1. |
Half Pagan Theme
01:27
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HALF PAGAN THEME
Editor B: I’m a pagan, I worship the Earth
Mr. Hogan: I was baptized in a Gentilly church
Kalypso: I'm a Millennial and I'm Yahweh-free
Dr. Homan: And I’m a professor of Theology
(Oh yeah)
So here's some simple math to help you understand
There are four people in this band,
Two not pagan, the other two is
And we like to argue about Jesus — and Dionysus! And Isis!
(But mostly Jesus)
Through trials and tribulations our third album's finally here
A spiraling calendrical journey through the Wheel of the Year
Half Pagan, Half Pagan, Half Pagan in Mid-City Bulbancha
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2. |
Bear Awakening
03:01
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BEAR AWAKENING
Early spring, the snow begins to melt.
Gentle breezes whisper on her pelt.
The bear is lying in a torpor inside her den.
She dreams of salmon full of roe
Acorns falling to the ground below
The bear, once sleeping, is awakened.
She shakes her head
She yawns hard
She hears her twin cubs
Crying from hunger
She stretches her limbs,
And exhales deeply
She is standing. The bear awakens.
She lumbers outside of her den
The bright sunlight on ice reflections
The bear, she’s squinting, but gaining focus.
She licks the snow, it tastes good.
She gains the strength to nurse her hungry cubs.
The bear gazes off into the distance.
She shakes her body
She scratches her back
She rolls on the ground
She looks for snacks
She stretches her neck,
And inhales deeply
She is walking. The bear awakens.
It’s going to be a pretty good year for the bears.
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3. |
The Akitu Festival
04:00
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THE AKITU FESTIVAL
If I could time travel I know just what I’d do
Go back to ancient Babylon and ride a Lamassu
In the procession to celebrate Akitu
Turning chaos into order and drink some brew
I can think of nothing that would be better (nothing better, nothing better)
Than to slap the face of King Nebuchadnezzar (slap slap slap Nebu—chadnezzar)
So freaking hard that he produces a tear (produces a tear, produces a tear)
So we can harvest barley and make more beer (harvest barley and make some beer)
CHORUS
I need to – Akitu! Akitu!
Drink a brew – Akitu! Akitu!
It’s a spring celebration of barley fermentation
I’m going to drink beer in Babylon --Akitu!
On the first new moon after vernal equinox
We’d thresh the barley from its stocks
And we drink beer with my Babylonian posse
And we’d get drunk and sing the hymn to Ninkasi!
I can think of nothing that ‘d be as great (be as great, be as great)
Than to ride my lamassu through the Ishtar Gate (riding my lamassu through her gate)
And then take my beer to Etemenanki (drink my beer at Etemenanki)
I love that ziggurat so staunchly (love that ziggurat love it staunchly)
CHORUS
There is nothing that I’d further relish
Than to watch the whole Enuma Elish
And when Tiamat died I’d lead the cheer
And then of course we’d drink more beer!
Please Marduk please come to E.Sagila (Please Marduk please, please Marduk please)
The Babylonians are just dying to see ya (Please Marduk please, please Marduk please)
And the most important point, who knew? (I never never knew, did you?)
You don’t give beer to your lamassu (a drunk lamassu is a serious issue)
CHORUS
Let’s all go to the Akitu Festival
Where the numbers are all sexigesimal
Far far above the land of Ereshkigal
A Babylonian spectacle
Etemenanki looks so ascendable
Ishtar’s ladies look so sexual
Vernal lunar calendrical
Let’s all go to the Akitu Festival
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4. |
Signs
04:59
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SIGNS
There were signs but I didn't heed them
There were signs all along the way
There were signs of her arrival
On the first of May
When spring was melting into summer
And the nights they were turning warm
That's when I caught her message
In the termite swarm
She was there in the golden sunset
She was there in the live oak tree
She was there like the air we breathe
But we never see
And as we behold her shining face
Radiating into outer space
So we remember we come from a holy place
This is the context of the human race
She was there when you were aborning
When you crawled from your mamma's womb
She'll be there at the bitter end
When you meet your doom
And she's there in every instant
Every moment that comes between
She's there in your every nightmare
Your every dream
She's there in the clap of thunder
She's there in the raging sea
She's there in the grizzly bear
And the honeybee
And through our emergency we got a sense of urgency
What do we make of the gifts we're given?
And once we see her our perspective becomes clearer
We've got to change our way of living
There are signs if only we'd heed them
So many signs all along the way
There are signs of her immanent presence
In the world today
If only we'd pay attention
If only we had eyes to see
If only we could feel the connection
Between you and me
She's there, she's the golden sunset
She's there, she's the live oak tree
She's there, she's the air we breathe
But we never see
And if we listen we might just hear her call
Rising up from underneath it all
She's calling us to revolution
She's calling to our hearts and minds
She's calling us to live in accord with her grand design
Forged in her ancient crucible of time
But tell me is it too late to heed the signs
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5. |
Long Bright Day
05:58
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LONG BRIGHT DAY
In a yellow house // near the banks of the Cedar River
On a summer day // my grandmother delivered
Her first child // she named him Bill
It was the summer solstice
CHORUS
The longest day and the shortest night
So little darkness and so much light
The shortest night and the longest day
The summer solstice // 1931 // Bill’s born up Nebraska-Way
On a family farm // he had to grow up quickly
He was a hard working son of a bitch driving trucks to the city
Ambition lingered // underestimated
His dad didn’t understand and thus berated
Bill went to war // and then law school
It was his summer solstice
CHORUS
The longest day and the shortest night
So little darkness and so much light
The shortest night and the longest day
Too much time leads one astray
The longest day and the shortest night
So little darkness and so much light
The shortest night and the longest day
The summer solstice // 1966 // He became my father
Our relationship // was God damn complicated
As I rebelled // he was so agitated
He moved away // but it was not his decision
But with time and distance we reduced division
We talked about // politics and football
My summer solstice
Chorus
The longest day and the shortest night
So little darkness and so much light
The shortest night and the longest day
We shared disdain for authority
The longest day and the shortest night
So little darkness and so much light
The shortest night and the longest day
The Summer Solstice// 1995 // he became a grandfather… to my daughter
Bridge:
We lived far away, I called him every Sunday, I wish my children got to know him better,
they saw him only once a year, on the winter solstice
LAST CHORUS
The longest night and the shortest day
So little light and so much dismay
The shortest day and the longest night
I wish I may I wish I might
The longest night and the shortest day
So little light and so much decay
The shortest day and the longest night
It was on Thoth Sunday // 2007 // Bill Homan, my father, passed away
And I think about him every single day x2
The Summer Solstice is such a long bright day.
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6. |
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JOHN BARLEYCORN IN THE JAR-O
There were three men came out of the West,
Their fortunes for to try,
And these three men made a solemn vow:
John Barleycorn must die.
They've ploughed, they've sown, they've harrowed him in,
Threw clods upon his head,
And these three men made a solemn vow:
John Barleycorn was dead.
They've let him lie for a very long time,
Till the rains from heaven did fall,
And little Sir John sprung up his head,
And so amazed them all.
They’ve let him stand till midsummer's day,
Till he looked both pale and wan,
And little Sir John's grown a long, long beard,
And so become a man.
They've hired men with the scythes so sharp,
To cut him off at the knee,
They've rolled him and tied him by the way,
Serving him most barbarously.
They've hired men with the sharp pitchforks,
Who pricked him to the heart,
And the loader he has served him worse than that,
For he's bound him to the cart
They've wheeled him around and around the field,
Till they came unto a barn,
And there they made a solemn oath,
On poor John Barleycorn.
They’ve hired men with the crab-tree sticks,
To cut him skin from bone,
And the miller he has served him worse than that,
For he's ground him between two stones.
And little Sir John and the nut-brown bowl,
Proved the strongest man by far-o;
And little Sir John and the nut-brown bowl,
And he’s whiskey in the jar-o.
The huntsman, he can’t hunt the fox,
Nor so loudly to blow his horn,
And the tinker he can’t mend kettle nor pot,
Without a little barleycorn
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7. |
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WHERE ARE YOU, PERSEPHONE?
She spent the hours picking flowers
Then earth opened up for Hades’ chariot
He said Persephone, you’re gonna marry me
And spend eternity underneath the earth
She screamed, she cried, the sun he hid his eyes
She shouted -- no one heard her, except Demeter
To come to save her, to save her daughter
The alma mater -- agapata Demitra! (Αγαπητή Δήμητρα)
Where are you, Persephone?
You brought your best to me
It’s not your destiny, Korí Persephone
To be queen of the dead, share Hades’ bed
She ate three seeds from a pomegranate
Oh where are you Persephone?
My dear Persephone
So I grieved and searched all around the earth
For nine straight days, my mind was in a haze
I went to Helios, because he always knows
He said Zeus gave her to Hades Agesander
I screamed, I cried, tears poured from my eyes
I objected to this tryst in the dank realms of mist
So I need convince her dad to summon hence
Persephone my daughter to leave the underworld
Where are you, Persephone?
You’ve suffered tragedy
It’s now your destiny, my Persephone
To be queen of the dead, share Hades’ bed
She ate three seeds from a pomegranate
Oh where are you Persephone?
My dread Persephone
Bridge:
Zeus brokered an arrangement for Persephone’s estrangement
Two thirds of the year she’d join her mother dear
And for three months in winter she’d move from earth to hinter
And conjugate with Hades Eleusinian mysteries
Life is a cycle of birth and death and birth and death and birth and death and
And fertility and tragedy and comedy and death and
I don’t want to be afraid of death
So thank you Persephone, and because of Eleusinian Mysteries
and three pomegranate seeds, I no longer fear death.
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8. |
A Mighty Fine Time
03:02
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A MIGHTY FINE TIME
When the dark overcomes the light at last
And the summer heat begins to cool
When the autumn breezes are coming fast
And the harvest moon shines like a jewel
Then I know it’s time, to honor the ancestors, with our sacred rites
Then I know it’s time, to remember the dead, on their holy night
It’s a mighty fine time, of the year, and I don’t wanna miss a thing
It’s a mighty fine time, of the year, a time for remembering
It’s a mighty fine time
When the border between the world of the dead
And our world is dissolved
With feasts and fires we welcome back home
Former lives who have evolved
Then I know it’s time, this Samhain season, to stock meat in the shed
And I know it’s time, at this liminal moment, to pay homage to the dead
It’s a mighty fine time, of the year, and I don’t wanna miss a thing
It’s a mighty fine time, of the year, a time for remembering
It’s a mighty fine time
I got friends who are witches and they like to do rituals
In the upstairs room
Or out in the park, in the woods after dark
They can draw down the moon
And I know it’s time, when they open the circle and they invite me in
And I know it’s time, when they look me in the eye and they tell me that the veil is thin
It’s a mighty fine time, of the year, and I don’t wanna miss a thing
It’s a mighty fine time, of the year, a time for remembering
It’s a mighty fine time, of the year, and of this time we sing
It’s a mighty fine time
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9. |
The Bottom of the Year
01:59
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THE BOTTOM OF THE YEAR
The day is short, the night is long
We are drawing near to sing a winter song
Since the summertime the sun has marched across the sky
Now it’s standing still & we think we know why
We’re tilted just as far from the sun as we can be
And soon we’re heading back so everyone can see
That we are...
CHORUS:
Here, here at the bottom of the year
We are drawing near to share a little cheer
The day is short, the night is long
We are drawing near to sing a winter song
In December’s air we feel the winter chill
The weather has grown cold, it’s growing colder still
But from this point forward the daylight will increase
So the Wheel turns, may it never cease
(CHORUS)
With darkness drawing in on each and every side
Here around the fire our hearts are open wide
With family and friends in the season of rebirth
So that we renew our pledges to the Earth
(CHORUS)
Sing to the Earth that teaches us to love
Sing to the Sun that shines down from above
Sing to the Moon, of Ocean she is queen
Sing to the Stars, that teach us how to dream
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10. |
The Wheel
02:59
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THE WHEEL
It’s humbling to feel
The turning of the wheel
I wanted it so long
I’m desperate, not strong
It’s harder than dreams
To ride on this thing
Twisted on the spokes
Of love and hope
So light another candle with me sister
We gotta keep this going all night long
Light another candle with me mama
We gotta keep this flowing all year long
Throw the dollies in the fire
The sparks are flying higher.
We’re searching the depths
And you’re sure to catch your death
I’ll make Brigid’s cross
To compensate your loss
It goes by many names,
This feast of flames.
From the north, from the east, from the south, from the west,
We gotta keep this going all night long.
To the west, to the south, to the east, to the north,
We gotta keep this flowing all year long
It’s humbling to feel the turning of the wheel
We gotta keep this going all night long
Twisted on the spokes of love and hope
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Half Pagan New Orleans, Louisiana
We're a rock band based in Bulbancha. You might call it New Orleans. Sometimes we do songs about cemetery picnics or the mythology of ancient Babylon. We're Half Pagan.
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