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Katy Shaw & The Search For The Stolen Secret

by Paul Shapera

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1.
Katy Shaw 05:14
Katy: These are days of fret and fear We got war and we got tears All the optimists are begging in the streets Times are tough so people go to get their kicks before it blows So after dark the party’s ragin like a beast The scene is swinging daddy-o its on fire every night and so take your pick of dancing, vices, don’t you know there ain’t a lot of laughs round here much This worlds nothing but worry It looks better when its blurry It’s good times til the sun comes up ... I major in bad habits Like thievery and skag its A lifestyle not built to last this i know My lovelifes flawed cause i Only go for girls who only go for guys But at least my heart never gets broke I wake up sometime after noon drink my Coffe black just like my mood and then i try to think of reasons i should move from either this bed or this dump Most days its a short list I need money, need a fix It’s good times til the sun comes up .... When the jonesing’s knocking at your door Its not something that you can ignore That need it makes your bones all start shaking I know you think i’m just a fool But i got it all under control The one talent i have is the art of escaping ... I make my pennies at the club Fencing hot and sketchy stuff My best friend Sheila’s always there at my side We dance and make some deals I pine away for her in heels Getting loaded as we drift through the night Theres a thing or two i do not bother to think Like the future or my mother, i drink For this moment and no other let the dice stop where they drop This worlds nothing but worry It looks better when its blurry It’s good times til the sun comes up
2.
Michael: In the city of new albion some years back a bit When the civil war raged and the voodoopunks hid And the nightlife was swinging as everyone feared This day was their last so they drank without care Theres a woman named katy who trouble befell And Its her tale today that we’ve come here to tell Its thursday, and like every night come rain or come shine She heads to the club, to the music and lights Her best friend is sheila who in secret she loves Theyll shmooze and theyll booze, make some deals, do some drugs The evening has started lets join them there now At a club called the Balley on the south side of town
3.
The Balley 06:36
Katy: The joint is set to jump, the band is warmed on up The crowd is getting juiced, getting loose enough Fear and dread gets parties fed When your ticket might be up The men they all pretend that they’re a big deal but The shady and the ladies know what is what The beat it thumps, the show lights up All the jack and jills go jump Me and sheila wheelin, dealin case the place Sippin’ hooch, got dough to make The dutchman’s got some stuff to shake We shmooze and booze and trade Sheila stuns, my heart is shot Her boss the cigarette girl’s got agendas that i just cannot Players play and plot I gotta sense of doom that i can never shake Like walls closin in, trouble on its way I live with it day after day All the shade i cannot face But at night when the tunes and the groove’s just right Im lit and sway and feel just fine For just a moment all’s all right Swingin at the Balley tonight Sheila: Wormy’s come into some cash and is looking to buy. Let’s head over Katy: i heard his brother got nicked by the fuzz. Their pickin up all the junkies lately Sheila: Nah, i heard it’s just the tan san druggies they’re scoopin. Come on. Katy: Im in, i just gotta.. i just gotta feed the monkey. The shakes is coming. I’m headin to the fire escape, i’ll meet you at Wormy’s table in 10 Sheila: Just keep it light, we still got all night Katy: Dont worry, i got ya. ... Police: On the day we come it’s over Everybody here against the wall This is a raid so be compliant We’ve got a list of names, we want them all Please show your ID when we search you If you dont have it then you’re coming in And if you try to run we’ll shoot you Just do your duty as good citizens
4.
Michael: For two weeks there’s been rumors that the cops are rounding up Are the junkies and the druggies but no one knows for what Some say it’s all just rumors, but now katy knows its not Since now Her girl there sheila’s the latest party girl to be caught Katy was damn lucky as she escaped the raid Thats cause she was shooting up out on the fire escape She hid up on the roof and though she was in a daze She watched them take poor sheila and a bunch of other folks away So katy’s scared and frightened so she runs back to her place To sit and hide and lose herself in her favorite drug’s embrace And wonder what shes made of, can she step up, or cope Cause this broken little junkie might be sheila’s only hope
5.
Without Her 04:14
Katy: When life come down hard with a smack and crack So you run and you hide in a dreamland made of skag And no one need tell you you dont deal with things well Ever since that night in that hotel years ago went to hell And when life comes down hard now you just run away And the one girl you love she needs you today but its all turning sour And i cant Live without her If you just keep your love locked away in your head And only pick girls who will never come share your bed Then you never need tell them that you love them and so Then your heart is kept safe and it will never, never be broke You can pine deep in silence and the skag keeps you warm And just live for the good times and ignore the hard knocks at your door Getting louder Cause i Cant live without her If i lay in this room in a dream and a daze Ignore it all til finally it all goes away Though in all your life you never once said I love you to any girl except inside your head If you run to a womb are you running to death If you love her you’ve got to step up catch your breath Its come then, your hour Cause i Cant live without her
6.
Michael: Sheila has a boss, a cigarette girl you might have seen Who works down at the rhumba club almost every night of the week But this simple cigratte girl is much more than meets the eye She’s the head of this here city’s only union just for spies If anyone would know the dirty secrets of this town It’s this girl whose name is cora, shes got webs that wind around The rhumba club’s a jungle, every type and every sin And katy a gazelle but still she’s heading right on in
7.
Cora: Each night the lights go down, the rhythm pounds and out here in the crowd the jungle howls Some hunt and others scheme, some things grin like sin and some things look so pure with knives for teeth As they laugh, masks will slip for seconds falling Deadly games will be resolving For you see to seem is not to be . Each night the rhumba growls and in the masks beneath the masks my people stalk and prowl Theres games inside of games, roles and parts portrayed like russian dolls that always twist and change My sweet spies, eyes that always are deceiving masks in masks forever scheming For you see to seem is not to be . To our business let us turn, my pawn is compromised and yet for her it seems you yearn Where she is you seek, and information is my currency, the air i breath So for me, theres a thing you must acquire And i’ll tell what you desire Though you’ll see to seem is not to be
8.
Michael: So Cora’s has told Katy that she needs something procured It’ll take some theivery, some b & e, to get it for her Cause Cora’s got her finger in more than just one pie She’s brokering a deal between the mob and an albino tribe This merger it involves very lucrative control Of a sandy drug called tansan that is quite the rage im told But this job is too complex for Katy by herself She’s gonna need to call her old friend Constance in for help
9.
The Old Days 02:31
Katy: Wild at a party we were boozing teens The cops pull up and so we, scatter while giggling we stumbled to a field and Constance, the moon shown in her hair we kissed, drunk and blurred and still, we made out right there We never ever talked about it, to her cheap thrills but to me a magic moment, but i kept quiet still she was indeed my first love, though she never knew the same old cycles just spin round and round, and round it's true No one ever taught me how to, get up when i'm down my mother always suffered silent, until that night and now i think about that hotel, but sometimes too i swear i think about that field, that kiss, the moon, her hair
10.
The Heist 07:36
Constance: look who just walked in here, katy dear i missed ya it's been too long, arent you a sight your dress is so inspired you're looking kind of tired, katy, girl are you all right? Katy: C, it's good to see you, i gotta job, i need ya i 'll tell you more if agree it's a little B&E, a two girl job i think we always made a real good team Constance: I'd do anything for ya, you know that. Just like the old days, huh? Katy: Just like the old days ... Constance: A little nick will do the trick, a snatch, a jack, a grab A pinch, a sack and out the back before it gets you nabbed Keep your walk so nonchalant, wonder whats ado The art my dear, diverting gear from their domain to you The rush the chase on out the gate The sirens in the street The artistry of larceny The vocation of the thief They say in ancient times when mighty pyramids stood tall. The class divide was first devised the have nots and have alls Right then and there i tell you here the first thief they appeared To recirculate, reallocate the partitioning of wares The swipe, the take the quick escape The plot, the crime the scheme The artistry of larceny The vocation of the thief … The pluck the swipe the swap the heist The snatching of the loot The plunder, con, defraud and gone The sweet talk and the ruse The hustle, game, its all the same The setup and the scheme The artistry of larceny The vocation of thief Constance: Hey, do you wanna go somewhere and talk? I feel like... i feel like there's stuff unresolved from before and we could sit and chat and you know, have a little girl time. Katy: I do, i really do. I really wanna... it's just.... im sorry, i gotta... i cant, i want to it's just.... im sorry. im so sorry. i gotta go. I gotta go. im sorry.
11.
Michael: Katy goes to Cora who’s delighted, pleased as punch And Cora's way of saying thank you Katy very much Is to give our girl an address, well an address and a name The name is mark, the guy who knows whats up with Sheila’s fate Marks been hard to find, for reasons which we’ll see He’s holed up and a wreck and there's some stuff he’s seen At first he’s scared of Katy but she slowly calms him down And he spins a tale of just whats going on all over town
12.
Mark 06:54
They come to hunt the poor man When all his luck runs out They come to hunt they come to take you Down down down Mark: So im at the bar with ramon and the boys and ramon’s like, hey, i know this sweet score but its gonna take some cohones, and he starts talking about some hush hush secret super soldier program the governments got going and how they got this guy who’s half machine and they’re trying to buld phase two 2 which is like either an army of robot fairies for him to lead, or some kind tank they attach his bottom half to and ramon doesnt know but theres this tinker’s shop where they’re putting the plans together and every thurs some government laison goes there to meet with this tinker, some guy named lloyd an some woman named llewelyn who they say is related to edgar mcalistair, like, THe edgar mcalastair and they got these plan there and if we stole them we could start a bidding war between the government and resistance and itd be the biggest payday ever seen but im like, hell no thats how to get killed, but then later, as we’re getting drunk Brandons starting in on me, how im a lame thief and i dont have the sauce for it, and finally im like screw you brandon, me and ramon are gonna steal these plans and itll be epic and i’ll show you. ... So we do the job but it all goes completely wrong causethat Llewelyn woman was there and she scared Ramon who shot her and im like “ hell no i didnt signon for no murder charge” cause i never seen someone killed before and its not good, its not good at all and so im puking on the floor but we did get these plans in this folder but they’re weird, bruh, i don even know what theyre for and we get away and so later that night we’re at Ramons celebrating except im not celebrating im crying and sobbing, wait, no, dont tell Brandon i said that, i totally didnt cry, im like stone cold, so anyway Ramon wont let go of the plans, he’s clutching them and he’s getting lit on this drug called TanSan, like completely blitzed out, and suddenly he just disappears, like, one second he’s on the sofa and the next he’s gone and im like “woah, this is like end up in the psych ward stuff” and he stays gone for like 2 hours but then 2 hours later he just pops right back in with some story about going back in time to a prairie, only he had the plans with him but he dropped them there and didnt bring them back and its right then we hear sirens. ... So i just bail and Ramon was behind me but because he’s all drugged out he’s slow and the cops nab him but i just keep running and i head underground thinking maybe i’ll go hide with the voodoopunks but the tunnels under the city are like a maze, bruh and there’s like weird people down so i gave hp on that wandering around the dark is not my thing i figure i’ll just stay outta sight up here and the next thing i know im hearing they interrogated Ramon to death and they are after me so i’ve been hiding and running and im not doing too well but thats not all cause now they’re rounding up every druggie they can get their hands on and word os they got this big warehouse they’re sticking them all in and they’re force feeding them Tansan until one of them blips like Ramon and goes to that prairie place and brings them back their folder and if your girl was taken thats where she is and you just better hope she’s hasnt dropped dead of a drug overdose because they’re burning through druggies and im sorry but thats all i can help you with cause im staying out of sight until this whole thing blows over and if you were smart you’d stay out of it too but either way nice to keet you, good luck and im out of here.
13.
Michael: So i hope you were laying attention cause that all was a bit Much For me to recap, but the jist of all it is That katy’s now headed to warehouse in which there are all These Floors full of drugged out folks sitting, tripping balls And sheila will be there if she hasnt already OD’ed So while katy heads on over, lets take one last peek Into sweet katys poor psyche, dont judge her too damn hard She’s just a good soul thats had a tough deal of the cards
14.
Katy: Four years ago xmas as the Woodshire hotel In room 318 a broken lamp fell A man left his family for a woman he loved And waited here years but still she’d not come In 110 a hooker was staying alone Her night off in style, eating cake with a spoon And in room 200, just one story more My mother was lying there dead on the floor Its xmas time Its xmas time Xmas time in the city In 310 a man sat alone with his cat His mind slowly slipping like his weathered grey cap He couldnt remember his home or his kids Or the name of the cat, or how long it had been The maid last night walked in a room where she gasped Her husband and brother in bed wearing masks And in room 200, just one story more My mother was lying there dead on the floor Its xmas time Its xmas time Xmas time in the city Up there, the clouds cannot take And they burst and they shatter and break And they fall apart slowly, disappear without sound All that’s left snow falling down to the ground My step father left her, took eveything so I stole a big score to keep her afloat A bag full of money i brought back but when I opened the door i saw next to the bed The pill case was empty, not even a note But i just can’t blame her, i wish i had known I wish she had stayed here, just one xmas more I wish i had never walked out of that door Its xmas time Its xmas time Xmas time in the city
15.
Michael: So Katy heads on over to this warehouse by the docks with 5 floors packed wall to wall with people tripping their faces off There's some security guys watching for anyone who dies from overdose then they carry the body to the window and toss it out into the river below Thus into this madhouse our dear katy heads praying that her girl sheila isnt already dead Katy: Oh thank the stars i finally found you Sheila: Is that katy, have you come? Katy: Everything will be ok now Sheila: i was so so sure you’d run Katy: I’ve been running such a long time I think its time i finally stopped Ive been scared and sad and lonely I need to say this just this once: Im scared to ever love because im scared my heart will break I keep me oh so silent and never ever say And im never gonna be free, if im never ever true I have to say it one time, have to say that i love you Sheila: Katy girl you know i love, i always have your back i do Katy: I dont mean all fun and friendly, i mean the way that might scare you I mean like men dont make me crazy, not the way girls like you do Sheila: I always wondered why you never hooked up never have a no flings Katy: Now you know Sheila: I guess i do Katy: Im scared to ever love because im scared my heart will break I keep me oh so silent and never ever say And im never gonna be free, if im never ever true I have to say it one time, have to say that i love you Sheila: i wish told told me, K befoe this I dont why you’d think i freak I don’t know why you think i’d leave you Im way more open than you think If i’d have known we couldve maybe We still can it’s just, its so... If we’re gonna bear our souls then Theres one thing that you should know On the day we come its over Im an informant, it was me who called Back at the club i brought the cops in To pick you up, you know the raid and all The reward, its so much money They would have let you go in a few days That time the two of us did tansan I watched you blip, i watched you blip away They’d pick you up you’d get their folder They’d let you go and i’d get all that cash And then the two of us would party Go back to dancing, boozin, having laughs... Cop: Miss Shaw get on your knees this instant put your hands behind your head we've got you now, no sudden movements we dont want you quite yet dead your cooperation's appreciated your help to us a lot it mean the time has come to do your duty if you run we will blow off your knees
16.
Michael: They take our dear girl Katy into a room with windows closed And make her take the tansan, what they call a heroic dose And sure enough 10 minutes later, she disappears and hell And i swear all them government jackals all start peein themselves Katy: A thousand little slaps a thousand kicks when you are down The stabs with daggers as you just begin to turn around The blithe offhand abasements til there's tears upon your face A thousand days that casually just make your poor heart break A thousand little slanders, slap the ice cream from your hand When you were tear stained and defenseless that's when the real insults began The glee with which a thousand petty cruelties are adhered Your defilement is something they either love or do not care I hope you bleed and rot in places where the sun will never shine And the stench makes all around you in disgust recoil and cry I hope you all start choking til you beg for one last breath I hope your lives all spiral into pestilence and death You can all go burn in bonfires where you shriek in ghastly pain And i hope i live to see it, i hope i get to light the flame I am done being your victim, watching all your heartless deeds Your death’s i hope asphyxiation on excrement in extreme Michael: This is all years ago now, in a place thats far away A place about which Other people like me have had lots more to say Theres been big ol grand Sagas and sweeping, epic regales Some that have sat and heard it even say its all just characters in tales But each one of those chatacters is a world, each ones a big sweet deal Every passion and longing and heattbreak and doomed struggle, they’re all real I just tell their stories, and cry every time And drown myself here in, i know, much too much wine But whether or not i wonder how much longer i can take Telling these tales, so many stories and so much goddamn pain All right, but This tale’s about katy, whose taken that damn drug And finds herself transported to a prairie in another time and thus She sees that damn folder that caused all this fool fuss And so she goes ahead and just picks the thing on up But then she starts walking, she figures shes got About 2 hours more til this drug wears itself on off She aims to keep walking as far she can get Far from that warehouse, the police, and the life she has led

about

Return to us to the jazzier side of the troubled dieselpunk era, for a more intimate story about a young woman named Katy (yes, that Katy) and the seedy swing scene she inhabits.

credits

released March 10, 2020

Candice Price - Katy Shaw
Kerttu Aarnipuu - Sheila
Hayley Warner - Cora The Cigarette Girl
with Marjolein Nijsten

and also featuring
Lauren Osborn as Constance O'Brien

Narrated by Michael

Saxophone on The Balley, The Heist and The Warehouse by Josh Plotner
www.joshplotnermusic.com

Saxophone on Katy Shaw, Without Her, The Heist and end of The Warehouse by Nico Finke

Trumpet on The Rhumba Club by Jacob Wynne
coldcityhorns.com

Trumpet on The Heist by Gary Winters

Art by Pixelwayve
pixelwayve.com

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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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