Sebastien Greco, vocals
Carlos Chagall, guitars
DD Rivera, bass
Papo Cuadrado, percussion
Words & Music – Carlos Chagall, 2013
Just this side of spoken word – near beatnik
– to all those who remember the Shower House – for Johnny W.
Category: Music Set To Poetry
Sebastien Greco, vocals
Carlos Chagall, guitars
Dede Rivera, bass
Papo Cuadrado, percussion
Words & Music, Carlos Chagall, 2013
Just this side of spoken word
Just this side of spoken word.
Sebastien Greco, vocals and rhythm
Carlos Chagall, guitars
DD Rivera, bass
Papo Cuadrado, percussion
Words & Music by Carlos Chagall and Sebastien Greco
Sebastien Greco, vocals
Carlos Chagall, guitars
Music & Lyrics by Sebastien Greco and Carlos Chagall, 2013
Just this side of spoken word
One of those weekends we hate to see end. Here’s our parting shot to you all, a cover of Jason Mraz’s Make It Mine. Sebastien, vocals and rhythm. Carlos on backing guitar. We hope you like. We had a good time covering other people’s stuff this weekend. Have a great week everybody, whatever it is you do for a living. We are packing up and making the drive back to the city.
This was the very first post to Alphabet City in March. We reissue it here as music set to poetry. Sebastien and Chloe on vocals, along with the usual suspects playing behind them. We are having fun here this wonderful April evening outside of NYC, 2013, planet Earth; hope you are doing the same. I'm a wire thin warrior on rooftops in starlight. Red-shifted from eons up alleys, down fire escapes. Black and white flickers from Telstar, from before the flood, but after the mad dash. Back in the day, on Eleventh and A, who knew we were in Alphabet City? Or that Twelfth and D would be the place to be? On Tenth and First we'd quench our thirst with piragüa in July, coquito in June, from the little man with the blue pushcart and the green balloon. So much love, so much heart, so sweet, so right, see you on the corner tonight. Oyeme mulata! Che che colé, que bueno e'? Chicheme, March 2013 © Carlos Chagall, April 2013 Links Telstar
Sebastien Greco, Vocals
Carlos Chagall, guitars, bass
From the room below there’s a drumroll,
from good speakers, sounds like vinyl
pushing air, down below.
And up top a zoot sizzles on a Zildjian,
a zephyr in the trees,
just a haze, a cool gone wild.
In the mist, in the pink, in the midst, on the brink,
of a turnaround, one more time, leave it unresolved,
dead on the beat.
The pickup at the start
like bells on horses, loping slow in winter
but picking up speed. There! In the glass!
Under rough blankets drawn up o’er our heads,
or on a summer day, with the sheets drawn down,
tracing dusty rays.
Some spittle, a lick on a stick,
it’s just a rattle, a roll,
a drag across cobblestone.
I blow smoke, Ringolevio,
and 3 steps over Germany,
in the ether I’m there.
On your rooftop coming down on your fire escape
breathing in thin air, gone dizzy
in somber altitude, I unjustly expire.
Rough blankets drawn up o’er our heads,
or on a summer day, with the sheets drawn down,
tracing dusty rays. Some spittle, a lick on a stick,
it’s just a rattle, a roll, a drag across cobblestone.
From the room below there’s a drumroll,
from good speakers, sounds like vinyl
pushing air, down below.
And up top a zoot sizzles on a Zildjian,
a zephyr in the treetops,
just a haze, a cool gone wild.
In the mist, in the pink, in the midst, on the brink,
of a turnaround, one more time, leave it unresolved,
dead on the beat.
© Carlos Chagall, 2013
Sarah Needs A Ride Tonight
Original lyrics & composition – Carlos Chagall, 2013
Sebastien Greco, vocals
Carlos Chagall, guitar+
Chloe, vocals
Papo Cuadrado, percussion
Dede Rivera, Bass
Sarah needs a ride tonight.
I take her where she wants to go.
To the edge of town,
maybe heaven’s door.
I keep the conversation light,
there’s something in the air tonight.
She keeps it deep inside her,
keeps it locked away.
The glow of Sarah’s cigarette,
the smell of her perfume,
and she finally finds a song she likes on the radio.
She hums a tune she knows she’s heard,
long ago in a dream it seems;
keeps her spellbound,
all wound down.
My wipers beat against the rain,
as Sarah starts to cry.
It’s the long road home I’m taking
just to kill some time.
She says, “You all expect too much,
you wonder who I am.
I’ve got a room of broken mirrors,
that don’t work so well.”
We hum a tune
we know we’ve heard
long ago in a dream
it seems, keeps us spellbound,
all wound down.
A sad song plays on the radio.
I reach beyond the broken glass,
it cuts me to the bone,
to the secret place she’s hiding,
that she calls her own.
I say, “I don’t expect that much,
I don’t care who you are.
Let’s fly away.”
A sad song plays on the radio,
keeps us spellbound,
all wound down.
© Carlos Chagall, 2013
Get your headphones on (we’ll wait) and enjoy this music set to poetry.
We had a blast. Let us know what you think.
Original composition; house demo; very young tune, very rough arrangement and production
© Carlos Chagall, March 2013
Originally entitled Paris
Sebastien Eric Greco, vocals
Bambino Cuadrado, Percussion
Dede Rivera, Bass
Carlos “Chicheme” Chagall, Guitars, Lyrics
The lyrics are here on Alphabet City. Sebastien took some liberties, but for the most part, true to the original.
- Sebastien is smooth like a close shave on a hot Saturday night, phrasing like peppermint. He got a little upset when Dede called him “Miguel Bublé.” It was pretty funny.
- Bambino wants to do more on the percussion, but the current loops groove enough for now.
- Dede laid down a great live bass track.
- You can hear me on rhythm and 2 lead parts, one acoustic and electric. Anything you hear that is tasty, that’s me. 🙂
Hope you’ve been pre-gaming. We have. See you at the After Party. (I wish you could see the look on Sebastien’s face right now) And now without further ado :
If you like, we left a bonus track up on SoundCloud: Chicheme’s Alphabet City
Alphabet City 