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1. |
Taken
05:48
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Brija:
this tale not all will attend
for some here the story ends
in a spot no one else knows
the spot their heart just broke
and not all heals again
the sun late in the day
in soft light the bedroom paints
for hours now she's been
beside this empty bed
and tears and tears cascade
this tale not all will attend
for some right here the story ends
Danijela:
Lay my body down,
lay me in the cold dark ground
cover me with dirt and stone and spread some roses round
if years and years it takes
there's no need for us to wait
since the day the lights inside went out
Lay my body down,
lay me in the cold dark ground
kiss me once and tell me sweet goodnight
just like i've always done for my baby who is gone
taken so so far now from my sight
Lay my body down
lay me in the cold dark ground
too many days to wake and walk about
a ghost lost in the grind, just marking out my time
since the day the light inside went out
lay, lay my body down
i cannot bear this, my heart is ripped on out
my baby, my baby she is gone
today's the day the light inside went out
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2. |
Introductions
03:44
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Brija:
two gods, siblings, black and white
they play their games of day and night
but one fair day their bubble split
two other gods, they burst on in
order and chaos, siblings too
upset the peace, bring contests new
the board is cleared a new game set
and all 4 gods, they place their bets
There’s a land east of New Albion and some years ago they say
That the gods from round these parts they fell into some disarray
But theology and such lies quite beyond our small forte
It is just a simple folk tale that we bring to you today
It’s a tale one named Bogdan and his child has been snatched
From the bed where she had slept and his wife weeps now alas
The land where Bogdan lives has both a white god and a black
But some years ago were conquered by their neighbors to the south
Occupied and ruled by a Vizier they’re kept in line
But in the hills the Hajduks roam and keep insurgency alive
Just a few short hours in the past the vizier’s men
Took young Bogdan’s baby girl straight from our her bed
His wife and he were crying, screaming, fighting then he left
Now he sits at the kafana and swears he’ll drink himself to death
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3. |
One More Round
03:07
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Bogdan:
dirt in your fingernails
holes in your clothes
the smell of fresh alcohol
the fathers we know
no bridge for the distance
this children will learn
we judge and we wonder
until it’s our turn
so pour us here one more round
we've not yet fallen down
i can still lay down
without holding onto the ground
heres to knowing our place
and boots on our face
try to ground us on down
so right now one more round
all the days lurching forward while the liquor pours forth
and why not, what've you got to stop it for
all the good times will fade to a future that's laced
with a tedium that drives any man here insane
brave our fathers fought then but returned broken men
my old man slogged and scraped his wild fire tamed
he drank a strong brew he made of sad bitter rage
to his grave and i know that that's me soon one day
all our days set in place from our cribs to our graves
sure you kick for a minute before you settlein your cage
you're flat broke and you're heeled. you just work your field
get too loud they'll come round and your little girl steal
our masters one and all hold us all by the balls
and like beaten dogs they think we'll just lay and take it all
be their battered whore come crawl and grovel one and all
but out there in the hills are rebels, blood to spill
so one more round, i'm not yet broken down
the vizier's death or my last breath is all i care for now
one day soon he'll say my girl's name in pain
on my soul this i vow so right now one more round
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4. |
The Graveyard
04:57
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Brija:
thus bogdan that night to the graveyard goes
to ask his forefathers laid there to show to show
the lost road to where southern mountains wind
and hajduks make camp and plan their fight
The Spirits:
Fate, her lines run about where they may
you'll follow them down
the mouse in the maze and the chase to the grave comes about
ask for moonlight to show you the path
you'll walk to the last
for the fool finds the road where the angels won't go on past
one day, we'll see you back here and we wait
to hear you come say
of the task you ran toward
of which you were so sure that day
go the path that you seek is shown
your choice is your own
the fruits of mens' dream angels and laugh and then weep alone
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5. |
The Hajduk
07:09
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Bogdan:
On the ourskirts of the occupation
of a beaten, bitter nation
where retaliation's dreamed by everyone
desperados plan salvation
from their dire situation
by the karma of the gun
that’s how fate gets done
when tides of trouble come
in the hills high elevation
camps of desperadors stationed
loading guns in expectation
every one
drinks a bit too much libation
for some old wound or some damnation
and waits for what will come
scores to be restrung
thats how fate gets done
the karma of the gun
you may ask what agitation
led them to the abdication
of the life and social station
they had once
well, patriotic inclination
with a grudge induced fixation
towards the karma of the gun
how fate gets done
when tides of trouble comes
the karma of the gun
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6. |
Brija
04:08
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Brija:
So bogdan has now found the hajduk home
We leave him there now and to elsewhere go
Along the far lands and the mountains wide
To find what became of the stolen child
little girl lost and so far gone
little girl come sing a faraway song
through the hills and winding roads that roam so long
little girl lost all dressed in red
in a line of girls the miles you'll tread
to a far off, foreign land you'll all be led
cry mama cry
cry mama cry
no i wont
your lost girl wants you here with her tonight
little girl lost to the barracks arrives
in a row of cots you will sleep tonight
you'll lve your life here, tucked away inside
and day by day you’ll all be trained
told to what gods you will pray
a jannisary harem you will be one day
cry mama cry
cry mama cry
no i wont
come back home
in this life
halls of stone where no voice sounds
silent caves on hallowed grounds
years of lonely, echoes deep
with keepers black who don't speak
and i mama i
i cry, mama, cry
your lost girl wants you here with me tonight
the icons that the girl once knew
she lays at night and whispers to
imaginary friends she thinks are true
she sees them smile and hears them speak
they talk to her and teach her things
they sit at night beside her while she weeps
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7. |
Danijela's Sacrifice
04:24
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Danijela:
in a land far away
the girl's mother she prays
and each night in the dark
she can hear as she lays
her child calling out her mother's name
all those in her life
think she's losing her mind
but this voice she can hear
she swears that it's real
she cannot rest until she finds her child
finally a priest
that she meets he believes
says her daughter perceives
things that no one else sees
from the White God it's a gift that she's received
this gift he then says
she sees saints who are dead
since you're neither well then
she wont see you again
you'll only hear her voice inside your head
Danijela she fasts
til three months have then passed
she has prayed and is clean
as pure as she can be
and she walks into the hospital at last
there's a room tucked away
where the sick children lay
to each one she goes round
with a kiss on the mouth
and the sickness deep inside she sucks away
in the room there are ten
children dying in beds
she cannot save them all
for by seven she falls
and she dies there
in the lonely, empty hall
little girl leads a lonely life
except for one strange autumn night
she sees her mother standing by her side
and though her mother's not alive
neither of them seems to mind
and they sit beside
each other every night
Cry mama cry
Cy mama cry
all i want is you here with me tonight
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8. |
The Vizier
05:58
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Vizier:
I'm the game master genius
sultan gave me little edict
keep this gaggle of egregious in line
cause i pimp this country
send it out to make me money
like a working girl who lookin' so fine
I'm the medieval big brother
i'm a band mother …..
i'm the Ottomanic dervish divine
cause if you see me coming
better get my money pumpin'
pay a pimp some respect every time
Imprisoned in this place and the
Years just pass away and my
Homeland far away I will
Die in this sad place
oh yeah we came we saw we conquered
your whole country and your mama
i'm your daddy now, i keep you in line
son you think you're all something
i got dungeon after dungeon
full of slugs that outrank you every time
i got a taste for winnin'
over sexy local women
who just bending over for me to try
i'm a dervish dance of trouble
im a master class of hustle
you the shisha i'm a heat ya tonight
Imprisoned in this place and the
Years just pass away and my
Homeland far away I will
Die in this sad place
Sing a song, a song of home
so far away from all I know
Sing a song of land and sea
the place my heart was born to be
Well i'm stuck here sulking
cause that sultan's stupid monkey
just some years was passing on by
when some damn fool peasants
with some guns and plans unpleasant
gave ol' caravan robbing a try
Well they were shot through their heads
but that monkey wound up dead
and i was chewed a new hole in my backside
as a punishment real clever
i am posted here forever
and i'll never see my homeland alive
So i'm a rule this prison
with a backhand that means business
since this sad hillbilly hovel is mine
I’m a pimp this country
send it out to make me money
like a working girl i'm keeping in line
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9. |
The Battle
05:14
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Brija:
thus it comes that one dark day
the Vizier leads a fierce cadre
of men to ambush bogdan's band
and kill them all to the last man
Bogdan:
when the bodies hit the ground
embers falling all around
and until now you thought you've seen
the worst that it could be
but that's all over now
when the bodies hit the ground
when your friends are going down
the dream you fought and shared
is fading as you stare
and it's all over now
when the bodies hit the ground
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10. |
Crazy Girl
04:55
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Brija:
the girl is trained day after day
what things to do what things to say
the way to fight, the way to pray
the other girls they eye her with disdain
believe her broken and insane
they plot to kill her soon one day
they girls are trained with sharpened sword
so when they're grown they all can serve
in a janissary harem corp
their lives will now have purpose great
to serve the vizier, serve the state,
elite, young, bodyguards one day
all the saints i say
all the saint come out and play
the saints and dead dance here today
girl
little girl you've gone too far
do you still know who you are
little girl you're so far gone
girl
crazy girl the things she says
crazy girl inside her head
crazy girl says crazy men
the other girls they scheme and plot
and try to kill young brija off
but all their plots go oddly wrong
as weird and strange as it might seem
her secret friends no one believes
they whisper, warn her constantly
girl
little girl you've gone too far
do you still know who you are
little girl you're so far gone
girl
crazy girl the things she says
crazy girl inside her head
crazy girl says crazy men
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11. |
Thus Spake The Vampyr
06:21
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Brija:
in the night as smoke still rises on the field of fallen men
Bogdan wakes to find his mates are to the last man dead
A figure dark and hooded comes and carries him away
to a monastery bathed in candlelight and midnight haze
Monk:
Covered in the crack of night, this monastery stands and hides
you're welcome here to heal and stay, we'll get you to your date with fate
yes, peasants, superstitious lot, talk of vampires, point to us
but we're not monsters creatures foul, we're black gods monks who've taken vows
the call has come and thus begins the midnight mass
the hooded, single file and the hushed return at last
what sweet epiphanies, and liturgies are cast
come attend once again
the call to midnight mass
We're holy men, and we see you too have purpose, the black god has chosen you
there's games afoot in heaven's seat, each god have picked their mortal piece
our black god, he's misunderstood, he just wants justice for this world
wicked punished, order set, balance held and karma kept
the call has come and thus begins the midnight mass
the hooded, single file and the hushed return at last
what sweet epiphanies, and liturgies are cast
come attend once again
the call to midnight mass
You must continue with your plan, for vengeance makes a holy man
you're picked to be sweet karma's hand, to serve the gods as best you can
the black gods speaks, vizier must die, and there's a girl who'll be by his side
slay her too, this you must, then return here become one of us
Brija:
thus does bogdan stay with the monks for several days
til he's well enough to leave and journey on his way
to the viziers palace, to bring the kiss of death
but when he leaves the grounds he's found that 1o long years have passed
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12. |
Brija And The Test
05:15
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Brija:
a test is declared to decide and determine which of the girls may be worthless or worthy
wild child, watch from the shadows as the other girls plot your demise
a trial by combat, the girls all inside, and they make a pact that first birja will die
wild child, no one in the world who loves you and who's still alive
the trial begins, all alone brija stands, and the girls all come at her with blades in their hands
wild child, tears in your eyes as your sisters betray you once more
brija, she dances, her dead mother whispers, a feral ballerina with fierce blood red kisses
wild child, in a ballet of blood as the bodies pile up on the floor
Chorus:
what secrets now have they said
the strange sounds in your head
do they tell you it over and over again
the voices that speak
that ones no one else sees
for hours you just sit a nd you stare absently
Brija:
and when the test was done, no one moved or spoke a word
until a single person, the vizier slowly rose
a slow and lonely clap echoed from his hands
until at last the hall was filled with applause and cheering men
he took young Brija by the shoulders and they walked
and he told her of the glory of the janissary guard
and so he offered her a post, a life and more
she left with him, beside him as his private body guard
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13. |
Ruin's Road
08:05
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Bogdan:
Ruin’s road, through lowlands grim and wild
winds beneath a sky of ash and trials
the greens of leaves remembered from your youth
are faded now all the colors mute and subdued
i saw the ghosts along the road to hell's bordello
i saw the shades that line the way to desolation's ghetto
they said look back on the trail that you have sown
i saw the the ghosts on ruins road
Ruin’s road won't get you what you lost
the toll is steep, it's you who are the cost
but with some luck, it leads to just one place
where blood will lick along your hungry blade one day
i saw the ghosts along the road to hell's bordello
i saw the shades that line the way to desolation's ghetto
they said look back on the trail that you have sown
i saw the the ghosts on ruins road
Brija:
It's weeks that Bogdan walk as
his color slowly fades
he see the dead around him
one day at last he nears the gates
specters pass before him
but one it lingers, stays
the wife he left so long ago
the woman he forsake
Danijela:
where was my angel
in my time of need
where was the man who
swore he'd be there for me
i lost my baby, my heart
then you left, walked out the door
you'd swore that you would make it right
but who'd you make it right then for?
where was my angel
right by my side
who could i lean on
when i broke down and cried
where was my angel
when i was in grief
where was my husband
who swore he truly loved me
you talked a lot of justice
what the people they deserved
i didn't know you didn't mean
the wife, no help for her
you surely meant your mates down
at the hole where you would drink
the girls you leered and flirted with
whose perfume trails left such a stink
and the memory of your father,
and the country you believed
each and every person that was
that was in it, cept for me
where was my angel
when i hit my low
who tried to hold me
on the day my heart broke
who tried to help me
as i went mad so slow
who tried to mourn me
when i died all alone
Bogdan:
i am sorry my love
i was fiery and young
so swept up and in love
with my own bleeding hearts blood
all that drama i craved
well it roared through and came
and left nothing else
but this last road to hell
ruins road leads to just one place
when all that's sweet has long since gone away
nothing came of anything you did
except this one last score to fix this one last sin
i saw the ghosts along the road to hell's bordello
i saw the shades that line the way to desolation's ghetto
they said look back on the trail that you have sown
i saw the the ghosts on ruins road
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14. |
The Final Confrontation
07:43
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Vizier:
i extend to you my greeting it's a long time since i've seen
someone wear that uniform round these parts
so you're the last of the hajduk sixteen years ago i wiped out
your whole group, but now just look, here you are
as a token of respect i will give you land to tend
maybe settle down and pick out a wife
you should think about a child they make all of life worthwhile
like this sweet girl i have here by my side
take the money now and go it's the only deal you'll know
you can still walk out of here with a life
if you don't then take my word i will have this little girl
gut you head to toe and left side to right
Bogdan:
this tale not all will attend
for some here the story ends
in this palace grand and sweet
the finest place that i have seen
some will not leave this room again
a baby girl from long ago
you took away from me and so
i chose a path both dark and doomed
and by the black god was consumed
yet i am here to see this through
i never chose the path of love
the kinder things i should have done
i failed all i should have saved
the only legacy i made
the one i bring now made in blood
Brija:
thus the room lies bathed in blood and butchery
only three remain the vizier, bogdan and me
I there poised between them sword drawn, in silence, thus
the moment the gods have wagered on is here and they watch us
and this is how i met my dad
the one i never knew i had
i didn't even know it then
i only saw a crazy man
a weapon in his hand
and this is how he met me too
the daughter that he never knew
he only saw a girl and blade
between him and what he craved
one he'd cut his way right through
you can ask me why
why he dropped his sword and looked into my eyes
you could say he knew
there's many now who do
but i don't know if that's true
you can ask me why
i did what i did that night
i put my sword through bogdan's chest
i turned around and then
i put it through the vizier's neck
it was a bloodbath on that day
i was all that walked away
i don't know from right and wrong
the wagers of the gods
but i will not be a pawn
and this was how i killed my dad
the one i never knew i had
the one i wish i'd known
but that love died long ago
the day they took me from my home
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Paul Shapera Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Cama’s attempt to commune with higher beings failed; she only found Decadent Dottie. Together they roamed, indulging in dangerous forms of psycho-neural self-exploration which Cama hoped would present the key to her people’s further evolution. It only led to her destroying her people so that one of their pets could evolve. She sat in her former civilization's rubble and listened to Paul Shapera. ... more
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