Overture
Myles Boisen - guitar and sound design
Seth Ford-Young - bowed bass
arranged by Myles Boisen
The Storm
The storm waits to eat you and me
don’t you know that we’re all guilty
As the storm-tossed water breaks
make you pay for each mistake
The storm will eat you alive
pray to God you will survive
But you know that if you live
God will not you forgive
Done your evil sowed your seeds
now the harvest does you feed
Now that wind rips you apart
it will rip your evil heart
Need a saviour your luck’s spent
but in fear alone repent
Once that storm it has passed
then once more in evil bask
Cabin Boys
Drunk on rum what a bum
but the breeze fills up my sails
Cabin boys I annoy
well they know how not to fail
Take ’em all one by one
well a pervert must have fun
Give ’em wood it does ’em good
I know they could be my sons
You’re gonna be what you will be
and it is no good to fight
I don’t feel bad I don’t feel sad
I fuck them it’s my right
A callous sod some think I’m odd
but a man must have his fun
So I sigh to sea and sky
as my blood runs
When I die it will be hot
destination Hell I got
Cabin boys they make me sin
I drown my guilt I am in
If you ask I feel shame
and my guilt causes pain
But though that guilt does try again
my lust does rise for pain
Then again I have my fun
and once again my evil comes
With that lash I them slash
otherwise there’ll be no cash
Then I’ll be back on the deck
fuck with me and you I’ll wreck
I’m the sadist with a lash
cabin boys their backs I slash
Cat o’nine tails oh what fun
I know how to treat the scum
But now I am down below
and submission’s what they show
I too must have fun
so cabin boy your job is done
When your blood runs
Freddi Price, K irk Lombard, Mark Growden
and Morgan Guberman – vocals
Sweet Breeze
Sweet breeze blows them out to sea
they do sing they feel free
In the harbour their girls do cry
in the seven seas they’ll die
Children play above the cliffs
will their fathers they miss
Church bells ringing out to sea
a mermaid dances and they feel free
These sailors addicts all
the sea each one does enthral
Each one knows one day they’ll drown
their bodies never found
But still they need they need to sail
each one’s addiction never fails
In the harbour their girls do cry
in seven seas they’ll die
Myles Boisen – banjo
Interlude 1
“It Is an Ancient Mariner”
Matthias Bossi - pump organ
Interlude text taken from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”,
as read by Freddi Price
The Land Of Ice
Now in this land of ice
we pay for every vice
Frozen in the snow
each pleasure it goes
Each lust and desire
frozen every fire
So we await our fate
in this frozen waste
But though the ice winds blow
leave us in the snow
Our evil is not spent
we do not repent
So if a saviour comes
our vice will not have run
The ice and the storm
leaves us unreformed
So we await our fate
in the frozen waste
Myles Boisen – guitar
The Albatross 1
See him fly across the sky
saving souls no reason why
He in mercy goes in peace
each one’s soul to release
Which of them wants to be saved
takes them from a certain grave
Each of them who does repent
up to Heaven will be sent
But while evil’s still alive
all our saviours they will die
For in jealousy they live
in the righteous can’t forgive
So the mariner his bow takes
and his saviour does break
He who has him saved
now feels like a slave
So though he was sure to drown
shoots in malice shoots him down
So the saviour from the sky
for his vanity he cries
So for vanity he dies
shot down from the sky
The albatross he dies
the mariner’s foolish pride
The Albatross 2
Long grey beard and piercing eye
a wedding guest am I
The mariner he tells his tale
as time it passes by
Driven by the wildest storm
into those poles of ice
In those eyes you see
a world of greed, hatred and vice
An albatross it came to them
in that land of ice
And with that helmsman
he then saved their lives
The mariner the Anti-Christ
he shot that bird down
Though when a fair wind blew
praise it did abound
The evil of the mariner
it so now abounds
The murder of the saviour
in pride now he does drown
His twisted sense of pride
now murder he commits
Destruction of the saviour
now his throat he slits
Myles Boisen – guitar
Interlude 2
“At Length Did Cross An Albatross”
Alex Kelly - cello
arranged by Myles Boisen
Albatross 3
So the saviour is killed
and for a while depends
The jury it will be out
from fair weather friends
No matter how barbarous
if the wind blows fair
For a murdered saviour
nobody will care
Because each one
in selfishness does live
While their interests are fulfilled
in evil they’ll forgive
So the murdered albatross
crocodile the tears
With the wind the mariner
has nothing to fear
But when they are becalmed
then they seek revenge
Then their morality
it must be avenged
Then their saviour’s memory
then they do respect
And hang the albatross
around the mariner’s neck
Becalmed the albatross avenged
Albatross hangs round his neck
Myles Boisen - guitar and banjo
Hypocrites
So northwards their ship did sail
The mariner he did not fail
The bird the omen of good luck
For it they did not give a fuck
Hypocrites one and all now on call
Well when their ship it was becalmed
That’s when the mariner did the harm
He shot their lucky omen down
The mariner they want him drowned
Those hypocrites want their revenge
The albatross must be avenged
The mariner their Anti-Christ
Now their hatred they do splice
The albatross around his neck
around his neck is hung
The mariner’s a scapegoat curses at him flung
Kim Boekbinder - toy piano
Water Everywhere
Water water everywhere
but not a drop to drink
So now your future like a flower
withers and shrinks
We pay for each one of our sins
so now we face our death
Each sailor aboard this ship
will soon take his last breath
So now you must face regret
and pay a heavy price
For each one of our sins
the worst is pride the vice
Water water everywhere
without a drop to drink
So now in hellish punishment
you are left to think
Seth Ford-Young - bowed bass
Death Ship 1
Through the mist the death ship comes
Rancid fear through each one runs
To the death maiden sell your soul
Your repentance will unfold
For each one of your evil deeds
Suffering you will bleed
Each sailor turns to a rancid corpse
Your suffering must run its course
Unlimited will be your pain
Burning coals upon you rain
The death maiden rips out your heart
At your agony she laughs
You will a million times repent
Before your pain it will be spent
Each sin you did manifest
The death maiden will pain in you invest
In abject despair you’ll merge
Then your sin it will be purged
Death waits for each of us
Myles Boisen - sound design
Seth Ford-Young - bowed bass
Death Ship 2
That ship waits for all of us
black-lipped towards us thrusts
You’ll be dead in one more day
so our souls will take away
Death maiden licks lips with lust
and towards us does thrust
Knows our souls to her belong
so for us this death song
She’ll take our souls the end is nigh
she’ll take our soul the pirates’ prize
She’ll take each one of us to Hell
the mariner rings his bell
Kim Boekbinder - toy piano
Myles Boisen - sound design
Rube Waddell, Freddi Price, K irk Lombard,
Max Baloian and Larry Henderson - stomps and vocals
Palace By The Sea
Hear the serpents screaming
and know they will win
I see the storm clouds brewing
I feel an evil wind
And yet I keep on dreaming
of calm waters and us free
I know the palace we are building
will drown within the sea
And so the serpent tightens
his grip around our throat
So soon we will be gagging
how soon we will choke
And yet I can’t stop dreaming
that one day we will be free
And we will live eternal
in our palace by the sea
And so the serpent strangles
so certain is our fate
Our hands are ripped apart
as our last breath we take
And yet we keep on dreaming
we dream eternally
That we are in our palace
our palace by the sea
Myles Boisen - guitar
Chris Grady - trumpet
Alex Kelly – cello
Rotten Flesh
So there amongst the rotten corpses
penance you must bear
Smell the rotten flesh
on decay you stare
The putrid smell as you drift
on a dead sea
The curse of dead men’s eyes
that cannot see
So ponder well
on this rotting flesh
Let your penance eat you up
till vanity does rest
Those corpses will come to life
and on you seek revenge
Unless through your penance
your vanity does end
So in total solitude
decay you do breathe
The loneliest place on earth
on that cruel sea
And when at last
your purgatory does end
Then with King Neptune
you will face the end
The curse of these dead men
the breaking of the spell
Well ancient mariner
you’ll not go to Hell
Drifting
Drifting in a calm sea
water running over me
Ten weeks I’m becalmed
the serpent evil charm
I’m waiting for the wind to blow
for King Neptune mercy to show
Drifting in this calm
on the serpent evil charm
I’m waiting I wonder why
the seagulls above me cry
So in solitude
solitude we will drift
Till Neptune does this curse lift
My mouth is dry
my mouth is parched
Will this day be my last
King Neptune save our souls
or are we food for fishes shoals
We’re drifting
please give us a sign
I’m praying to the divine
In water soon we will sink
water without a drop to drink
The sun just keeps beating down
soon I know I shall drown
Oh Neptune please hear my plea
save our souls master please
On the day that I do die
the wind blows strong the seagulls cry
Myles Boisen - guitar
Alex Kelly – cello
Interlude 3
“There Passed A Weary Time”
Myles Boisen and Karen Stackpole -tuned gongs
Aurora Josephson, Carla Kihlstedt
and Laurie Amat - vocals
Sail sample used by permission of Causing A Tiger, Victo Records
Composed and arranged by Myles Boisen
Dead Men's Ship
The mariner alone survives
survives in living hell
Each sailor there does lose their lives
as he rings his bell
There among the rotting corpses
he is left to play
The wreak of their rotting limbs
the stench of their decay
For seven days on that death ship
the mariner does lie
Haunted by the curse of
each dead sailor’s eye
Until at last King Neptune
mercy does him show
The albatross falls from his neck
at last the curse does go
So upon a dead man’s ship
the rain comes tumbling down
So the dead men come to life
and start to move around
These dead men do not speak
each is a living corpse
Yet the helmsman steers his ship
a steady north
King Neptune carries this ship
dead sailors all him serve
Now the mariner repents
each action and each word
So homeward the mariner floats
on King Neptune’s sea
And when it is his time to die
King Neptune sets him free
Then he’ll be amongst the waves
a mermaid will he love
Each day be like a summer’s day
stare at the skies above
So upon a dead man’s ship
the rain comes tumbling down
Myles Boisen - guitar
Chris Grady - trumpet
Philip Greenlief - tenor saxophone
Alex Kelly – cello
Bad Taste
My sail is full of wind
an end to all my suffering
There’s land ahoy
the whores are waiting full of joy
The clap it waits behind those doors
syphilis in every whore
10 years later I’ll be mad
but I’ll drink now and not be sad
Death waits for us as a friend
I’m looking forward to the end
This life’s a joke so make haste
it’s all in such bad taste
Well each old sailor knows his fate
the grim reaper makes a date
On the sea you wait for death
it’s just your time till your ship’s wrecked
We will drink fuck our whores
time out soon we know for sure
With gonorrhoea these whores infect
but soon we’ll take the sea as breath
This life’s a joke so make haste
it’s all in such bad taste
Myles Boisen – percussion
Living Hell
So the waves
will clean the albatross’s blood
The ship will sink beneath the waves
King Neptune will him love
So the mariner his tale does tell
recounts his tale of living Hell
He tells them the tale
to them teach,
to save them suffering
to them he does preach
They hear his tale
their senses are forlorn t
hey go home
their senses reborn
So the curse
of the dead men die
yet still haunt
the mariner’s eyes
Matthias Bossi - bass drums and chains
Chris Grady - trumpet
Philip Greenlief - tenor saxophone
Freddi Price, Kirk Lombard and Mark Growden – vocals
Interlude 4
“Beyond The Shadow Of The Ship”
Myles Boisen - organ, banjo, guitar, theremin
Composed and arranged by Myles Boisen
In The Waves
I live under the sea
and a mermaid loves me
We play in the waves
day after day
Then one day
a storm does come
and my mermaid has gone,
Gone away
So the sea birds cry away
and all I can do is pray in the waves
Sea serpent her does take
left alone in heartbreak up in the waves
So I wait for her return
and my heart does burn
Found the serpent and cut his throat
and his corpse does float
In the sea she will roam
till one day she comes home
in the waves
Myles Boisen - guitar
Matthias Bossi - pump organ
Cape Of Good Hope
The wind is howling
on this summer’s day
The Cape of Good Hope
blows our lives away
The sea roars
the lightning flash
Our timbers are all smashed
The waters coming for us
With one last breath
over us it does gush
And we’re going under the waves
Gasp and gag to our graves
But now as my breathing does cease
I feel only peace
And the mermaids carry me
I feel only free
Now my soul floats on the sea
And the mermaids play with me
All is calm in the waves
King Neptune does us save
So each sailor in the sea
If you hear remember me
When the storm does not cease
Your fate it will be peace
Only peace
Myles Boisen - guitar
Philip Greenlief - tenor saxophone
The Ancient Mariner
The ancient mariner
he sees what you can’t see
The ancient mariner
is free he is free
The ancient mariner
each murder now been named
The ancient mariner
each vice now he’s tamed
The wedding guest fears him
for what he’s seen and done
Each ill wind that he sailed
but now his course is run
The ancient mariner
the demons in his head
Each one now has been slayed
each one now is dead
The spirits in the wind sing
to him in his dreams
And God in a storm-tossed cloud
The mariner has seen
So if the demons say to you
You cannot find the truth
then that’s not true
Myles Boisen - guitar
Matthias Bossi - pump organ
Alex Kelly – cello
"It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
`By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?"
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge is an epic poem and now also an epic 25 track album/multimedia project from The Tiger Lillies.
Recording commenced in 2008 in Oakland, California with
Myles Boisen (who also worked with us on Grammy nominated
The Gorey End) and continued for 3 more years. Illustrious musicians were conscripted in to play, shout and stomp on the recordings, all for dry bread and rum. Artist
Mark Holthusen foolishly agreed to join the crew and set to work producing images, a video and finally a monstrous multimedia film on 2 screens that will accompany the songs in live performances. The premier of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner will be at La Maison de la Musique, Nanterre, France on 16-18 March 2012.
The new cd has finally arrived in port, telling the tale of the Mariner and his fall from grace, journey to hell and back and his final redemption.
Double CD in gatefold digipack cover plus 12 page booklet with lyrics and photos.
The crew of the Ancient Mariner are
Martyn Jaques - Lead Vocals, Accordion, Dobro Guitar, Ukulele, Piano
Adrian Stout - Double Bass, Bass Guitar, Theremin, Musical Saw, Sleigh Bells, Backing Vocals
Adrian Huge - Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals
Myles Boisen - Guitar, Banjo, Tuned Gongs, Sound Design
Kim Boekbinder - Toy Piano
Rube Waddell (Freddi Price, Kirk Lomard, Max Baloian, Larry Henderson, Mark Growden, Morgan Guberman) - Stomps and Vocals
Seth Ford-Young - Bowed Bass
Alex Kelly - Cello
Matthias Bossi - Pump Organ
Chris Grady - Trumpet
Philip Greenlief - Tenor Saxaphone
Karen Kihlstedt - Tuned Gongs
Aurora Josephson, Carla Kihlstedt, Laurie Amat - Vocals
Interlude Text - read by Freddi Price
Basic tracks recorded November 4, 2008
at Guerrilla Recording, Oakland, California by Myles Boisen
and May 19-21, 2009
at Tin Pan Alley Studio, London by Steve Kent
Produced by The Tiger Lillies and Myles Boisen
Mixed and mastered by Myles Boisen
Performance on tour produced by Maison de la Musique de Nanterre, The Tiger Lillies and Quaternaire,
Design by Michal Horevaj and Dirk Walter
Art Direction and Photography by
Mark Holthusen
This album is dedicated to our dear fan JAN ARILD who was a sailor
