Baby We Never Had [What Might Have Been]

Baby We Never Had [What Might Have Been]

© 2014, Stephen Rowe

Still think about those days, now and then,

Firefly nights, way back when,

Love's rainbow glow, dancing in the wind...

You and I - What might have been...

And I think about a child of ours,

Yea I wonder ‘bout a child of ours,

Do you think about a child of ours?

About the baby that we never had?

Hothouse summer of our young lust,

Fruit on vine, aching to bust,

Ecstasy’s prism, lit by your touch.

Lightning passion, do as we must...

But where is that child of ours?
Who is that child of ours?

Do you think about that child of ours?

About the baby that we might have had?

Name him Bob, or call her Sue?

She look like me, he look like you?
Would it have mattered if we knew?

Think we might have made it through?

I still wonder ‘bout that child of ours,

Yea I wonder ‘bout that babe of ours,

Do you wonder ‘bout that child of ours?

About the baby that we couldn’t have?

Would he be short, or she be tall?

Would she stutter, would he fall?

He be gentle, she be strong?

Were we right, or were we wrong...

About that sun beam baby of ours,

About that love child baby of ours,

About that halo baby of ours...

About the baby that we wouldn’t have?

Little fuzzy now, about the time,

Would she be ten today, or he be nine?

Does it matter now, so long ago?

You ever wonder? You long to know?

Yea I wonder ‘bout that child of ours,

That stardust baby child of ours,

I still reach out for that child of ours...

For the baby that we never had.

Babe did we have eyes enough?

Baby did we try enough?

Baby were we wise enough?

Baby did we cry enough?

...

For that summer love baby child,

For that moonbeam baby child,

For that jewel-seed baby child...

For the baby that we didn’t have?

For commentary on these lyrics with respect to:

         Art and Personal Belief

         Interpretation

         Music and Voice

    Click on Baby We Never Had (Appendix)

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Stephen Rowe
630.251.6931

LyricsInSearchOfSongs@gmail.com

I'm an Old Man Now

© 2014, Stephen Rowe

I’m an old man now, just like my father was

In his final years, in his final fears,

I’m an old man now like my old man was,

Standing at the foot of his grave 

 No cries, just sighs, I can hear them now, 

‘Cause that’s how I am now, I sigh that way now,

We’re the same age now, I’m an old man now,

And I hear my own sighs in his grave 

 Wasn’t much to say, just pretend, just pretend, 

We could pass that way, less to rend that way, 

So we passed that way, we got by that way,

Twenty years... still pretend every day 

 But now I think I know, yes I think I see,

Age old mystery, the old age mystery,

And now I think I know, yes I’m sure I see, 

‘Cause twenty years now, that old man’s me 

 I can see his face in my mirror,

I can hear his sighs in my voice,

Some way somehow...

Yeah it turned out now,

That tired old man, he’s me 

 And I see his face in my mirror,

I can hear his sighs in my voice,

His face haunts my own mirror...

Can he see my face from his grave?

Does he hear my sighs in his grave?

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Kum Ba Yah, My Love

© 2014, Stephen Rowe

     Kum ba yah, kum ba yah,

     Come this way, pass by here

Male:

     Will you talk with me, pretty girl?

     Will you walk with me, kum ba yah?

Female:

     Yes I’ll walk with you, hold your hand.

     Will you dance with me, kum ba yah?

Male:

     Yes we’ll dance, and we will laugh,

     Will you sing to me, kum ba yah?

Female:

     I will sing with thee at my side.

Male:

     Will you marry me, be my bride?

Female:

     I will marry you, kum ba yah,

Male and Female:

     We will marry, kum ba yah.

     Kum ba yah, my love, kum ba yah,

     We will marry, kum ba yah.

Female:

     So much older now, come to me.

Male:

     So many years passed, stay with me.

     But now you’re crying, love, why the tears?

Female:

     Crying for you, my love, for I must go,

     Time I pass, my love, kum ba yah.

     Kum ba yah, my love, pass by here,

     Kum ba yah, kum ba yah.

     Kum ba yah, love, kum ba yah,

     Kum ba yah, kum ba yah, kum ba yah, kum ba yah.

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Stephen Rowe
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Bees Love Honey and the Birds Love Rock and Roll!

Yesterday I woke up dreaming that my graduate degree professors thought I wasn’t serious enough about mathematics, because I was running around chasing girls, singing “...the bees love honey and the birds love Rock and Roll...” Upon waking, I Googled the two phrases “bees love honey” and “birds love rock and roll.” Sure enough it is unique, nowhere on the internet have these two phrases appeared in the same web site, whatsoever, at least as far as Google knows. Might have had a nice little ditty 55-60 years ago, and lots of little girlfriends!

Bees Love Honey and the Birds Love Rock and Roll

© 2014, Stephen Rowe

Well, the bees love honey and the birds love Rock and Roll

Yes, the bees love honey and the birds love Rock and Roll

It’s been that way since oh so long ago...

 [rocking / bopping / rhythm]

#      #      #      #      #      #      #     

When I was young, 
My Daddy said “Boy

This world’s made for music, 
And music’s made for joy”

So the bees love honey and the birds love Rock and Roll

Yes the bees love honey and the birds love Rock and Roll

And that’s the way it is, everywhere I go

[rocking / bopping / rhythm]

#      #      #      #      #      #      #     

The bees they buzz, the birds they sing

Honey and Song, you know what I mean

It’s nature’s way, since Adam and Eve

Twitter and tweet, it’s all so sweet

And so the bees love honey and the birds love Rock and Roll

Yes the bees love honey and the birds love Rock and Roll

Daddy knew it then, now I’m a Rockin’ Daddy’O

 [rocking / bopping / rhythm]

#      #      #      #      #      #      #     

The bees they dance, around the hive

The birds they sing their own sweet jive

Me and my baby, we do the same thing

We Rock and Roll, you know what I mean...

And the bees love honey and the birds love Rock and Roll

Yes, the bees love honey and the birds love Rock and Roll

All God’s creatures- we all love to Rock and Roll!

[rocking / bopping / rhythm]

#      #      #      #      #      #      #      

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Stephen Rowe
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The Saga of Geezer Blue

Well they call me “Geezer Blue,”

And what that means, I’ll share with you....

da da te dum, etc....

Cause by and by you’re going to find,

You want to be a Geezer too!

ta ta de tum, etc...

“Geezer Blue” is not a Lyric in Search of a Song, but rather a persona in search of musical and lyrical expression. I, Stephen Rowe, am Geezer Blue’s Father/Creator and Holy Ghost, and have written his Saga, but the world awaits his musical incarnations, prophets, and balladeers... who might well be You!

What in the world are you talking about???

Let me explain:

On February 17 and 18, 2014, I published The Saga of Geezer Blue in my Stephen Rowe: Ideas and Musings Cyber Tunnel and on Facebook. It is a singular work consisting of twenty Musings and thirty graphics that fundamentally took a lifetime (my 62 years) to write. So if you are interested, first read or at least skim through that initial publication, and particularly note the words:

Geezer Blue is not entirely “me,” but rather an imaginative, artistic creation - regardless of how much we might seem to hold in common.

Now suppose you have read the Saga and it resonates for you; your experience, your feelings, etc. Then you might want to elaborate and enlarge upon the Saga, and that is welcome as long as you do so in a way that respects and possibly enlarges its status as legend, myth, etc., but without expropriating the persona as your own.

So for instance, you might sing:

·        Historically: about Geezer Blue, his exploits and actions

·        Apocryphally: “Some say that Geezer Blue...”

·        Simile: “feeling like Geezer Blue...”

·  Metaphorically: “Call me Geezer Blue...” (but without implying you are really that persona); or even singing "I am Geezer Blue..." as long as it is somehow understood or implied that the "I" is an adaptive version of an underlying, pre-existing figure.

·    And in whatever creative/artistic vein you can imagine, so long as you do not seem to appropriate the persona as your own; it should always be clear that though Geezer Blue relates to your experience, attitudes, psyche, etc, he is not you literally.

All that said, there is enormous lyrical, musical, emotional, cultural, and philosophical opportunity in Geezer Blue. The Saga is an inexhaustible fountainhead waiting only the “right” musical incarnations, prophets, and balladeers.

Finally, should you choose this path:

·        I would very much appreciate your keeping me abreast of the art you create from the Saga’s rudiments.

·        I wish you well...

·        If you are a true artist, your art is Holy to you, and I am truly am honored that you find merit in mine.

Click here for the full/entire, graphic-laden Saga of Geezer Blue 

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Stephen Rowe

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Fairy Tigress Blues

Different (but very similar) male/female versions that could (but need not) be interleaved here and there in a call-response vein.

Call me Geezer Blue (aka Stephen Rowe) [an avatar I fleshed out in a blog post,The Saga of Geezer Blue. Just click on the link, many interesting notions and graphics].

Fairy Tigress Blues (sung by a male)

Now I call my baby “Kitten,” ‘cause my baby, she’s a little shy.

Yes, I call my girl “Kitten,” ‘cause she purrrrrs, but she’s kind’a shy.

Then we do a little petting, woman turns tigress by and by.

Now my kitten she’s a tigress, with an instinct how to fly.

Yes my woman, she’s a Fairy Tigress, and she flies us both so high...

Only way to land, with my spear between her thighs...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fairy Tigress Blues (sung by a female)

My baby calls me “Kitten,” ‘cause sometime I’m a little shy.

Yes, my man, he calls me “Kitten,” ‘cause I purrrrr, but I’m kind’a shy.

Then we do a little petting, this woman’s a tigress by and by.

Now his kitten she’s a tigress, with an instinct how to fly.

Yes this woman she’s a Fairy Tigress, and I fly us both so high...

Only way to land, with his spear between my thighs...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note the progression in the male version (similar in the female version):

            Baby/Kitten

            Girl/Purring kitten

            Petting

            Woman/Tigress with instinct to fly

            Fairy Tigress that does fly

In Elizabethan English, the phrase "to die” can refer to sexual climax. This knowledge adds to the poetry, but is not essential.

© Stephen Rowe, 2013

Fairy Tigress Blues by Stephen Rowe is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


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Stephen Rowe
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Bewitched by the Material Bitch

Bewitched by the Material Bitch is a musical, lyrical, artistic collage reflecting spiritual holocaust born of contemporary, near-pornographic materialism and consumerism.

Elements and Movements

1.      In the first movement, a background of hypnotic trance music evolves in tandem with a chorus of solo but various male and female voices. The choral fabric is initially sparse, as occasional voices pierce the background music with short phrases such as BMW, Abercrombie-Fitch, skinny jeans, etc –Archangels of consumer culture and desire. 

2.      In the second movement, the music and voices begin to reflect emerging desire - not (yet) strong lust, but a definite swell of nascent arousal. The Archangel names continue, joined now by expressions such as Wish I had, Hope I get, More of That, Want to be, This and that, Want that dress, Need that car, Have it all, Wanta to be rich, etc. 

Throughout the first two movements, the voices are floating, disembodied, emanating from different directions, fragmented, suggestive … but void of narrative coherence. The mood is that of an erotic dreamscape, which evolves throughout the latter two movements, rising to a fevered, frenzied pitch. 

3.      As this evolution unfolds, the Material Bitch comes into view: an irrational, impossible, surreal mix of seductive woman, pagan idol, succubus, and voodoo witch. This surreal artistic composite is achieved by progressively injecting phrases such as are outlined farther below. Throughout this and the final movement, phrasing and expression reflect increasingly tormented lust, swelling toward a hellish climax. 

4.      In the final movement, the crescendo peaks in an orgasmic finale, wherein some performances might include A Counterpoint Option (see heading below).

Attributes of the Material Bitch

As noted above, the Material Bitch is an irrational, surreal mix of seductive woman, pagan idol, succubus, and voodoo witch. Throughout the last movements, her attributes (listed just below) are chanted with progressively increasing frequency and emotional intensity; previously introduced chants continue, but with less frequency now, as these Material Bitch attributes (and chants listed in the Idolatry/Voodoo section farther yet below) join to dominate the mix:

Diamond nipples / Fifteen carrots, Ruby tongue, Emerald eyes / Green as Envy, Gold-spun hair, Designer tush, Ivory legs, Platinum pusssy / Blinding bright, Blood-red lips, Ebony heart.

Idolatry, Voodoo, and the Material Bitch

As the Material Bitch attributes listed above are added to the mix of chants, so are phrases expressing idolatry, possession, extreme lust, and phrases that include or rhyme with bitch and Voodoo, such as:

Voodoo spell, Material hell, Voodoo Witch, Material Bitch, I want to burn, I’ll worship you, Got to have her, Have to have you, Sell my soul, Sell my daughter, Need her so, Bewitched by the Material Bitch, Possessed by the Material Bitch, Spellbound by a Voodoo witch, I want her I want her I want her …, Filthy rich, etc.

A Counterpoint Option

Some performances might include a counterpoint option: as the crescendo approaches orgasm, new voices phrase brief insight and prayer, such as: Possessed by my possessions, Help me Jesus, Bless me Buddha, Give me peace, Just want peace, etc. These insights and prayers might be fervent cries spurred by torment and thirst in the hell of the Material Desert; or they might be calm but relatively isolated counterpoints to the tortured souls spellbound by the Material Bitch.

© Stephen Rowe, 2013

Bewitched by the Material Bitch by Stephen Rowe is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Stephen Rowe
630.251.6931

LyricsInSearchOfSongs@gmail.com