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The Princess Variations

by Sprocket

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1.
2.
Sun Princess, shine down on me And teach me the ways of music and sweet harmony Moon Princess, teach me to sigh, And sing to me your dear lullaby. The stars are so far away They peek through the night, And hide through the day. They shine like the sparkles in your hair. Moon Princess, can you hear me up there? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? ...
3.
The Eternal 03:36
Spoken Word segment [Joseph Campbell]: The moon dies and is resurrected It sheds its shadow as the serpent sheds its skin To be born again. The principle of life involved in the field of time. The sun does not have a shadow within itself. The sun is always radiant. It's always a crisis when the sun is eclipsed. Something eclipsed it! The sun hasn't eclipsed itself. And the sun both kills the moon, But then becomes the mother Out of whose womb the moon is born. The dying moon, the resurrected moon, the three nights dark - These associations are speaking the same old story of finding the eternal life within the temporal, And that's the problem of our existence you might say
4.
Praise the Sun Light my sword on fire For my battles to be won. Raise a glass to the Moon The princess who walks in my dreams Will teach me to banish the nightmares and gloom.
5.
6.
I tuck myself in And pray for some dreams But just look up at the ceiling And count the tiles and the seams I look back How I spent my day, such a waste of time, And I've got to do it all again When the clock strikes nine. CHORUS To sleep. To sleep. To sleep, perchance to dream. My apartment Is not the kind of place that has a view Can't tell when the sun comes up, Ain't no way to say, "Goodnight, Moon." But I believe In more than what's in plain sight So I reach out to the Princess of Dreams To climb inside my head tonight, CHORUS To sleep. To sleep. To sleep, perchance to dream. Oh, Won't you teach me to fly And show me the way To your castle in the sky? Oh, dream, Take me away, And spare me From the nightmare that's become my ordinary day.
7.
I felt so far away But I gazed at the stars And smiled at the day I know I will always get by Cause I know I share a Universe With beings much greater than I. Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Don't care if you hear me, I see you up there. I can see you. I can feel you. SPOKEN WORD: (Segment of the "The More Loving One" by W.H. Auden [1907-1973]) Looking up at the stars, I know quite well That, for all they care, I can go to hell, But on earth indifference is the least We have to dread from man or beast. How should we like it were stars to burn With a passion for us we could not return? If equal affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me.
8.
Sun Princess won't care when I'm gone Though it's always been looking to you That's helped me be strong Moon Princess, I love your skies I'll have you with me forever regardless of whether or not you realize. [Excerpt from "The More Loving One" by W.H. Auden] Admirer as I think I am Of stars that do not give a damn, I cannot, now I see them, say I missed one terribly all day. Were all stars to disappear or die, I should learn to look at an empty sky And feel its total dark sublime, Though this might take me a little time.

about

The Princess Variations is a concept album about trying to reach out and communicate with the cosmos.

Musically, it's ten variations on a single theme. They vary in style and genre, but generally combine elements of orchestral composition, synth sound design, with a touch of jazz, downtempo, and rock.



TRACKS:
1. A Little Time (Intro)
2. Princess, Can You Hear Me? *[Parts 1 & 2]
3. The Eternal *[Parts 3 & 4]
4. Praise the Sun *[Part 5]
5. Prelude to a Moonrise *[Part 6]
6. Perchance to Dream *[Parts 7 & 8]
7. Princess, Can You Hear Me? Pt. II *[Part 9]
8. The Dark Sublime (ft. Charles Iain Layton) *[Part 10]



HISTORY:

The Princess Variations started with one song, "Sun Princess, Moon Princess." I had a lot of ideas about where I wanted to go with it, but after quite a bit of hair-pulling, I realized that producing it as one song would mean that I would have to go months without releasing anything else at all.

So I divided it up. I released what I had as "Princess, Can You Hear Me?" Then I got to work on what was to follow. I figured I might make another track or two, and that would be it.

I had no idea that the album would turn out to be as involved as it did, nor did I anticipate that the production of it would end up taking over a year of my life (on and off).

At its core, The Princess Variations is my personal hymn to the Sun and Moon - a way to simultaneously praise the cosmos, and examine our lonely place among them. Most of all, it was an excuse to do something orchestral, and jazzy, and to have some fun experimenting making some really cool synth sounds at the same time.
- Sprocket

credits

released August 7, 2017

THANK YOU!
First of all, I want to thank every one of my listeners who supported the Princess Variations concept. Your enthusiasm is what drove me to expand the project as much as I did. I hope you enjoy the final product. Thank you for your encouragement along the way!




SOUND BITES

A Little Time: The audio collage overture contains soundbites from all of the songs on the album including Sax Brony's solo on "The Dark Sublime," and spoken word segments credited below.


SPOKEN WORD

The Eternal: The spoken word from "The Eternal" is from Prof. Joseph Campbell.

The Dark Sublime: The spoken word from, "Princess, Can You Hear Me, Pt II," and "The Dark Sublime" is W.H. Auden reading his poem, "The More Loving One."


GUEST MUSICIAN

The Dark Sublime: Saxophone solo by Sax Brony


THE PRINCESS VARIATIONS

Princess Can You Hear Me?, The Eternal, Praise the Sun, Prelude to a Moonrise
Copyright Sprocket 2016.

Perchance to Dream. Princess Can You Hear Me? Pt. II, The More Loving One
Copyright Sprocket 2017.

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Sprocket New York, New York

Sprocket is a composer and producer from New York.

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