Name: Birth by C.W. Gravely
Duration: 8 min 42 s
Description: Birth is the first track on my debut album LIFE, which was written for marimba and various percussion instruments. LIFE is an album that explores the natural order of life of any living organism and ponders the question of what comes after life. LIFE was released in 2017, and was recorded and produced by Chelsea South Studios.

Lyrics:

I turned my phone off for the night 
My mind in deep need for detox
From artificial light
From the vortex of elusive sight-
The substance of confusion 
Making medicine from poisonous bites
And Alchemizing the contortions 
Sacred devotions
Reserved for privacy
Bastardized distortion 
Becoming fallacy 

As each curation fails to represent 
The me I see
The me I see

Bastardized distortion 

I awoke in a cold sweat 
Feeling the vacancy of the Mother Womb
The swell of regret—
Deep like an infected Wound—
For things that have and haven’t happened yet

As each curation fails to represent 
The Me I see 
The Me I See

It was all but a symbol
A container to hold my pain 
Like finding comfort in the scent of a cigarette-
The toxin soothed me, paradoxically 

As each curation fails to represent 
The Me I see 
The Me I See

the M3 i S33

Made with the vocal stylings of a fellow galactic traveler, RT

Lyrics:

Welcome!
Please remain seated or lying down
For the remainder of this aesthetic, 
Auditory experience
Welcome!! 
Please remain seated!
Or
Lying down!!!

Welcome <3
Welcome 
Experience 

Please remain seated. 
Or lying down.

Welcome, Please remain seated or lying down.

Welcome~~

The Fool of Andromeda

Another collaboration with the voice of fellow alien, RT610

Lyrics:

Will you be my friend?
Hello?
Hello?
Will you be my friend?
Are you friend?
Where is what?
Here is when?
Will you be my friend?

Hello??
Hello???
Hello????

Are you friend?
Where is what??
Here?? Is when???

Will you be my friend? 
Are you friend?
Are you friend????

Where is what….Here is when….? Will you be my friend?? …. Hello? Hello??? Are you friend? 

Etc lol <3

Are You Friend?

went to the desert (again)
it changed my life (again)

Desert Dog

The Disney I Remember

lyrics:

i am a recovering submissive 
forced to fawn
since my genesis
navigating sin
YOUR perception of the skin i'm in
a contortion

it has generated this deep need in me
to ACTUALLY be seen without distortion

i am hurting
crying
for a part of me that has always been 
in hiding
is now dying

backsliding through each trauma like a replay on the television

i am hurting
again and again
and i want to hurt them
again and again

the violence i see 
has happened to me
and i am dissociating 

a bastardized sense of pleasure
a "cleansing" act of confiding

i am hurting
while you are lying
a wolf in sheep's clothing

crying 
for a part of me that always has been 
in hiding
is now dying 
i am crying

i am hurting 

i am dying

i am growing

Compost

Birth is the first track on my debut album LIFE, which was written for marimba and various percussion instruments. LIFE is an album that explores the natural order of life of any living organism and ponders the question of what comes after life. LIFE was released in 2017, and was recorded and produced by Chelsea South Studios.

Birth

Lyrics:

Father fire
Father fire
Father fire
Drowning in the flames

Father fire, fire father
Fire father 
Submerged in water 
And drowning in the flames 
Burning 
Burning 
Fire father 
Submerged in water 
And drowning, burning in the flames 

Fire father 
Submerged in water
And drowning in the flames 

This too shall pass
This too shall pass

Fire father 
A complex mirror dance:
The Sacred and Profane

Sacred

Profane 

Fire father,
This too shall pass
A complex mirror dance 

Sacred, this too shall pass
Profane 
Profane 
Profane 

This too shall pass

Submerged in water 
And drowning, burning in the flames 
Fire father, submerged 
Burning in water

Father Fire

this is an homage to that one spoken-word album that william shatner & ben folds made together

Lyrics:

The Lovers laughed
They laughed at me
Simultaneous worship
And panic attacks 

I flung my net 
And caught no thing

The Lovers laughed 
Through panic attacks
I flung my net
And caught no thing
There was nothing 

They won’t stop laughing 
Nothing 
Nothing 
Nothing 

The Lovers laughed 
They just laughed 
At me

Waxing, waning
The moon is in the sea
The moon is inside me

They won’t stop laughing 
I keep flinging 
Flinging 
And catching nothing 
Nothing 

The Lovers laugh
And laugh
And laugh

The Lovers Laughed

This is a collaboration, made possible by the mystifying & poetic voice & words of Lacey Free

https://laceyfree.com

Lyrics:

I’m not a He 
Or a She 
I’m a prickly pear cactus 
waiting to bloom 
I’m a prickly pear cactus 
waiting to cut sheets
Through the holes of ominous doom
Waiting to peel off the duct tape of society’s lips
Waiting to bloom 

Spine needles push through turbulent skin to ward of any men who may flirt-
Or insert their criteria of 
What a lady *should* be
What *pretty* should be
 These rocky curves shout 
STAY AWAY!!
STAY AWAY

Frantically sanity’s breeze blows by 
As practicality begs these roots as they dug in the dirt 
STAY AWAY

I was taught being pretty isn’t safe 
Being pretty isn’t fun 
So I rip out my pigtails, shave my head and RUN 
Run to the desert
Run towards the sunset 
Dance with the coyotes 
Feel the dust on my tongue 

But not everybody needs to go through life feeling numb
Succumbing to the dazzling stars
Disregarding the words that lingered from my mothers lips: STAY AWAY
LACY LACY LACY Get out of the dirt
LACY! Lacy… LACY comb your hair 
LACY

identity is a performance 
And ever since that morning in the 5th grade
When I woke up to two lumps on my chest
I knew 
It all started too soon 

My grandmother insisted 
“Ladies act sweet”
LACY 
STAY AWAY 
Drooling from boys… I just wanted to jump into a ditch 
Catch crawdads as if they were toys 

But my mom was too busy fixing my hair
And my hands were too busy clearing my skin
All the while knowing beauty is a Sin-
A curse of the Ego
You know it’s a competition, now honey,
You’re never going to win 
Because no matter how “pretty” you are
You’ll NEVER compare 
To the beauty 
That exerts from a pack of coyotes 
Howling under a forgiving moon

See? 
I’m not a boy or a girl. 
I’m a prickly pear cactus
Waiting to bloom

Lacey the Prickly Pear

Chris Gravely is an Atlanta-based percussionist, teacher and composer of classical and contemporary music. He began his studies with drum set in the fourth grade under the instruction of John LaMattina.  Later, Chris directed his focus towards solo and classical work, studying classical and contemporary percussion under the instruction of Michael Cebulski, Stuart Gerber, and Charles Settle.  He has and continues to play in many local Orchestras such as; Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, Dekalb Symphony Orchestra, and the Korean-American Symphony Orchestra. As a solo percussionist, Chris has performed “Comedians’ Gallop” and “Concerto for Percussion and Wind Band” with the Georgia Perimeter Wind Ensemble. He has also premiered contemporary solo percussion pieces from Atlanta composers Lowell Fuchs and Michael Standard.
As a composer and arranger, Chris creates emotionally driven, contemporary works that encourage creative storytelling and vulnerable audience experiences. This is most evident in the March 2017 premiere of his first solo project LIFE, composed for marimba, looping pedal, and various percussion instruments.  His recent composition, sound design and live performance for theater include Dangerous Women, an immersive horror experience with The Weird Sisters Theatre project and Found Stages’ reimagining of Frankenstein, highlighting Mary Shelley’s life and feminist philosophies.
In 2018, he created an exuberant original soundtrack for sanctuaries and fortresses, an evening-length dance work by the company “sunday morning at 7”. In 2019, he founded The LOUDWALKERS, turning his love of collaboration into an interdisciplinary arts collective. Chris and the collective performed works inspired by the visual art of Ajmal Miller and accompanied with solo dance and performance art by Bella Dorado.
Chris strives to be as diverse and versatile as possible, applying his training to every performance with any genre of music. He is also an experienced percussion and drum set instructor in the Atlanta area, committed to showing others how they, too, can turn a gift into a way of life.

Birth

C.W. Gravely

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