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Lazarus


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Description
After 18 years of sitting on the love of this audio recording from an old broadcast in 1962, I have finally set this to music -- my way.

“Lady Lazarus”, Sylvia Plath.

Her brilliance of writing, paired with the almost wirey thin angst of her actually reading her own work in to a microphone was so musical, so lyrical, so powerful . . .

I have turned it into pop music . . .
Original recording’s and reproductions are from “Spoken” and “The Poet Speaks - #5” audio books.

Sylvia's recordings were made in London on 30th October 1962.
The catalogue number is Argo PLP 1085.

Please contact me on how to obtain a copy.
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Lyrics
Lady Lazarus

I have done it again.
One year in every ten
I manage it----

A sort of walking miracle, my skin
Bright as a Nazi lampshade,
My right foot

A paperweight,
My face a featureless, fine
Jew linen.

Peel off the napkin
0 my enemy.
Do I terrify?----

The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth?
The sour breath
Will vanish in a day.

Soon, soon the flesh
The grave cave ate will be
At home on me

And I a smiling woman.
I am only thirty.
And like the cat I have nine times to die.

This is Number Three.
What a trash
To annihilate each decade.

What a million filaments.
The peanut-crunching crowd
Shoves in to see

Them unwrap me hand and foot
The big strip tease.
Gentlemen, ladies

These are my hands
My knees.
I may be skin and bone,

Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman.
The first time it happened I was ten.
It was an accident.

The second time I meant
To last it out and not come back at all.
I rocked shut

As a seashell.
They had to call and call
And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls.

Dying
Is an art, like everything else,
I do it exceptionally well.

I do it so it feels like hell.
I do it so it feels real.
I guess you could say I've a call.

It's easy enough to do it in a cell.
It's easy enough to do it and stay put.
It's the theatrical

Comeback in broad day
To the same place, the same face, the same brute
Amused shout:

'A miracle!'
That knocks me out.
There is a charge

For the eyeing of my scars, there is a charge
For the hearing of my heart----
It really goes.

And there is a charge, a very large charge
For a word or a touch
Or a bit of blood

Or a piece of my hair or my clothes.
So, so, Herr Doktor.
So, Herr Enemy.

I am your opus,
I am your valuable,
The pure gold baby

That melts to a shriek.
I turn and burn.
Do not think I underestimate your great concern.

Ash, ash ---
You poke and stir.
Flesh, bone, there is nothing there----

A cake of soap,
A wedding ring,
A gold filling.

Herr God, Herr Lucifer
Beware
Beware.

Out of the ash
I rise with my red hair
And I eat men like air.

Sylvia Plath
Song Stats
Hits: 289
Comments: 6
Fans: 3
Plays: 25
Downloads: 0
Votes:
Uploaded: Jul 26, 2009 - 04:10:00 PM
Last Updated: Jul 26, 2009 - 04:10:00 PM Last Played: Nov 07, 2009 - 08:31:42 PM
Song License
Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Creative Commons

Song Actions
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Hardware:
Control Surfaces:
8 Keyboards / Control Surfaces ranging from 49 to 88 keys each;
Access Virus
Mackie mixers; NI Kore Hardware..
Rack Gear:
A-Station; Yamaha HA-8 Pre-Amp;
TC Helicon Quintet;
MOTU MIDI Timepiece;
Audix and Rode N2Ta Mics.

Yamaha HSM-80’s for referencing, as well as a 5.1 + sub for surround mixing.
Software:
Studio Setup:
Apple: 1G3; 2 G4’s; (hubbed to main)
3.06GHz Intel 24” iMac --running Leopard;
Pro Tools 8 , Live 8, Reason 4 and Kore (2) Complete; AAS Tassman;
Spectrasonics Instruments; Sonalksis, Nomad, Bias and Waves for Mastering Purpose; Abbey Road Studio package for sweetness and authenticity of certain tracks.
Ohm Force, Stillwell, Sound Toys
Comments
Feter said 117 days ago (July 26th, 2009)
Lazarus
Great production ...loved the reading track ...
deal with it so good ...the music behind it is
terrific ...very cool mixing ...thnx alot for
sharin !!!!
davisamerica said 117 days ago (July 26th, 2009)
and i eat men like air ....
you actually posted a tune with that line and did not allow downloading....shame on you! :-]
Check out my latest song called No Son(egobandit band)
fishboisfo said 117 days ago (July 26th, 2009)
hey there man
hahahaha :) Thanks for noticing !!
Check out my latest song called Lazarus
racerat said 117 days ago (July 26th, 2009)
fish
Great song. I love the counter balance between the speedy dance beat and the more plaintive synth pads. One thought, the echo tail on her vocal could have been played with a little, maybe using it in parts and then other parts not having an echo, to mix things up a bit and make it a little less predictable. Thanks for this one. Bummer no DL button!
Philip
Check out my latest song called Frank's Song
fishboisfo said 117 days ago (July 26th, 2009)
agreed
I know just where to cut as well -- we're completely on the same wavelength :) Thanks for taking the time and the care to make such a comment !! I love your stuff, btw . . . . !
Check out my latest song called Lazarus
VicDiesel said 115 days ago (July 28th, 2009)
Veeeeeeeery nice
Nice and subtle keyboard work here with a great driving beat. Perfect setting of that poem. Top class stuff.
Check out my latest song called Desert Stars
Artist Info
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Name: donald gordon-bell
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Donald Gordon-Bell (aka fishboi: sfo) is a composer, songwriter, performer and moving towards my degree as a mastering engineer as well as proprietor of DGB Studio. Originally from Rhode Island, Donald has lived all over the United States. All thro... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

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