Sorcerer Torturer

I am the wizard who dwelleth alone, in the mist of dreams that is my home

I need not your machines to travel about- for my soul, in flight, doth roam

I am the wizard who dwelleth free and I tell you this not in brag

For a wizard’s life- ‘tis not easy and can often times hit a snag

She came to me one summer’s day and her eyes were of the sky

And though she stayed not with me long, her memory did not soon die

I took her many times inside- she so willing, warm and young

But as the years like birds flew past, I felt a song was left unsung

For though I am of Merlin birth, I am but human, too

And longed for what she would not give- the love her simple man knew

Sorcerer Torturer, will you tell me how

Do you expect me to be satisfied with just a fantasy now?

I tried to buzz you on the telephone- your sister says that you’re not at home

But I know she’s lying and that you’re not alone

Your thumbscrews tighten on this sorcerer’s cone

Sorcerer Torture, please take me off the rack- I really need to get my manhood back

You know I needed you right from the start

But, instead of love, you stuck a torch in my heart

Sorcerer Torturer! Sorcerer Torturer! Sorcerer Torturer!

Your girlfriend says you don’t want me around

And since that day, my bats fly upside down

My noble look has turned into a frown

You treat this Master like a circus clown

Sorcerer Torturer, I love you so!

And I only wanted to make that love grow

You broke my magic wand when I shook it at you

And turned my potion into a useless goo!

Sorcerer Torturer! Sorcerer Torturer! Sorcerer Torturer!

(bridge)

Eye of newt, claw of cat, can’t you tell me where my baby’s at? (repeated over and over)

And so I ranted through the night, with a madman’s bloody rage

My soul a murderous slanderer of the wisdom of the sage

I smashed my head into a gory pulp in tormented agony

‘til a dawn of understanding, once again enlightened me

Oh Sorcerer Torturer, I decipher for you now

The truth that stands written upon every lover’s brow

Burned there by fires of passion, taught by the wastes of haste

Obscured by jealous heartache; ridiculed, but never erased……..

(Epilogue)

O loved one stand now with me, so that I may with strength pronounce

The oath that is all wizard’s creed: It’s what’s inside that counts.

Notes: I wrote the lyrics to this song before I had 4-track recording capabilities. This 9 minute song had 3 pages of lyrics with numerous changes. It had so many changes and was so long that I felt that I would never find other musicians patient enough to work on it long enough to form a fully-realized song. The only way I felt I could complete it was to purchase a 4-track Tascam Porta One tape recorder and a drum machine. This allowed me to work out and record the drum parts one at a time which allowed me the editing power necessary to put the pieces of the puzzle together in a coherent whole and allowed me the extra tracks for backing vocals and multi-guitars, effects and bass. Most of the drums were recorded from the programming I put on the machine, but I played the ‘Eye of newt, claw of cat’ section live from the drum pads on the machine. It’s one of my favorite parts of the song. The song itself is about reconciling love fantasy with love reality.