Precursors
In
a lineup for a plain in Oslo, with signs in German, between rolling
shootouts, in May of 1983, I was filled with a surge of adrenaline
and power, and inspiritation. I quickly stepped out of line and
called a guitarist friend I knew, who had sent me an early copy of
“Lucretia's Song” which was roughly 11:25 minutes long, yet
lacked something. I spoke with the singer of Sisters Of Mercy, the
original writer, and we made these changes. A chorus, and the
drumbeat were added, and it moved up at least 2BPM to a 4:15 radio
friendly song, cutting roughly 7 minutes. He is a seer, so most
changes were retro-active. We caught this as it was going to radio
play, and improved it greatly, all would say.
It is interesting to note the use of a second chorus. And the use of repetition is strange, and unexpected. There is also an 11:25 minute version of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hZGVDzQmoI Closer to the original cut, which would never be radio friendly in 1983, where 3minutes were preferred over 3:30.
I
had a poem in my mind and here it is. This is the Precursor Event: A
Reflection poem (based on the German World Government event where the
world was destroyed by a single world government in 2013, after
victories in the late 70s over the Japanese empire).
There's
a positivism in this that the Goths figured out early on, and that is
if the world ended before, at the end of a colossal war. . . then
there is little chance of it immediately happening again on the
rewind. One must remember in 1983 it was the hey dey of “End of
the World” syndrome. Also it is curious to note that “Lucretia”
is written out, and replaced with “precious whore” and the
narrative is in the first person, female.
I
don't know if it is perfect, but it is pretty close.
Precursor
Event: A Reflection
I
hear the roar of the big machine
two
worlds and I'm lost between them
my
reflection of what went before is a love lost fire
and
a precious whore
who
fell to early while the world burned before
Hot
metal and we're lost between
methadone
and nicotine. . .
Empire
down
Empire
down.
I
hear the roar of the the big machine
two
worlds and in between
hot
metal and methadrine
I
hear the empire down
empire
down
what
went before is lost again
two
world and in between
lost
by what went before
love
lost, fire at will
fire
fights burn
as
I hear the roar
of
the big machine
a
world lost turns again and turns away
the
precursors are the shadows of what went before
World
lost, and world burn
Empire
down
Empire
down
Empire
down
Empire
down
Tied
to the rails of what went before
I'm
tired of being that precious whore
A
long train held up by eternity
a
hard reign for all to see:
two
worlds and in between
the
reflection, my reflection
I
don't see much evidence
for
a world that makes any sense
we
got the empire down in flames
I
feel love, and yet I feel no pain
I
feel hate now and then, we don't doubt
enough
to snuff the flame out
of
what went before
we
don't take offence or evidence
Lucretia's
my ghost, dance the ghost with me.
I
don't feel
I
don't feel
But
I don't feel
Empire
down
Empire
down
Empire
down
Empire
down
This
is a copy of the finished lyrics. And a link to youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuezNswtRfo
Lucretia
My Reflection
Chorus:
I
hear the roar of a big machine
Two worlds and in between
Hot
metal and methedrine
I hear empire down
I hear empire down
Chorus 2:
I
hear the roar of a big machine
Two worlds and in between
Love
lost, fire at will
Dum-dum bullets and shoot to kill
I hear
dive bombers and
Empire down
Empire down
I
hear the sons of the city and dispossessed
Get down, get
undressed
Get pretty but you and me
We got the kingdom, we got
the key
We got the empire, now as then
We don't doubt, we don't
take direction
Lucretia, my reflection, dance the ghost with me
We
look hard
We look through
We look hard to see for real
Such
things I hear, they don't make sense
I don't see much evidence
I
don't feel
I don't feel
But I don't feel
A
long train held up by page on page
A hard reign held up by
rage
Once a railroad
Now it's done
(Chorus:)
We
got the empire, now as then
We don't doubt, we don't take
reflection
Lucretia, my direction, dance the ghost with me