The Cover

 


image/graphic by jack hastings

 

1. Viper

 
Spencer Kimball and Jack Hastings

MP3 Audio File

de viper he hang out
down below
he slide up de tunnels
slither down de rows
he don't need no fingers,
and he don't need no toes
he take his own sweet time,
he knows what he knows
don't look down, -----
he creepin’ under your clothes

chorus:
V- V- V- Voo Pah Dee Vih Pah Dee Viper
Gonna Bibbity Bobbity Bite ‘chehr
If you spend a little time with the Minotaur’s queen
The viper might bite you
it remains to be seen
stay away from that snake
when he ready to shake
gonna make a proclamation
of de debbil's decree
Look out -----
He getting’ ready to creep

Serafina she see da
tings dat people do
And she don't speak true
Da tunnels dey ring
From the sound of their screams
Wings sharp as razors
Always cuts ‘em clean
Don’t look now, -----
She stealing into your dreams

chorus
Shriek-aah dah freak-aah dah Woo Jee De Wah Wah
Screamin’ Mimi no dah like-aah
There won’t be no rattle
and there won’t be no hiss
You’ll just feel the sting of de viper’s kiss
You better shake a leg and jump the gun
Or he’ll sick you wid dat poison
‘til your mojo’s done
Look out -----
He gettin’ ready to jump

Outro
Watch out! Watch out!
Here comes da snake
Vippidy Voppidy Vipe-ah-dee Vah Voom Vee Ay
Watch out! Watch out!
Here comes da snake
Serafina Bo Beena Fah Feena Fee Ay
Watch out! Watch out!
Here comes da snake
Minotaur Monitor Matador Mighty Meaty Today
Watch out! Watch out!
Here comes da snake
Her gaze in the maze will blaze today
Watch out!

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2. Her Black Wings Shook

 
William Fuller and Spencer Kimball

MP3 Audio File

Her black wings shook
As she knelt upon the floor
Her black wings shook
When she stumbled out the door
A fall from grace
A bad mistake
Her black wings shook
That night.

Her black wings shook
As she walked up to the ledge
Her black wings shook
When she jumped out off the edge
A grievous choice
A tempting voice
Her black wings shook
That night

Chorus:
Wasn’t it, wasn’t it really something?
When you finally stopped and looked down from the sky?
How you thought you knew the reason you were flying?
How the gospel you’d been living was a lie?

Her black wings shook
As she soared among the clouds
Her black wings shook
When the anger got too loud
The color’s gone
The lines are drawn
Her black wings shook
That night

Her black wings shook
As the full moon burned so bright
Her black wings shook
As she drew back from the light
Warmth turns to chill
The song turns shrill
Her black wings shook
That night

Wasn’t it, wasn’t it really something?
When you finally stopped and looked down from the sky?
How you thought you knew the reason you were flying?
How the gospel you’d been living was a lie?

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3. The Blossom and the Spark

 
Gary Sears and William Fuller

MP3 Audio File

Watch the snow that coats the ground
Feel the wind blow all around
Concentrate, there is no sound
Right before the blossom and the spark

Hear the echo when no one’s there
Turn your head to block the glare
Fight the chill from the freezing air
Right before the blossom and the spark

Chorus:
Shadows burst in a blaze of light
Morning wakes the sleeping night
A time of doubt, a time of blight
Shaking to your core
See if you can feel the thaw
See if you can beat the draw
Feeling something close to awe
Waking to your core

Slow motion crawl thru melting sludge
Buried alive beneath a grudge
Tell yourself not to budge
Right before the blossom and the spark

An electric arc across the gap
A shower of fire all over the map
A last minute escape from a hidden trap
Right before the blossom and the spark

Shadows burst in a blaze of light
Morning wakes the sleeping night
A time of doubt, a time of blight
Shaking to your core
See if you can feel the thaw
See if you can beat the draw
Feeling something close to awe
Waking to your core

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4. Labirinto della Morte

 

Jack Hastings
Italian passages by Dante Alighieri, The Inferno
Italian Dialogue Coach, Alex Rossi

MP3 Audio File

Once I lived in the city of Venice
And sang a song on the Bridge of Sighs
Sang a song for the maze on the water
Sang a song for the love that dies

When you find yourself
In the mind of The Minotaur
Find yourself lost in the lies

You better say a prayer to the Angel
Say a prayer to the Daughter of the Night
Sing a song for Seraphina
Say a prayer that goes like this:

"Lucevan li occhi suoi più che la stella;
e cominciommi a dir soave e piana,
con angelica voce, in sua favella:
O anima cortese mantoana,..."

This is a song for the Devil
This is a prayer to the Angel of Tears
This is a howl in The Labyrinth
This is a psalm for the dread and the drear

When you’re lost in the maze
In the middle of the night
And you can’t find your way
By the black moon’s light

You better say a prayer to the Angel
Say a prayer to the Daughter of the Night
Sing a song for Seraphina
Say a prayer that goes like this:

"Lo ’mperador del doloroso regno
da mezzo ’l petto uscia fuor de la ghiaccia;
e più con un gigante io mi convegno,
che i giganti non fan con le sue braccia:.."

Don’t look back at the devil
Don’t look back at the Labyrinth
Don’t look back at your lover
Don’t look back or you’ll do her in

When the walls of Sodom are
Falling in the plain
And you’ve made your way
From the night to the day

Don’t look back at the angel
Don’t look back at the pillar of salt
Don’t look back at the one you love
Don’t look back or you’ll have to pray:

"Oh quanto parve a me gran maraviglia
quand’ io vidi tre facce a la sua testa!
L’una dinanzi, e quella era vermiglia
l’altr’ eran due, che s’aggiugnieno a questa..."

Don’t look back at the angel
Don’t look back at the pillar of salt
Don’t look back at the one you love
Don’t look back or you’ll have to pay
Don’t look back
Don’t look back
Don’t look back
Don’t look back
Don't look!

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5. I Sing to the Wind

 
Spencer Kimball and Gary Sears

MP3 Audio File

Miss E can you see me?
Getting lost in a tree
Getting found in a maze,
Staying dark in my cloud,
Taking far too much time to pull free

Chorus:
Go down in the tunnels,
Look at their king
Lip service to demons,
A cry at the corner,
A laugh at end's sting
If I get confused,
Will I know I have sinned?
For the rest of the day,
I'll sing to the wind

It was simple all summer,
Nothing was off
I sang to the gravel,
You danced with the clouds,
You didn't have time for the trough

Chorus

See where we've gone
What have we done
I'm lost once again,
And the labyrinth's done
I have time to stop singing,
And you can't see the clouds,
And we're not going to notice the sun

Chorus
Go down in the tunnels,
Look at their king
Lip service to demons,
A cry at the corner,
A laugh at end's sting
If I get confused,
Will I know I have sinned?
For the rest of my life,
I sing to the wind

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6. The Deep Still Woods

 
William Fuller and Spencer Kimball

MP3 Audio File

These aren't the woods that I grew up with
These aren't the friends I used to know
It doesn't seem like I have been here
But it's a place I used to go
Where are the folk from Party Beach?
They seemed excited back in the days
When we would dance the boogaloo
And court and spark the night away

Chorus
These woods are quiet
Can't hear a sound
Where are the animals,
Insects and wind?
It's much too still here
It's shatterproof
This forest's filled with judgment,
Brimstone and sin.

Why can't I hear that happy sound
That gospel sound that filled the air?
Its thrill is gone; it's lost in guilt
We sit in silence with the shame we share

You test our courage; you test our faith
You watch us fail to heed the call
You tell us when and where to look
How many more will have to fall?

Chorus

Lost in the deep still woods
Adrift in the deep still woods
The silent wail of the deep still woods
The dark angel smiles and takes flight

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7. The Dust on Norma's Pie

 
William Fuller and Jack Hastings

MP3 Audio File

They’ve heard rumours of the wailing
The blissful song turned sour
They’ve heard rumors of the meeting
To decide the reckoning hour
First in walks Rattlesnake Sally
She with the black-slit eyes
As ornery her namesake
More vicious than its bite

The barflys and the gamblers
Are lookin’ for a place to hide
But they all stand still
and hold their ground
Til their done with Norma’s Pie

Miss Kitty seemed too easy
When she welcomed me to her place
But I knew I should not fool around
From the look I saw on her face
Here comes the one they call the Meat
Who cries out “Set me up!”
So Kitty grabs a bottle
And pours whiskey in a cup

Then there’s a sudden silence
‘Cept the buzzing of the flies
‘Til a slattern drunk in lingerie
Calls a toast to Norma’s pie

The darkness and the bright white light
Are dancing in the heat
Miss Kitty lines up the bitter
While Norma serves the sweet
She bakes ‘em all the night and day
Filled with cherries and the like
And she makes ‘em oh so pretty
But somethin’s just not right

When Slim and Bone finally arrive
From a long and hungry ride
The first thing they spy
across the room
Is a slice of Norma’s pie

Now the sun sinks low as twilight falls
And I keep the oath I swore
I recall my true love’s soft caress
And I only miss her more
With sorrow turned to vengeance
I can hardly take a breath
I brought this gang together
Now I just might bring them death

But what looks so good from a distance
So welcome and so right
Is nothing more than tears and filth
Like the crust on Norma’s pie

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8. Quicksilver Slim and The Meat

 
Spencer Kimball

MP3 Audio File

Slim said, "Did I ever tell you about that time I was so cold
out by Soda Lake that my fingers almost froze off?"
Meat said, "Slim, you don't know squat about cold,
let ME tell you about cold, now when I was up on Baffin Bay..."
Slim said, "Now why do you have to be so sensitive?
you know what we have to do in just a couple of days? - we gotta go

(chorus)

- Down in the hole
Down in the Devil's hole
Now Dante's map won't be no use
Better stock up on some juice

Meat said, "That reminds me of when I got lost in the desert
for three days..."
Slim said, "Now you know exactly Nothin' about desert, Meat,
I was out in the Gobi two hundred miles from anywhere, face burnin'..."
Meat said, "Don't you start that, now, Slim, just keep in mind
we got work to do, it's time to go

(chorus)

Slim said, "Hey, Meat, you smell somethin' nasty?
like somethin' died and got burnt?"
Meat said, "You know, there is just nothin' comin' in any
of my five senses that I like a-tall"
Slim said, "Now don't you be a pussy,
we're going to get to it...

(chorus)

Down in that hole
Down where they can't see your soul
Not talkin' 'bout no zip lines
Nothin' will ever be fine

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9. Kerfuffle

 
William Fuller and Jack Hastings

MP3 Audio File

I used to think
That everyone
Was out to get me,
To show me up
They’d stick their arm
Inside my pump
They’d pull it out
A bloody stump

I used to think
Those fancy pants
Were mocking me,
I’d make ‘em dance
Get riled up
And strip ‘em bare
They’d be like fish
Flippy floppin’ there

Chorus:
Now I don’t want no more kerfuffle,
No hubbub, bub, or brouhaha
I’m makin’ peace with all my rage
It’s time for me to turn the page
Kerfuh-fuh-fuh-fuh-fuffle, no!
Say it loud and proud!
Kerfuh-fuh-fuh-fuh-fuffle, no!
O happy day, this I vow!

I’d scream out
Leave me alone
With your trashy-talk
And gutter moan
They’d get all meek and kinda purr
As if they hadn’t said a word
As if they thought I hadn’t heard
I didn’t know what fear I stirred

I didn’t know
‘Bout several things
What people meant
What calm can bring
What makes the world
Go round and round
What I would pay
For the joy I found

Now I don’t want no more kerfuffle,
No hubbub, bub, or brouhaha
I’m makin’ peace with all my rage
It’s time for me to turn the page
Kerfuh-fuh-fuh-fuh-fuffle, no!
Say it loud and proud!
Kerfuh-fuh-fuh-fuh-fuffle, no!
O happy day, this I vow!

To hell with your kerfuffle!

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10. Undertaker

 
William Fuller

MP3 Audio File

Don’t give in to the undertaker
Don’t raise the gates; put up a fight
He can’t come in; don’t forsake her
Lock all the doors; turn out the lights

She rings like a bell in a cathedral steeple
She rises like the sun after a stormy week
Not gonna give her up to the undertaker
Gonna do what it takes to knock him off his feet

Chorus
He’s looking thru your open window
Smackin’ his lips with sick delight
Rubbin’ his hands in linseed oil
Gonna cover your flesh if it takes all night
Layin’ you down like a linoleum floor
Throwin’ your body down the deep dark well
Clearin’ new space in the mausoleum
You gotta join me now and send him back to hell

Don’t give in to the undertaker
Take a deep breath; give out a howl
He’s got a smile but he’s a faker
He’s handsome and he’s charming and he’s on the prowl

She dances like Twyla Tharp on a slow motion day
She floats like a plump white cloud in a deep blue sky
Not gonna give her up to the undertaker
Gonna stand in his way no matter what he tries

He’s looking thru your open window
Smackin’ his lips with sick delight
Rubbin’ his hands in linseed oil
Gonna cover your flesh if it takes all night
Layin’ you down like a linoleum floor
Throwin’ your body down the deep dark well
Clearin’ new space in the mausoleum
You gotta join me now and send him back...
Don't give in to the undertaker

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11. Sundown at the Scab

 
Spencer Kimball and Jack Hastings

MP3 Audio File

Somewhere in the bleached out bones
The Joshua tree and the gila’s tongue
In the burning days and the screaming nights
The poisoned wells and the rattler’s bite
There’s a rude beast slouching
There’s a rude beast slouching
There’s a rude beast slouching
And he’s a friend of mine

Chorus
There’s a hole in the world
And the spirits lead me
A wound in the flesh of the earth
And It’s bleeding
When the stones burn with fire
When the rocks flow like blood
You know you’re getting closer
When the smoke sears your lungs

There’s something rising with the sun
A rock as red and ripe as blood
When you hear the stones howl and crack
You gotta pick it, scratch it, peel it back
Til the earth is raw and oozing
The earth is raw and oozing
The earth is raw and oozing
And you have found the door

Chorus

If Jesus rolled away the stone
He rolled it back and now it’s gone
I’m not here to dig for gold
Or treasure rare and wealth untold
I’m digging for the down-below
Digging for the down-below
Digging for the down-below
Looking for the door

Chorus

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12. Will She Never

 
Spencer Kimball

MP3 Audio File

Will she ever talk again?
Will she ever dance again?
Will she never wake again?
Will she never dance again?

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13. Seraphina

 
Jack Hastings

MP3 Audio File

Seraphina, Seraphina
How can you be so cold
You hoard your share of misery
Like a miser hoards his gold
With eyes as bright as diamonds
That never felt a tear
I sing my song in the wilderness
And hope that you will hear

Seraphina, Seraphina
With wings as black as death
You are the queen of ravens
All things wither where you tread
Your heart is hard as tempered steel
Your soul is ashes burnt
I sing my song of sorrow
And hope that you will turn

Chorus
Seraphina, Seraphina
You are the Devil’s bride
Forever in the Labyrinth
There you will abide
Seraphina, Seraphina
You’re a poison and a curse
You are wedded to the darkness
For bitter and for worse

Seraphina, Seraphina
Won’t you hear my plea
It is a song of love and loss
I’m begging on my knees
My own true love is gone from me
Stole’ by your lover’s hand
If you don’t believe in mercy
Then meet jealousy’s demand

Chorus

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The Tears on Pluto's Cheek

 
William Fuller and Spencer Kimball (with Jack Hastings)

MP3 Audio File

When you said
I was mad
Just a crazy
Careless cad
I chuckled
And finished
My martini

When you screamed
I was a dog
Just a brutal
Selfish hog
I bowed with grace
And wished you
A good night

Chorus
I used to think that I
Was clever and hard
Quite strong enough
For any barb
But when you dug inside
Your quiver of snide
And said I’m not a planet
I cried

When you told me
I was wrong
That I wouldn’t
Last for long
I scoffed
And fired off
A fine bon mot

When you laughed
In my face
And said I had
No taste
I ordered
A fine wine
And drank alone

I used to think that I
Was clever and hard
Quite strong enough
For any barb
But you dug deep inside
Your quiver of thorns
Your backpack of snide
And when you said I’m not a planet
I cried

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15. Snakes and Bones

 
Gary Sears and Jack Hastings

MP3 Audio File

Dear Sally, how are you? I’m doing fine
I thought I would write you ‘cause I got some spare time
I’m up in the Big House doin’ twenty to life
But you put me there so I guess you know why
But this letter, it ain’t filled with anger or spite
'Cause I just can’t hate you and lord knows I’ve tried
A bounty’s a bounty and when it comes due
You’ve got to collect it ‘cause that’s what you do

Chorus
And I dream of the day when I’ll see your sweet face
Across the table at the Last Chance Cafe
And we’ll share us a piece of Norma Jean’s pie
While we stare at each other with deep loving eyes
And I’ll always think of you wherever I go
‘Cause I always get snake-eyes when I roll the bones

I remember the days and the good times we had
I remember your lovin’ when I’m feeling sad
How we danced the black mambo all through the night
And you slithered and withered with fire and delight
Didn’t have much then but we loved what we had
King Cobra and boomslang and a pipefull of hash
But then came the day when I knew I might hang
‘Cause you’d polished your scales and sharpened your fangs

Chorus

You know that Harsh Billy deserved what he got
You know the reason I fired that shot
You know that he held you and he’d never let go
You smiled when I put him six feet below
But the reward they offered was too sweet to you
When I saw the poster, I knew I was doomed
But I still will love you wherever you go
I forgive you, I miss you, sincerely, Trom Bone

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The Story

 

Kid Elvis had the sweetest, strongest voice in all the Borderlands and Sweet Eurydice the lightest feet and most graceful form. In song and dance were Kid Elvis and Sweet Eurydice newly wed. Such was the perfection of their union, their music and their grace, that everything and everyone around them -- so long wasted and wearied by The Interminable War -- blossomed and sparkled in its light. The strength of their love and their joy was such that it was bound to reach down into the Labyrinth of Death and fall like a clamor on the ears of The Undertaker, he who was The Minotaur and Master of the Maze. Even his consort, Seraphina Della Morte, felt its annoying buzz and her fiery, black wings shook and clattered as a shudder of disgust -- though tinged with a mysterious longing -- passed through her. The Undertaker had many servants, both in the lands above and the lands below and he called upon them to put an end to this unseemly frolic. Such it was that that a sidewinder sidled beneath the feet of Eurydice who was bitten and dead from its venom before Kid Elvis could finish his last note and fall to her side.

Dark was the shadow of sorrow that fell upon The Borderlands that terrible day and horrible was the wail of grief and loss and lamentation that arose from the throat of Kid Elvis.

Well, the days went by (as they are wont to do) and Kid Elvis’ sorrow was slowly and painfully reforged and tempered into a powerful lust for vengeance against The Undertaker and a resolve to enter the Labyrinth of Death, defeat The Undertaker and return Eurydice to the land of the living. He put out the call for a posse to be formed, as the journey to The Scab (the entrance to the underworld) and the passage through the caves to The Undertaker’s realm was long and dangerous and Kid Elvis was certain to be opposed by The Minotaur's minions and such at every twist and turn.

"Meet me at The Last Chance Café in the middle of the Forsaken Desert," he called and so they came, one each from the North, South, East and West. From the North came The Meat. From the South came Rattlesnake Sally. From the East came Ol' Thom Bone. And from the West came Quicksilver Slim. There at The Last Chance Café the four waited while Miss Kitty, the hostess and proprietress, chatted away and Darling Norma Jean served them pie that smelled like cherries and tasted of dust. They waited while Slops the Mop-Man and Slick Willy the fry cook traded insults and jibes. And they waited while the flies buzzed and the heat sweltered.

I see that I’m running out of time to spin this yarn so I’ll just tell you that Kid Elvis showed up at the Last Chance Café and Kid Elvis and his posse made it to The Scab and from there down into the depths of The Underworld and many the misadventure they faced along the way.

At last Kid Elvis made his way into The Labyrinth while the others held The Undertaker’s demons at bay. Soon the Kid was hopelessly lost and close to a bad end at the hands of the mighty Minotaur. So he did what he did best and sang a song so sad and sweet that it melted the heart of Seraphina Della Morte and she distracted The Minotaur with wiles both feminine and something more and brought Kid Elvis his sweet Eurydice. “You may lead your love back into the land of the living,” she told him, “but on no account may you turn to see if she follows, for if you do she will be lost to you forever as will your voice and all the music of the world.”

So up and up went The Meat and Rattlesnake Sally and Ol' Thom Bone and Quicksilver Slim followed by Kid Elvis and he by Eurydice. Then, a terrible pride and jubilation filled Kid Elvis as he stepped at last out of the darkness. And flush with his victory over The Minotaur he turned to share a smile of triumph with Sweet Eurydice. She froze in terror when she saw the kid begin to turn for she had not yet left the shadow of the Land of the Dead and so remained within the borders of The Undertaker’s realm and she knew that she was lost. And she cursed Kid Elvis then. Cursed him to silence of throat and ear, cursed him to the end of his lost and lonely days even as the black wings of Seraphina Della Morte bore her back beneath the earth forever and thus did Seraphina's tears fall like black pearls across the lands, above and below.

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Willie de Sacra

 

In alphabetical order:

  • William Fuller
  • Jack Hastings
  • Spencer Kimball
  • Gary Sears