A tribute to Bliss Monkey Rev. Shawn Newton Gauthier who is moving to Vancouver with our love and thanks.

Shawn's Song

More

Third part of my father trilogy.
The father trilogy ends with my naïve and youthful attempt, at the age of 23, to break away from my father, who seemed overpowering at the time, and stand on my own two feet: 
To move as far away as possible from my provincial hometown, to throw myself into a Berlin that was completely foreign to me at the time and completely overwhelming. 
My saviour at the time was my oldest friend, who had already been living in Berlin for a few years and took me under his wing like a big brother.     
But even with his help, I soon had to realise that the attempt at a radical inner "patricide" could not succeed in any way. The early imprints he had left on me, the demons I had 'inherited' from him, were all still there. No matter how much I turned my outer life upside down, there was no escape from the central patterns and beliefs that I had learnt from my father in the first 10 years of my life.
In this respect, the song title "The Singular Man" is a "Mission Impossible". It was only three years later, and especially after his early death, that I realised more and more that a lifelong confrontation with my inner father images could lead to a closely linked dialectic:
An ever deeper and visibly more reconciliatory bond with my father and, at the same time, an ever-increasing self-realisation    
 
The Singular Man  (Lyrics in English)

Run through streets crooked and skewed 
The bridges criss-cross

All around me the stink of the city
An army of people everywhere

Turn in somewhere now
Fall in at your door

You are alone
Your corridor infinitely long
Your walls high and wide 
Your front door broad and welcoming

You push me through the corridor now 
At the windows the siren-
song

I get scared and bang 
Am I still
Your catch of fish
Your silhouette
That only plays at being free

And yet I have escaped you 
Escaped!

I take off all hinges
Hang out the windows
Make me a magic wand
Grey Berlin becomes a colourful bouquet for me 

Ride on a peacock wheel
Take a foam spring bath in the Spree

All light 
Time thrown into the air

Pain-free in a glittering dress
An ecstatic feeling of life

But something pushes back
Under the carpet lies the hanging rope
The spider's web is
Still there
The old danger

I only know about her now 
Keep me out of her more 

Oh man, the singular man
Man Oh man, the singular man
Man Oh man, the singular man
Man Oh man, the singular man


Der Singuläre Mann (Deutscher Originaltext)

Lauf’ durch Straßen krumm und schief, 
Die Brücken kreuz und quer

Um mich herum der Großstadtmief
Überall ein Menschen-Heer

Bieg' irgendwo jetzt ein
Fall’ bei Dir zur Tür herein

Du bist allein
Dein  Flur unendlich lang
Deine Wände hoch und weit 
Deine Eingangstür willkommens-breit

Schiebst mich jetzt durch den Gang 
An den Fenstern der Sirenen-
Gesang

Mir wird Angst und Bang 
Bin ich immer noch
Dein Fischfang
Dein Schattenbild
Das das Freisein nur spielt

Und doch bin ich Dir entflohen 
Entflohen!

Lege alle Scharniere ab
Häng' die Fenster aus
Bastle mir einen Zauberstab
Grau-Berlin wird mir zum bunten Strauß 

Fahr auf nem‘ Pfauenrad
Nehm‘ in der Spree ein Schaum-Frühlingsbad

Alles leicht 
In die Luft geworfene Zeit

Schmerzbefreit im Glitzerkleid
Ein rauschhaftes Lebensgefühl

Doch etwas drängt zurück
Unterm Teppich liegt der Häng‘-Dich-Strick
Das Spinnennetz ist
Immer noch da
Die alte Gefahr

Kenn‘ mich jetzt nur mit ihr aus 
Halt mich mehr aus ihr raus 

Oh Mann, der Singuläre Mann
Mann Oh Mann, der Singuläre Mann
Mann Oh Mann, der Singuläre Mann
Mann Oh Mann, der Singuläre Mann

Der Singulare Mann (The Singular Man)

Der Singuläre Mann (The Singular Man)

I remember him most clearly when I’m listening to the music he loved, cranked up on the stereo loud enough it in the shower, singing along. Sounds good in there! Mark “Daddy’O” Agababian was one of a kind, an original. The lyrics of this song, that I wrote in his memory, tell the story of our times together, in the band named for him. It is dedicated to him, his family, and the guys who stood on stages with him, made music with him, in our neighborhood. Through the magic of technology there is a section in this song where we were able to capture him, mid noodle, riffing on an instrumental he came up with and we learned. That song was posted on Wednesday as a hump day prelude to this being shared. The lyrics and music tell our story. I’ll include the words. So here goes “DaddyO Is Back In Town”! Enjoy! Dance! He’s listening and looking down!
Lyrics:
DaddyO Is Back In Town
1.	 I didn’t know his name / When I first heard him play
 Makin’ magic with the music / Having it his own sweet way
 Twistin’ knobs and stompin’ pedals / ‘Til he got it sounding fine
 Singin’ him some Robert Johnson, Got somr ramblin’ on my mind.
2.	Told myself that very night / I’d sing with him one day
So I asked him on a break / Who he was and where’d he stay?
We made a strong connection / And we started spending time
Talkin’ us some down the road a ways / And wouldn’t it be fine!
3.	I could find ‘em, He could fix ‘em / We made up a perfect pair
So we started us a bidness / In a spot we found out there
We never made much money / Gave away more than we sold
But we had ourselves a some fun / And good times, truth be told.
4.	Before too long some boys showed up / We was jammin’ in the store
And that place that we called DaddyO’s / Turned into something more
We picked some tunes and practiced / Kept the same name for the band
And played ‘em out in juke joints / In our corner of this land.
Chorus: 	Shake the rafters , Raise the roof / Blow the windows out their frames
Pour me some blues, a hundred proof / ‘Til it all feels just the same
He’s up here on this bandstand / You  can’t mistake that sound
He’s come down to lend the band a hand /  DaddyO is back in town!
 
Bridge: 	Mark, he was the noodle king / He brought  some tasty spice
You know the boy he never played / The same song, samr way twice
Then he wrote an instrumental / That gave him room to shine
So his fingers did the talkin’ / And they said “Hey, this one’s mine!”
(Now listen!)
Chorus:
 

5.	   Now one of us is gone / And Yeah! we’re feeling sad
   But we’ve still got all our memories / Of good times that we had
   We’ve got him on this stage / In a place he loved to stand
   The one and only Daddy’O’s / Still playing in this band.

6.	   So this one’s for our brother / his family and his friends
   And his mark is on our music / And for sure he’s sitting in
   With that ol’ amp just’a screaming / Guitar howling at the moon
   We know we’re gonna see him / At the big jam one day soon.

Chorus:	
		Shake the rafters , Raise the roof / Blow the windows out their frames
Pour me some blues a hundred proof / ‘Til it somehow feels the same
He’s up here on this bandstand / You jus’ can’t mistake that sound
He’s come down to lend the band a hand /  DaddyO is back in town!

DaddyO Is Back Edited

ONlY IN AMERICA (REBIRTH)Final.mp3

Simple, acoustic song about missing someone far away. You still love them, but you feel like you don't get enough of their time.

A Bit of You

Falling in love can be as easy and comfortable as your favorite pair of Levi Jeans.

Levi Jeans

A Piece Of Happiness

We Are One (Feat. IF)

Highlights from The Bliss Monkeys debut album. Visit www.theblissmonkeys.com to join our bliss revolution.

Let Love Talk - Album Highlights - The Bliss Monkeys

Hi everyone, I started a band, "Andrew Neil & Code Purple"  (ANCP),  Our debut album, "Resurrection" will be officially released very soon!! In the meantime, enjoy the pre-release of the album on Soundcloud! 
Andrew Neil is considered an "Outsider" music artist along the lines of Daniel Johnston.  One can also hear influences of Elliot Smith, Anthony Kiedis, and Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) in his vocal delivery.  Andrew  began writing songs following a head injury sustained in a car accident in 2009.  Since then he has struggled with Bi-polar and PTSD.  He has written nearly 400 songs since late 2009, and never had any music training to speak of.  In 2014 he was hospitalized due to a psychotic episode gone bad and remained in a state hospital for three years until May 2017.  While hospitalized he wrote and recorded 70 songs.  Upon his release we decided to produce an Album called "Code Purple -Andrew Neil".  We selected 11 of the 70 songs and had them mastered.  It is the only album ever produced in which all the songs are written and recorded in a State Mental Hospital.  He now lives in a Group home in Charlottesville, VA.  Since leaving the hospital in May 2017, he has written almost 40 songs and is now in the process of recording his first studio Album, which is being produced by Andy Waldeck and features Nate Brown (from the band "Everything") on drums.   Andrew has enough solid material for 2 plus Albums....plus an incredible back-catalogue of material.   He continues to write quality songs.  Peace to you!  Ray (Andrew's Dad)

More

Andrew Neil

Recent comments

Rock Ferrari

Related tracks