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The Eyes Of Mars

from 8 Trackology by John Tabacco

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Words and Music © 1988 by John Tabacco
Published by It Iz What It Iz Music (SESAC)

When Chris Pati purchased the Alesis HR 16 Drum machine (May of 87), I couldn't believe my ears. The digital samples were so crisp and punchy it hurt to listen to it. Naturally I was inspired to come up with a drum track for an idea I had after hearing three great Dan Robinson tunes. One tune in particular influenced me. It was called: "FEW HAVE EVER SEEN". There was something very twisted, matter of fact and arcane about this song and I tried to capture that kind of attitude. It didn't work. What we're left with is a whimsical Glen Campbell type of tune with Donald Fagen chord changes about a town destroyed by nuclear waste in Nevada. Since I couldn't come up with a 4th verse and I'm a lousy soloist, I intuitively used a section from the Firesign Theatre's "Temporarily Humbolt" from the Electrician album. I sped it up a bit and the timing was perfect. Later on I overdubbed "snickerslicesnuckering" sounds toward the outro for a diseased effect. Those sounds come from "Snowslabsleet". The lyric for the hook: "The eyes of mars are all dripping / They glow alone in the bowery" were borrowed from Chris Magri's AKAI tune: "Sweaty T- Shirt". His lyrics were actually "The girls and I are all dripping / It pays to save at the bowery!"

The bass, drums and keys were recorded onto a PCM 501 ES digital 2 track and later dumped onto cassette. The cassette was taken to my house and dumped onto the Tascam 8 track. If you listen in headphones you can hear the drop outs of the cassette, especially with the cymbals. The blend however, is pretty decent and would not have been possible had I not trained on my Akai sound on sound machine for five years. The ending chords (almost "I Am The Walrus" like) are from an unfinished tune called: "Wise Men Never Have A Reason". They also appear in an obscure collaboration that Gian and Nick DiMauro wrote with me at their studio in Stony Brook.

lyrics

THE EYES OF MARS

Once before in this broken town
back when a standard klown could live with pride
Children ran with a fever on...
Yeah, feeding Vietnam to snakes who spied
Porcelain Gods filled with merriment
sat in a wet cement where hands would sign
And in the halls of the restaurants,
hung were the aeronauts who lost their kites

PAISLEY SACHETS
HOLY ROLLER DOLE LINES
MAKING LOVE BY SALLOW CATH'LIC BOVINES

Today there is no pony ride
Lost are the suicides that charmed the site
Just some weeds near an old saloon,
Cast in a beige balloon all shrunk with fright

W.C FIELD MARSHALL GENERAL:

" It behooves me on this historic occasion to dedicate this stinckin' Indian monument and cobalt testing range..
CIVILIZATION.....WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?"

PREMONITIONS OF THE ORPHAN CANINES
SADDLED UP TO HOIST THE AILING BOVINES

Well the EYES OF MARS are now dripping
They glow alone in the Bowery
THE EYES OF MARS are now dripping
They glow alone in the Bowery
I said the EYES OF MARS are now dripping
They glow alone in the Bowery
How do they glow?
Yeah, THE EYES OF MARS are now dripping
They glow alone in the Bowery
In the Bowery

credits

from 8 Trackology, released September 22, 2014
JT : Vocals, Keyboard, Alesis Drum Machine™

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John Tabacco Stony Brook, New York

John Tabacco is a composer, singer-songwriter, producer, recording engineer, and visual artist.

Like an unfolding musical diary / puzzle, Tabacco’s music and art are constantly being re-worked, juxtaposed and intertwined.

For more info : www.johntabacco.net
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