Credits:
REcorded at Bearsville sound studios, Bearsville, N.Y. and at Utopia Sound, Lake Hill, N.Y.
Engineer: John Halbrook
Assistant Engineer: Tom Mark
'Communion with the Sun' and 'Jealousy' recorded at Turtle Creek Barn using custom equipment, owned and operated by Eddie Offord
Album package concept by Utopia
Execution by Gribbitt, Ltd.
Photographers- Front and Back covers: Ron Slenzak, Pyramid insert: Norman Seeff
Calligrapher: Hal Fiedler
Musical Arrangements by Utopia
Produced by Todd Rundgren for Alchemedia Productions, Inc.
Track Listing:
Discography:
LABEL Cat.
No Tracks/Title Format Cover Country
Bearsville 0317 Communion with the Sun/Sunburst
Finish 7" single No PS USA
Bearsville 15531 Communion with the sun/Sunburst
Finish 7" single No PS UK
Bearsville K55514 Ra LP Standard UK
Rhino RNLP70869 Ra LP Re-Issue Slg. Diff. USA
Rhino RNCD70869 Ra CD Re-Issue Slg. Diff. USA
Rhino RNCS70869 Ra Cas Re-Issue Slg. Diff. USA
Disky BRCD6965 Ra CD Re-Issue Slg. Diff. UK
Bearsville 6965 Ra Album +
pyramid Standard USA
Lyrics:
Jealousy
Eternal Love
Sunburst Finish
Hiroshima
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
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
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
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
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 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.
Promotional Videos:
Suggested Reading:
Trivia