Adventures in My Mind

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Nov 4, 2005

The Captain Beefheart Radar Station

A raging symphony, delirious and illusory.

I've been aware of Captain Beefheart for many years, mostly because of his collaborations with Frank Zappa. Today a colleague at work lent me Ice Cream for Crow. I'm stunned.

Not everyone's a fan, but the artistry is inescapable ...

The Witch Doctor Life

When the Witch Doctor Life
throws his silent bones
some are crowned kings
while others lose their thrones
When the Witch Doctor Life
throws his silent bones
small "O" mouths scream
and run to Mama Kangaroo
insecure pouches wherein hide
beggars and drones
and babies and bums and buzzards
Mama crouches and smiles
her old useful smile
and old ego roars - laughs yesterday's gasses
while children and angels gasp
and follow a shepherd on crutches
When the Witch Doctor Life
throws his silent bones
some flee the dream
some turn to stone
and the children sing
and the heavens ring
worn by the shepherd with the folded wings
and the bones that sing of silence

Poetry? Just the lyrics alone ... sure. But when mixed with the often disonant and always groove-filled music it rises to another level. Paired with the Captain's gravel on glass voice and it's like listening to moving paintings standing still in a kaliedescopes voice streaming down an empty hallway.

0 Comments | Link to this post   posted by Teddy 11:47 AM

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