DESCRIPTION:
Produced by Edan for Big Nose Productions. All lyrics written and performed by J. Haynes for Virtua Stab Publishing (SESCA). Additional vocals by Leah Gordon, Rani, and Ray Fernandes. Cuts by Fakts One. Vocals recorded and mixed by Ray Fernandes and Keith Atkins @ Boston Butta Beats. Final mix by Edan.
I PHANTOM KEY
(1) BAD CARD - He asks a friend for a gun. (2) A GLIMPSE AT THE STRUGGLE - He is shot and killed while trying to rob a store. (3) Return of the B-Boy - He is resurrected by usic (a kick drum, a snare, and a hi-hat) and goes on a mission to save hip-hop culture. His quest leads hii to a battle against himself in which he must conquer his own demons. (4) LIVE FROM THE PLANTATION - The alarm clok wakes him from the climax of his dream, and he is faced with the grim reality of his desk job. After analyzing the politics of the wokplace, nd realizig it's many injustices, he quits. (5) NEW MAN THEME - Having just found the courage to quithis job, he reflects upon another life changing decision he had made, which was leaving college. Ultimately, he feels self empowered by his rediscovered independece, and decides to reinstate his social life by mingling at a local club. (6) HANDOUTS - I call nsight to get a beat so I can continue the album, but I'm broke because I'm jobless. Insight in turn gives me a shitty, poorly mixed beat. ("Status") (7) STATUS - Our hero ventures out to socialize, but is quickly discouraged by the limitations posed by financial hardship. (8) SUCCESS - Scarred and humiliated by pubic embarrassment, he swallows his pride and gets a new job. Unfortunately, he thinks that to be successful means to possess large sums of money, and views work as te most important thing in his life. Due to this outlook, he overlooks the emotional needs of his wife and his son (John). He loses his family, and though this experience, is forced to reevaluate his ideals about success. He meets a new woman, remarries, and now focuses his energies on having a fruitful family life. (9) DADDY DEAREST - John (the son from the first marriage) is desperately trying to keep his father involved in his life, but is given no consideration. (10) THE NOW - Dad is too caught up in making things work with his new family to pay any attention to the old. In fact, he puts so much effort into having a perfect family that his daughter, Kate (elder child from 2nd marriage) buckles under the pressure and commits sucide. (11) FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS - This song takes a similar approach to the film, "Magnolia". There is a bunch of people from different walks of life, who are somehow connected to each other(Franz, James, Greta, an unnamed attacker, Officer Grief, and Kate's family). Officer Grief answers the suicide call from Kate's mom. He had recently snapped under some of the pessures of his job, and whe he arrives on the sicide scene, he kills Kate's mom and dad. The focus then shifts to the perspective of the average person who is watching details of the incident unfold on the new. As viewers of media, we are manipulated and molded into whatever major corporations need up to be in order to spport sales, ratings, etc. I pose the question "who art thou?" to emphasize the degree to which we have lost ourselves in the machine. At the end of the song, I pose the challenge, "...tell us how we got here" meaning how did we this point in human existence where these types of social ills are common. (12) IRON HELIX - This song is the answer to the challenge posed at the end of Friends and Neighbors. Iron Helix is a synopsis of colonization in which Insight plays the role of a tribesman, or anyone who may not be privy to the modern world. My role is as the voice of the modern world. At first, Insight is steadfast about his lifestyle, but as he continues to interact with my character, he loses sight of his old values, and way of life. By the end of the song, he is fiull converted into the ways of the modern world,and there is no difference between his views and mine. Ultimately, we are both the voice of man's desire to cotrol and conquer all that exists. The final words, "all opposition must die!" are descriptive of the destructive impulst that begins the nuclear war in "Earthcrusher". (13) EARTHCRUSHER - A visual of the nuclear holocuast. (14) POST MORTEM - These are the perspectives of 4 people as they look into the light of a nuclear blast. Basically, the final words from those who are essentilly dead. Each individual flashes vast imagery of their closing thought befor they are dissovled by the bomb.