Ballad Of The Cook's Daughter:
"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of
witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the
people, recovering their true sight, restore their
government to it's true principles... If the game runs
sometimes against us at home we must have patience
till luck turns, and then we shall have an
op****tunity of winning back the principles we have
lost, for this is a game where principles are the
stake." -Thomas Jefferson, 1798.
"You who philosophise disgrace, and criticise all
fears, bury the rag deep in your face, now is the time
for your tears." -Bob Dylan, 1964.
"Yes, but a man can't really savor a martini without
an olive, otherwise it just doesn't quite make
it." -Trapper John McIntyre, 1970.
The Netherlands/Shadowville cross cultural exchange
project <http://www.kannibaal.nl/shadowville.htm>
has
been developing nicely, and in the coming months, the
CD "Chilling Tales Of Rude Lubbers", will be gradually
completed.
The first poem/song, "Autograph Of Zorro", has been
quickly evolving in performances with my folk hero
comrades Henry, Grumpy, and the others. An Mp3 of
"Zorro" can be heard online at:
"Autograph Of Zorro" {from *Shadowville Live*}:
<http://www.kannibaal.nl/zorro.mp3>
Stephan, *the* Shadowville bartender, has concocted
the reknowned Zorro Shot, as well as making the superb
007 Martini, the "Vesper", as Ian Fleming described
it:
"Three measures of Gordon's gin, one measure of vodka,
half a measure of Lillet vermouth. Shake very well
until ice cold. Serve in a deep champagne goblet with
large, thin slice of lemon peel. <from Casino Royale,
the book, not the movie> Then, taking the cue from
Richard Hooker's M*A*S*H <the movie, not the
television show>, replace the lemon peel with an
olive"
Stephansometimes can be convinced to play the "Zorro"
Mp3 at SoHo <http://www.sohobarandgrill.com>
in the
very late hours. Soho was also the scene of the first
video recording of this, for the Dutch audience:
"Autograph Of Zorro" {digital video}:
<http://www.lulu.com/items/86000/86128/1/preview/45-Zorro.mpg>
This was recorded onstage with Henry Conley, Rick
"Uncle Grumpy" Edwards, Rbt. Earl Lowry, and
Shadowville's prettiest poet, Jocelyn. More video is
planned to be shot [by Lawrence Sinclair] over time at
the Loft on Wednesdays, and perhaps more at SoHo.
Next up in the "Chilling Tales Of Rude Lubbers"
poem/song cycle is the adaptation of the poem sent to
us by Hal Womack about the 1989 murder of 15 year old
Celina Ramos
<http://www.uca.edu.sv/martires/juntas.jpg>
along with
her mother, servants of the six Central American
priests who were the main targets of the killers.
"BALLAD OF THE COOK'S DAUGHTER"
All quiet within the cathedral tonight,
Except here and there a stray witness
Is shot as she hides at the back of the hall
By a murder squad hot on its business.
‘Tis nothing, a servant or so now and then
Will scarce count in the news on the telly,
Not an ad-visor lost, only two more of them
With their brains on the floor like plum jelly.
All quiet within the cathedral tonight.
Nigh in the sky o'er the shanties below
The rockets and gatlings are firing.
So we wage war ‘gainst El Salvador
With the puppets and traitors we're hiring.
The Wa****ngton crowd with their trinkets so proud,
Who think they are being quite clever,
As they lie and they kill in the name of our will
Are shaming our country forever.
All quiet within the cathedral tonight.
Hark to the sound of the President's voice
As he praises his pal Cristiani!
Hello, my friends, will you give me the choice,
I say, Hang them both, please, from a high tree !
Will we begin our task hard and grim
Guided by memories tender
Of the children and wives who have paid with their
lives
For our trust in this monstrous pretender ?
All quiet within the cathedral tonight.
Lying there still on the dark, stone cold floor,
The remains of the mother and daughter.
Sleep lightly tonight as you dream of the scene,
For your taxes have gone to their slaughter.
All quiet within the cathedral tonight,
What sound save the candles' soft flicker
And the scur of the rats as they gather around
While the red sticky pools grow thicker?
All quiet within the cathedral tonight.
-Hal Womack, 1989, All Rights Reserved, used with
permission.
Henry Conley is arranging the music for this piece, as
with the previous ones, and over the next weeks we'll
be evolving this into another recording, on the return
of "Guvnah" Dan Davidson from his duties in the
National Guard, over the coming holidays. Among the
places you can observe this evolution of a poem/song:
Soho Mondays, Del Ranch Tuesdays & Thursdays, The Loft
Wednesdays. You can catch me almost every night [very
late!] at Soho, where I welcome your input on this and
other matters of poetry and art, as it imitates life,
imitating art.
=====
Art, music, poetry of Will Dockery:
http://www.lulu.com/dockery
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