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again i looked under the sun
and saw the race is not to the swift
no, nor the battle to the strong
the bread not to the wise
the rich not to the reason
for chance overtaketh them all
the bread not to the wise
the rich not to the reason
for chance overtaketh them all
that bread not to the wise and then
the rich not to the reason
for chance overtaketh them all
nothing new under the sun
there's nothing new under the sun
so why bother?
guess i’ll bother..
[right on man... taking pleasure in your endeavors, you know?
i like it!
ooh! yeah-ah...
ooh... that's comin' back now...
i dig it! i dig this!]
again i looked into my song
and saw the thought had at some point slipped
and the style come too strong
and the bible quoted wrong
the bread not to the wise
the rich not to the reason
for chance overtaketh them all
the bread not to the wise
the rich not to the reason
for chance overtaketh them all
that bread not to the wise and then
the rich not to the reason
for chance overtaketh them all
nothing new under the sun
nothing new under the song
nothing new under the soul
nothing new under the sun
nothing new under the song
nothing new under the soul...
*
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my heart’s in my hand
in sifted remains of another man
and my face is different every day
and i can’t say if i’d want that it would stay
all my time!
in narrow recess of my mind
falling backwards like the spring
in novocaine-on-memory
and i’m mutant sentimental
and my heart seems ornamental
do i wear it on my sleeve?
it’s not a difference i can see
my hand’s on my heart
tracing reverse, fading into the start
wrapped around and choking all our words
and the thought––that it could all be so much worse!
and my time
in rotting recess of my mind
in the filthy city spring
high on the fumes of memory
and i’m mutant sentimental
and my heart seems ornamental
but i still wear it on my sleeve
it’s not a difference i can see
"send the money for a rainy day
for the sake of future days
you’d better have nothing for me
you hide behind a borrowed chase…"
hey? hey? ah!...
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floating backwards through the upset mind
there is nothing left to you but time
time, time, time! make it work!
behind each line, inside is another quirk
and why do i? and why do i?
and why do i want it to work?
time, time, time, time!
contorting with every falsity
yearning shambles never set you free
time, time, and time! make it work!
inside, each line, behind––is another quirk
and why do i? and why do i?
and why do i want this to work?
time, time, time––please let it work
let it work...
please, let it work.
[time, time, time!]
[carry me back, carry me back
can we get back, can we get back?]
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4. |
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oh dear, poor goofus
dumb up on your steed
towards the well with no water
galloping for some new death or intrigue
or else grave disorder
you’ll find it not quite easy as it seems
to acquiesce completely
while continuing to rattle on
'and i promise
i’m not one of those guys
who’ll promise you earth and the skies
and sing you a ballad disguised
and play you the 7th chord'
'old lorca lullaby:
"horse won’t drink from stream"
––nor carnation’s daughter?
this quoting poetry’s lost its potency
anyway, it’s just the water'
and so on, goofus kept on, continuing
till they walked into the ocean
and disappeared into the fog
'oh, and i? i promise
i’m not one of those guys
who’ll promise you earth and the skies
and sing you a ballad disguised
and play you the 7th chord'
(“won’t drink from stream")
then A minor
(“won’t drink from stream”)
then A minor!
(quote poetry)
minor!
(quote poetry)
and i(iii) will stumble through heathers
and might die, in a colorless light
oh, but i(iiii) still gallop, untethered
and follow our master into solitary night
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5. |
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now stretch….
let your body burn
let your spirits all go sag
feel your bones burst
out through the earth with that
which you had known before
now all faded into sea
so intimate it seethes
and sits lapping at your feet
now, let your body burn
now let your body stomach, ashen, turn
let your body burn, let your body turn
let your body turn, let your body burn
allow all skies to fall
in locomotive droves
we’ll all drown our souls
rail back and right down the next day
carnage lapping at our feet
the earth silting through our teeth once again
angels lying in the streets, where we say, and when
and make no concerns
for your mind will in time be melted down into an urn
let your body burn, let your body turn
let your body turn, let your body burn
and hear the heavens call
and now let’s make them topple
we’ll stay laughing while they’re lapping
lapping at our feet; they'll be lapping at our feet!
now stretch, now stretch
now BREAK! now stretch...
now stretch, now stretch
now BREAK! now stretch... AH!
V-RI I-ROBIX 2016
V-RI I-ROBIX 2016
V-RI I-ROBIX 2016
V-RI I-ROBIX 2016
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6. |
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i'm still falling the way i did before
i can't do it much more
i'm still yearning the way i did then, too
i'm starting to burn through
in the light of love i saw the inward self
in the light of love i saw the in
the inward self
and i don't have the will to just bend down and thank god
i can't even thank max brod
i just want to take a moment to save a bit of this and you
you and your loved ones, too.... (ooh!)
in the light of love i saw the in
the inward self
and all along i know it was all
the inward self... ah!
(hum be dow, hum be dow, oh oh...
hold me down, hold me down oh oh...
hold me now, hold me now, oh no...)
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7. |
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8. |
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jump sheep for the stones that broke you
jump sheep for the lash on your back
jump sheep for the years that slip out through the cracks
one for the ocean inside you
and another for the ones on the rise
and one for the vicious black hole, sucking night
the archer is wake
the swan is flying
gold against blue
our wills are undying
sleep, sleep––sleep safe till tomorrow.
sleep, sleep, sleep safe, till tomorrow!
sleep sleep.. sleep safe till tomorrow!
and as the days pass us by, we’re losing sleep
we only get what we want, not what we need
and every second explodes, we’re at our knees
and every day is a joke, it’s such a SCREAM!!
jump sheep for destruction behind you
leaving the dead where they lay
and a kiss of bitter wind on your forehead
whishes every stitch torn away
and wake!
oh we'll wake!
the archer is wake
the swan is flying
gold against blue
our wills are undying
sleep, sleep––sleep safe till tomorrow.
sleep, sleep, sleep safe, till tomorrow!
sleep sleep.. sleep safe till tomorrow!
there is hunting in heaven
there is hunting in heaven
sleep safe, 'till tomorrow.
there is hunting in heaven.
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9. |
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no, no, no––how it's going up!
the flames are blowing up
oh, oh, oh, watch as it goes
how were we to know... ?
you life is a...
( ) a yellow star
( + ) on the boulevard
your life is a yellow star glimpsed from: very far
your life is a...
( ) a yellow star on the Boulevard! (shh.)
now, no, no, no! watch, it's going up
the flames are blowing up
well, oh, oh, ooh, watch it start to GO!
and how we were to know, that it would show...
until it... blowed?
your life is a shooting star, caught in my craw
your life is a...
( ) a shooting star on the boulevard
( ) a shooting star, caught in my craw, waiting on its nod
( ) a shooting star, afar
now, oh, oh, oh, watch it's going up!
the flames are blowing out... !
now oh, oh, oh! watch it going up!
the flames are blowing uuuup... !
set them all off behind your face!
set them all off behind your face!
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
(no, no, no, gotta keep it shut...
don't open up)
[ ]
[ ]
[___]*
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10. |
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watching rainfall, perfect to the touch
says so much, to these worthless hands
and deaf ears, gone astray, all in vain
there's no other way...
but Avanti
or an advancing
or anything
i could want to be
an Avanti, an Avanti!
Avanti, Avanti...
counting thought and fantasy for miles
without a smile and the rain still pouring
unseen, past my brain, it's like some game
and i can't find a way
to Avanti
or an advancing
or anything
i could try to be
or Avanti! or Avanti!
Avanti, Avanti...
i give up; it's better if i.... stop!
i won't see a drop, with all these
images and false memories on display
and who's to say these moments should stay? (...stay)
to Avanti, Avanti
Avanti, or let's not be...
Avanti! Avanti!
Avanti! avanti!! avanti, avanti....
let's not be! let's not be!
oh... oh no!...
to avanti, let's not be...
to avanti––let's not be.
(... eh ....)
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11. |
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your fingers move
so ghostly
against dead breeze
around my throat
and the running notes
passing through our dreams
a mental mutiny––somebody spoke to me
"this isn't what it seems;" my life is on my screens
another shot inside––did somebody else die?
blood for variety; i saw it on my screens
variety, for variety
something in my screens
nothing in my scream
and if you'll doubt
won't you shout it out?
for one and all in we
won't you twist, my knife ?
in one last flash of life
and then i'm gone i'm free
a mental mutiny, something of late it seems
blood for variety, it's down to you and me
another shot inside! it's only you and i?
blood for variety, i saw it on my screens
variety, for variety
it's something like a dream!
but nothing on TV
c'mon, and watch me bleed
let's die for variety!
c'mon, and watch me bleed
let's die for variety!
and I?.....
and what of ME?
BLOODY VARIETY!
BLOODY VARIETY!
(the blood....)
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12. |
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six stones aslant
along sea of black ink;
thrown, they sink
into the stony
slopes of ocean floor ....
I float upwards—
six moments slip
behind a midnight cloud...
and somewhere, soft shouts—
and all the while air
smokes along my spine:
all in due time...
in due time...
a lightning bolt that
strikes and then unfurls;
your fingers grip—curled
golden hair (I hear
her singing, too) ...
the music moves you
back into the shadow
of a moon—now
you go black,
and all the while there's
smoke along my spine:
all in due time ...
in due time...
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THE JOHN V. VARIETY HOUR, HR 1––professionally mastered for the very first time by the illustrious Zak Mering of GunkTVRecords––presents the best of 2015's DEBUTANTE trilogy alongside as-yet unreleased tracks, all of which has been re-recorded, remixed, rearranged, and now reincarnated in its original prophesied form: as a solo and splendiferous aural odyssey of psychedelic disco and baroque avant-pop; as a polyphonic / polyrhythmic musical narrative related in the ringing tones of introspection, abstraction, allegory, and obscurantism; as a song of the self that begins (against the old testament) at the end, so as to cast sharp relief on our young belle's Fall and Rise in a world fallen upon dark times; a song that lingers upon our hero's repeated entanglements in space and time along his way, only to come to a crashing climax of cybernetic chaos; and yet a song that is rounded off by a hymn, and the call of a freshborn phoenix that darkly rises and recedes into the distance.
featuring HR 1 special guest, SERA SEINES
released September 13, 2016
HR 1 was recorded by John V. Variety in various studios/bedrooms in morningside heights and a north brooklyn industrial zone throughout 2015 and into 2016
all arrangements, lyrics, guitars/bass guitars/organs/synths/drum samples/maschine pad and vocals John V. Variety
guest vocals on 12 by Sera Seines
live drums on 12 by Keenan (Lovely Beasts)
mastered by Zak Mering of
gunktvrecords.bandcamp.com
sample credits:
lyrical nods to Can [segment of 2], Robert Walser and Brian Wilson [segment of 6], William Carlos Williams [segment of 8] and the Old Testament [segment of 1]
subtitle/hue of 9 from painting by Willem de Kooning
front cover and all artwork by Sera Seines
special thanks: sera, keenan, karl, terry, jenny, zak, zachary, vern, lily, anna