Get all 25 Bob Drake releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Room in the Tower, There Was Once a Road (two minimalist pieces), Legendary Lore Of The Holy Wells Of England, Planets and Animals, Two Tales of Uncanny Visitations, Suite for Notation Software, What Day Is It? (Expanded Edition), 2 Improvisations dans une Eglise, and 17 more.
1. |
The Room in the Tower
04:10
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It was sunset when the traveler rang the bell at the door
of the country inn
the innkeeper answered and said she was sorry
they were full for the night.
Then she said the night will soon be falling
and the next nearest inn is several hour's walk from here
even if you make it they may not have a room
and there are other problems too.
For those don't know it
this dark mountain road can be treacherous
and since you are so desperate, she whispered,
consider this proposal:
I can let you have the room in the tower
free of charge on one condition
you have to stay inside all night with the door locked
I'll lock you in myself
I have the only key
and if there is trouble nobody will be willing to help you
it's universally shunned
I'll come back in the morning
I don't go up there myself after dark
because it's said to be haunted.
So you must decide quickly before it gets dark.
So you have to let me know before Sunset
Make up your mind before it gets dark.
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2. |
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In a distant solar system
don't tell me there can't be a planet of dogs
just don't plan to visit it soon
because it's too far.
What are its inhabitants like?
Somewhat resembling Anubis,
or a little like a human wearing a fursuit
and it's so lovely peaceful and calm
but don't plan on visiting soon
because it's too far for us to get to anyway.
Traveling at the speed of light
it would still take centuries to get there
even taking into account the different experience
of time at that speed.
The ships would arrive
nothing living inside
the dogs would look in wonder
and ask why we even tried
when it was too far for us to get to anyway.
We don't know yet if space is infinite
and there's bound to be a few trillion planets in it
and since there was a planet of apes
why can't there be a planet of dogs?
Too far away for us to visit anyway
Too far away for us to get to anyway.
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3. |
The Exercise
03:00
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Fabian Stedman in 1660
was obsessed by the mathematics of bell-ringing
how many possible variations could be rung
upon a given number of bells
following some rules
for example:
One bell can only change places
with one ringing next to it
either before or after.
This cardinal rule is so taken for granted
neophytes are rarely informed of it
they are expected to know.
5000 or more changes should be called a peal
anything less than this is called a touch.
Two of the most common methods of bell-ringing
are called the Stedman and Grandsire Doubles.
Here are the first 10 changes of each.
Stedman Doubles on 6 bells:
123456
213546
231456
324156
234516
243156
423516
432156
342516
435216
Grandsire Doubles on 6 bells:
123456
213546
231456
324156
342516
435216
453126
541326
514236
152436
etc.
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4. |
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I: The Well in the Wall:
In Checkely in a spring of remarkable character:
The Well in the Wall
So denominated as it rises from underneath a wall
made of weathered sandstone
old tradition says it throws out small bones
all year round
except July and August
resembling those of sparrows and pigeons.
II: The Secret in the Chateau:
Chained to the wall in the cellar of the ancient
chateau of Caudeval -
two vast antiquated earthen amphorae
and a document insisting
they must never be
unchained.
III: An Account of a Prodigious Apparition:
Casually observing as the gardener cleared the weeds
from the long-forgotten path leading to the forest
when out of the woods stepped a being of astonishing appearance
with combined features of a great and shaggy fox
and human being.
It said something we couldn't understand
and simply faded away.
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5. |
Storm Shelter
02:37
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When a storm is approaching
it's completely natural
to want to find
and to get inside of
some sort of shelter
until it's passed.
And when it's over
one may emerge
and shake off one's fur
if one is so endowed
venturing forth to dry in the Sun.
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6. |
Such a Thing
02:49
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We've never seen such a thing
we've never seen such a thing
we've never seen such a thing
we've never seen such a thing
thing, thing, such a thing
We've never seen such a thing
we've never seen such a thing
we've never seen such a thing
no we've never seen such a thing
We've never seen a thing like this before,
now would someone please escort it to the door
to the door
please show it the door
and never bring such a thing into this house again.
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7. |
What Animal
03:01
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What animal find you
and what animal design you
and what animal shows you the way into the shining light
and what animal knows you
and what animal shows you
the enigma of every sphinx
penetrating the mysteries of form
and what animal
what animal provide to you a key
whispers the name of every distant star
Imagination: the eye of the soul
where forms may be made and outlined
and preserved
thus we behold the invisible world
the glass of vision
the apparatus of magical life
so what animal hold you
and what animal enfold you
and what animal
what animal
is lighting up your way
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8. |
Under the Plane Trees
04:42
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We convened one Summer afternoon
at the graveyard long abandoned
seated under the plane trees
on a slab of weathered granite
muffled thunder rumbled somewhere far away.
We'd come to this spectral locale
for a very specific reason
for it seemed to us then
there could be no better place
where one could speak about
“the Unspeakable”
which by definition can not be done
but we wouldn't let that spoil our fun.
I pointed out a colossal tree which had grown up in the middle of the centuried cemetery, and said “imagine what unspeakable nourishment its roots must be sucking from this charnel ground”.
You said that was preposterous, there can nothing nothing there to nourish the tree that can't be spoken about, or described by ordinary everyday chemistry, and in addition, you were “pretty sure” there could nothing that was really “unspeakable”.
You were pretty sure...
you were...pretty sure...
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9. |
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10. |
The Belua Bell
03:20
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Just outside the village
is a hoary, primitive-looking structure
in which hangs a bell
of colossal proportions
there's no human capable of ringing it
yet its tolling is heard
at midnight every aequinoctium.
All the wolves start to howl
the people and the dogs and cats all shudder involuntarily
when its doleful adumbrations arise.
It's called the Belua Bell
that is to say; “the bell of the beasts”
nobody's ever gone to see what does the ringing.
And it's got something inscribed on its side
above a stylized monstrosity
vaguely anthropomorphic yet distinctly lupine
in magnificent robes and a crown
and seeming to emerge from its snout
hieroglyphics no one's ever figured out
the best language experts are baffled.
It's called the Belua Bell
that is to say; “the bell of the beasts”
nobody's ever gone to see what does the ringing
nobody's ever gone to see what does the ringing
nobody wants to go to see what does the ringing
nobody's ever dared to go to to see
what does the ringing.
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11. |
Lemurian Megalapadis
03:44
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