Chapter 16: Den of Iniquity
November 25, 2009Henry Baum 3 Comments »This song is more general, unlike the last one. The scene: the group of survivors of World War III (who the protagonist, Eugene Myers, dreamt about) end up in a mansion together, north of Sunset in Los Angeles, CA. They don’t have much to do but wait out the war and see if they’re going to die, lamenting the people who brought them to that place (”We’re in a prison of others’ ideas.”) So the lyrics say,
Come on, peace
You arrive today (on the way)
What a relief
We will pass away
Sunny! But it’s the end of the world. A major theme in the book is life after death – if we literally knew that our soul traveled on after we die, it would change the fabric of everything. Death would no longer be seen as a punishment, so war would lose its utility, and there would be a different reaction to many different types of suffering, such as sickness. Can’t be certain of this, however, so the song ends,
What’s beneath the silver lining?
Is it peace or is it dying?
Please take a listen to this one. It’s in three parts and pretty much covers the ground musically of where I’m going with the book’s soundtrack.
Full lyrics here.
Dear World/Come on, Peace/Silver Lining by theamericanbookofthedead
November 27th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Fantastic! The last two are a treat as well. The download option is excellent…..I really love the chorus and the chiming xylaphones!!! Now I need to get my copy of the book…..Great work. For anyone who hasnt read any Henry Baum I recommend both his ‘North of Sunset’ and ‘Oscar caliber Gun’.
Cant wait for my copy of ‘The American book of the dead’.
When is it available to buy???
RW H
November 27th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Available now. Click the buy the book link up there for options. Thanks for the words – especially about the xylophones, I spent a stupid amount of time trying to get the levels right. And everyone, check out RW Hedges, my favorite living songwriter:
http://myspace.com/rwhedges
November 28th, 2009 at 2:09 am
…..I send the message and then see the link like a numpty(Idiot savant). Glad its available now. We have postal strikes in Britain but I hope my copy arrives before I take a break down to Cornwall. Maybe the surroundings of Tintagel will remind me of a lost world like the one portrayed in your new book….
Thanks Henry, Look forward to reading your book and hearing more songs,
Roy(RW)