jane siberry meshach dreams back artbook

7/21/2019 Jane Siberry Meshach Dreams Back Artbook

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/jane-siberry-meshach-dreams-back-artbook 1/26



ACT 1 CALL MAGIC

whereby

traveller arrives at village with messages intact;

announces strategy of journey henceforth; startle-hidden, enumerates symbolson dreaming wall; successful message transmission from the garden; obtains discomfort

upon unlikely encounter with another traveller; obtains mild electrocution upon

subsequent; pronounces judgment thereby self-inducing somnambulance; calls Magic;

new encounters purport obedience to higher vibration.

Oh my gosh, I almost didn’t make it! But I did.And I have so many messages for you from thevillages that I have passed through.

This is part three of a three part story.A little bit strangeA little bit funnyAnd a little bit gory.Here we go.

And as I came around the corner of the building,I saw embedded in the wall a shell, I saw a mostbeautiful pearl and I saw the footprints of a dogand I saw a word M-A-G-I-C. And I looked over toyou in your garden and you leaned forward to meand you said ‘How beautiful!’. Thank you! ‘No,how beautiful are the columns of the temple thathave found their way here, right now.’

We can climb the highest mountainWe can ford the raging riverEven as we make the waitress cryEven as we curse the next guyEven as we brace for attack from our fellow manAnd we can hear a child cryingon the other side of the world

Even as we can’t hear our own friends but ...

And I came around the corner of the buildingand I saw embedded in the wall a shell, a pearl,a seven-league boot, the footprints of a dog andI saw people streaming past you in the garden.Where were they going? Hey!

CALL MAGIC!

A man approached me on the street and he said

‘You’re so attractive’. I know. ‘Your legs are likecolumns in a temple, I just want to caress them andI...’ And I said aren’t you my girlfriend’s boyfriend?Oh, I’d never do anything. I just thought you valuedhonesty.’ I do. ‘I just thought you valued openness.’I DO.

CALL MAGIC! Wha?

Just then a woman came walking towards mewearing what looked like a superhero’s cape butnot quite. Very plain and unassuming. And asshe passed, she looked at me and her eyes werebright blue and piercing and brimming withintelligence and humour. I felt like I’d been zapped.

You never know who you’re talking to

You never know who you’re walking toYou never know who you’re sitting besideYou never know who you’re taking for a rideWhat? I take people for a ride?



LET GO! CALL MAGIC!

But he just wouldn’t let go of it. He said he’d neverdo anything but he wouldn’t stop saying what hewouldn’t do. I couldn’t stop him.

CALL MAGIC! Not now. CALL MAGIC! I’m too busy.

And I came around the corner of the building,

I saw embedded in the walla shell, a pearl, I did NOT see the footprintsof the dog though. Hey!

And then I passed three men at the sideof the road smoking.

And then I passed a couple talking.

Marry me. I can’t marry you.Marry me. I won’t marry you.You make me feel almost sleazy!It’s not that you judgeI don’t feel like you doIt’s just how wobbly my spine feelswhen I stand next to youI pick up the phone. I don’t call you.

I pick up the phone. I don’t call you.Marry me. I won’t marry you

Mmuh schmuh! Why doesn’t he just marry her?

LET GO! But I didn’t understand, you see. She wasjust asking about integrity. And my judgement ofthis couple started to make me feel soooo sleepy. Asif I’d been running through a field of self-vampirizingpoppies (the poppies being me).

CALL MAGIC! No.CALL MAGIC! Muh...CALL MAGIC! Magic...CALL MAGIC! OK. MAGIC!!!

Like that?

And to my great surprise a big black dog camebounding towards me. Wha? Is this Magic?You want me to take Magic for a walk? So Magicand I started walking towards the next village.We passed three men – Shadrach, Meshach andAbednego. We passed three children – theywere humming at the side of a field and the fieldwas beginning to change, to come back to life.And I felt like I’d had bandaids ripped from myeyes and I was so ... GRATEFUL?

Not exactly. NOT EXACTLY! NOT EXACTLY!



ACT 2 WHEN WE ARE A VAMPIRE

whereby

to traveller has mirror been given; hilt-handed they eye higher plateau;

whereas stalls of chocolate constant-seen in ancient times,

sparsity now influences the view.

Tiny lies are killing me

One day when I was walkingI saw you on the streetHe was doing all the talkingYou looked very sweetThen I saw your face go whiteI saw your shoulders sagAs you slid to the groundHe took another drag

When we are a vampire

We can make you so tired

What kind of lies are feeding you?Drawn from the neck of something quite untrueLike the man who would be kingJust because of family prideOr the desire to be famous because of love denied

When we are a vampire

We can make you so tired

Great big lies are feeding me

What lies? Big lies.Big lies? Sneaky lies.Sneaky lies? Life lies.What’s that? I’ll explain later.

A temporary source of e-n-e-r-g-yYou have to find anotherWhen you’ve sucked the last one dry

Who are we talking about?I’m totally confused.Are we vampire or victim?Just who is being used?The only protection I know is positivityAnd in desperate cases chocolateJoy will set you free

Sometimes we swing to the side of the lawPutting on our superhero capeAnd in the name of all that is good and lightFree huh free huh!

When we are a vampireWe can take away your fireWhen we are a vampireWe can make you so tired

Mostly we don’t know we’re doingAnd if we knew we were doing itWe wouldn’t want to be doing it

And if you ever find me doing itSay hey! Stop doing itAnd I’ll say thanks pal!This song is about just being a bit more awareOf how we’re using energyMaybe that’s why vampires are in the air(I don’t know)Show you care. Free huh free huh!



ACT 3 MESHACH DREAMS BACK

whereby

traveller abnegates resolution of the affairs to rightful owners;

fulfills welcoming of new travellers at train station; declares truce to resisting

trajectories toward successful love; help comes in an unexpected way;

keeping warm with increasing lack of raiment becomes of prime concern.

LET GO!

SHADRACH, MESHACH, ABEDNEGO

HANANIAH, MISHAEL, AZARIAH

Come on, Magic. Let’s go to the train station.It’s our turn to greet people. Others have goneto schoolyards, to office parties, any and allports of call where someone might be foundstanding alone against a wall.You know, when the great train of freedom comes,they say no one will be left behind. No one.Not the least of sparrows. Don’t give up, get ready.

Prepare ourselves, get ready. Here we go, get ready.

Maybe it was to learn how to loveMaybe it was to learn how to leaveMaybe it was for the games we playedMaybe it was to learn how to chooseMaybe it was to learn how to loseMaybe it was for the love we made

Love is everything they said it would beLove made sweet and sad the sameBut love forgot to make me too blind to seeYou’re chickening out, aren’t you?You’re chickening out or ... is it me?

And as I came around the corner of the building, I sawembedded in the wall, I saw a shell and I saw a pearl

and I saw a superhero’s cape and I saw a sword andI saw the mighty word M - A - G - I - C. Which of coursespells ‘YES!’ YES? I didn’t mean to say YES! Theuniverse did a martial arts move on me and tripped

me up on my own energy. But since I’d said yes,I found myself being led blindfolded through a

backyard in Oakland, California towards a chicken hutand I braced for the fatal squawk.

And inside that chicken hut, that dark tent, they cutthe clothes from my body: my expensive black leatherjacket from New York; my expensive black jeansfrom Paris, 10% lycra, perfect fit, long sought after;and finally gone was my expensive thong. But I wasso desperate to lose the heaviness that had dogged

my trail since I had been a young girl that it finallyoutweighed the ‘otherness’. And they sprinkled mewith some kind of magic water and incanted words ina language I’d never heard before. And I don’t know ifthe water or the words worked. I just know that I willnever, ever forget their kindness.

LET GO! LET GO!

Oh Mama, with what shall I keep warm?!

LET GO OF KEEPING WARM

TO WHICH MESHACH DREAMS BACK

‘CONSIDER THE LILIES OF THE FIELD.’

AND SHE CAME AROUND THE CORNER OF THE

BUILDING AND SHE SAW A BENCH. AND SHE LOOKEDUP AT THE SUN AND IT WAS HOT. AND SHE FELT THE

WIND AND IT WAS STRONG. AND SHE TOOK OFF HER

CLOAK AND LAID IT ON THE BENCH.



ACT 4

WE COULD HAVE BEEN

GREAT FRIENDS

whereby traveller expresses admiration for enemy

to whose demise they were party;

Magic attends not the lower vibration

of regret, attends instead the

new surrounds.

And as Magic and I walked into the next village,we came upon my worst enemy. Hi! But I wasn’tprepared. And my sword arm was weak. And wherewe’d normally insult each other with the greatestof pleasure, I could see the disappointment on hisface when this was all I could bleat:‘Is ... is this your horse?’

We could have been great friendsWe could have been on each other’s talk shows!We could have been great friendsAs above why not so below?

Ah, that was a great day!Yea, except you killed me.

The General is lonely.

Instead of like this ...



ACT 5 ABOVE THE PORTICO

whereby

journey leads through Temple of Harmony, enclaved within which there

perform athletes of all realms found wherewith to be self-training with great

enthusiasm toward wider understanding in their given discipline;descension again into lower-vibrating but more familiar world of sadness

and longing but also love and compassion.

Instead of a village it was a temple. And above theportico were the words KNOW THYS ELF.

ASCENDING

Magic and I climbed the cool marble steps followingthe indentations of thousands that had climbed beforeus. And there we stood in the temple with a beautifulbreeze coming in off the ocean. In, in-spiring us.Making us feel like we could write the most beautifulsong in the world, paint the most beautiful painting.And then because we know that these are times of

greater discipline, we understood that we must feel theair also moving out. So we felt the vacuum starting.And we felt sick. We felt nauseous as the air movedout of the temple and we heard the splintering of glassand the smashing of wood and we heard a voice say‘Flat line, second time tonight’.

HARMONY

And in this temple, as we reminded each other of

Harmony – the harmony that we send out in every singlething that we do: me as a musician, you as a moverof the earth, as a tiller of the people. And harmony isnot just a pretty chord. Harmony is the sequencing, therelease at the right point into something beautiful.

BODIES

And we pursue the greater understanding of harmonyby using our bodies to run marathons and to liftweights and to burn the dross off. And then we do

the opposite, of course. We sit on our couch for twoweeks and eat junk food and watch tv and take into usa value system that puts forward lies and intolerance

as acceptable. And even worthy of primetime viewingwhen the children can see it.

HAIR

And we experiment with our hair and we twist it tightlyon top so it is a topknot and it spurs the aggressionin our system. And we look a bit like a Samuraiwarrior. And we shave the sides so that Venus cannot

get a foothold. And then of course, we do the opposite.We shave the top and we let the sides grow until welook like someone of a hermetic order.

ORDER

And as we try to order the universe in a way that willgive us the security that we need, we add the signs ontop of each other. ‘Do NOT do this!’ ‘Do this!’ ‘Driveaccording to conditions!’ until finally we can no longer

see the view. And so of course we do the opposite.We get rid of all the signs. And we wobble and warbleuntil finally we find the path of least resistance and afeeling of Common Sense that guides us. The middleof the river, equidistant from the shoreline. And theview now! And as we stand here in this temple, thecolumns, the spaces between the columns perhapseven more beautiful than the columns themselves.



DESCENDING

And as Magic and I descended the marble stepsI looked back and I saw that the words above

the portico had changed:THAT THOU MAYST KNOW GOD.

HEADLINES

We feel the headlines starting to crowd in again,as they must. ‘The highest cause of death in amodern day war is ... suicide.’ ‘One lone veteranstands in salute for his fallen comrade, alone on

the street as the coffin goes by. Office workerssee this and join him the following week.’ Ayoung man is brought back from a far away war.

TEENAGERS

Six o’clock news: another war veteran, schoolbus driver, bus shelter, teenagers. And as I turnedto leave they stood up to give me a hug. Andthe hair fell away from their eyes. And I saw that

now their foreheads were open and their eyeswere bright blue and warm brown and brimmingwith intelligence and humour.And I said to them ‘Whenever you find someoneopen, glom onto them like a little barnacle untilyou get safely through being a teenager. And becareful with the drugs and alcohol because yourtemple ... every now and then you will need towalk through the darkness alone.’



ACT 6 THE ALCHEMY OF THE EVERYDAY

whereby

greater sword arm strength born of equal acceptance of foibles and fortitudes;

trumpets sounded from sea-cliffs; traveller decides to relinquish not

compassion for fellow traveller’s chicane; is hindered from full success by sarcasm;non-judgmental assessment occurs from afar; everyday alchemy achieved

by turning sow’s ear into silk purse.

When we can climb the highest mountainWhen we can ford the raging riverWhen we can cross the plains in one step

In our seven-league bootsEven as we make the waitress cryEven as we curse the next guyAnd when we can hear a child cryingOn the other side of the worldEven as we can’t hear our own friend

Even as we fall from graceSo grace shall lift us up

And teach us of our powerPower so deep and hiddenPower that now is biddenRelease the superhero inside

The superhero of today works quietly awayVery different from the fancy capesAnd hats of yesterday

They are mostly in disguiseBut you can see it in their eyesThe social worker, the gardenerThe computer guy, the teacherThe warriors, the queensWe are all our brother’s keeper

And you come around the corner of the buildingAnd you see the mast exploding

And there’s terror in the airAnd you feel your spine implodingAnd you hear the spiralSinging a different song against the grain

LET GO!

But he wouldn’t stop telling me what he wouldn’tdo. And I looked down at Magic and in Magic’s deep,

beautiful eyes I saw the word ‘YES!’ I turned to thedoor. I flung it open. HELLO? ‘How wonderful thatyou want to be more open and honest and let us gotogether to your girlfriend’s that we may celebratethe movement forward for isn’t this what we want foreach other?’

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM BECAUSE THERE

IS SOMETHING VERY WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE.

WHILE WE APPLAUD HER EFFORTS, THE SLIGHTLY

SARCASTIC NATURE OF HER SOLUTION HAS

LOWERED THE VIBRATION OF THIS POTENTIALLY

TRANSFORMATIVE ALCHEMICAL REACTION.

WATCH CLOSELY NOW.

I looked down at Magic expecting to see his tailwagging but instead ... INSTEAD! INSTEAD!

I guess I was not successful in protecting myselfthrough being a clown, in seeing the world as a placeof wonder. Oh no. OH NO. Oh yes! OH YES! BecauseI’ll use this lesson to do it better next time.

AND IN THAT SINGLE MOMENT SHE PRACTICED

THE ALCHEMY OF THE EVERYDAY AVAILABLE TO

EVERYONE. SHE CHANGED A LUMP OF COAL

TO A DIAMOND WITH THE FLICK OF A THOUGHT.

A POSITIVE THOUGHT.

MAGIC’S TAIL WAS WAGGING N OW.



ACT 7 THE VILLAGE FAIR

whereby

something from the bandstand pulleth; galvanized by urgency,

question clearer becomes; found not is mayor, last seen here moments

miniaturely in advance; nature a vacuum abhorreth; goodbye not.

And we walked into a village where they were having some kind of country fair.Someone was giving a speech at the bandstand. We drew closer.

ISSA! ISSA! OVER HERE! LET GO! LET GO!

Of seeing the beginning of the movie? Of the names that bind? MAKE WAY! Oh, Mama, with what shall I keep warm?LET GO! Let go? Let go of what? OF LETTING GO!

Oh. OK! (applause)

And so my friends we’ve come to the end of our time together, it’s true.I hope you’ve enjoyed these silly or serious tales, I know I do.My wish for you, for me, for us, is to fall asleep at nightExhausted from using our superhero powers to the max, that’s right.

Lying on our backs with our boots on, a peaceful smile on our faceOur foreheads open and very photogenic, resting assured of our place.And if we’re really super-lucky, a corncob pipe in our mouthJust like my friend’s great-great-grandmother who lived down South.



ACT 8 AN INVITATION TO BE WELL

whereby

traveller sees person in garden again, wonders if circular has been

her navigation; sidereally, Magic is no longer; exodus unflagged to abyss

beyond garden; turning, a spiral whorleth.

And as I came around the corner of the building one last time,I saw embedded in the wall a Shell, a Pearl, a Canoe, a Ship,a Mast, a Spine, a Spiral, A ROSE.

I saw the footprints of a dog. Magic? Magic?!!

DOESN’T SHE GET TO HAVE MAGIC ALL THE TIME?

And you leaned forward to me from your garden, even as peoplestreamed past you to the abyss where they would lie down for thefinal peaceful sleep, the fumes from the earth ...

And you said that single word, that precious word

And it hung in the air like a drop of dew

It was AN INVITATION TO BE WELL.

And we said ...

I DO.



ACT 9 IMAGINE A WORLD

whereby.

Imagine a worldWhere the columns of the temple come to life

At first stiff and then flexible and flowingStriding down the street a perfect reflectionOf our inner beauty, our inner gloryReaching here, helping thereUntil separation from our brotherIs just a puzzling memoryInstead of quietly sitting in our cubicles at workWondering how this came to be

So all the people that you’ve heard meTalk about up until nowThere was the girl walking village to villageThere was the man who was unclearThere was the couple ...The girl just wanting to learn about integrityThere was the woman in the gardenOr the person who leaned forward and said

‘How beautiful!’And then by the end you knew all these voicesThey were just like family. I hope. To me, anyway.

Well, let me go on and talk to youAbout this fellow who worked at the corner storePeople called him ‘Moose’, you can imagine ...If you talked to him about spiritualityHe’d shrug his huge shoulders and say ‘What for?’

Anyway, he’s everything you would not wantIn a refined, romantic cavalier, I supposeBut when they came over the hill that dayHe out-Thorred Thor

Imagine a worldWhere the columns of the temple come to lifeAt first stiff and then flexible and flowing

Striding down the street a perfect reflectionOf our inner beauty, our inner gloryReaching here, helping thereUntil separation from our brother

Is just a puzzling memoryInstead of quietly sitting in our own apartments

Five feet from each other with our own tv

And then there was Pauline, we all agreedThat she was cold in some way, unfeelingWell, one wintry day she took me asideAnd she was unsympathetic to anythingI had to say about my problem(In which I took pride, I guess)And for years I wouldn’t talk to herEven though she tried, I couldn’t seeThat kindness could come to me in such a wayAnd when I went to say I saw, it was too late

And Quincy, he’s a hard-assed kidWho lives under the overpass downtownWhen he comes at you with a squeegeeWell, you kinda sorta wanta duck down

But if a baby bird, a cry unheardA struggling flower, a teen unseenShould fail to take to song, to take wingHe’s the first one to their sideHe has that healing thing

Imagine a worldWhere the columns of the temple come to lifeAt first stiff and then flexible and flowing

Striding down the street a perfect reflectionOf our inner beauty, our inner gloryReaching here, helping thereUntil separation from our brotherIs just a puzzling memoryInstead of quietly sitting at the family reunionSaying ‘Oh gosh! You don’t want a picture of me!’Well, actually we do.

And RamonaShe works the library cart in the Third Ward.



music, lyrics, arrangements and productionby Jane Siberry

MUSICIANS

Jane vocals, main guitar and piano, other

instruments by way of keyboards

Catherine Russell, Marlon Saunders vocals

angels Amy Ziff, Alyson Palmer, Sandy Kugelman,Jacob Switzer, Ingrid Veninger, Hallie Switzer,John Switzer, Paige Escoffery Stewart,Ruby Salvatore Palmer, Scarlet andGracie Whitmarsh Schneider, Kristi Ambrosetti,Darren Waterston, Elaine Bradlwwwey,Catherine Russell, Marlon Saunders

on the song We Could Have Been Great Friends

Billy Jay Stein horns (on keyboard)

on the song Imagine A WorldJohn MacArthur Ellis guitars, pedal steel

Rich Brown bass

Pauline Kim violin, viola

Christine Kim cello

Niko Friesen drums

Warren Brown recorded original version,Sylvia Hotel, Vancouver, 2009

Hiro Iida recorded vocals atStrange Cranium, New York, 2011Sheldon Zaharko, John MacArthur Ellismixed instrumental tracks, 2009

SOUND

recorded and mixed by Sheldon ZaharkoFactory Studios, Vancouver

mastered by Graemme BrownZen Mastering, Vancouver

LOOK

cover photo treatments:my dear and funny friend who wishesto remain anonymous

design:Thomas O’Quinn, NYC

cover photos:©Ali Smith, NYC

Jane in front of painting:Ken Smyth (Mill-On-Fleet, Scotland)

Jane walking away:

Lena Potin, (Brittany, France)

other photos: friends

paintings: Jane



THANK YOU TO

the Greater for the opportunity to walk this earthas a musician; my beloved family here and ahead;the gifted people who are part of this music andartwork; my spirit brothers and sisters (meaning

everyone) and particularly Sandy, Marlene, Ingridand Darren for their help with Meshach; JasonCressey for ‘an invitation to be well’; orchidbau;and finally, patrons and enthusiasts who have givenme a ‘greener’ light with their enjoyment. Here’sto our ever-expanding language of ‘magic words’.Take one, leave one.

ABOUT THE ‘THREE QUEENS TRILOGY’

This recording is part of a trilogy that started in2006. I cleared the decks on as many levels asI could: let go of my home, unamassed myamassings, changed my name to ‘Issa’ and left on atour that ended in Brussels. After a period of intensechocolate, I found a little studio there and startedwriting a song-a-day. Any song. Corny, sad, silly,derivative, wildly-unstructured, it didn’t matter. I

needed to feel unbound. That, or die. That’s howI felt. After thirty-three songs, I started to arrangethem. The songs took the reins from me at somepoint and became the ‘THREE QUEENS TRILOGY’.

ABOUT MESHACH DREAMS BACK

Part 3 has musical beginnings on DRAGON

DREAMS (part 1, and the front door) and WITH

WHAT SHALL I KEEP WARM? (part 2, and the darkerlibrary). It became the trilogy’s living room and was,in fact, partly inspired by concerts in seventy-twoliving rooms around the world in 2010. What kind ofliving room, you may ask? I’d say a nice living room,a pleasant living room, quieter than the breezeway,yet ... there’s a ‘soupçon’ of left-handedness, some-thing not quite right, a portmanteau of carefreenessnot entirely sincere. I hesitate to say this but I think

I should go ahead and check the rest of the house.You wait here. Just then ...

WHO ARE SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO?

According to the Book of Daniel, when the rulerof Babylon seized Jerusalem somewhere around605 BCE, he also took with him three intelligent,young men. They, along with Daniel, were now

living under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar whotook away their Hebrew names and changed themto Babylonian names. The story tells us that thesethree men refused to worship a pagan idol soNebuchadnezzar threw them into a fiery furnace.They walked out of the flames unharmed.

Their names and meanings were as follows, firstthe familiar Chaldean (Babylonian) followed by

their original Hebrew names. (There is not consensuson the exact translation of most of these names.)

Shadrach The inspiration of the sunHananiah God has been gracious to me

Meshach “Who is what Aku is?”(Aku=Babylonian moon god)Mishael “Who is like God?”

Abednego The servant of Nego(Nego=Babylonian divinity either the sun,Jupiter or Venus.)Azariah God is my helper

PRONUNCIATION OF MESHACH

MEE-shach with the final ‘ch’ being a guttural sound.



the end

jane siberry meshach dreams back artbook

Documents