1. |
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2. |
Crimson Hilltop Picnic
03:49
|
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|
hey, jenny,
do you want to go
to crimson hilltop?
it would be so lovely
for our first date.
I know it’s a little late
to ask of you some time for me,
but, jenny, you look so beautiful
with your purple hair
and your pale blue eyes,
to abide by the town.
You spoke of how you wanted
to get away
from your father
who beat you every day.
The pruning of your maladies
begins with this picnic.
I’ll bring apricots
all the berries that you want.
We’ll sit in the bower
of the red maple.
Disentangle ourselves
from the town below.
The church and the people
will grow stale staring at the steeple
of their absent god.
Doesn’t your father roar before
he commands you to pray?
Just wear your floral dress
that accentuates your dimpled gait.
We’ll look down upon the town,
and the graveyard behind us
though we won’t tell a difference
which from which.
I promise you, jenny,
I’ll make your crying stop.
We’ll be something blooming
as we flee from this town’s loom.
At crimson hilltop
above it all
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3. |
Bonfire of Antlers
03:03
|
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|
Jenny and Lorn supped
on fruit and wine
when dusk rolled in
and the lights below turned on.
They gawked at the smothering sun
and told tales of their forebears
all the broken gears of their ideologies
they were soon to abandon.
But when the horizon snuffed the sun
and the two were kissing in the dark,
behind them was lit a bonfire
by the crypt of the town’s first mayor.
The two lovers, now shadows upon the maple trunk,
were startled to discover such activity.
From behind the crypt crept a legion of antler-bearing figures,
clad in potato sack drapes,
and lit their individual sticks.
Lorn, calm despite the image, assured
Jenny it was mere juvenile jest.
The antler-bearing figures formed a straight line
and walked through the graveyard
like meandering stars.
Jenny trembled at the sight
of the approaching lights.
But Lorn, who had sensed her pending retreat,
covered her mouth
and pinned her to the red grass.
From a distance the lights were ascending the backside of crimson hill,
toward the red maple that was lightly aglow from the fire.
When the got to the peak of the hill,
they instructed Lorn to fasten Jenny
to the bright side of the maple tree.
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4. |
Ode to Mayor Munson!
02:36
|
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|
O, mayor munson, deft priest of Rorka,
purveyor of enlightenment,
we offer this ripe woman
to thee in the light of thine crypt fire.
We have uttered our prayer
and found our supping child
as your doctrine mandates.
Zorbast, scapegoat of thine forest,
shadow monger, feed upon the still ashes and bloody coals tonight.
The town prospers from your gratitude.
Feed, Zorbast, when the fire dims low and we have gone to rest.
Feed Zorbast, for your forest protection is worth the price.
At that, Lorn untied ripe Jenny,
whose body was limp
from the constricting rope.
She awoke during their second prayer,
at the foot of the maple tree.
With half-open eyes she looked for an escape,
and when she did, she up and ran.
What enabled the getaway
were the locking of antlers
of two clashing figure’s crowns.
and ran she did,
down the side of the hill,
toward the forest between the town and the hill.
Torches followed, like hurt varmint
|
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5. |
Antlers or Branches?
01:22
|
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6. |
Antler Vertigo
01:52
|
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7. |
Run, Jenny, Run!
01:44
|
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|
run, jenny, run
away
yeah
run, jenny, run,
but no-one is going to save you
before the night is through
run, jenny, run!
run, jenny, run!
RUN, JENNY, RUN!
RUN, JENNY, RUN!
RUN, JENNY!
RUN, JENNY!
|
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8. |
Intermission: Side B
00:24
|
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9. |
Too Bad Aly Loved Cybil
03:22
|
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|
it’s really too bad
aly fell in love with cybil
why did she have to be so desperate
to marry someone so quickly
so when the marriage was done
and they had some kids
cybil worked hard to set up
his logging business
in the their town
when business tied the town
together
cybil was revered
and commended for his work
Aly went and wandered
into the forest
to rekindle her roots
with nature she once adored
but someone stalked her
on her way into the forest
and watched her graze the brambles
watched her start a fire and gaze upon it
like a shrine
and when he got back
to the town
he publicly shamed her
for her witchcraft
but she cried innocent
when the town bemoaned
her potential harm
cybil stole her away
and took her back
and questioned
what she did
her story didn’t change
and neither did the crowd’s
and now aly
looked to cybil
for some help
and already his grasp
was loose
his wandering round the room
because he was already thinking
about the gallows
that would preserve
his public reception
yeah
it’s really too bad aly loved cybil
|
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10. |
Cybil and Libel
03:22
|
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|
Cybil saved himself and his industry
by casting Aly out.
The crowd demanded immediate disposal.
He obliged unflinchingly.
He was religious, after all. heavily devout.
Not even the clout of their connection
could combat the pressure of public scrutiny
and the compunction of defending the condemned lover.
They demanded cybil lead them to the holy twig of sandrymore
to commit the purge, and to rid himself of her influence.
the exultations of the crowd boomed
loud in the forest
like the cackling crows
perched upon dry twigs
in the leafless trees
to the hanging twig! shouted one
behead by way of rope! screamed another
muffled
from the scrambling rancour
of the townsfolk
Cybil led the crowd
with his defeated wife in hand
to put on display his devotion
to the cornucopia
Purge this town of sin! his voice cracked
and they placed the noose round her neck
she kicked and clawed at her neck
as one pulled the rope round the trunk of the tree.
her screams like a growl
which the crowd viewed as hellish retort
so they yanked her high
and watched as this flailed
like a wounded wolf in a trap
and the fellow who stalked her
was viewed a keen and commendable townsman
but really he was just looking to be revered
all along
since had long harboured the feeling
that nobody really cared for him
|
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11. |
Sweet Aly Swaying
01:44
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12. |
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strolling through rye Lunenburg, Ontario
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