DESCRIPTION:
A mysterious sacrifice has brought a high priest and a beautiful goat together on a journey to meet the marvelous Azazel of the woods and waste. Will Aaron's deepest wishes come true? A Jewish folk song that skirts the soupy grey areas of morality and the fragilities of mortality.

This video has been in the works since I was creating the video for Cloned. Marie really loved "The Goat Song" and would sing it in odd places from time to time. I wanted to make a version with her singing on it and so she recorded it (even though she was sick and losing her voice) just before Cloned was released on YouTube. Then, our internet became nearly unusable, I got a seasonal job at Amazon, and things in Huntington became much busier than they had been in Columbus or Beckley. In happy news, Marie married my sorry arse on October 31st. So lots has been going on in my life lately, even if my YouTube life has stumbled over the last few months. I suffered a bit of an animation shock when I started working on this video, and it was hard to get myself to work on animation instead of sleep, but over the last month, I really got motivated and finally finished it.

I wanted a 2d video this time, and was convinced I could do it much more quickly that way. But of course, when I started working on it, I started obsessing and trying different things. I was trying to learn new things with each scene. I really got to know the particle system a lot better and was able to create my own ale, smoke, fire 'n sparks. I'm very happy with the cane that turns into a plow. Still, I hope the video doesn't seem like a step backwards with no 3d elements.

Artwork used: The goat is none other than Pre-Raphealite William Holman Hunt's poorly received but ever so beautiful Scapegoat. Aaron is metaphorical composite of the body parts of Venus and Cupid with the head of Rembrandt's Portrait of an Old Man. The Wind-Wife is Leonardo DaVinci's Ginevera de' Benci, whose eyes really captivated Marie and me when we had the pleasure to see her in a museum. The intro scene of The Binding of Isaac was a woodcut by Schnorr von Carolsfeld. I was at a loss for what Azazel would look like and created her from an alchemical mixture of pictures of goat eyes, snail eyestalks, a croco-gator snout, and Japanese foodstuffs.

I hope the video is watchable. With my poor internet, I click on the 1080 HD button and it still looks fuzzy like it's in 180 or 360, and it keeps cutting out. It's frustrating not being able to see how it looks because I can't tell if I have to fix it and reupload it. Thanks to everyone who'll watch this. Some of you have been with me for like two years now, and that makes me crazy-happy when I think about it. Without your support, I prolly would've given up a long time ago, so thanks for keepin' me goin'!

Lyrics:

Aaron and the Goat of Azazel

The goat would go to Azazel;
a cleansing was to come.
The goat would go to Azazel;
her lot was straight, her road was plumb.

The chosen goat was shining,
she spoke above her beard,
"Let me free and I will grant you
all the seraphim may grant."

Aaron asked like Jabez,
"Goat grant me health and land."
"Your land will make you hate your health
But ask again, and it shall hap."

"A goat is only worth its milk
you cannot grant me much!",
he spoke, but wondered through his teeth
how much the nanny knew.

The goat would go to Azazel;
a cleansing was to come.
The goat would go to Azazel;
her lot was straight, her road was plumb.

"Then let me make the air my bread
and make the moon my ale!"
"The bread would make your belly heave
But ask again, and it shall hap."

"Then let me call the toads from the stars,
control them with a stick!"
"The toads would rise against your stick
But ask again, and it shall hap."

"A goat is only worth its milk
you cannot grant me much!",
he spoke, but wondered through his teeth
how much the nanny knew.

The goat would go to Azazel;
a cleansing was to come.
The goat would go to Azazel;
her lot was straight, her road was plumb.

"Then you shall make me smoke by day
a fire by the night!"
"You would become the Wind-wife's toy,
but ask again, and it shall hap."

"Then I shall eat of Eden's tree -
the fruit, the snake and all."
"Then you'd never know you died,
but ask again, and it shall hap,"

"A goat is only worth its milk
you cannot grant me much!",
he spoke, but wondered through his teeth
how much the nanny knew.

The goat would go to Azazel;
a cleansing was to come.
The goat would go to Azazel;
her lot was straight, her road was plumb.

Aaron thought before he spoke,
"Then teach me what is best."
"All else is a coughing shade,
But ask again, and it shall hap"

Aaron asked the goat again.
"You must die instead of me.
My death will cleanse us for a year
but yours might cleanse eternity."

He sent the goat to Azazel;
a cleansing now has come.
The goat has gone to Azazel!
Her lot was straight, her road was plumb.