pool of their own lubrication
I released myself at the top
Of arches bound with studded rings
Stutter steps trip enemy poses
With broken wrists and slow footprints
In the eyes of many faces
In the clutches of darker numbers
The mirror's bravest battles
Tracing retreats to paths of victory
With spotlighted gold hands holding
Heavy weights of an end unknown
Recorded by Jeremy LeClair
Copyright ©2009 Brave Boat Music (ASCAP)
11. Nina Nastasia, “Repulsion,” based on Repulsion (1965).
FILM CLIP
Teatime in a dream on a busier street
Just the brattle of heels steady and fleet
From the dark in the distance with a heavier step
He is suddenly on me, oozing sweat
And off like a rabbit I quicken my stride
Keep eyes on the way, and don’t look behind
To hardly awaken to the buzzing of flies
And the smell of a man and a haunted home
There he stands at the steps to my door and I want
Want more
Vocals, guitar: Nina Nastasia
Copyright ©2009 Nina Nastasia, North Vine Music, BMI