My brief explanation may sound a bit pretentious or pompous, but I'm fine with that.
Several years ago I was going through a divorce and started reinvesting in my passion for music and metaphysics. Long story short, I started writing some songs based around the
Ramayana, but told from the perspective of Ravana, the Demon King and antagonist of the story. His back story is more interesting and not really included in the Ramayan. He was once called Jaya.
He and his brother, Vijaya, stood guard at Lord Vishnu's celestial palace. One day, four children arrived and demanded admittance to Vishnu's palace. Devoted Jaya turned them away, stating Vishnu couldn't be bothered by children. Of course, they weren't children, they were the first beings created by Brahma (Kumaras), and they made a stink so loud, Vishnu himself appeared. After ascertaining the situation, Vishnu obeyed the Kumaras' demand for retribution and banished Jaya and Vijaya. Merciful, Vishnu offered a choice- Incarnate as a mortal three times as his enemy, or seven times as his friend, and at the end, they can return. They chose to be Vishnu's enemy. Ravana is Jaya's second incarnation.
I didn't intend to start writing songs about this, it just sort of ended up that way. It makes sense, in an obvious and cliche way, that someone reluctantly going through a divorce would find affinity with this classically Indian anti-villain. Anywho, these are some lyrics. I haven't done any recording for it yet, I'm still sort of figuring out the particulars on how I want to approach the music. They're also really friggin' mopey, so you've been warned.
Quote:Peri Wink
every night I'm just sitting, waiting for the morning
but you're never coming home
every day I'm just waiting on the moon to call me
'cause "just a man" ain't good enough
we both wanted happy-ever-after, and everything that goes
we both got the laughter of a lunatic entangled in our throats
we both thought that in those Autumn days, stricken by the boon,
"This beast is altered- given to the fang, taken by the moon.."
but when he's in the sky,
I try to follow you
back to your den,
again and again
you never let me in
that's why I've got them damned
periwinkle blues
Peri winks at me just like she were you
while I was busy chasing down the Soma
I never saw it in your eyes
I was always looking 'round inside a coma
and everything I saw, I despised
we both wanted something from nothing, and 'nothing' was me
we both got something tempered by the moonlight, howling through the breeze
deep as you bit me, you never swallowed once- ask me how I know
you stand before me, grizzled at the maw, howling through your coat
but when he's in the sky,
I try to follow you
back to your den,
again and again
you never let me in
that's why I've got them damned
periwinkle blues
Peri winks at me just like she were you
Every night I'm just sitting waiting for the morning...
Quote:Amrita
I'm only dying on the inside
in the belly of the beast
you know this flesh wound won't suffice
all things turn eventually
Sweet Amrita,
sink your nitrous in my veins
bubble up into the bends
churn me out under the rains
and tell me this will never end
into my stomach instead of my heart you flow
cradle of sin, my skin is beginning to slough
and a grave is just a sign
along the country side
mine says I've still got a life to go...
don't be surprised when
your nectar turns my gut to stone
infect me with your lycanth
snuff the fire in my throne
Sweet Amrita
I saw you there at mountain's end
you pressed your weight onto a toe
I collapsed under my sin
but let's just see how far this goes
'cause even the cow knows how I've been spending my time
the moon in its height was laughing and planning the crime
his smile is always sharp
as he renders perfect art
Old Chandra- he just won't let me die...
your absence from my lips
springs a poison in my heart
remedial film strips
keep on tearing me apart
Sweet Amrita
I'll cut the nerves under my skin
string and nail them to a board
so when I pluck them pain can sing
you'll know how much you are adored
here in my bed, the heads are beginning to roll
a pit in my throat is open and bleeding my soul
but I've got a lot of fight,
so I ain't headed toward the light
just the shoulder of a long a lonely road...
Quote:Habeas Corpus
From this molding pile of plant
that warms the feet beneath my bed
gather crumbs of dust and decadence
by sixty cycles fed
deep inside, resounding hollow
fill it in with sweet decay
dance tonight, and stay the morrow
to bring the spark you've got to pay
but my coffer's getting low
have I already sold my soul?
then you can have the body
clenching fists of glory sprout
subduing by and bile
the flame is fanning out
from the cusp of Chandra's smile
deep inside, caress my heart
squeeze the blood into my veins
my neck will ever part
'til Shiva brings me down the reigns
'cause I've already sold my soul
now the last of me has to go
so you can have the body
Quote:Dakini
see her watch through window panes into the night
burning wick to finger tip and to the bone
poisoned mattress, dwindled flame has taken light
roll the carpet to the pulpit, to the throne
my Dakini don't want nothing from me-
she just leaves me alone
my Dakini is a wisp on the breeze-
she can't carry me home
all the pupils huddle in the teacher's eye
turning tricks, turning heads and turning hearts
she's in bed still by the country riverside
water flowing to the whole from every part
my Dakini whispers outside my cell
when the key's in the lock
my Dakini knows a path out of hell
but she won't teach me to walk
by afternoon she likes to rise out of the ash
incense coils into the toil of dying light
as I supplicate this wound becomes a gash
to feed the thousand hungry mouths in all their might
my Dakini, she don't laugh all the time
but when she does it's a sight
my Dakini sings a song for the blind
somewhere in paradise
Quote:Ravenous
Asmodeus once told me,
through the thick of his craw,
"take care that your silence don't speak-
that way you never get it wrong.
and when we're carving those circles,
always count the clock wise.
even those demons of old
never knew the reason why."
deep in my skin I can feel it crawling in
am I a slave? am I alive?
how can I live until I die?
no messiah holds a candle to the flame that's in my heart
it's a transitory purgative where even angels give a start
I'll fail ten times out of ten just to make these letters bleed
it's the same old Song of Solomon when even heroes have the need
Old Legion once asked me,
"have we nothing left to eat?
just feed us that pit in your soul,
you can set the rest to seed.
and when we're carving those circles,
we always count the clock wise.
even us demons of old,
never knew the reason why."
Ash unto the fire; fire to the sea
incense at the alter; sweet and salted meat
when you bleed into the chalice,
make sure that it's clean
then raise up the dagger
'til there's nothing left but you and me
enter my ephemera, driven by a ravenous desire
that brings me to you
severed at the scapula, the devil couldn't tempt enough
to lead me to truth
now the vultures all circle
off the foot of my bed
"even those odds that you play,"
dear Sammael had once said.
so when I've carving those circles
I always count the clock wise
even the demons of old
never knew the reason why
Quote:Unencumbered
they say the heart wants
what the heart wants
but the brain beats stronger
when the faith seeds
the roots rot
and the heart grows harder
you're stuck on believing
any half that rings true
pray for me baby
I'll be thinking for you
have you ever gone days
without making a sound?
have you ever gone weeks
without keeping your feet on the ground?
have you ever gone years
without something to say?
can you live another lifetime
before fading away?
because the Lord gives us nothing
that we can't handle
the Lord gives us death
My eyes shut tight to avoid the sight
Anticipating the end, losing the will to fight
Droplets of "yes" and "no"
In an ocean of "maybe"