"Psychedelic Moon" / "Exploding Lightbulbs" - 2 new tracks...

"Psychedelic Moon" is almost a cover song - the original "Psychedelic Moon" can be heard on "Psychedelic Moods" by the legendary Deep. I am lucky enough to have an autographed photo of Rusty Evans in the Via Kosmische home studio. Rusty was working on his Ring of Fire Johnny Cash-tribute band at the time he signed the picture for me. I am grateful to Bill Shute of Kendra Steiner Editions for sending the photo along from Texas. The Deep are probably the first band to ever call their music "psychedelic", so I was going for a "proto"-feel in my rendition of "Psychedelic Moon". I got rid of the additional melody than can be heard on the original, and also wrote my own lyrics, of course inspired heavily by what I thought I've heard on the recording. And a day after I recorded this number, I cut another psych track, this time with the harmonium as a tribute to Nico, and referencing Jimi Hendrix in the lyrics. This track is called "Exploding Lightbulbs" and is about finding happiness in a psychedelic world, also falling from one illusion into another, and the very heart of the "psychedelic experience". I think those 2 new tracks work together nicely, and could be the seed from which a brand new album might develop. I was recording at night, in a smoke-filled room, so probably the night is present in those songs. My favorite part of night comes right before the dawn, and the tracks are like Polaroids of that fleeting moment. I really enjoy working at Via Kosmische, I can't imagine a better place to work on my art.

Here are the lyrics, and audio, for both new tracks.

PSYCHEDELIC MOON

There’s a funny colored river
Playing love bits out of tune
And it must’ve all been painted
By the psychedelic moon

See those love bits on the water
Floating gently with the stars
And it must’ve all been painted
On a psychedelic night

There’s a mirror in her hallway
River’s all she wants to see
And she must’ve had it painted
On a psychedelic breeze

See this mirror on the water
Like a candle burning bright
Small orchestra playing deeply
On a psychedelic night

What you wish for, it all happens
That’s the night for secret dreams
And I feel like going nowhere
On a psychedelic wind

Hear the strings of distant alleys
Hear the sound of loneliness
Silent trumpets carry letters
To the psychedelic mass

See my shadow on the water
I am bending like a spoon
Just to reach the secret surface
Of the psychedelic moon

We will never leave the river
Making love there every night
Till we run into the sunrise
Full of psychedelic light

The Strange World of A.J. Kaufmann · "Psychedelic Moon" (a variation on THE DEEP).

EXPLODING LIGHTBULBS

I’m seeing numbers being painted on the sky
I’m hearing music of the spheres, space lullaby
Guess I’m closer to the end, a happy man
Exploding lightbulbs show me who I am

Perhaps the man you fear to comprehend
Perhaps a writer without any plan
Have you been experienced, I ask
Right after Jimi, I ask and ask and ask

I’m seeing graves in the corner of my room
I’m dropping acid beneath the silver moon
A new beginning dawning, like a happy man
Exploding lightbulbs take me as I stand

Perhaps the man you spy across the sea
Perhaps a trip into the sky machine
Have you been experienced, I ask
Right after Jimi, I spin and spin and spin

What’s exploding beneath the starry ceiling
Lightbulbs of all colors, sizes and shapes
It’s a fiesta of light on the broken horizon
It happens anywhere I place my hand

Have you seen the sky machine exploding
Have you seen the lightbulbs in my room
Have you heard the universe imploding
Have you heard the seagull carry news

The Strange World of A.J. Kaufmann · "Exploding Lightbulbs"