Rock Opera / Concept Album: The Picasso Album (working title)

[FuzzFace]

For anyone who is curious, here is the plot synopsis:


This is the story of Alex.

Frustrated by his level of impotence and dysfunction as a result of trying to force his life into a mould as a working man and married man, Alex abandons it all and goes to Spain, with the goal of reviving his latent idealism, optimism and youthful energy.  Strapped for cash, he gets a job as night-watch at the Picasso Museum, where each night his concious and subconcious interact with the paintings, pushing him to reassess his past, confront his present and formulate his future.

Alex spirals downward as he realizes how cynical he's become, and looks down upon others for being like him, until he is ultimately moved to relocate in order to help rebuild a 3rd world country ravaged by earthquake.


* * *

Feedback/input is welcome!

[FuzzFace]

Here is everything to-date with all revisions:


Cup of Coffee
(This is about how the daily splash of black coffee on his lips is his only reminder that he's still alive).

You bridge the gap
between my young and my old soul
you kindle my urge
to come in from the cold

You make a splash
You tap into the dream
You shatter the glass
With your merciless steam

You make me feel alive
You awaken in me
the fighter / the saviour
I taste my destiny

My eyes are a portal
Past my lips hot air blows
Blood is thicker than water
through my body it flows

But I'm locked in a room
of perpetual gloom
I run in a wheel
I produce and consume

Black gold you fuel the fire
as I push and I burn and I tire
for giants who wallow in mire
my feelings make me a liar

I'm paid for my silence
to maintain a pretense
while the third world slaves
to give me what I crave

You're my only solace
I run an impossible race
but with only one little taste
I can go and not leave a trace.


http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/timage_f?object=66506&image=16657&c=
  


The Lovers

You're a good woman, my dear
But we've reached an impasse, I fear
We have too many colours inside
which I never wanted to hide

I would put it all out on the table
If only, my love, I was able
I hate that my love is not stable
Now I'm coming to tell you goodbye

One time we were on the same page
now it's dog-eared and torn and I misplaced the book
I have searched for myself
but I don't even know where to look

I'm not the man I was meant to be
when I look in the mirror I can't say what I see
and the more I think of your love that I took
the more I feel like a crook

My dear you have so many dreams
that you'd willingly give up for me
but if we live our lives independently
we'll both be all that we can be.


http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/timage_f?object=46667&image=10521&c=



Barcelona Beach  

Far away
from my home so grey
is a land of sand and sun and play
and when I'm there I have no name
I'm a man with a heart
There's no rules / there's no game

Would you call it "zen" or simply call it "sane"
To live a blissful day free of trouble and pain?
I ask myself which is the better way
to live the life I inherited or start fresh today?

Blue sky above and white sand below
under my feet and between my toes
waves they crash
the tide comes and goes
even busy bees stop
to smell a rose

Nature or nuture? / Even plants have instinct
Yet I choose my path / I am 'cause I think
But when I open my eyes / and see the natural world
I know who I am / the knots come unfurled

There's a place inside hiding in your core
it was there long ago before there was a war
it's protected well, safely locked down
away from all thought / doesn't make any sound

I'm hiding here and no one can tell
I've been hiding from me / I've been hiding from hell
Cloudless Sky, Starless Night
I call out to you with all my might.


http://iberianature.com/barcelona/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/picasso_beach-barceloneta-g.jpg



Boy Leading A Horse
(This is a flashback to his youth).

The sky is infinite, the world is round
though all that I need is here on the ground

I tackle the mountains, I swing from the trees
I sail tall ships, making discoveries

I ride camels and horses / I bring countries to me
Every day is a trip / Life, an endless journey

My arms and my legs are servants to me
I don't ever see my very own face

though I see the wall in China
from up in outer space.


http://www.archweb.it/arte/artisti_P/Picasso_G/images/Pablo%20Picasso%20-%20Boy%20Leading%20a%20Horse.JPG



Desmoiselles d'Avignon

"The captain goes down with the ship"
rings in my ears / on the shore as I sit
fragments of my life drift away
I flashback, and farewell I bid

Have I died and gone to heaven
or has life abandoned me for pretending?
What do I live for? What is in store?
I'd man my post but it exists no more

A dress propped-up by a thousand orgasms
the wind caresses my one million phantasms
A kaleidoscope of life advances
Emotions are like passing trances

Soothing voices, singing, dancing
Never felt so like a king
Since those months back in the womb
where I owned everything

Bide my time I'm going nowhere
Am I carefree or do I just not care?
Have I fallen in some kind of trap
enjoying the natural wonders I lacked

I spoil it by overthinking
Why again was my boat sinking?
Life is about compromise
I guess I'm not ready to be that wise.


http://blogs.princeton.edu/wri152-3/f05/cargyros/the_brothels.html
  


Salomé

Woman the floor hurts my bones
the couch smells like a foreign market
I'm uncomfortable in my own skin

Will you take me in?
Will you answer to whatever I call you?
Allow me to escape from every thought within?

Your movements mesmerize me
Your contour intoxicates me
Your curves tease the stars

When the lights are out
I'll get on my knees
and hold you exactly as I please

My sweat drips like tears
the noise in my head it all clears
as sweet relief quickly nears

I selfishly commit
the only act of creation
empowered to me

And give you all I have
to offer the world
in a single moment of ecstasy

Your life is a ballet
a choreography
I hope you find what you want one day

I am astray / I am going away
I'll wander to places more dismal than this
through the door I go without even a kiss.


http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/salome.jpg
 


Blind Minotaur (Led By A Girl)
(This is a mythological symbol of how his life was shaped by his childhood crush - à la Great Expectations)

An angel
guides me with her staff
where I come from
no one ever laughs

Awakening
from my state of dormancy
muscles contract
like machinery

This world
is too bright to see
I was born today
will you give me what I need?

Will you feed me
pet me like an animal
wean me and teach me
the tricks I need to know?

I adore you
my life is in your hands
Do I please you?
I am merely dust and sand

But the sun it burns
and the ground it quakes
you know what you want
but do you know what's at stake?

These chains that bind me
could so easily break
I'll pitch all that's in my path
to the fiery lake

When I open my eyes I can't see you
for all that I know I could be you
the place where I'm from is darker than this
I hate to think that ignorance is bliss

My love burns like fire
Fire is the end / Fire is death
The hottest fire is invisible
We learn with our final breath


http://nonsensegrandcentral.com/?p=128
  


Guernica
(This is his frustration over jaded cynicism in himself and in general).  
(Thanks to Facemask 93 and AK for help making this one work).

My faceless nameless state of mind
between fastforward and rewind
across the table glares at me
mockingly he stares at me

and revels in my agony
With questions that are cutting me
When did I learn to tolerate
the very evil that I hate?

our murderous wars, the thirst for more
turned mankind to a desperate whore
reduced our love into a chore

locked in cherished institutions
writing our own absolutions
safe within hallowed ground
a tree it falls, makes not a sound

Gathering collectively
To justify necessity
we mobbed and lynched simplicity

we happily stabbed this honest life
with a sharpened, cynical knife
Hearts are hard / we're still scarred
broken shards, child and wife

I say "we" but could it be
I came to change the world
But the world changed me?


http://artcritique.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/guernica.jpg



The Old Guitarist  

You could be me
and would that make me you?
Had I been born in another time
would all that's old be new?

It was never meant to be this way
times they change / this time has been so blue
people see themselves in you
and in all the pain you've been through

If you went home where would that be?
"My home I carry with me
everything I have is a gift
the world is a bountiful tree"

If you could give the world one gift
then what would that gift be?
"I would give the world what it needs most:
the ability to see"

Need a man be blind to teach the world to see?
Need a man be chained in order to be free?
Is a life the price of living?  I can get down on one knee
If I do all I can, will I be all that I can be?


http://www.theartistpablopicasso.com/pablo-picasso-painting-old-guitarist.htm



Still to come....


Joie de Vivre    
http://www.artgalleryartist.com/pablo-picasso/painting/joie_de_vivre.jpg



The Dove of Peace    
http://www.biographyonline.net/artists/images/picasso%20peace.gif

[Ferryman_1957]

Bloomin' heck Fuzz Face, this is some body of work. Very impressive, and I like the way you have weaved this together into a real concept album.

Looking forward to the last sets of lyrics.....

Cheers,

Nigel

[Oldrottenhead]

Ken, we are putting together a collection of tracks all inspired by Picasso paintings. The "glue" behind the concept will be Fuzz Face, who is providing the lyrics for each track. So there must be vocals, but the style is whatever you think suits the painting and the lyrics that you choose to do. You can do one on your own, or work with others. I would suggest a combination of you and ORH (Jim) for vocals would be a killer.

i'm up for that will be interesting singing someone elses words, i really enjoyed singing thareks words in norway. stilling hanging onto a little Joie de Vivre   from my adventures there so put me done for that with tafkak (ken now kenneth)

[Oldrottenhead]

here is ken and my entry hope it is suitable joi de vivre

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=8732.msg116450#msg116450

[Ferryman_1957]

here is ken and my entry hope it is suitable joi de vivre

Great song, but it's not followed the guidelines of the album. The whole idea was that Fuzz Face was providing a complete set of lyrics for all the songs that follwed his conceptual idea, then we would put them to music. He just hasn;t got round to posting the lyrics for Joie de Vivre yet. So you doing your own lyrics (good as they are) has kind've blown the concept of the concept album. Let's wait and see what Fuzz Face thinks. Perhaps he could provide a set of lyrics that might fit Ken's music so you can redo it for the album? Or perhaps he may be happy with what you did.

UPDATE - Jim PM'd me that indeed Fuzz Face is very happy with this lyrical take. So that's great all round.

Cheers,

Nigel  

[Bluesberry]

Barcelona Beach posted here:

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=8739.0

[FuzzFace]

UPDATE - Jim PM'd me that indeed Fuzz Face is very happy with this lyrical take. So that's great all round.

I think it's a fantastic song.  The lyrics and music are great.  

I may still follow through with what I have been working on.  If someone wants to record my Joie de Vivre, there's nothing wrong with having an alternate ending or a B-side or something.

I think it's great to see such creativity and ingenuity flowing...

[FuzzFace]

Here is the closer:

Dove of Peace

Like the first sun beam at the break of dawn
spring has arrived / winter is gone
it's the spring of all springs / the spring of our lives
perched on my sill sits the will to survive

Mourning has past for all that's been killed
A time of need is a time to rebuild
I've had my day of rest but I feel more blessed
to give of the love of which I've been filled

The green leaf betrays life's power to stay
Can you hear what it's trying to say?
About what matters in life / To laugh and live well
About peace and harmony now on this day

Let's never forget how we came to this place
Let's not repeat the same mistakes
Preserve and cherish the joy that we have
Be there for each other on this / miraculous path

[Ferryman_1957]

Wow, more great lyrics Fuzz Face. Cool stuff.

I think these lyrics would really suit one of Tharek's beautiful arrangements. I wonder if we could encourage him to get involved?

Cheers,

Nigel