all sounds by various artists

extra composition/production:

dennis harvey: mastering | mixing | production | recording

performance:

michael ambro: guitar | voice

paul ambro: keyboards | voice

jason harvey: voice

dennis harvey: guitar | noises | voice

composition/production:

michael ambro: composition

paul ambro: composition

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording

notes:

... Because the next thing I knew, I was strapped in a chair, facing a giant pulsating void, a blackness so deep that it made the light around it seems like a sun when I tried to look away. Two spindly black arms extended out of it, holding a giant leather tome, and a distended, cracked mouth read from it in a surprisingly pleasant voice - a children's story called "Storytime with Dark Lord Sauron". What was with this creep? Why couldn't I move or look away? Was this a dream? Suddenly the voice turned threatening, and the words it spoke battered against the unbidden memories in my head, distorting them into a despicable gibe - a "hobbit", a ring again. The mouth opened into a scream that shook the inky void, made me scream myself as my eardrums burst and the arms reached out to bore ringless fingers straight through my eyes...

I woke up again with a start. My filthy apartment, smelly sheets, the alarm clock beeping... dammit! I'd had enough with this waking up jazz. It was time to get to work and not pass out again. ...

performance:

jason harvey: bass guitar

michael ambro: guitar

paul ambro: guitar

dennis harvey: keyboards

composition/production:

michael ambro: composition

paul ambro: composition

jason harvey: composition | recording

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording

performance:

jason harvey: bass guitar

michael ambro: guitar

paul ambro: guitar

dennis harvey: keyboards

composition/production:

michael ambro: composition

paul ambro: composition

jason harvey: composition

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording

performance:

jason harvey: bass guitar

michael ambro: guitar

paul ambro: guitar

dennis harvey: keyboards

composition/production:

michael ambro: composition

paul ambro: composition

jason harvey: composition

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording

performance:

jason harvey: bass guitar

omran shafique: guitar

jon beal: keyboards | voice

dennis harvey: drums

composition/production:

jon beal: composition

jason harvey: composition

omran shafique: composition

dennis harvey: composition

Have you got a light
I've seen this door a hundred times
Touched this railing like a hundred hands
Seen these faces rage and fade
And crumble into lonely age
I know what it's like to be a liar
When everyone around you is a fire
I think you know it too, don't you
Let's have a drink or two
We're not rebels, we're not heroes
We're just here, we're just queer
The fuzz can smell our fear
The cameras are rolling when they pull us apart
We didn't know this was how it would start

Break down, silent sister
Look out the bars for the one you lost
All we have are shadows and shame
What's your name
Will you stay
Before they take us away

We saw them throw stones
We buffered our bones
The whip cracked
The jail cell full of queens of all sizes and colors
You weren't there
They dragged you by your hair
This beautiful boy
Taken away in rags
Taken away in bags
The cops went home to their wives and their steak knives
And we screamed for years

We felt the sting privilege had pried from us
We were the faraway boot-crushed boys
We want it us over them
We take the bullets and grin
We saw our faces in films and photographs
We were the martyrs for progress
What was your name again

performance:

dennis harvey: all instruments | voice

composition/production:

dennis harvey: composition | lyrics | mastering | mixing | production | recording

notes:

Samples from "United in Anger: A History of ACT UP" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrAzU79PBVM), Sylvia Rivera's "Y'all better quiet down" monologue (https://videoactivism.net/en/yall-better-quiet/), footage from the 1968 Democratic National Convention protest (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_9OJnRnZjU), Advise and Consent (clip from The Celluloid Closet, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL_vrb4-6_0), Jean Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsbrRAgv1b4).

performance:

jason harvey: bass guitar

michael ambro: guitar

paul ambro: guitar

dennis harvey: keyboards | voice

composition/production:

michael ambro: composition

paul ambro: composition

jason harvey: composition

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording

all sounds by anna harris

extra performance:

dennis harvey: keyboards

extra composition/production:

dennis harvey: mastering

performance:

jason harvey: bass guitar

michael ambro: guitar

paul ambro: guitar

dennis harvey: keyboards | voice

composition/production:

michael ambro: composition

paul ambro: composition

jason harvey: composition

dennis harvey: composition | mastering | mixing | production | recording