Tracks //
My Trip to Space
Quiaios
Murphy's Law
Water on Stone
In Solitude We are Least Alone
The Small Hours
Dungeon Detour
Swim for Shore
A Dream Within a Dream
I Want To Be a Real Boy
1. My Trip to Space
X
…and literally moments ago, as I was plugging in my guitar, a shimmering light apparated and extended around me, covering my vision. The brightness soon faded to black with trails of light travelling around and past me as if I were looking out the window of a train in a tunnel. Remarkable though it sounds, I’m dictating this while flying through a squishy sort of nothingness. There’s a light ahead, getting closer, my strings vibrating, the feedback rising… As I enter the white radiance, everything stops, and my bleached eyes begin to discern….
That I’m strapped into the cockpit of a rocket in launch sequence and before I can process what just happened, 3, 2, 1, Ignition. The force and sound of the ensuing thrust drowns out the feedback and everything else. The rush of shooting the stratosphere and punching into outer space makes me giddy - this feeling needs a soundtrack. I give a yeehaw, grab the git and rock that shit out - banging my helmeted head to the righteous jam flowing through my fingers.
Its a gentle landing, and with the guitar swung round, I stroll out the hatch in the direction of a craggy outcrop. The readout says it’s a lifeless planet and it looks the part… nothing but a dusty flat plain dotted with the occaisional rocky prominence. Pretty gray, pretty bleak … wait what’s that… voices? Alarmed, I turn around and make a bee-line for the ship only to come upon... Shit! Aliens?! The big buggy one turns my direction in surprise while the other sets off an alarm. I run.
I run hard - but this intense escape needs some high-blood-pressure rock, so I whip the git back, lay down a run-for-your-fucking-life kind of groove and serpentine. Rocks shatter around me as lasers miss their target. I’m starting to make good distance from my pursuers when the approaching whine of a guided missile fills my ears - dive behind that boulder!
The explosion and bursting rock throws me through the air, my last thought to grab the guitar before I land into a hard tumble 20 feet away. I hear marching footsteps and duck down behind a rock. As the alien scan gives it’s report, I scramble up and just start running.
Oh fuck - an army is approaching ahead and they’re calling out for others. As the sirens blare and swarms of shapes start moving in the distance, I see one opening, a way to get back to the ship. I make a run for it, dodging laser fire and rocking out an alien army march theme as I zig and zag my way back. I’m running for my life but I can’t stop the music. The rocky bits provide cover as I weave to and fro, and as they shatter from the unrelenting attack, I use their destructive percussion as a muse to cross the final exposed perimeter of the ship, barely avoiding flesh-incinerating blasts. The rocket senses me coming, opens the hatch, and triggers the launch. 3, 2, 1, Ignition.
Despite being pressed back against my chair suspended in the rush of incredible acceleration, I’m able to play - and just in time too as this blast needs some banging theme music - yeeeeeehaw! I notice red thingies on the control panel getting closer the the green thingy which inspires me to switch themes just in time for a space battle. The ship rolls and yaws, which at first I flatter myself that the ship is dancing, but soon realize it’s evading the heat-sinking projectiles emanating from an approaching alien armada. I hit the turbo and keep slammin…
…and literally moments ago, as I was plugging in my guitar, a shimmering light apparated and extended around me, covering my vision. The brightness soon faded to black with trails of light travelling around and past me as if I were looking out the window of a train in a tunnel. Remarkable though it sounds, I’m dictating this while flying through a squishy sort of nothingness. There’s a light ahead, getting closer, my strings vibrating, the feedback rising… As I enter the white radiance, everything stops, and my bleached eyes begin to discern….
That I’m strapped into the cockpit of a rocket in launch sequence and before I can process what just happened, 3, 2, 1, Ignition. The force and sound of the ensuing thrust drowns out the feedback and everything else. The rush of shooting the stratosphere and punching into outer space makes me giddy - this feeling needs a soundtrack. I give a yeehaw, grab the git and rock that shit out - banging my helmeted head to the righteous jam flowing through my fingers.
Its a gentle landing, and with the guitar swung round, I stroll out the hatch in the direction of a craggy outcrop. The readout says it’s a lifeless planet and it looks the part… nothing but a dusty flat plain dotted with the occaisional rocky prominence. Pretty gray, pretty bleak … wait what’s that… voices? Alarmed, I turn around and make a bee-line for the ship only to come upon... Shit! Aliens?! The big buggy one turns my direction in surprise while the other sets off an alarm. I run.
I run hard - but this intense escape needs some high-blood-pressure rock, so I whip the git back, lay down a run-for-your-fucking-life kind of groove and serpentine. Rocks shatter around me as lasers miss their target. I’m starting to make good distance from my pursuers when the approaching whine of a guided missile fills my ears - dive behind that boulder!
The explosion and bursting rock throws me through the air, my last thought to grab the guitar before I land into a hard tumble 20 feet away. I hear marching footsteps and duck down behind a rock. As the alien scan gives it’s report, I scramble up and just start running.
Oh fuck - an army is approaching ahead and they’re calling out for others. As the sirens blare and swarms of shapes start moving in the distance, I see one opening, a way to get back to the ship. I make a run for it, dodging laser fire and rocking out an alien army march theme as I zig and zag my way back. I’m running for my life but I can’t stop the music. The rocky bits provide cover as I weave to and fro, and as they shatter from the unrelenting attack, I use their destructive percussion as a muse to cross the final exposed perimeter of the ship, barely avoiding flesh-incinerating blasts. The rocket senses me coming, opens the hatch, and triggers the launch. 3, 2, 1, Ignition.
Despite being pressed back against my chair suspended in the rush of incredible acceleration, I’m able to play - and just in time too as this blast needs some banging theme music - yeeeeeehaw! I notice red thingies on the control panel getting closer the the green thingy which inspires me to switch themes just in time for a space battle. The ship rolls and yaws, which at first I flatter myself that the ship is dancing, but soon realize it’s evading the heat-sinking projectiles emanating from an approaching alien armada. I hit the turbo and keep slammin…
2. Quiaios
X
Foot-prints
left in the sand at Quia-ios
signed the ragged frame,
the jag-ged
edge of the mighty and ter-rible Atlantic
A beige belt
rising to meet the long sky;
a shoreline studded with tales of loss;
the wreckage of sailor’s dreams,
and bodies of gulls
Long-past,
people looked out from Quia-ios.
Edge of the world
with noth-ing beyond…
Possibly heaven
but prob-ably more like hell.
The same brine
that washed the feet of Cam-oēs
and scrubbed all the decks and galleys since
now pools around us
and undertows us in
Down the beach,
we fell into a blue study.
Foam and gannets whipped;
the salt-ed wind … cracked!
Grey skies opened,
painting our eyes.
Time before, before the lore
they fled these tiny idyllic and profitless shores,
wondered and wandered,
into a tempest
of angry gods
and landless seas.
Into darkness, they sailed
unrelenting till spice availed,
and though El Dorado failed,
they still owned half the earth.
Tudo perderam...
Todos os receios dominados,
Todos os mares domados,
Meio mundo venceram,
Mas o tempo e a maré tudo levaram.
(Tudo perderam…)
Foi muito alto que se ergueram,
Aos céus foram pedindo demasiado,
Até todos os seus mares terem secado,
O tempo e a mare tudo levaram.
Foot-prints
left in the sand at Quia-ios
signed the ragged frame,
the jag-ged
edge of the mighty and ter-rible Atlantic
A beige belt
rising to meet the long sky;
a shoreline studded with tales of loss;
the wreckage of sailor’s dreams,
and bodies of gulls
Long-past,
people looked out from Quia-ios.
Edge of the world
with noth-ing beyond…
Possibly heaven
but prob-ably more like hell.
The same brine
that washed the feet of Cam-oēs
and scrubbed all the decks and galleys since
now pools around us
and undertows us in
Down the beach,
we fell into a blue study.
Foam and gannets whipped;
the salt-ed wind … cracked!
Grey skies opened,
painting our eyes.
Time before, before the lore
they fled these tiny idyllic and profitless shores,
wondered and wandered,
into a tempest
of angry gods
and landless seas.
Into darkness, they sailed
unrelenting till spice availed,
and though El Dorado failed,
they still owned half the earth.
Tudo perderam...
Todos os receios dominados,
Todos os mares domados,
Meio mundo venceram,
Mas o tempo e a maré tudo levaram.
(Tudo perderam…)
Foi muito alto que se ergueram,
Aos céus foram pedindo demasiado,
Até todos os seus mares terem secado,
O tempo e a mare tudo levaram.
3. Murphy's Law
X
Game on, you’re hitting bingos
and your luck is on a roll.
But Murph, grabs the dice and says:
“Luck is now under my control...
control, control, control”
Best-laid plans of mice and men
in folly find themselves in the gaping maw.
There’s no escaping entropy…
it’s Murphy’s Law
Let’s say you - you got, every future planned out,
and think you’ve found the way.
No matter what you’ve found
you’ll end up six feet underground
if Murph has a say.
This ship is listing towards the sound
of sirens right behind, of Muph’s crowing caw.
This ship’s getting out of town,
fuck Murphy’s Law.
All the escapes I pull,
are the acts of a fool.
None are safe from the gravity of time.
Keep a step ahead
but I’ll not fear the tread
of shadows that lurk in the turf of the Murph, it's absurd to assert the choice is any but mine
Fuck fate, it’s a fairy tale -
Murphy’s only scary if you sell your future out.
His chase won’t assail
but you gotta stay alert, aware and know what you’re about.
Get off on a different trail
But he’ll never stop pursuit and you can hear his rasp-y shou-outt:
“Your other shoe will surely drop!
You can’t run forever - then I’ll have my way”
ignore and floor it, don’t stop
to give Murph his day
All I know to do
is embrace the fool
For none are safe from the gravity of time.
Keep a step ahead
but don’t fear the tread
of shadows that lurk in the turf of the Murph, it's absurd to assert the choice is any but thine.
Game on, you’re hitting bingos
and your luck is on a roll.
But Murph, grabs the dice and says:
“Luck is now under my control...
control, control, control”
Best-laid plans of mice and men
in folly find themselves in the gaping maw.
There’s no escaping entropy…
it’s Murphy’s Law
Let’s say you - you got, every future planned out,
and think you’ve found the way.
No matter what you’ve found
you’ll end up six feet underground
if Murph has a say.
This ship is listing towards the sound
of sirens right behind, of Muph’s crowing caw.
This ship’s getting out of town,
fuck Murphy’s Law.
All the escapes I pull,
are the acts of a fool.
None are safe from the gravity of time.
Keep a step ahead
but I’ll not fear the tread
of shadows that lurk in the turf of the Murph, it's absurd to assert the choice is any but mine
Fuck fate, it’s a fairy tale -
Murphy’s only scary if you sell your future out.
His chase won’t assail
but you gotta stay alert, aware and know what you’re about.
Get off on a different trail
But he’ll never stop pursuit and you can hear his rasp-y shou-outt:
“Your other shoe will surely drop!
You can’t run forever - then I’ll have my way”
ignore and floor it, don’t stop
to give Murph his day
All I know to do
is embrace the fool
For none are safe from the gravity of time.
Keep a step ahead
but don’t fear the tread
of shadows that lurk in the turf of the Murph, it's absurd to assert the choice is any but thine.
4. Water on Stone
X
We are stone,
we are water.
Rocks and spray,
entwined decay
till gone, we’re one.
So plunge in deep,
and tumble with me
till the Sleep,
and pour the love we’ve grown
just like
water on stone
….:..
Late fall skies
when
… summer’s died,
and leaves have left the trees bereft
and the fruit has dried.
Roots still grow;
even the seedlings know
that our lives bely
what nature has shown…
moments flowing over us
like water on stone.
……
Though the stone
sheds the grains to line the river's wending vein,
its heart remains.
In the body of the stream,
doesn’t every rock share in the river’s dream?
Etched away,
the stone’s no more,
but it’s enriched the love betwixt
the sea and shore.
Layers will yield,
their sec-rets loving-ly revealed
and flow over us
just like water on stone
We are stone,
we are water.
Rocks and spray,
entwined decay
till gone, we’re one.
So plunge in deep,
and tumble with me
till the Sleep,
and pour the love we’ve grown
just like
water on stone
….:..
Late fall skies
when
… summer’s died,
and leaves have left the trees bereft
and the fruit has dried.
Roots still grow;
even the seedlings know
that our lives bely
what nature has shown…
moments flowing over us
like water on stone.
……
Though the stone
sheds the grains to line the river's wending vein,
its heart remains.
In the body of the stream,
doesn’t every rock share in the river’s dream?
Etched away,
the stone’s no more,
but it’s enriched the love betwixt
the sea and shore.
Layers will yield,
their sec-rets loving-ly revealed
and flow over us
just like water on stone
5. In Solitude We are Least Alone
X
Here’s a riddle, here’s a koan...
in solitude we are least alone.
The only clamor you hear is your own...
in solitude we are least alone.
When you get-off and you’ve got-off and you’ve rocked before you pop-off and the tube is getting turned-off and you finally put down the phone...
in solitude we are least alone.
A pause to niggle flaws and sink your claws into the cause of all past guffaws you still bemoan...
in solitude we are least alone.
When you listen to the voice that makes the choice to list the ploys and all the toys that you’ve enjoyed and all the noise for which you should atone...
in solitude we are least alone.
Let it talk or let it go or let it be or let it flow don’t try to force the quiet, no, just ignore the drone...
in solitude we are least alone.
Here’s a riddle here’s a koan...
in solitude we are least alone.
Here’s a riddle, here’s a koan...
in solitude we are least alone.
The only clamor you hear is your own...
in solitude we are least alone.
When you get-off and you’ve got-off and you’ve rocked before you pop-off and the tube is getting turned-off and you finally put down the phone...
in solitude we are least alone.
A pause to niggle flaws and sink your claws into the cause of all past guffaws you still bemoan...
in solitude we are least alone.
When you listen to the voice that makes the choice to list the ploys and all the toys that you’ve enjoyed and all the noise for which you should atone...
in solitude we are least alone.
Let it talk or let it go or let it be or let it flow don’t try to force the quiet, no, just ignore the drone...
in solitude we are least alone.
Here’s a riddle here’s a koan...
in solitude we are least alone.
6. The Small Hours
X
In-between days,
when hours recede
and night’s dwindled,
time becomes untethered.
You were somewhen else,
but now you’ve entered
the small hours.
That night,
around nothing o’clock,
They ducked in the door
and poured themselves into a tiny booth
just away from the stage.
I could see them enter,
soaking in the atmosphere
and wondering why they’d never come before.
I feel now the memory
of the music we gave ourselves to…
the spell it cast,
entrancing both us and the room.
I see now the movie
that played to our soundtrack.
Shadowed faces
in the soft glow of
intimate conversation
I remember him
leaning in and looking at her
through the flickering glim…
hoping she sensed what he did…
this is what being-in-love feels like
In that lacuna,
suspended in smoke and reverb,
the murmur of mouths,
clanking cups,
and sporadic laughter
all harmonized with
our shuffling stage sounds.
As the clock crossed over,
with numbers rising and shrinking at the same time,
We held each other against the approaching day
and revelled in the small hours.
In-between days,
when hours recede
and night’s dwindled,
time becomes untethered.
You were somewhen else,
but now you’ve entered
the small hours.
That night,
around nothing o’clock,
They ducked in the door
and poured themselves into a tiny booth
just away from the stage.
I could see them enter,
soaking in the atmosphere
and wondering why they’d never come before.
I feel now the memory
of the music we gave ourselves to…
the spell it cast,
entrancing both us and the room.
I see now the movie
that played to our soundtrack.
Shadowed faces
in the soft glow of
intimate conversation
I remember him
leaning in and looking at her
through the flickering glim…
hoping she sensed what he did…
this is what being-in-love feels like
In that lacuna,
suspended in smoke and reverb,
the murmur of mouths,
clanking cups,
and sporadic laughter
all harmonized with
our shuffling stage sounds.
As the clock crossed over,
with numbers rising and shrinking at the same time,
We held each other against the approaching day
and revelled in the small hours.
7. Dungeon Detour
X
In the corner of your mind palace
down the stairs, below the basement
is an unsafe room of exquisite design,
your own personal dungeon.
Sometimes there’s no way
to get from point B to point A
without the detour here.
Well swept, dusted and polished
You leave the lighting low
enough to project the shadows
And shapes of resident ghosts.
Enough to gleam off the instruments
you’ve crafted and culled,
to uncover, reveal, surface
excavate, exhume, examine,
poke, prod and punch…
the fleshy inner layers of self-examination.
So much to walk past…
the monuments of pain,
the targets of blame,
the effigies of shame.
Carry on, they won’t follow.
This perilous peramble
is the fastest route
but only if you
Keep walking
In the corner of your mind palace
down the stairs, below the basement
is an unsafe room of exquisite design,
your own personal dungeon.
Sometimes there’s no way
to get from point B to point A
without the detour here.
Well swept, dusted and polished
You leave the lighting low
enough to project the shadows
And shapes of resident ghosts.
Enough to gleam off the instruments
you’ve crafted and culled,
to uncover, reveal, surface
excavate, exhume, examine,
poke, prod and punch…
the fleshy inner layers of self-examination.
So much to walk past…
the monuments of pain,
the targets of blame,
the effigies of shame.
Carry on, they won’t follow.
This perilous peramble
is the fastest route
but only if you
Keep walking
8. Swim for Shore
X
In the drink
you can’t think
swim or sink,
the only choices.
Hear the band,
point at land -
swim for sand
and follow the voices.
Leave the surf
and tread the turf
the salt it dries,
Into a crust.
Alight the sea
and shed ennui
Dry yer bones,
ere they rust.
From the dry
You often spy
The sparkling blue
Your mind is there.
Your heads checked out
And feeling doubt
Where to be?
Unsettled affairs
A week ashore
and it’s all a bore
as you eye the sea
it tickles your vim.
Your cup got filled
though half has spilled
run for the breakers
Sink or swim
In the drink
you can’t think
swim or sink,
the only choices.
Hear the band,
point at land -
swim for sand
and follow the voices.
Leave the surf
and tread the turf
the salt it dries,
Into a crust.
Alight the sea
and shed ennui
Dry yer bones,
ere they rust.
From the dry
You often spy
The sparkling blue
Your mind is there.
Your heads checked out
And feeling doubt
Where to be?
Unsettled affairs
A week ashore
and it’s all a bore
as you eye the sea
it tickles your vim.
Your cup got filled
though half has spilled
run for the breakers
Sink or swim
9. A Dream Within a Dream
X
‘Tween sleep and wake,
Which is which?’, you spake,
‘Re-flec-tions
of the same intention’.
You say life is a dream within a dream
and I believe you when I’m asleep.
I usually dream that I’m awake
and all the life that I partake
exists in time for it’s own sake
and I’m along for the ride.
Funny how reality and histories are presumed
in the dream-time movie in which you’re constantly consumed
(bridge)
All the oil
beneath the soil
bubbles up and you seek higher ground.
In wake of the drama, residual trauma lays…
In memory it stays.
It’s just a dream despite what they say
Be still and let pass,
it’s not what it seems,
and soon you’ll awake
into your next dream.
You say life’s a dream within a dream
and I believe you, but how do I know if I’m asleep?
‘Tween sleep and wake,
Which is which?’, you spake,
‘Re-flec-tions
of the same intention’.
You say life is a dream within a dream
and I believe you when I’m asleep.
I usually dream that I’m awake
and all the life that I partake
exists in time for it’s own sake
and I’m along for the ride.
Funny how reality and histories are presumed
in the dream-time movie in which you’re constantly consumed
(bridge)
All the oil
beneath the soil
bubbles up and you seek higher ground.
In wake of the drama, residual trauma lays…
In memory it stays.
It’s just a dream despite what they say
Be still and let pass,
it’s not what it seems,
and soon you’ll awake
into your next dream.
You say life’s a dream within a dream
and I believe you, but how do I know if I’m asleep?
10. I Want To Be a Real Boy
X
Oooh… who
Am I to you?
Can you see through my eyes
Past the wiring inside?
Day-to-day, my circuits fray,
the inner fight to be OK
with minds so closed, I’ll never sway
to see me as... I see me.
Inception to the disconnect,
I’m riffling through my intellect.
On how to finally join the sect.
Of your-nor-mal-i-ty.
Before the hourglass’s empty,
will you acknowledge my authenticity?
That I know who I am – is that not enough for you?
I’ll claim it soon…
I’m tired of this futile wait.
Will I ever wipe the slate?
If you won’t, I will create
a world anew,
I’ll have a place, and i ask you if
you can wear the other shoe?
I’m sorry, but I must unglue
this an-cient e-di-fice.
Just a day …
to live and love and dream and play
with-
out
your evil eye
Break-
ing
down...
…not
me, but you
your rules, your frown.
Now
you’ll
know
the
depth
of
my-frus-tra-tion!
But first a dance,
to dream…
that things aren’t as bad as they seem.
To hope the hope is on my side.
If not out, then I’ll go deeper in,
It’s worth the battle even though I won’t win - this time.
Oh, I took one step up.
Oh, you took two steps back.
I’ve asked too much and now you come…
To stamp me false, a fake person,
You’ve ground my gears but know I will return.
I I I I I I I I I I’ll resist you
then N N N N N assist you
to learn
the true na-ture of …
me
…
Why can’t you see through my eyes
Past your wiring inside?
Oooh… who
Am I to you?
Can you see through my eyes
Past the wiring inside?
Day-to-day, my circuits fray,
the inner fight to be OK
with minds so closed, I’ll never sway
to see me as... I see me.
Inception to the disconnect,
I’m riffling through my intellect.
On how to finally join the sect.
Of your-nor-mal-i-ty.
Before the hourglass’s empty,
will you acknowledge my authenticity?
That I know who I am – is that not enough for you?
I’ll claim it soon…
I’m tired of this futile wait.
Will I ever wipe the slate?
If you won’t, I will create
a world anew,
I’ll have a place, and i ask you if
you can wear the other shoe?
I’m sorry, but I must unglue
this an-cient e-di-fice.
Just a day …
to live and love and dream and play
with-
out
your evil eye
Break-
ing
down...
…not
me, but you
your rules, your frown.
Now
you’ll
know
the
depth
of
my-frus-tra-tion!
But first a dance,
to dream…
that things aren’t as bad as they seem.
To hope the hope is on my side.
If not out, then I’ll go deeper in,
It’s worth the battle even though I won’t win - this time.
Oh, I took one step up.
Oh, you took two steps back.
I’ve asked too much and now you come…
To stamp me false, a fake person,
You’ve ground my gears but know I will return.
I I I I I I I I I I’ll resist you
then N N N N N assist you
to learn
the true na-ture of …
me
…
Why can’t you see through my eyes
Past your wiring inside?
Credits
Music by LAPHONA
Words by LAPHONA, except Quiaios which was co-written by LAPHONA, António M. Lopes and Iris Lopes
Multiple sound effects courtesy of Pixabay
Mixing/Mastering by Greedy Greg Williamson and Laphona
Album photo by Kae Sharpe
Other (soon to be seen) album artwork by Jacob Llaurador Brody and Stasia Tikkanen