Utopia: Ra

Artist

Utopia

Players

Todd Rundgren, Roger Powell, Kasim Sulton, John Wilcox

Producer

Todd Rundgren

Duration: 53:04

  1. Overture:Mountaintop and Sunrise/Communion With The Sun
  2. Magic Dragon Theatre
  3. Jealousy
  4. Eternal Love
  5. Sunburst Finish
  6. Hiroshima
  7. Singring and the Glass Guitar

Overture:Mountaintop and Sunrise/Communion With The Sun

Ra, climbing the horizon
Rising up the mountain, lighting up the valley below
Ra, giver without measure
Beacon of compassion, shining through the spectrum of life
Day is born, night is gone
One in all, all is one
Communion with the sun
Ra, ruler of all nature
Burning on forever, melting all together in one
Ra, holy synthesizer
Inspiration showers green and growing gardens of love
Voices rise to the song
One in all, all is one
Communion with the sun, with the sun
Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra
Ra, climbing the horizon
Waves of light come rolling across the floor of the valley
Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra
Lift your eyes to the dawn
One in all, all is one
Communion with the sun

Magic Dragon Theatre

Look at all the advertising
Some kind of show, come if you're going
Patronize the Magic Dragon
Walk through the door, kiss off your boredom
Tuning up the orchestra, bringing down the ceiling lights
All at once the curtain goes up
Now it begins, strike up the band
Bring on the dancing girls and the freak parade
Look to your right where a gentleman sat
There sits a monkey in a tall silk hat
The lady on the left is now a pumpkin pie
That's when you notice that your chair is flying
High in the sky out over the sea
But don't wonder why, where else could you be but

Where anything can happen,
	down at the Magic Dragon Theatre
More than you can imagine,
	down at the Magic Dragon Theatre
(Come to the Magic Dragon)
Do you fancy melodrama?
Tragedy's mask, yours for the asking
Madness a la Magic Dragon

Who could that be at this time of night?
I'm sure we weren't followed Dr. Klang
Wait, pull down your knickers, he's going to hit us
Here goes your cue, don't blow your line
Dam, Danger! I'm gonna go out there and get, get, get ...

All of a sudden there's a flash of light
Stars begin appearing in a moonlit night
Your vision of reality has gone awry
That's when you notice that your mind is flying
High in the sky out over the sea
But don't wonder why, where else could you be but

Jealousy

It wasn't really nothin'
I was just trying to have some fun
I let my guard down, I just turned 'round
Someone slashed me with a razor tongue
It's a strange situation
I'm not quite sure what it means
The one I admire, my simple desire
Smothered by a love gone green
Must be jealousy, must be 'cause it sounds like
Jealousy, must be 'cause it looks like
Jealousy, must be 'cause it smells like
Jealousy, must be 'cause it feels like
Eyes are drilling holes in the back of your head
Someone's got the number of your death bed, stepping into
Jealousy
You're ready for a comeback
You're back on your feet again
You think you're out from under
You hear a crack of thunder
Someone stabs you with a poison pen
If you try fightin' dirty
Just try to keep it clean
'Cause no amount of trying and no amount of crying
Can save you from a love gone green
Must be jealousy
End of the dance and the loss of innocence
Jealousy drags me to my knees
Battered by a love gone green

Eternal Love

When your life gets too lonely
It might help to feel me in your heart
I remember you happy, but thought it
Unfair that we are apart
And it's gonna be all right
'Cause everlasting love
Will get us through the night
There's a new day that's dawning
It brings with it skies so blue and clear
I can't offer you blue skies
I've only got love, eternal love
Soon it's gonna be all right
And the day will come
When we live as one
Drifting through time on an ocean of eternal love
Sailing through space on an ocean of eternal love
Doesn't love have a meaning
To put that in words would be so hard
Just remember the feeling of love in a song
That's a love for real
And it's gonna be all right
'Cause everlasting love
Will get us through the night

Sunburst Finish

Ritual dancer spins away
Lost in a whirling dervish ballet
Musicians playing
Out of tune in perfect harmony

Traveling down the sandy track
Compass in hand, guitar on my back
Trying to find the
Secret truth inside the pyramid

Foxy pharaoh knows all, won't tell
Dangerous knowledge locked in a cell
Method in madness
Ancient logic, never ending mystery

Anticipation fills the air
As the natives gather 'round
Watching the fiery sun go down
In the technicolor sky
Exploding mandala of light
Disappearing into darkness
A stunning sunburst finish
Shatters the horizon

Eye of the sphinx now winks at you
What is he thinking? Wish that I knew
Wonder of wisdom
Far beyond this mortal comedy

Wind of the desert blowing strong
Mist of the ocean kissed by the sun
Tropical splendor
Paradise is calling you away

Make up your mind, don't make a scene
Wake up to find your garden is green
Please take your seat onboard
The destination is utopia

Echoing across the canyon
Hear the song of the gypsy caravan
Magical voices in flight

Looking for the next oasis
'Neath the glow of the silver-shadow moon
Radiant princess of night

Stay forever, stay for a while
Hypnotized by sight and sound
Empty feelings bring a frown
Only love can make you smile

Hiroshima

Under the rising sun dirty yellow children play
And in the red pagoda mamasan is praying
Blood wasted saving face, ancestors are looking on
As they wave their silver samurai underneath the big gun
Hiroshima, no one could imagine
Not the victors nor the victims
Pitiful survivors nor the pawn of a man
	who had the button under his hand
No one would believe it
God, God is on our side, he placed the power in our hands
To teach the yellow peril, this is Christian mercy
Harry, Harry give 'em hell, give 'em hell one more time again
We'll show those axis powers how to make an oven [fry them]
Hiroshima, Nagasaki
Don't you ever forget, don't you ever fuckin' forget

This is the official voice of the United States of America addressing the 
peoples of the islands of Japan. Tomorrow morning, on August 15th, 1945 at 
exactly 8:15 am, we will bomb your cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima with a 
blast that will level these cities. This is the only alert you will receive.

Singring and the Glass Guitar

(An Electrified Fairy Tale)
This is an electrified fairy tale. If you've never heard of an electrified 
fairy tale, just picture little fairies with wee tiny electric guitars.

Once upon a time [not long ago] in a land not far from here, there was a place 
called Harmony. Everyone in Harmony was happy and this "joie devivre" was 
guarded by their invisible patron, the muse Singring. But jealous forces, and 
there are always jealous forces in such tales, have conspired to capture the 
spirit, imprisoning it in [an instrument of glass, locking it in] a chest with 
four keys, and casting the keys to the four corners of the earth so that only 
four particularly brave and talented individuals might retrieve them. It is 
here that our story begins.

There's a rumor I heard that's going 'round town Someone's captured Singring, Singring Come hear the news, come hurry on down Down to the old town square The announcer wipes at his eyes, he's trying to hide See it in his face, tell by his expression The secret knowledge that claws to escape as he cried Day of infamy, someone's captured Singring Day of tragedy, someone's captured Singring Now what shall we do, what shall we do now? And if you take a look around, Harmony is dying Someone trapped the spirit in a glass guitar And if you listen with your heart, you can hear it crying Free me from my crystal prison in this glass guitar There's a rumor I heard that's going around Someone's saving Singring, Singring Come hear the summons, hurry on down Down to the village green And the spokesman speaks for us all, together we call Brave adventurers, warriors, and free men Conquer self and so in the end save us all Conquer earth and wind, conquer fire and water Brave adventurers, come and save us all And if you fail to win the keys, Harmony is dying Trapped away forever in a glass guitar And if you listen with your heart, you can hear it crying Free me from my crystal prison in this glass guitar

Having gathered on the green, the brave adventurers of the land march off in search of the keys. Their quest leads them first to the river's edge.

Lead me to the water Pass me my flagon of wine I said show me to the water Quick before I change my mind I go down to the river and bravely the rapids I row Over the falls to the bottomless pool and it's down to the bottom I go Only one has the courage to dive into the river and brave the bottomless pool in search of the first key.

Let the four winds blow icy breath before me Storms will never keep me from the glass guitar Hurricanes may scream, I will never feel it 'Til I find the key that leads me to the glass guitar

Only one has the courage to wander the desert [alone] and brave the eternal winds in search of the second key

Fire can never burn me Flames can not catch me - faster am I Blazes never faze me Barefoot I walk hot coals for a mile My sword is tempered, my loins are girded in steel Make my way to the heart of the forest of flames And if I do my best and don't stop to rest I may pass the test and capture the key that opens the chest

Only one has the courage to make his way into the forest of flames and brave the fire-breathing dragon in search of the third key.

I will climb the face of the highest mountain Whilst Singring calls crying from the glass guitar Though the earth may shake let the planet tremble Steady will I struggle onward to the glass guitar

Only one has the courage to climb to the top of the highest mountain in search of the fourth key. Having scaled the mountain and finding no key, the climber begins chopping madly at the ground with his pickax, causing the mountain to split in two, revealing the last key. Now in possession of all four keys, the brave adventurers march triumphantly into the valley of silence to open the chest, smash the glass guitar, and free the spirit of Harmony.

Other References


Lyrics v. 2.4.2
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