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Arphus Shmarphus Horkus Porkus

by Beowulf Kingsley

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1.
Hoodoo Stick 03:56
HOODOO STICK I think I lost my Hoodoo Stick The one I use to do my tricks I think I lost my Hoodoo Stick It’s got me feelin’ mighty sick I left it in my dressing room After I picked up my doubloons And now I feel that I am doomed I’m too upset to sing this tune Hoodoo Stick, Hoodoo Stick Where the hell’s my Hoodoo Stick Alert the police & the press Without that Stick my life’s a mess Just one sure way to get me fixed I’ve got to find that Hoodoo Stick
2.
Naked 04:51
NAKED IN THE PARK You keep askin’ me what all my fantasies are And we’ve acted out a good few of them so far You know by now, you’re already the star Of the naughty parts in all of my dreams But here’s one now that I haven’t told yet You’ll like it when you hear this one, I’ll bet Might be hard to achieve, that’s my only regret When I tell you you’ll see what I mean I want to walk in the park, naked after dark with you I want to walk in the park, naked after dark with you In the hot summer air, we just won’t care You know that we’ll be cool I want to walk in the park, naked after dark with you Now I don’t want a park full of bitey little bugs Don’t want to have to fight off no muggers and thugs Or moronic people tryin’ to sell us some drugs Can’t they see that we don’t have any change? No, my dream park is just the two of us alone We don’t have to worry ‘bout where we’re goin’ Like children of the Earth thru the woods we’d roam I don’t think that’s so strange I want to walk in the park, naked after dark with you I want to walk in the park, naked after dark with you When it’s just you and me, we’ll be underneath the trees What better thing for us to do I want to walk in the park, naked after dark with you Just like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden Our glorious sun-loving antecedents We’ve already got everything we need And I don’t think that we’re no fools Or like Lennon and Ono on the “Two Virgins” cover They wanted the whole world to know they were lovers They’d have done it again if they had to do it over And that’s the right thing to do! I want to walk in the park, naked after dark with you I want to walk in the park, naked after dark with you We can saunter thru the grove, it’s OK ‘cause we’re in love And everybody knows it’s true I want to walk in the park, naked after dark with yo
3.
ONE BORN EVERY MINUTE There’s a man lookin’ in my window, I tell him to go away He says he’s on surveillance with the CIA Says it’s unpatriotic to ask him to avert his gaze We all got to get used to a little less privacy these days Says it’s a red alert, or maybe lavender or green I tell him that I’m colorblind; I don’t know what that means We got troubles all around us, I know that, I’m no fool But sometimes politicians use our troubles as a tool If we hold people without trial, or make them disappear Then tell me how it’s different over there from over here We’ve had camps for our own citizens, Though we didn’t use the gas That usually doesn’t show up in your high school history class But now it’s much more subtle, we can ship ‘em all away To some friendly third-world country where torture is OK Guantanimo and Abu Ghraib and many more, all right For all I know you’ve got a place for me to go tonight Someone gets you scared And now they’re messin’ with your mind They’ve got you jumpin’ through the hoops this time You see ‘em on the hill and he’s up there grinnin’ He says there’s one born every minute You know the Devil’s gonna rise again You just look in your TV and you don’t gotta ask me when If you’re lookin’ for the truth, and you’re wonderin’ who hid it Well you can hear him chuckle, “There’s one born every minute” Just ignore the core of the problem, and obfuscate the past Crank up the xenophobia and your dynasty may last Well, it worked a while for Stalin, and maybe Genghis Khan But time’ll come when you see all the easy answers gone And people wake up sometimes, and they wonder where they be Like in Bosnia, Cambodia or Nazi Germany And when the mist clears from their eyes, And they can finally see Better find yourself a bunker and a pail of gasoline
4.
TECHNICOLOR SUMMER Your sister told me you were gone, and all that I could see A memory from long ago - two kids who looked like you and me Eyes on fire and brains aglow, with dreams rockin’ like thunder As we stumbled out and on into the Technicolor Summer If I could do it over, I’d go back there again The rainbow halo sunshine and the two of us as friends The future lookin’ so fine, and the Sundays without number Like children we were wandering through the Technicolor Summer Hey there bro, it’s running through my mind You fell into that dark hole we looked into then sometimes No more chances in this lifetime, and I wait here on the sidelines What you know now I know I’m bound to find What’s on the other side And now out on the hillside, while I watch the setting sun I’ll drink one to your memory and the things we’ve said and done Two kids who looked like you and me, a world of light and color In my mind they’re still there walking through the Technicolor Summer
5.
END OF THE LINE It was good to get away And see the end of things with you From a distance, you might say Between me and our sorry blues I don’t look forward to coming back And having our final conversation But I got on the train and the train’s on the track And the end of the line is my destination I know all the things that I’m gonna say I can pretty much guess what you’ll say too Expectations and regrets Man, you can taste that deja vu It doesn’t seem fair to hear the same sad story When what we had was so strange and fine But you buys your ticket and you takes your chances And my destination is the end of the line End of the line - end of the line Runnin’ out of rail and we’re runnin’ out of time After all our travels it’s such a crime I don’t want to get to the end of the line I want to take you in my arms And pull this breakup train off track Out across uncharted fields Together, never looking back The future’s right here in our hands Let’s pull the brakes on this separation ‘Cause life is short and love is precious And the end of the line is our destination
6.
Fish 03:49
FISH The sea is filled with horrible fish And horrible fish are they And the mariners curse the fish from here To the shores of Mandalay But the horrible fish, they do as they wish In the dark and briny deep And they do it all day in a horrible way Till they finally go to sleep Not content to be in the measureless sea Where the whale and the plankton flow There’s a secret door in the ocean’s floor That they open to travel below Through the secret door to the earth’s deep core All the horrible fish decend And they do things there more horrible still Far away from the eyes of men I was out, just me, on the billowing sea When the horrible fish appeared I have terrible tales what they did to my sails And my captain’s hat, and beard Now a man might eat of the terrible fish, But a wise one they might not Far better they swim in the oceans dim Than a good chef’s bouillabaisse pot!!
7.
ROULETTE WHEEL She’s a spinning roulette wheel I’m wondering how much you’re betting Shining like a jewel, she should be Mounted in the finest setting Have you got the wherewithal to Play the game in this rich town She’s a spinning roulette wheel Come and lay your money down She’s a spinning roulette wheel Don’t you love a game of chance The taste of hot uncertainty Spices up this torrid dance Still if fortune favors you You’ll have a chance to win this prize She’s a spinning roulette wheel Just don’t look her in the eyes ‘Cause you might get lucky Yeah, that remains to be seen Lucky, but what does lucky really mean She’s a spinning roulette wheel Flying numbers up her skirt Staying at this table you Might not leave here with your shirt In too deep too guess the odds Or to count the chips you’ve picked She’s a spinning roulette wheel But you know the game is fixed
8.
Kenji 03:31
KENJI Kenji the mighty Sumo Was a mountain of a man Many men that came to fight him Took one look at him and ran He was strong and he was skillful Beating all his foes with ease Like a Nippon high-powered wrecking ball Knocking big towers to their knees Kenji the mighty Sumo Was the king of the Budokan The results of long-term planning From ambitious Dad and Mom He had wealth and power in his hands And all that that can mean But Kenji the mighty Sumo Had a different kind of dream Kenji the mighty Sumo Had a different kind of dream That he got from an old jazz record From a place called New Orleans And he’d put on that old record With a wistful kind of sigh And sometimes alone in the dead of night You could hear poor Kenji cry Well, he finally couldn’t stand it Took a boat out late at night Rode a train across the USA To the Crescent City’s lights Now he plays his harp down at the bar And he’s happy as a clam And the people come from near and far Just to hear Big Kenji’s band
9.
‘LECTRIC CHAIR Sittin’ in the ‘Lectric Chair, hopin’ you won’t pull that switch One of us is guilty here, but I’m not sure of what or which Seems like we were only talkin’ when the lightning filled the air I can hear the thunder rumble Sittin’ in the ‘Lectric Chair Something that I said or did or maybe looked a certain way You’re staring at me like I know, but from this seat it’s hard to say Now it’s like a Kafka novel, or that old Bob Dylan song Sittin’ in the ‘Lectric Chair And I don’t know what I’ve done wrong Too late for a court appeal, or the Governor’s reprieve You have got the power to fry me if you think that’s what you need Maybe you could show me mercy, talk it over if you dare ‘Cause it doesn’t feel so groovy Sittin’ in the ‘Lectric Chair
10.
BAD AS YOU THINK I AM Plenty of time to jump, plenty of time to fall Plenty of time to knock your picture off the wall Plenty of time to curse, plenty of time to cry Plenty of time to sit around and wonder why Since you’ve been gone, time’s on my hands But I’m still not doin’ as bad as you think I am I know you won’t come back, ain’t gonna try for that Gettin’ down on my knees and begging ain’t where I’m at All of my love in vain, all of that time we spent All of the times I used to go and hustle up the rent Since you’ve been gone, time’s on my hands But I’m still not doin’ as bad as you think I am I got a tank of gas, I’m gonna drive it dry I’m gonna go to a place where nobody cheats or lies Maybe I’ll change my name, maybe I’ll hide someplace Maybe I’ll hijack a rocket ship and go live in outer space Since you’ve been gone, time’s on my hands But I’m still not doin’ as bad as you think I am
11.
In My Dreams 05:06
IN MY DREAMS If I’m sleeping please don’t wake me now Holding your hand far above the clouds Aurora Borealis blue, the curtains part for me and you We fly beyond the atmosphere Beyond our doubts, beyond our fears And all through the years With you here, it’s like dreaming And in my dreams You’re the one I believe in I know that if I try I’ll find the way And tell you all the things I want to say About a thousand years ago A lonely man walked down the road With heart of pain, he was traveling blind With no idea what he might find And all through the years With you here, it’s like dreaming And in my dreams You’re the one I believe in
12.
Crap 03:03
CRAP A little useless flailing On another worthless day I’d tell you all about it But I know just what you’d say You’re really well intentioned But one thing I haven’t mentioned Everything I do is crap The garden gnomes around my desk Just chuckle with delight Because my recent epic Is another pile of shite I’m not just off somewhere I am not unaware That everything I do is crap And down here in my studio I’m just singing in the air I’m playing for an audience That isn’t really there And no, no I’m not fooling I know just what I’m doing And everything I do is crap

about

This was the third of my solo albums, and the first I felt good about releasing to the general public. I used the Beowulf Kingsley nom de plume for legal reasons at the time, but now it can be revealed, it's just me. I feel I've developed a lot since that time, but there are still some really nice moments on this one. Fun for the whole family, especially if your family are Space Aliens or Sasquaches. You can have it for free (for now), but if you want to pay me something for it that's cool too. Loan me a tenner, mate, and I'll buy you a pint.

credits

released October 11, 2008

Beowulf Kingsley (Todd Perkins): Vocals, Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Fretted, Fretless and Upright Basses, Electric Sitar, Keyboards, Drums and Percussion, Loop Manipulation, Production and Mixing

Danny Pratt: Guitar on Bad As You Think I am, Harmonica on Technicolor Summer

Madcat Ruth: Harmonica on Kenji

Billy Mack: Drums on End Of The Line and Roulette Wheel

Mark Boone: Organ on Bad As You Think I Am

Charlie Murphy: Water Harp on Technicolor Summer

Jeff Westover: Cover Art

Chris Goosman: Mastering

All songs written by Todd Perkins

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Beowulf Kingsley Grass Lake Charter Township, Michigan

Todd was here before. Perhaps you recognize him from back then. He looked different then, though. If you think he owes you any money, he was probably some other guy. Those other guys are gone now. We think they may be in Guam, or possibly Kansas.

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