with James Hirsen on blues harp
Recorded in Muscle Shoals
Here are the lyrics:
He
Sold His Soul for Rock & Roll
[The
Faustian Bargain]
1.
Faust went down... Didn't know how to play.
He
lost his soul... on the blues highway.
And
the phantom's seen down at the road.
Takin'
back the bargain, freed the heavy load.
CHORUS:
Yes,
he sold his soul for rock and roll
But
the mourning dove--- told him to pray--
for
another day... hey, hey, hey, hey--
2.
The angel came and his guitar bled...
then
RVZ's ghost rose from the dead.
He'd
signed in blood on the darkest night.
The
answer came in a flash of light.
BRIDGE:
Oh,
my God had a vision and a plan
to
reclaim the soul of that dying man.
He
was on a mission from up above
in
a hail of rain and a shower of love.
3.
Played a mean guitar under the devil's spell.
But
The Man forgave... not givin' him hell.
There's
another train... comin' down the track
to
start another life and he won't look back.
Don't
bargain with the devil!
Just
play that sweet guitar...
It
was given by God.
Don't
give away your soul.
Just
play that rock and roll.
You'll
be satisfied.
A
Musical Haunting: "He Sold His Soul for Rock & Roll"
In
September 2018, I reluctantly moved back to a place where I'd lived through the
horror of 1989's Hurricane Hugo - James Island, SC. I couldn't understand
why I was being led to move back to a place where I'd experienced some of the
highest highs, yet the lowest lows of my life. I found myself living
literally across the street from what used to be New Life Center, where my
mother had an office long ago that attracted people from all over the
world. In that office, I had written many songs and created many paintings
in spite of the constant turmoil in my life.
I
moved into what they call "the lighthouse" with three floors, and
finally had a beautiful roomy art studio that I'd dreamed of for years.
It wasn't Soho Manhattan, but I could afford this place, yet nonetheless I felt
lonely and sad. Very soon after I moved in, I started having incredible
paranormal experiences. At first, I couldn't understand what my new ghost
was trying to tell me. All I knew was that I was fearless and I knew he
was there to help me. I was suddenly hit with a flurry of incredible
creativity that reminded me of the year before the hurricane. My eyes
were wide open... I opened myself up to whatever might happen. I was
painting like never before - all very original, vivid creations... and then the
music came.
Just
the year before, my childhood boyfriend, who happened to be an incredibly talented musician/guitarist, had died and
after I moved to the new place, I became acutely aware that he was trying to
communicate with me. (We hadn't seen each other since we were very young,
but in recent years had reconnected on social media and stayed in touch online
until just before he died.) When my ghost arrived, I quickly realized he
was trying to reconnect me to my roots.
In
2018, I happened to see the documentary about Lynyrd Skynyrd, "If
I Leave Here Tomorrow" when I immediately made the
connection. I'd forgotten about all those great songs. I'd
forgotten Lynyrd Skynyrd. But I knew these songs. I knew every
word... and the reason was because my boyfriend had played every one of those
songs back in the '70s when we were kids. I barely remembered Ronnie Van Zant. But
very soon after, I knew it was his astral spirit who had been coming to me and
giving me very specific messages. I thought, why in the world would
someone who died in a plane crash over 40 years ago come to me, of all people?
Because my mother had been a famous trance medium? Because I was open to
the music of the spheres?
I
had to ask myself: is he real? I wanted proof. He told me to look
through some old trunks and try to find a diary from 1976. I had kept
diaries for years but was almost certain I didn't have a diary from that
year. Nonetheless, I rummaged through old scrapbooks, and found a tiny news clipping
stuck in a homemade diary - literally a bunch of papers never to be rediscovered.
I couldn't believe I'd saved this 2-inch piece of an old newspaper all those
years - especially since I'd moved at least 50 times. Sure enough, I'd
been at his 1976 concert
in Chicago, IL.
RVZ's
message from the very beginning was to keep it simple (my music). He said: "Don't try to be anything that
you're not." He never had a single effect on his vocals and I should
do the same. He was unpretentious - misunderstood by those
"highfalutin society people and 'pencil pushers'" he wrote about in
his songs. I could relate. The flood of his song lyrics started
coming back to me - not the big hits... the obscure ones... or, maybe not
obscure, but lesser known. It was because of my guitarist childhood
friend who played those songs over and over and who was such a great singer
that I remembered every word, every melody.
It all came flooding back.
I
listened to RVZ's music over and over, night after night, and studied him and
his story and started remembering all the great music from the '70s before the
plane crash that took his life. I wondered why he was coming back
now? Should he have not reincarnated long ago? Why me?
Then
one night in June I went to bed and he kept waking me up with the lyrics to a
brand new song. They came in a frenzy; and a few nights later, I could
hear the music in my head and wrote it down as fast as I could. The next
day, I called my producer, Kati, and she said, "Don't wait to do a demo in
the studio... just play your guitar and sing into your phone..." So,
I rehearsed it over and over and did what she told me to do and suddenly, we
found a brilliant synthesizer player who understood our vision. He's probably 70 years old, yet still full of
imagination and inspiration. (He obviously had RVZ and the blues highway in his
soul.) When we told him the story of the song, he created the wonderfully
visual track that stimulates your imagination. It was like a movie
soundtrack... the protagonist walking to the Crossroads to sell his soul for
Rock & Roll.
RVZ
came back to do what he loved: write songs.
He wrote this song from the grave. I was an open channel. I allowed him to come through - exactly the
way my mother did as a trance medium. But
it was so much more complicated for me. This is a song I had been writing
since I was 14 years old - the first time I saw Paul Williams's Brian
DePalma-directed "Phantom
of the Paradise" - a film with the same theme:
Faust. On the marquee way back then, I remember seeing: 'HE SOLD HIS SOUL FOR ROCK & ROLL.'
I was immediately mesmerized; and my life was changed forever. I never
forgot that message; I was so passionate about the idea. Even though I
had no money, no band and was practically homeless, when I was 21, I put
together an entire show and created an original rock opera based on this theme,
which we performed in Chicago.
Years
later, I wrote "My
Faustian Bargain," a short story about my
experiences. And the theme kept popping up in my songwriting throughout
the years. Then I heard Daft
Punk
and made the connection. Those two French boys understood the idea of
"Anonymous Fame,"
and had robot costumes made (like the phantom in the movie) to hide their
identities as they skyrocketed to fame in the 2000s. They, too, had been
inspired by "Phantom of the Paradise" and even recorded with the
great Paul Williams. Their story was my connection. I not only
loved their music, but the origin of what inspired them in the first
place. I created this
painting about their love of "Phantom of the
Paradise" and Paul Williams.
I
kept telling the story - on the radio, to my producer, the musicians, to my
manager... and I could hear RVZ talking to me every single day. He always
did that thing with his voice where he hit those high-pitched notes. I knew if
Ronnie could sing "Was
I Right or Wrong," he could sing anything. Then he
challenged me vocally: if I could learn that song and sing it and then sing in
Manhattan - a man's song - I could write my first hit.
He
warned me that if I was going to retell this mythic legend told decade after
decade by so many great guitarists since Robert Johnson, to not slip into the
cliché trap. Then when I was writing the music, I thought: do I have the
talent to sing this? And he said, "They told me I had limited vocal
talent." He gave me the confidence to sing it - keeping it simple,
rock & roll, non-pretentious, never highfalutin! And that's when he led me to Muscle Shoals to
record the vocal track. I could feel the
ghosts all around and the session was very emotional for me. I did what he asked me to do and it has
changed my life forever! [Read the story of my Deep South Rock & Roll Blues Tour here]
NOTE: By virtue
of their melancholy call, mourning doves have been
fittingly named. But far from representing death, the symbolism of mourning doves gives us
optimism with its spirituality. Beyond their sorrowful song is a message of
life, hope, renewal and peace.
