Credits:
Written, Produced, Arranged, and mixed by Todd Rundgren
Cover Art:Todd Rundgren
Lettering: Hal Fiedler
'Real Man':-
Drums:Kevin Ellman
Bass: John Siegler
Clavinet: Ralph Shuckett
Keyboard Computer: Moogy Klingman
Piano, String Ensemble, Keyboard Computer, Synthesizer, Guitar, Percussion - Todd R.
Recorded at Secret Sound Studio.
Engineered by Todd
'The Death of Rock 'n' Roll':-
Drums: John Wilcox and Kevin Ellman
Bass: Rick Derringer
Clavinet: Ralph Shuckett
Guitars: Todd Rundgren
Recorded at Media Sound Studio
Engineered by Jack Malken
'Eastern Intrigue':-
Drums: Roy Malkowitz
Percussion: Barbara Burton
Congas and Bongos: Lee Pastora
Bass: John Miller
electric Piano, Keyboard Computer, String Ensemble, Electric Sitar, Additional Percussion: Todd R
Nose Flute: Roger Powell
Recorded at Secret Sound Studio
Engineered by Jack Malken
'Initiation':-
Drums:Bernard Purdie and Rick Mariotta
Bass: John Seigler
Rythm Guitar: Bob Rose
Congas: Lee Pastora
Saxaphone Solo: Dave Sanborn
Synthesizer solo: Roger Powell
Clavinet, Keyboard Computer, String Ensemble, Synthesizer, Lead Guitar: Todd R.
Recorded at Media Sound Studio
Engineered by Jack Malken
'Fair Warning':-
Drums:Chris Parker and Barry Lazrowitz
Bass:Dan Hartman
Guitar:Rick Derringer
Organ: Moogy Klingman
Saxophone:Edgar Winter
Piano, Keyboard Computer, String Ensemble, Electric Sitar: Todd R.
Recorded at Media Sound Studio
Engineered by Jack Malken
'A Treatise on Cosmic Fire':-
All instruments by Todd R.
Recorded at Secret Sound Studio and Bearsville Sound Studio
Special thanks to Roger Powell for his Creative Assistance.
Track Listing:
Discography:
LABEL Cat.
No Tracks/Title Format Cover Country
Bearsville 0304 Real Man/Prana 7" single No
PS USA
Castle TFOLP16 Initiation/Faithful Double LP Re-issue Different UK
Castle TFOCD16 Initiation/Faithful Double CD Re-issue Different UK
Castle TFOTC16 Initiation/Faithful Cas Re-issue Different UK
Bearsville 0304 Real Man/Prana 7" single No
PS CANADA
Rhino 8122-70866-2 Initiation CD Standard GERMANY
Bearsville 6957 Initiation Album Standard USA
Lyrics:
Born to Synthesize
Eastern Intrigue
Initiation
Fair Warning
Real Man
When I was a child
I thought as a child
I spoke as a child
I didn't know better
But now I'm a man
I look like a man
I'm old as a man
And I should know better
Got my head in the sky
And my mind knows what it wants
But my body just drags me down
And my world is something you can't see
But it's still very real to me
You can find it in the hole where I keep my soul
There it is - way down inside me
There's a real man
Forget about my body and be a real man
I see with my heart
I hear with my heart
I feel with my heart
Sometimes it works better
And some so-called friends put me down
And they pity me for trying
Bad emotions push me around
But the vision shines on and on
It will shine when we all are gone
And I'd like to add a little sparkle while I'm here
Light it up - way down inside me
There's a real man
Forget about bad feelings and be a real man
Some men's world is only hate and money
Afraid of everything and they laugh at nothing
And they only live to criticize
You can laugh at me now [ha ha ha]
But the time comes to everybody
When you must decide
When that day finally comes along
You might wish you'd been a little more strong
Then you'll wake up in the morning cryin'
"Oh my God"
There it is - way down inside me
It's a real man
You got to grow up sometime
Be a real man
Suffer them slings and arrows
Be a real man
Now be a real man
Don't sell yourself for nothing
Be a real man
Don't take no crap from no one
Be a real man
Get your trip together
Be a real man
A handful of nothing is all that I need
It contains plus and minus everything
The odd combinations are what make up
The world that you see before you
In one hand I hold what people call good
The rest I hold in the other
But these are just symbols to the perfected minds
Of which we are but mere reflections
I was born to synthesize
Energize and catalyze
I was born to synthesize
Like waves on still water the forms reappear
Quickly erasing the ones before
But forms like these are born only to die
But the life in them lives forever
Pyramids, spheres, and obelisks
are the patterns of all creation
But the red polygon's only desire
is to get to the blue triangle
I was born to synthesize
Visions rise before your eyes
I was born to synthesize
The orbits of consciousness spin 'round and 'round
Apparently they go nowhere
But the odd combinations are leading you on
To your home which is in the center
You were born to synthesize
Ain't no jive - it's no surprise
You were born to synthesize
The Death of Rock and Roll
Just the other day I got a call from a friend
"I heard what you been playin' and I think it's a sin
Why can't you make a living like the rest of the boys
Instead of fillin' your head with all that synthesized noise?"
Jackals wait nearby, watching rock and roll die
And no one dared to help it
Vultures fill the sky
I thought we was supposed ta, supposed ta be free
But we all got sold
It must be the Death of Rock and Roll
The critics got together and they started a game
You get your records for nothing
and you call each other names
Things got out of hand and somebody got sore
Now we're all tuning up for the Rock and Roll War
Time to take up sides, helping rock and roll die
Pick up your check at the window
No one left to cry
I thought we was supposed ta, supposed ta be free
But we all got sold
It must be the Death of Rock and Roll
Nobody paid, nobody played, nobody stayed
Just my lonely guitar
Nobody paid, nobody stayed, nobody played
Just my lonely guitar
As the sun rises in the east
As the wind blows the fog across the sea
As the hand of Man creeps across the face of the world
Caught in a web of glamours
Persian perfume and oriental eyes
Yogi in knots and Sufi wise
Master sublime and swami high
Through in some Voodoo on the side
And a dash of the old Kung Fu
Lord you got me strung out on eastern intrigue
Chapter six and verse eleven
If you wanna get to heaven
You've got to ask the Man who owns the Property
Ya gotta dance your dance
And do your act
And get His Big Attention that's a natural born fact
I'm on my knees, one question please
Will the real God please stand up?
Jesus and Moses, Mohammed, and Sri Krishna
Steiner, Gurdjief, Blavatsky, and Bhudda
Guru Maharaji, Reverend Sun Myung Moon
On the banks of the Holy Nile
As the palm tree sways at the base of the sphinx
'Neath a crescent desert moon many thousands
younger than ours
In fact, forget about time completely
Think of it in the abstract please
Think of the swaying tropic trees
One of your many destinies
Like having a hot peyote tea
In the palace of Fu Manchu
Lord you got me strung out on eastern intrigue
Sell your wife and pawn your heater
Buy the new Bhagavad Gita
Do the pranayama 'til your spine gets sore
I'll tell you for free
'Cause God told me
We checked it with the Pope and so we all agree
I'm on my knees, one question please
Will the real God please sit down?
Power changes hands in the unseen worlds
'Cause in '75 something comes alive
Watch the silver cup and the golden rod
Silently listen and it shall be revealed
I was born to fly higher,
born to stand where I'm standing now
Basking in the light of the neon fire
As it burns my useless body to the ground
Desire let me go
I would fly so high through the sky, never to die
Love has come, Love has come
Inside outside, it shall be revealed
Brilliant stars splash down across a crystal sky
And the moon and the sun and the earth are one
See the shining soul break the ring-pass-not
Spiraling upward and it shall be revealed
The spirit is free
The Universe wants it to be, It calls you and me
Love has come, Love has come
Over under, it shall be revealed
When the bells ring out
And the fire burns within and without
Initiation
When your star grows bright
and fills all of the world with its light
Unification
Swallow your pride, you don't need it no more
Don't have to hide, all I am is only one more
Standing at the door
waiting for the world's Initiation
Thunder roar and lightning crack
Snakes of fire dance up and down my back
A long, long road is behind me now
Too late to be afraid of the choice that I have made
But there's one thing I know
Where my spirit says to go,
you know that's where I must go
When the golden ray
Of the dawn signifies a new day
Initiation
And when loves grows strong
And the spheres join together in song
Unification
Swallow your pride, you don't need it no more
Don't need to hide, all I am is
Only one more, then shut the door
waiting for the world's Initiation
Over under, it shall be revealed
You know, wishing won't make it so
Hoping won't do it, praying won't do it
Religion won't do it, philosophy won't do it
The supreme court won't do it,
the president and the congress won't do it
The UN won't do it, the H-bomb won't do it,
the sun and the moon won't do it
And God won't do it,
and I certainly won't do it
That leaves you, you'll have to do it
I know that you've been wondering
if I'm the same man inside
Never tried to fool you
'cause I've got nothing to hide
I gave you fair warning I could never be tied down
'Til I've seen paradise with my very own eyes
Love owns us all, Time owns us all, Life owns us all
But the world doesn't own me
Dontcha follow me now
I ain't afraid to say I may have been wrong
I have to go now
I'd rather live by a dream than live by a lie
And that's why
There ain't no cure for what I've got baby
We just have to suffer
I feel no pain, I can't complain,
things could always be rougher
But I picked up this banner
and I just can't put it down (No)
I can't let the world die just 'cause no one would try
Dontcha follow me now
Everybody's got to find his own place in the sun,
everyone
So shine on me now
I'd rather live by a dream then live by a lie
You can say what you will about me
talk is cheap and I don't mind
When you lay your life down in them grooves
you know you're bound to get scratched up sometime
It's only just a song, pay me no mind
I have to go now
You've got to walk that road alone
if you walk it at all
Don't follow me now
I gave you all fair warning
Now it's goodbye
And every once in a while why don't you think of me
'Cause it's a long, long time and a long way to go
Can't you see the light shining in my eyes
'Cause it's just one victory
'Cause your dream goes on forever
Don't you know that I'm only trying
to get my trip together
Be a real man
I got to be a real man
1, 2, 3, do it one more time
Be a real man
Everybody be a real man
Go then, don't believe, and I don't know
'Cause I got to be a real man
You can be a man, a real man
I'll swim that river, climb that mountain
You and me, we all gotta be, real men
Promotional Videos:
Suggested Listening: