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Unplugged

by Louis Barabbas

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    Any money raised from this little record will go towards the production of my new LP "Gentle Songs Of Ceaseless Horror" (hopefully on general release Autumn 2015 through Debt Records).
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1.
If you see my darling With her best dress on Tell her I'm gone Love ain't here no more Though it left its spores in me Now I'm moving on I've done my best But I'm tired of these tests Every damsel I've met Preferred being in distress Good luck and so long Let bygones be bygone Just play some old song That surprised me when I was young Okay Have it your way But I don't have to stay And take this From the likes of you Now where was I? Oh yeah, goodbye I've got too much to do My life's all in front of me Lit up like a christmas tree The rest is all history That's how it appears to me. I've still got all this time Look at me, I feel fine Have another glass of wine Before I go My moments have frozen My vision grows narrow My past now lies fallow In another man's care So take all I am And then suck out the marrow Set alight to my shadow If you dare No, no I won't go. No, no I won't. No, no I won't go. No, no I won't. What will you do With all you know of me When I'm just a memory? Hold that memory close Don't let it get away Tell it to stay Grasp hold of the smoke And lock it up If it moves Make it stop Preserve all that I've got Just don't give me up. Yeah I get the gist I'll be mourned but not missed That's just how it is. Well enough is enough.
2.
There are those in the world that choose to die for what they're feeling But those feelings would never choose to die for them. If emotions had skin then half of mine would be peeling Like petals departing the stem. There are no degrees of greatness, There's just greatness and then there's the rest. Luck is my drug, I just need another hit, One tiny taste and that'll be it. We're all formed in the forge of the rotten parts of heaven Without ever being told what we're designed to be. It looked like it took a lot of time to learn all those lessons But now Time won't learn anything from me. Because I dreamt of a day when Fate lost its teeth And on pillows we lay with them hidden underneath. Luck is my drug, I just need another hit, One tiny taste and that'll be it. Now every soul I see wears the stain of superstition, So gloriously pointless like a retrospective premonition. Let's all dive where it's deepest and speed where none have sped, We'll ride the wave while it knows no ebb. Before Time's tidal lines leave their trace on my face With memories that linger like a stale aftertaste. Luck is my drug, I just need another hit One little dose and that'll be it. Just one tiny taste And that'll be it.
3.
No lies I've seen through them all And looked out the other side Over all those sorry goodbyes We throw away Like so many broken toys Heaped up in a pile With their painted on smiles As we doubt The beliefs we can't live without Well they come and they go Turning from icons to logos And I I talked to myself all my life But my Self never once replied I said Boy The only thing that'll last is your shame It'll cling and stick fast to your name And remain The one beast you can't tame But have faith Just not in myths Sometimes As I read between the rhymes I dream of how to Empty my heart of you So I'm tense Future, past and present At the edge of his thoughts A man sees all sorts So I keep a picture of her with me Although it's more of a diagram But who gives a damn? Because boy The only thing that'll last is your shame It ain't joy we measure love in It's pain And gain And more of the same But have faith Just not in myths {instrumental} Because boy The only thing that'll last is your shame Your heart will beat in time to your blames That stain won't wash away But have faith Just not in myths When my soul is weighed upon the scales And I can pore over the souvenirs Of all the years I know some maps can show you too much And some show you nothing but the way Turn the keys in all the locks Take the puppets from the box Stop the cogs in all the clocks Because a moment of defiance Turned our magic into science And I long to return So come let's mend our tempers Throw ash upon the embers And cease to be, yet still become. What goes on will go on And on and on But boy we don't go on For long.
4.
Ghost Story 02:26
Won't you take a seat tonight and buy a dead man a beer? It's just the memory of the light that makes it seem so dark in here. That fallen mirror ball Won't reflect me anymore. The dance-hall burnt down, Take a sniff around, You'll notice that nothing was ever found, Save for the sound of Rum Pa Pa Pom. My life was full of colour And people were just the pattern. The money others make for you is the best kind to get fat on. Some said I was a swine But I say pleasure's not a crime, I know others had it rough But to hell with that stuff, If the Devil's the nicotine then God is the cough, I just couldn't get enough Rum Pa Pa Pom. Time took its tariff from the fierceness of my frame, I bought the love of many women and always used the exact change But the smiles turned to sniggers Then the sniggers turned to smirks, If they were trying to break my spirit I'd have to admit it worked, It can affect you far too much When the thighs of whores lose their clutch And shrinking from your touch sing Rum Pa Pa Pom. But drink don't drown a man's shame So I tipped up all the bottles and set a match to the remains. As the room was consumed by the plume of the flames I was the only one who stayed.
5.
Lullaby 02:11
If you sleep If you sleep don't dream But if you dream Dream one little thing for me Not wars Not glory or applause There'll be time for these of course But for now dream little things Just shrink the world to a single bed And let the thoughts that swirl round your head All slow slow slow Because one day Bigger things'll get in the way And you'll find they're here to stay And you've no time for little things You'll learn, you'll ponder and discern And the world will turn and turn And take you far far away from me You may laugh You may some day think I'm daft But the memories you'll soon have Will come take my place you'll see So before your past accumulates And while you've still so few yesterdays To pull you down Don't fret Don't frown or feel regret Nothing matters much just yet So enjoy the little things When the sun yawns and draws down the blinds Don't you dare grow up during the night Now you've no words To absorb all that occurs There's no need to be disturbed While you're just a little thing
6.
Scarecrow 04:51
On my wedding day They only rang one single bell No witness came You had me all to yourself A willow veil and gown of long leaf pine instead of lace An embroidered train endowed with twines of every muted shade. On my wedding day Fronds of fern were flower girls Their dresses frayed And the rice replaced with earth Love was my only journey until the dark swallowed me whole Now no one will return me to your door On my wedding day Limbs of trees strained to receive Forget-me-not bouquets Though many called them wreaths But of all the seasons Winter always tells the fewest lies And on snowy days I'd slowly fade in folds of bridal white Can a love start in a bloodless heart Can it shelter my life in its shade Will no one tell me why I was fated to die The night before my wedding day? On my wedding night Beneath a waning moon I lay Still as an ammonite With thick coverings overlaid I dreamed we'd been surrounded by Peacock broods and damsel flies With lilies pressed upon my breast And silver in my eyes On my wedding night I lingered long but lay alone No hint of morning light No dew upon the lawn There's a wilderness within these walls This box of cold unanswered calls Though desire lives on and survives the form, It won't ever feel the dawn. Can a love start in a bloodless heart... Now my wedding gown Is on a scarecrow in a field Won't you take it down And lay it by my grave concealed Of all the seasons Winter always tells the fewest lies And on snowy days I slowly fade beneath folds of bridal white

about

A bare-bones acoustic taster of things to come.

"A Matter Of Life and Death", "One Tiny Taste", "Faith In Myths" and "Scarecrow*" will be on the new album (as full band arrangements); "Lullaby" appears in a musical I'm currently writing (tentatively entitled "Jocasta & Son"); "Ghost Story" has been a staple of my solo shows for years but has never been recorded before.

*NB Scarecrow is best known as a song off Bridie Jackson & The Arbour's wonderful "New Skin" album. No version by me could ever compare to the sheer majesty of theirs, indeed when I wrote it I never intended to sing it myself. Still, it's worth stating that my rendition features an extra verse - whether that's a good thing or not isn't my place to say!

credits

released April 13, 2015

Written and performed by Louis Barabbas
Engineering, mixing and mastering by Biff Roxby
Cover photo by Christine Keating

Recorded in the Antwerp Mansion Ballroom, Manchester - March 2015.
Thanks to Kris Extance.

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Louis Barabbas Manchester, UK

Louis Barabbas is a writer, performer and firefighter, best known for caustic love songs and energetic stage shows.

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