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The New Albion Radio Hour, A Dieselpunk Opera

by Paul Shapera

supported by
Daniel R. Wilder
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Daniel R. Wilder This song takes the show beyond the mundane and into the mystical. It is an unexpected bell that rings across time. 🧙‍♂️ Favorite track: A3 S6 Storyville Station.
Babylonian Eve
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Babylonian Eve Now, objectively it was just a coincidence brought about by the return of spring and a change in my medication plan, BUT. I'm fairly sure Constance's songs cured my depression. Favorite track: A2 S4 The Bust.
jesslindsayfowler
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jesslindsayfowler Words cannot describe how much I love this album. So much fun, and so much heart. Lloyd is such a fantastic narrator, and I love Jackie's voice! I didn't like jazz, but this album converted me.
And if you've ever wondered what a popover is, it's a pastry. Favorite track: A3 S4 Blood Red Dogs.
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1.
Announcer: Welcome now, to the continuing adventures of lost and fabled New Albion brought to you by Papaver Cigarette, the smoke that takes the anxieties of the day and sweeps them away. There’s always an excuse for a Papaver cigarette! Come with us, friends, back to a time that never was… The New Albion Radio Hour!
2.
Welcome back listeners to tonight’s broadcast. For close to 10 years a civil war has raged across New Albio. It is only with the Battle of Crier’s Blvd that at last a victor emerges. But how was this battle truly won and lost? Join me, your host Lloyd Allen and The Dieselpunk Orchestra as we take a tour through our dear city, explore the events surrounding the Battle of Crier’s Blvd and meet tonight’s featured family, The Obriens. Here on The New Albion Radio Hour! Theres’s a city i could name, which i’m sad to say became A quite uptight, opressive and obsessive police state And ex soldier one day vowed to bring the martial regime down By igniting revolution, but the question remained how One night at half past three, he quietly snuck beneath Parliament, the seat of power where government meets In the water there that ran, a truth serum he did plant And that is how New Albion’s civil war began The revolution, friends, is here and it’s been going on for years The undertakers and arms dealers all have crystal chandeliers There’s a union now for spies who can be bought for any side Their boss, the cigarette girl works the Rumba Club most nights In Districts 3 and 4 and 1, there’s a red haired lad who runs The gangs of orphaned, feral youth who under his watch have become Organized, disciplined and for liquor, drugs and contraband The mob and postal service use them to deliver cross the land The power generators ‘neath Districts 7, 8 and 3 Excrete a dust, a sandy rust it’s been discovered lead To quite a pleasing, dreamy high, thus it’s the new drug on the rise But only three albinos living underground know where it lies A tinker we all know, with a shop on tin pan row Makes little metal fairies whose souls’ a flake of snow The government’s last great big hope, the Super Soldier Plan you know We’ll be looking at more closely, friends, so stay tuned to the show
3.
Announcer: We take you now to a small, morbid room deep in an underground bunker. His skin festering where the cables and iron tubes worm their way in and out of his reconstructed body, John O’Brien sits alone in the sickly green light, where only 2 mannequins with screens for heads keep him company. Child on screen: Past the world, past the night, past the stars where sea birds fly Past your dreams to toyland’s shore, where we will meet again once more John: There’s rust in my bones and sins in my flesh My skin rots wires and iron infest They’ve butchered my body to make me the best Their mad dog of war they unleash on the world To burn and ravage, gut and hurl In between i sit here and think of the girl The scent of fragrance on the wind Is all you are and all you’ve been Lullabyes and dime store tales No dreams escape the green room pale No colors cloud your day dreams, your penny dreadful memories Your worn through war time serial tales No dreams escape the green room pale Their one super soldier, the one that survived The red pill’s for duty the blue’s for inside Their failed plan for an army of gods made of iron At night these screens light up with faces i’ve known The flesh i’ve left rots and falls from my bones I sit with the girl in the screen all alone PA: Please exit the bunker, take the red pill, and report for active duty Please exit the bunker, take the red pill, and report for active duty John: In the fire in the fire Bathe in the fire in the fire
4.
Announcer: Come with us dear listener, as we go backwards in time, just a few years, to when John O’Brien was just a regular citizen, like you, enjoying a few drinks at his local pub as had become his ever increasing habit. Guy: Hey there buddy, you’re lookin’ down. Say, you’re John O’Brien, aren’t you? Ah, jeez fellow, i heard about what happened to your wife. Those damn rebels and their bombs, got no respect for law and order. Who, me? Well look here, i’ll level with ya. It’s a damn shame to see a guy with your potential drink himself away like this is all. Yeah, you. We think you gotta lot of potential. That’s right, i’m from the government and i’m here to help. I gotta propisition for ya. Things have got you down you don’t know where to run They’re picking off the things you love one by one Well i’ve got news for you, a life you enver dreamed come true The War Department has a plan, needs men like you We’re setting up a special force to end this coup Don’t drown your sorrows, bud, quench your thirst on rebel blood Get it up, step it up, grab a gun and settle it up Enlist, get with the plan cause Freedom Corps will make you a new man We’re gonna take you, make you more than just a man A god, a super soldier, yes an ubermensch The next root race is on hand, you’ll be the new age of man So put away that drink and let us change your life Protect your city, save the day, avenge your wife Kill some rebs, win the war, be a hero, be adored Get it up, step it up, grab a gun and settle it up Enlist, get with the plan cause Freedom Corps will make you a new man
5.
Child on screen: Past the world, past the night, past the stars where sea birds fly Past your dreams to toyland’s shore, where we will meet again once more John: I sat beside your bed on the night before i left While you slept i had my say I know i had some drink, I explained you everything About why i couldn’t stay My anger and my grief, liquor pain and broken dreams I was no good for you babe They offered me a way to quench my thirst for blood and rage And so daddy went away Your Daddy went away, your Daddy went away The hole in which i fell didn’t want for you as well so Daddy went away I became the hand of karma, of wrath and fire and fodder The terror in their night The monster in the basement, the ogre of damnation And the man inside died But then one day the rage was all gone and what remained Was a chasm in my chest The only thing that mattered the child i turned my back on The girl i should have kept But Daddy left, Daddy left your Daddy left The things that i have done, the wrath that i have wrung The widows who have wept The beast that i’ve become the judgement and the blood You must forget or be crippled by regret Your daddy left, your Daddy left, your Daddy left Your Mother was my life, my heart and soul and wife She blew up and was gone, i didn’t know how to go on I didn’t know how to accept I wish for your forgiveness, i wish the past was different I wish i would have known I wish for starts and sails, pipe dreams and fairytales But atonement time has flown And if somewhere you hate me, if your memories of me faded And resentment’s all you know You can take some consolation at the sad end of his days Daddy will die all alone Daddy will die all alone There’s no one else that’s left, just this room and war and death Your daddy’s all alone
6.
PA: Please exit the bunker, take the red pill, and report for active duty John: Wade in the night to dance the wild ballet the brutal fray Wade in the night to lost yourself inside the feral fight Wade in the night embrace the unrestrained, the cruel ballet In the fire, in the fire, in the fire, bathe in the fire Wade in the night Announcer: And now we come to the Battle of Crier’s Blvd. After months of extensive planning the city government had devised an operation and piece of technology that could finally turn the tide of the war. Complicated as it was, it hinged upon their modified super soldier John O’Brien leading a platoon of men and taking a key facility. Their orders are also very clear that everyone they find is disposable with extreme prejudice. ... Thus it is that John O’Brien, the lumbering iron golem, darling of the government’s modification experiments infiltrates the labyrinthian faclity and with a platoon of men razes a swath of blood and destruction behind them. Finally they come to the door of the room they were sent to take. John orders the men to hold their positions in the hall and blows down the door. Inside are only 3 noncombatant hostiles, 2 men and 1 woman. The woman screams and so he aims at her first. There is a long pause as their eyes lock and hold. Finally John lowers his gun and sings. John: Past the world, past the night, past the stars where sea birds fly Past your dreams to toyland’s shore, where we will meet again once more Woman: Daddy? John O’Brien and his daughter stand staring at each other for a long, frozen moment… until the sound of voices and weapons being locked and loaded echo from the hallway, breaking the spell. John nods slowly at his daughter. He reloads his weapon, turns around, raises it and walk out into the hall. John: Wade in the night when what you were is through, the light came for you Wade in the night the day that you were found and lay your burdens down Wade in the night even the walking damned defend their lambs Wade in the night all your creations too return to you In the fire Bathe in the fire Wade in the night
7.
Announcer: And now, a word from our sponsor. Folks, in these troubled times there's so many stresses that can get you down one often wishes they could just take the anxieties of the day and sweep them day. Well, i'm here to tell you, you can! With Papaver cigarettes you can grab the peace and happiness you deserve. And don't forget, one less stress you don't need to worry about with Papaver cigarettes is money! That's right, times are thin? Well chin up, you can use your government issued credits to buy papaver cigarettes. All the pleasure without spending a dime! And now, back to The New Albion Rad io Hour! Welcome listeners to the 2nd Act of tonight's broadcast. And tonight we have a special treat. The one and only Constance O'Brien, star of the stage is here in our very own studio to perform the lead role in of our 2nd act. Welcome Miss O'Brien. We're big fans here at The New Albion Radio Hour. Constance: Oh thank you, Llloyd, the pleasure's all mine. Announcer: "So who will you be playing for us tonight?" Constance: Well, as soon as i get in character, i'll be Inanna, a young attendee of New Albion's high society soirees, who has a secret agenda of her own." Announcer: Well, listeners, while Constance gets ready, why don't you let me Lloyd Allen and The Dieselpunk Orchestra here set the stage for our next Act and tell you a little bit about her character. Here, on The New Albion Radio Hour The thief is a lady, a lonely girl who maybe Knows the ways of loss from end to end The world where she’s staying, its high class rules seem crazy And she’s a low class girl who smiles and just pretends She’s taking her time, she’s taking your cool She’s taking your heart while she’s taking your jewels She’s taking tonight. She’s taking tonight. She’s taken tonight She’s taking it all, she’s taking your side She’s taking it on, taking you for a ride She’s taking tonight. She’s taking tonight. She’s taking tonight. The thief is a lady, on her mother’s grave cried daily And still lights a flame on Sundays at the shrine But now she’s been staying in a world refined and stately Where beauty hides a fierce and cruel design She’s taking her time… In the highest class of Albion, the laws are quite clear If you’re female and divorced you have no rights to adhere Your wealth, your home, your children are all his to decide Ladies drink their tea in fear of being tossed aside The thief has seen this very thing happen up close Man cheats, then divorces, then down his wife goes At 50 all her money, children, world and friends Are gone in one brief flash and all she knows just ends Amongst these fine ladies, word of mouth says maybe If he decides to cast you cold aside A thief, she can save thee, she only works for ladies She’ll get that little nest egg he denied She’s taking her time…
8.
Thomas: My sweet satin baby, two tickets are waiting We’ll toast on the coast far from this town Constance: Tonight when all the lights hit the ballroom And the shakers and the quakers twirl round And one of them conceals a small case we’ve been hired to steal Tonight when the heist goes down Our client this time pays a pretty pocket (Thomas: I’ll be there watching) At last we can afford to skip town (Thomas: and pouring drinks if trouble brews) Tomorrow don’t you know to the Tusian Coast we’ll go After tonight when the heist goes down My sweet satin baby, two tickets are waiting We’ll toast on the coast far from this town
9.
Constance: It’s a dance in the city with the dames dolled up all pretty And they’re feeling fine and frisky tonight And the beaus in their clothes with boots and tuxes, ties and bows Getting flirty, smiling dirty all right It’s a high class soiree, a hint of culture, tint of gay The refined are lined to come out and play With a fella on my arm i’m up to do a little harm He’s my mark i’m out to charm and get paid Mark: Well aren't you the cat’s meow. C: You're quite light on your feet yourself. Mark: Would you care for a Papaver cigarette? C: No, handsome, let's just dance. It’s the forefront of fashion, they’re sashaying at this bash and All the trends are getting set left and right All the wheeling and dealing, drinks and handshakes all are sealing All the trysts and twists of business ignite It’s the thrill of romancing all the belles are out a prancing And i’m dancing like a devil tonight It’s the science of flirtation all the wily games you’re playing And you both think you’re the cat with the mice It’s the partay, at the soiree come alive inside and rave away and play It’s so risqué, where the rich play, come inside, come alive, come and wine and dine and hustle today Mark: Say, you don’t suppose i could i ask your father for permission to court you? C: My father is gone. Probably dead. Mark: Oh dear r C: And i 'd rather not... Mark: Well They say if you journey to the underworld you can raise the dead, or at least see them i suppose... what's that Greek myth... C: You're a better dancer than a conversationalist, darling. It’s a dance in the city while the rich are sitting pretty There’s a thief and she’s a sneaking in sight While his eyes and hands are roaming i’m just eyeing up his coat Where the little case i’m chasing lies There’s a moment that’s growing where i’m going all for broke and I just know it’s gonna show itself soon With a dip and a touch and with some luck a clumsy bump And then i’m done and gonna run to the moon It’s the partay, at the soiree come alive inside and rave away and play It’s so risqué, where the rich play, come inside, come alive, come and wine and dine and hustle today At the partay, at the soiree come alive inside and rave away and play It’s so risqué, where the rich play come inside come alive come and wine and dine and hustle today Don’t be dismayed don’t you sit or stay clear cause all the action happens here It’s a fact that these soirees are where decisions are made And behind all the smiles there’s a beast here all the while It’s a deadly affair, it’s ferocious in its glare It’s a glamour a test it’ll go straight to your head It’s the silent deadly brawl it’s the writing on the wall where you stand when the card fall It’s a dance in the city all the wild and the witty Getting giddy geared up pretty to play It’s the body’s reaction to the musical attraction It’s relaxing and it’s starting to sway A sensation, a dip, the right rotation of the hips A quick elation you maintain all the night You can lose yourself in motion or commit something felonious As a bonus cause you know it’s all right
10.
Thomas: Do you have it? Constance: Got it right here. Hang on, i’ll be back in a second… Police: And on the day we come it’s over Please all keep calm while we perform our vows This man, an officer has eyed him He is a rebel. Soldiers, shoot him now And there’s a device we have been seeking And it is in this room we know There is a thief and she has got it I… what do mean she’s gone? Well find her. Go! Constance: Run like the hunted run like they’re coming run like the sword will finally fall run like the desperate your last final minute run like the end has come to call run like the hours the days all when counted run like they passed while dreamers slept run like the fire the winds of desire run if you want to live again run and taste the rain, run from mistakes you’ve made run, run away run and just embrace, run, the air the pulse the pain run, run away Jackie: Constance! Constance: Aunt Jackie? Jackie: Quick, get in. Constance: Aunt Jackie what are you doing here? Jackie: A dragnet’s on the street and your name is its list my sweet The cops are blowing doors down while they weep But you, my dear’ve been busy making pockets light and dizzy I know the little secrets that you keep My pals in the resistance caught wind of the existence Of this dapper device called an MCG And they hired this thief to swipe it then you show up dolled and diapered Now i know the little secret that you keep Constance: Aunt J, i know you raised me after my folks died but these days I’ve got a gig that’s heavy, crazy, sweet I new name, boyfriend, life i meant to tell you but got tied Oh these little family secrets that we keep Jackie: Your new life sad to say the cops are peeling it away Your name, your place dismantled piece by piece That thing you took is precious to the cops, hawks and resistance And they’ll string you up and swing you in the streets There’s one way that this goes down, we’ve got to get you underground This map is marked and bring that MCG Down beneath the city a substation sits all ready To receive that hot potato that you keep Constance: I don’t care about your plan, i only care about my man When the cops came he was stuck and still inside If they find out who he is, he’ll be beaten, tortured, killed I could trade this stupid thing to save his life Jackie: Your fella’s not important, you forget that there’s a war on There’s a greater good of which you now must thing We’ve worked for years and now we’re gonna bring those bastards down Ah these little family secrets that we keep I will spill a straight admission, your aunt’s long since found religion There’s a voodoo cult who meets under the streets Go underground and find them and they’ll help you and they’ll guide you They know the little secrets that you keep Oh these little family secrets that we keep Those little fam Run like the hunted run like they’re coming run like the sword will finally fall run like the desperate your last final minute run like the end has come to call run like the hours the days all when counted run like they passed while dreamers slept run like the fire the winds of desire run if you want to live again run and taste the rain, run from mistakes you’ve made run, run away run and just embrace, run, the air the pulse the pain run, run away Constance: Thomas, Thomas Thomas: Inanna here i am Constance: Oh thank Gd baby How did you escape Thomas: Don’t worry now Do you still have it Constance: It’s right here now come let’s blow this joint my dear Tonight the heist went down Thomas: And on the day we come it’s over I can help you if you just stay calm There’s bigger things here than you realize I’m sorry but this must be done And on this day the party’s over It’s time to wake up there’s a war to win And if you run these men will shoot you Constance: This isn’t real, this isn’t happening When did they turn you, how long since? Thomas: Just take my hand i’ll help you live Constance: Run, the tears and shame, run when you’ve been betrayed Run, run away Run when your heart breaks, run, the pain just slaps your face Run, run away Run…. Taste the tears you make, run from mistakes you’ve made Run, run away Run…… somewhere far away Run, run away
11.
Announcer: And so, hunted and devoid of option, Constance heads to the tunnels beneath the city Choir: The quiet the lost, the halls forgot The slouching engines growl The long, dark land, the lost enchant In the under, in the underground The concrete deep which breathes beneath Where half mad creatures prowl The tribes and ones who’ve not seen the sun In the under, in the underground In the under, in the underground Lost streams flow in dark below Where eyeless sailors drown Forgotten gods and faeries lost In the under, in the underground Announcer: And so, stumbling beneath the dark labyrinths beneath the city, Constance… Constance: Wait.. wait… you… Announcer: Finds herself persued by… Constance: Don’t… don’t i know you? Announcer: No, no. Shh… don’t break character Constance: But there was… there was……. There was like, a, radio broadcast? Announcer: Another life in another world, dear Constance: Who are you? Announcer: Whoever the story needs me to be. Now come, let’s slip back into character. Sh… Choir: Cold dreams wind through feasts of blind Fallen angel frown The cults who’ve fled call forth the dead In the under, in the underground The quiet the lost, the halls forgot The slouching engines growl The long, dark land, the lost enchant In the under, in the underground In the under, in the underground
12.
Constance: Angry adolescents with no parents left Hang out all night sharpening their attitudes and smoking cigarettes Laugh and howl and cry until the room spins Hang on to Katy, all i know is tomorrow night i’ll do it all again In the wasteland Where the ashes, ashes all fall down from worlds that could never stand In the wasteland Where rings of roses, broken boughs, just fall down and down and down I raged with Katy through our last teens years We’s too wild to notice and too sad to care I learned the wind blows and the bough it breaks So i looked to have some laughs, some grass, and shots of what you got i’ll take At 2 A M a pack of wild kids laugh swig bottles back Stumbling and fumbling i bid good night and slap their backs I’d stray to the graveyard and pass out on my mother’s grave Til my aunt comes, puts a blanket round me, and just sits and stays In the wasteland Where the ashes, ashes all fall down from worlds that could never stand In the wasteland Where rings of roses, broken boughs, just fall down and down and down Katy’s daddy threw her mum aside Left her with nothing, and i’d loved her, she was always kind And in her hour of need no one would look around Someone had to step up, but i was ground and drowned and so far down I’s in the wasteland…. My dear Daddy, whiskey on his breath I never knew him really and one day, daddy left But still he’d say “my girl if only one thing now I ever teach you sweetheart…. Do not stay down Little girl oh little girl you don’t stay down You kick and scream and scratch, you roar and thrash but don’t stay down The last breath you take, spit in their face, You lick your wounds another day But get off the ground, go take em down, oh little girl, don’t stay down Daddy dear, i could use your voice right now Life’s smacked me round and i’m so down, i just can’t get up from here I put that angry girl behind me and i rose From ash just like you asked, i could use her here now, though I’m in the wasteland Where the ashes, ashes all fall down from worlds that could never stand In the wasteland Where rings of roses, broken boughs, just fall down and down and down Little girl oh little girl you don’t stay down You kick and scream and scratch, you roar and thrash but don’t stay down The last breath you take, spit in their face, You lick your wounds another day But get off the ground, go take em down, oh little girl, don’t stay down
13.
Thomas: And if you stay calm i can help you… Constance: You must be glad now you finally found me Lord knows what they offered you to rat I just want to know when did they turn you, when’d you go? How long’d you plan to stab me in the back? Thomas: I was never turned i was undercover Constance, this was never about you This city, people’s lives, we must step up and sacrifice To bring peace back, i swear that this is true Constance: You told me that you loved me You told me we were meant to be You lied and you broke my heart You told me that you loved me You used me and you played me Thomas: Like you played your marks Like you played your marks The thief is a lady and i hoped that one day maybe When this is over me might have a chance I swear that i came to love you and now save you But lives depend on finishing what i began Constance: You told me that you loved me You broke me and you shattered me With every word, which maybe I deserve But I loved you with all my heart I loved you and you ripped me apart I loved you and now it’s gone Thomas: No! Constance: What? Thomas: It’s them Constance: Who? Thomas: You don’t know what they’ll do to me Constance: Who? Thomas: The Voodoopunks Constance: Aunt Jackie? Jacqueline: Policeman, it’s sublime to meet you here now at this time I notice that you’ve made my dear niece cry But don’t worry ‘bout that, no, i’ve brought some friends to say hello We’re so glad that you have thought to stop on by Policeman, we all know that up there we’re afraid to go You kill us in cold blood day after day But now we’re underground and you are on our own turf now The Voodoopunks request your presence at our soiree
14.
Voodoopunks: Mortus re-de-unte ad nos reditum ad can-ta-re Mortus re-de-unte ad nos reditum ad sal-ta-re Dollay oh oh we come dollay Dollay oh oh we come dollay Dollay oh oh we come dollay Dollay oh oh we come to play Jackie: All one, tonight we call, spirits come All one, tonight we call, spirits come Oh no Policeman you can be the vessel Spirits come and they take possession They bring us songs from Elysian Night They sing songs make you lose your mind Dollay, dollay oh Dollay, dollay oh oh Dollay, dollay oh Dollay, dollay oh oh All one, tonight we call, spirits come All one, tonight we call, spirits come Oh Policeman we collect these songs Brought from the dead and we sing along All who hear they sing and cry It takes control you lose your mind Dollay, dollay oh Dollay, dollay oh oh Dollay, dollay oh Dollay, dollay oh oh All can, tonight we call spirits dance All can, tonight we call spirits dance Policeman, tonight you’re the vessel and I promise you we’ll make you a new man I promise you we’ll make you a new man Policeman, years of dead we call We find the songs that they bring us all The ones that no one can deny The ones that make you lose your mind The ones that though you’ve never heard Make you sing and know each word Policeman, it is time you know The spirit comes and now you go
15.
Announce: After using her ex boyfriend as a vessel for spirit possesion and showing off a few of their potent, hypnotic songs of the dead they’ve collected over the years, with which they hope to use to end the war, the Voodoopunks finally guide Constance to the substation where she can at last drop off the device that has caused her so much trouble. Constance: Boys now please don’t freak i brought this stupid M C G I’ve had a long and really hellish day Take it and go do whatever you think you have to I want this bloody thing far away With this i wash my hands i lost my life and all i had And all i want to do is go to bed I… (door blows down and soldier enters) John: Past the world, past the night, past the stars where sea birds fly Past your dreams to toyland’s shore, where we will meet again once more Constance: Daddy?
16.
Lloyd: And now, a very special word from our sponsor. Folks Welcome back to the 3rd and final act of our special broadcast focusing on the crucial Battle of Crier’s Blvd which decided the outcome of the war. We open hours after the events of Act 1 and 2. Jacqueline O’Brien sits in an islolated substation deep below the city with the captured Thomas. Jackie: Waiting Thomas: Waiting, and conversation Jackie: Still no word from the surface Thomas: And so he bought the farm and left the city Jackie: But by then she was so drunk she couldn’t keep it straight Still no word Thomas: But they never performed together ever after Jackie: He would have gotten it if he’d been able to wait Still no word Thomas: I could hear my mother crying, Jackie: Waiting Trying to be quiet, and it was then That i vowed that i’d become a policeman Prevent that sort of thing from happening again Jackie: Waiting Thomas: Waiting Jackie: Still no word Thomas: So have you ever been in love?
17.
A book store a fair, a music hall, park everywhere i went i saw her At a circus run down on the outskirts of town we sat down and started talking The hours stop, the days unwind, at a quarter to the best of times In hindsight i wish the sweet painful bliss of seduction had drawn out longer Cause we fell in fast, fell hard and the world spun past like a waltz that swept along us The hours stop, the days unwind, at five to the best of times From money she came, weekends in those days our soirees were the wildest in town The inspired the mad, the thinkers the poets all laughed, raised a glass and whirled past The hours stop, the days unwind, it’s precisely now the best of times But times they darken. The purges had started. On the day they came Dorothy was taken. The doors all were locked. The parties all stopped. I learned to drink scotch in a dark room forsaken. Years passed but then, i saw her again sewing clothes in a room without fans She didn’t know me. She couldn’t you see, in her eyes, something missed There’s a trick with a pick, the doctor gives it a nick It makes you docile real quick The hours stop, the days unwind, moments pass, memories sigh At half past the best of times
18.
A3 S3 Going 01:20
Soldier: Hello? Hello? Can anyone hear me? If anyone can hear me, run! Run! Jackie: It’s time to go and see what’s happening up there Thomas: Jacqueline, what about me? Lloyd: And so Jacqueline hands Thomas over to the Voodoopunks to be executed Jackie: What? No! No…. are you insane? I’m doing no such thing. Lloyd: Jackie, it’s the story. You have to. Jackie: I don’t have to do anything, Lloyd. For heaven’s sake, he’;s barely old enough to drink. He’s misguided but he doesn’t deserve to die. Announcer: Well there’s a new sentiment… Jackie: Besides, we used him enough. Thomas: Used me for what? Lloyd: Jackie… Jackie: Lloyd, this isn’t up for discussion. Thomas, you’re coming to the surface with me. The war should have been over by now. The soldiers should be incapacitated, but… something’s gone wrong. Thomas: Jackie, what did you do? Jackie: I think something very bad… Lloyd: And so… (sighs) and so as Jacqueline and Thomas head to the surface, we go back several hours into the past where a company of soldiers have assembled at Crier’s Blvd, beneath where a rampaging John O’Brien had inexplicably turned against the other government soldiers.
19.
The Blood Red Dogs: Lock and load, let it go, the loathsome side show is coming on down the town barker in your hand it’s a bedlam jam we’ll be tearing it up all around fire in the hole it’s a breezy stroll we’ll have tea in hell today when the Blood Red Dogs come to do a job and send you on your way Company Captain: We’ve come here to clean and we’ve come here to play We’ve come as the butcher to pack them away The target’s beneath us and headed our way He’ll be out here in 20, so look lively, mates And expect some more company, cause we’re sexy machines When they hear that we’re here, the Rebs will convene That cannot resist us, they want a night Of mayhem, so shoot all who come here on sight The Blood Red Dogs: Lock and load, let it go, the loathsome side show is coming on down the town barker in your hand it’s a bedlam jam we’ll be tearing it up all around fire in the hole it’s a breezy stroll we’ll have tea in hell today when the Blood Red Dogs come to do a job and send you on your way Jackie: We’re ready to transmit on the MCG. Get the policeman. Put the policeman up against the MCG. Possessed Thomas: Dollay oh oh we come dollay, dollay oh oh we come dollay Dollay oh oh we come dollay, dollay oh oh we come dollay Company Captain: Fifteen more minutes, til we get to play Though this song in our helmets should soon go away This new MCG that transmits to you men Will revolutionize tactics , but it’s buggy as hell Ignore this damn music, stay focused instead When i find out who did this, i’ll piss down their neck Do not start singing, stay… Dolly oh oh we come dollay The Blood Red Dogs:: Dollay oh oh we come dollay Dollay oh oh we come dollay Dollay oh oh we come dollay Dollay oh oh we come to play Announcer: And so, with the MCG broadcasting the hypnotic song into the soldiers’ helmets, they fall under its spell. As the song spreads, all who hear it begin singing, and it slowly but surely moves out into the greater population, spreading across the entire city like a virus. Population: Dollay dollay oh oh Dollay dollay oh oh Dollay dollay oh oh Dollay dollay oh oh
20.
Lloyd: And so Jacqueline and Thomas step out into a city lain to waste. Everyone in sight is swaying mindlessly to the hypnotic song of the dead. The only sane people they find are Constance and her father John who look happy and serene. Having not seen each other in years, John and Jackie, brother and sister reunite. John: We never call on birthdays Jackie: The haze and roads forgotten The lost left, wave behind John: I know, i know we were never all that close We never talked, just pleasantries and lines Jackie: We never call on birthdays You lost her John: You lost her Jackie: And i’m so sorry John: I’m so sorry The hole goes Jackie: So far down John: It’s true, it’s true, you had a language i never knew Jackie: You were always kind, when it really counts John: We never call on birthdays Jackie: You’re there at the beginning John: Then gone as, as we live our lives Jackie: I know, i know, i couldn’t be what you needed most John: You were always kind in the darkest of times Jackie and John: We never call on birthdays Thomas: Constance i am truly glad we found you Constance: I’m glad they let you go, they were wrong Everyone’s obsessed with control and dominance Thomas: How have you survived up here so long? Constance: We walked and we talked and we We walked my father and me Thomas: You strolled about in this… in this apocalypse? Constance: We walked and we talked so long Thomas: Why haven’t you succumbed to this song? Constance: It’s like a noisy tale with hooks and dreams in which i do not care to be John: The city is lost it’s time to retreat Soon all will sccumb to this plague you’ve unleashed At least we’re together, now that it’s done The only thing for us, we all now must run Jacqueline: Because we’ve been possessed we are immune John’s been mutilated, reconstructed so he’s safe but Constance there’s no reason why for you There’s something in your eye, something happened this last night That changed you in some way i cannot tell But i have doomed them all i have caused this city’s fall And all that’s left to do is run Thomas: Run, run and taste the rain, run from mistakes you’ve made Run, run away Constance: We will not be running Thomas: Constance don’t go near him, if you hear you’ll disappear then… Constance: Sh. Listen.
21.
Constance: The girl felt scared and so unsure The tales they told, the thousand doors She saw the wolf in the forest and bed And thought “it’s better to be a wolf instead” So she buys a ticket to Storyville Station Where pages enfold the lost ones taken And every day just goes by like a dream Now the girl is a wolf full of fierce and guile She hunts her prey and runs the wild At last though, she is caught by man And now she sees an even better plan So she buys a ticket to Storyville Station Where the players are cast before they’ve awaken And every day just goes by like a dream And seem is not to be Here now, here with me As man she is mighty and tames the land ‘til soldiers come and above her stand But above the soldiers a general sits Who takes his orders straight from a Prince So she buys a tickets to Storyville Station Where everyone’s wishing and the play eats the players And every day just goes by a like a dream And seem is not to be Here now won’t you be now here with me All is not as always it might seem Dreamers lost in dreams within a dream Now she’s the Prince staring at the King But the King he cracks, broken by something He gives up his gold, Kingdom, power and all The Prince must know what causes Kings to fall Well he walked away from the top of the world All for the love of just one girl… Storyville Station can never take The one who’s here now and awake The pages fall, the girl transcends The life that’s lived just in your head The show, the role she was lost within The opera she thought she starred in Where every day just goes by like a dream And seem is not to be Here now, here with me.
22.
A3 S7 Finale 06:56
Announcer: And so… I can’t narrate this. Come on, Jackie, you mean to tell me Constance just sings another song and it dispels the first? Jackie: Yes, how else were we going to… Announcer: That’s stupid. Jackie: Well what were we supposed to do? Announcer: You’re supposed to not change the narrative. Jackie: Lloyd, the entire city was going to fall, people were going to Announcer: That’s the point. It’s supposed to be an epic tragedy. Jackie: Well we don’t want an epic tragedy. Jesus, Lloyd, what’s with the bloodthirsty… Announcer: It’s the beauty of the story. The story would be told for generations Jackie: For heaven’s sakes, Lloyd, we’re not interested in your epic tragedy. Besides, the most striking tragedies are always the most intimate ones. (pause) Lloyd? Announcer: Okay. Okay, Jackie, i actually see your point. Jackie: Oh thank Gd… Announcer: The intimate ones do work quite well. It’s no Fall of New Albion but…. If Constance dies… Jackie: NO. Not Constance. Announcer: It would be beautifully heart wrenching Jackie: Lloyd! Announcer: We’ll do it your way. Jackie: You can’t do that. You are not the story. You are just the bloody Narrator. Announcer: Watch and learn, Jackie. And so, as the government forces slowly regain their senses they find Constance O’Brien, the most hunted thief in the city standing right before them. Jackie: John! John, protect Constance! These soldiers, when they snap out fo it they’re going to kill her! John: No. They’re not. John: It’s time you all go, i’ll keep them away I promise you’ll be safe today And here as your father it’s my job to Die if need be for you We stole a day so sweet We talked just you and me It’s more than i had ever dreamed The Blood Red Dogs: Lock and load, let it go, the loathsome side show is coming on down the town barker in your hand it’s a bedlam jam we’ll be tearing it up all around fire in the hole it’s a breezy stroll we’ll have tea in hell today when the Blood Red Dogs come to do a job and send you on your way Thomas: The thief is a lady, but now we both must get to safety All along i’ve tried to keep you safe Please let me help get you somewhere safe, secure then If you wish i’ll turn and go away Constance: I’m giving it up, i’m giving a try I’ll find a new way to fight the same fight And i’m giving a chance, i’ll give you a try I’ll give you tonight… The Blood Red Dogs: Lock and load, let it go, the loathsome side show is coming on down the town barker in your hand it’s a bedlam jam we’ll be tearing it up all around Jackie: I always hated birthdays John: Why’d you not get to safety? Jackie: I’m staying, staying by your side You’re my blood, i won’t leave you i won’t run We’re not alone, not here, not you and i And besides I never call on birthdays John: Jackie! Jackie: I wish for your forgiveness I wish the past was different I wish i would have known… John: I wish for stars and sails Pipe dreams and fairy tales But atonement time has flown In the fire In the fire In the fire Bathe in the fire Run or taste my rage Run or this is your last day Run run away Run and on the day you come You are done i say Run run away In the fire, In the fire.
23.
Announcer: Although John O’Brien died on the Blvd. of Cryers He took the city forces with him to the other side The rebels over ran a defenseless Parliament But then turned on each other so no government now stands On Cryers Blvd that day, there were some who walked away After Constance sang they dropped their guns though why no one can say They left the city yet no one’s quite sure where they went But some say they hear bells ringing in the mountains to the west Constance fought and fought until one day they changed the laws Regarding women in the District where the upper classes flock Then she and Thomas left. No one’s quite sure where they went But they were last seen headed to the mountains in the west New Albion still stands but it’s broken, fractured and Its eight Districts function independently as best they can There’s checkpoints in between, they eye each other warily But the for the time despite all of this tension there is peace The Voodoopunks, my friends, are resurfacing again Though who can say if this is good or bad for New Albion The city must unite, it cannot stand with such divide But we leace discussion of this point for another time So again we bid adieu to our players and to you Same old channel, same old hour be sure to next time tune Until then we say good day. The future’s always on its way and thus we end our passion play as it's played today

about

This is the second album in The New Albion Trilogy. Please check out the first one:The Dolls of New Albion, A Steampunk Opera. Coming in 2014: The Atompunk Opera.

More info and story information at the blog: steampunkopera.wordpress.com

credits

released May 20, 2013

Featuring:
Lauren Osborn as Constance
Oliver Marsh as John
Courtney Ellis as Jacqueline

Guitar in Act 1 by Matthew Broyles

Cover art by Pixelwayve

Written and Produced by Paul Shapera

The biggest and best thanks to Mark Swetz and Kevin Hulburt.
Additional thanks to Tess and Glen Osborn, Patrick Plonski and Nadia Adame & Leyna.

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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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