The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Sixteen

Oh, how cliche this one is...but I felt appropriate for Opening night.

Are our Debts settled? Are our wrongs righted?

Iron Man
by Black Sabbath


I am Iron Man!
Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all
Or if he moves will he fall?

Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head
We'll just pass him there
Why should we even care?

He was turned to steel
In the great magnetic field
When he travelled time
For the future of mankind

Nobody wants him
He just stares at the world
Planning his vengeance
That he will soon unfold

Now the time is here
For Iron Man to spread fear
Vengeance from the grave
Kills the people he once saved

Nobody wants him
They just turn their heads
Nobody helps him
Now he has his revenge

Heavy boots of lead
Fills his victims full of dread
Running as fast as they can
Iron Man lives again!

The Final Playlist:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
• 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
• 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
• 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
• 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
• 8- Black the Sky by King's X 
• 9- No Quarter by Led Zeppelin
• 10- The Flame by Cheap Trick 
• 11- Devils and Dust by Bruce Springsteen
• 12- Dead and Bloated by Stone Temple Pilots 
• 13- I Don't Believe in Love by Queensryche 
• 14- She Talks to Angels by The Black Crowes
• 15- Adam Raised a Cain by Bruce Springsteen
• 16- Iron Man by Black Sabbath

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Fifteen

Two for today - and i LOVE how well this one fits - last one tomorrow...

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
• 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
• 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
• 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
• 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
• 8- Black the Sky by King's X 
• 9- No Quarter by Led Zeppelin
• 10- The Flame by Cheap Trick 
• 11- Devils and Dust by Bruce Springsteen
• 12- Dead and Bloated by Stone Temple Pilots 
• 13- I Don't Believe in Love by Queensryche 
• 14- She Talks to Angels by The Black Crowes

He - Frankenstein - Is Adam. He climbed to the highest branch of the forbidden tree, and ate from it's most treacherous fruit.

Adam Raised a Cain
by Bruce Springsteen

 

In the summer that I was baptized my father held me to his side
As they put me to the water he said how on that day I cried
We were prisoners of love a love in chains
He was standin' in the door I was standin' in the rain
With the same hot blood burning in our veins
Adam raised a Cain

All of the old faces ask you why you're back
They fit you with position and the keys to your daddy's Cadillac
In the darkness of your room your mother calls you by your true name
You remember the faces the places the names
You know it's never over it's relentless as the rain
Adam raised a Cain

In the Bible Cain slew Abel and East of Eden he was cast
You're born into this life paying for the sins of somebody else's past
Daddy worked his whole life for nothing but the pain
Now he walks these empty rooms looking for something to blame
You inherit the sins you inherit the flames
Adam raised a Cain

Lost but not forgotten from the dark heart of a dream
Adam raised a Cain

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Fourteen

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
• 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
• 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
• 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
• 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
• 8- Black the Sky by King's X 
• 9- No Quarter by Led Zeppelin
• 10- The Flame by Cheap Trick 
• 11- Devils and Dust by Bruce Springstee
• 12- Dead and Bloated by Stone Temple Pilots 
• 13- I Don't Believe in Love by Queensryche

So Perfect. Such Beauty. Such Innocence.

She Talks to Angels 
by The Black Crowes


She never mentions the word addiction
In certain company
Yes, she'll tell you she's an orphan
After you meet her family

She paints her eyes as black as night now
Pulls those shades down tight
Yeah she gives a smile when the pain comes
The pain gonna make everything alright

Chorus:
Says she talks to angels
They call her out by her name
Oh yeah, she talks to angels
Says they call her out by her name

She keeps a lock of hair in her pocket
She wears a cross around her neck
Yes the hair is from a little boy
And the cross from someone she has not met
Not yet

Chorus 2:
Says she talks to angels
Says they all know her name
Oh yeah, she talks to angels
Says they call her out by her name

She don't know no lover
None that I ever seen
And to her that ain't nothing
But to me it means, means everything

She paints her eyes as black as night now
She pulls those shades down tight
Oh yeah there's a smile when the pain comes
The pain gonna make everything alright
Alright yeah

She talks to angels
Says they call her out by her name
Oh yeah, yeah angels
Call her out by her name
Oh, oh, oh angels
They call her out by her name
Oh, she talks to angels
They call her out,
Yeah, yeah call her out
Don't you know that they call her out
By her name

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Thirteen

Well, previews start tonight, so we shall see what kind of audience response we'll get. Personally, I consider previews open dress rehearsals. Lots of work left to do. 

The Playlist, however, will continue to opening.


The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
• 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
• 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
• 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
• 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
• 8- Black the Sky by King's X 
• 9- No Quarter by Led Zeppelin
• 10- The Flame by Cheap Trick 
• 11- Devils and Dust by Bruce Springstee
• 12- Dead and Bloated by Stone Temple Pilots

 "Yes...A kind old man taught me speech and to read.

He was blind...but saw goodness in me.

And when he died, none could see it."

I Don't Believe in Love

by Queensryche

I awoke on impact
Under surveillance from the camera eye
Searching high and low
The criminal mind found at the scene of the crime
Handcuffed and blind, I didn't do it
She said she loved me
I guess I never knew
But do we ever, ever really know?
She said she'd meet me on the other side
But I knew right then, I'd never find her

I don't believe in love
I never have, I never will
I don't believe in love
Its never worth the pain that you feel

No more nightmares, Ive seen them all
From the day I was born, they've haunted my every move
Every open hands there to push and shove
No time for love it doesnt't't matter
She made a difference
I guess she had a way
Of making every night seem bright as day
Now I walk in shadows, never see the light
She must have lied cause she never said goodbye

I don't believe in love
I never have, I never will
I don't believe in love
Ill just pretend she never was real
I don't believe in lovev I need to forget her face, I see it still
I don't believe in love
Its never worth the pain that you feel

No chance for contact
There's no raison detre
My only hope is one day I'll forget
The pain of knowing what can never be
With or without love it's all the same to me

I don't believe in love
I never have, I never will
I don't believe in love
Ill just pretend she never was real
I don't believe in love
I need to forget her face, I see it still
I don't believe in love
Its never worth the pain that you feel

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Twelve

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
• 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
• 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
• 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
• 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
• 8- Black the Sky by King's X 
• 9- No Quarter by Led Zeppelin
• 10- The Flame by Cheap Trick 
• 11- Devils and Dust by Bruce Springsteen

"O Teacher, some great mischief hath befallen to that meek man, who well had sacrificed; is piety thus and pure devotion paid?....Pandemonium"

Dead and Bloated

by Stone Temple Pilots

I am smellin' like the rose
that somebody gave me on
my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
that somebody gave me
'cause I'm dead & bloated

I am smellin' like the rose
that somebody gave me on
my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
that somebody gave me
'cause I'm dead & bloated

Ohh yeah, and she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run
Ohh yeah, and she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run

You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'
You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'

I am trampled under sole of
another man's shoes
Guess I walked too softly

Ohh yeah, and she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run
Ohh yeah, and she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run

You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'
You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'

I run through the world thinkin' 'bout tomorrow, thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world thinkin' 'bout tomorrow, thinkin' 'bout tomorrow

I am smellin' like the rose
that somebody gave me on
my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
that somebody gave me
'cause I'm dead & bloated

I run through the world thinkin' 'bout tomorrow, thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world thinkin' 'bout tomorrow, thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world thinkin' 'bout tomorrow, thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world thinkin' 'bout tomorrow, thinkin' 'bout tomorrow

I am smellin' like the rose
that somebody gave me on
my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
that somebody gave me, somebody gave me,
somebody gave me on
my birthday deathbed

The Frankenstein Playlist : Track Eleven

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
• 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
• 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
• 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
• 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
• 8- Black the Sky by King's X 
• 9- No Quarter by Led Zeppelin
• 10- The Flame by Cheap Trick

 

"I am not Adam. I am Satan,

who was cast out of heaven for being monstrous."

Devils and Dust

by Bruce Springsteen

I got my finger on the trigger
But I don't know who to trust
When I look into your eyes
There's just devils and dust
We're a long, long way from home, Bobbie
Home's a long, long way from us
I feel a dirty wind blowing
Devils and dust

I got God on my side
And I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing, baby
It can turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
And fill it with devils and dust

Well I dreamed of you last night
In a field of blood and stone
The blood began to dry
The smell began to rise
Well I dreamed of you last night, Bobbie
In a field of mud and bone
Your blood began to dry
And the smell began to rise

We've got God on our side
We're just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing, baby
It'll turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust

Now every woman and every man
They wanna take a righteous stand
Find the love that God wills
And the faith that He commands
I've got my finger on the trigger
And tonight faith just ain't enough
When I look inside my heart
There's just devils and dust

Well I've got God on my side
And I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a dangerous thing
It can turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
Yeah it'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Ten

Sorry for the delay - busy, busy, busy...

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
• 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
• 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
• 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
• 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
• 8- Black the Sky by King's X 
• 9- No Quarter by Led Zeppelin

This one's a little different...but it makes sense in my head, and that's the whole point.

 "The gratification is small,

no fair exchange for the unhappiness I have borne,

but it shall content me."

The Flame

by Cheap Trick

Another night slowly closes in,
And I feel so lonely.
Touching heat freezing on my skin,
I pretend you still hold me.
I'm going crazy, I'm losing sleep.
I'm in too far, I'm in way too deep over you.
I can't believe you're gone.
You were the first, you'll be the last.

Wherever you go, I'll be with you.
Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.
Whenever you need someone
To lay your heart and head upon.
Remember: after the fire, after all the rain,
I will be the flame.
I will be the flame.

Watching shadows move across the wall,
I feel so frightened.
I wanna run to you, I wanna call,
But I've been hit by lightening.
Just can't stand up for fallin' apart.
Can't see through this veil across my heart, over you.
You'll always be the one.
You were the first, you'll be the last.

Wherever you go, I'll be with you.
Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.
Whenever you need someone
To lay your heart and head upon.
Remember: after the fire, after all the rain,
I will be the flame.
I will be the flame.

I'm going crazy, I'm losing sleep.
I'm in too far, I'm in way too deep over you.
You'll always be the one.
You were the first, you'll be the last.

Wherever you go, I'll be with you.
Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.
Whenever you need someone
To lay your heart and head upon.
Remember: after the fire, after all the rain,
I will be the flame.
I will be the flame.

Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.
Wherever you go, I'll be with you.
And whatever you want, I'll give it to you.

The Frankenstein Playlist; Track Nine

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
• 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
• 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
• 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
• 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
• 8- Black the Sky by King's X

"He made me friendless, loveless, an orphan, an outcast. And so I take away his friends, his love. I will take you."

No Quarter
by Led Zeppelin



Close the door, put out the light.
You know they won't be home tonight.
The snow falls hard and don't you know?
The winds of Thor are blowing cold.
They're wearing steel that's bright and true
They carry news that must get through.

They choose the path where no-one goes.

They hold no quarter.

Walking side by side with death, The devil mocks their every step
The snow drives back the foot that's slow, The dogs of doom are howling more
They carry news that must get through, To build a dream for me and you

They choose the path where no-one goes.

They hold no quarter. They ask no quarter.
The pain, the pain without quarter.
They ask no quarter.
The dogs of doom are howling more!

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Eight

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
• 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
• 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
• 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
• 7- Witch Hunt by Rush

"I have not known a happy day in my life. And you wish to know happiness for the rest of yours."

Black the Sky
by King's X

Okay so it can't be right 
I cry and try and think and fight 
Okay so I need some help
But they can't fix the way I feel

Just one day, just one second 
Maybe just a minute feel no pain
Oh, I walk the line 
Black the sky 
(Black the sky) 
Oh, I walk the line 
Black the sky 
(Black the sky)
 
Okay so I don't think like 
You do it's not my fault 
Okay I still try to find 
That fitting missing part

Just one day, just one second 
Maybe just a minute feel no pain
Oh, I walk the line 
Black the sky 
(Black the sky) 
Oh, I walk the line 
Black the sky 
(Black the sky)

Something keeps me hanging round 
I guess my mother made me strong 
Crawling through this jungle from 
This puzzle I come from 

Just one day, just one second 
Maybe just a minute feel no pain 
Oh, I walk the line 
Black the sky 
(Black the sky) 
Oh, I walk the line 
Black the sky 
(Black the sky)

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Seven

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
• 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
• 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
• 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica

 

 It's perhaps the single image most associated with the Creature. Chased by villagers waving torches and pitchforks. Tortured and pursued for the crime of being different, for being ugly. We have all felt judged and condemned for simply who we are, and the Creature gives allegorical life to those thoughts. Shunned by family, friendless, loveless, and on the run from those who act without thought or compassion. It's powerful stuff.



Witch Hunt
by Rush


The night is black
Without a moon
The air is thick and still
The vigilantes gather on
The lonely torch lit hill

Features distorted in the flickering light
The faces are twisted and grotesque
Silent and stern in the sweltering night
The mob moves like demons possessed
Quiet in conscience, calm in their right
Confident their ways are best

The righteous rise
With burning eyes
Of hatred and ill-will
Madmen fed on fear and lies
To beat and burn and kill

They say there are strangers who threaten us
In our immigrants and infidels
They say there is strangeness too dangerous
In our theaters and bookstore shelves
That those who know what's best for us
Must rise and save us from ourselves

Quick to judge
Quick to anger
Slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice
And fear walk hand in hand...

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Six

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
• 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
• 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash

I look at this next track as sort of a gimmie. It's pretty cheesy to pick it, but...what the hell, right? There is a great vibe in it, and there's something about the idea of injustice that seeps out of this track.

Yes, the creature suffers under injustice. He is betrayed and rejected, thrown out into the world with hardly a second thought. From that point onward, he is struggling to find where he belongs, and finally comes to the point where he must make a place to belong. For such a old story, there's a remarkable sense of self-determination over fate. The events of the story do not just happen.

Victor sets into motion the events which define his fate, and the creature moves to determine his own. To thwart the injustices that have been thrust upon him. It's these elements that make Frankenstein, in many the most human of the classic horror stories. It truly is about two beings, two men, attempting to re-shape their worlds. To overthrow the miseries that life has imposed.

The key is, one of them reached too far.

Ride the Lightning
by Metallica


Guilty as charged
But damn it, it ain't right
There's someone else controlling me
Death in the air
Strapped in the electric chair
This can't be happening to me

Who made you God to say?,
I'll take your life from you

Flash before my eyes
Now it's time to die
Burning in my brain
I can feel the pain
Wait for the sign
To flick the switch of death
It's the beginning of the end
Sweat, chilling cold
As I watch death unfold
Consciousness my only friend

My fingers grip with fear
What am I doing here?

Flash before my eyes
Now it's time to die
Burning in my brain
I can feel the pain

Someone help me
Oh please, God help me
They're trying to take it all away
I don't want to die

(SOLO)

Someone help me
Oh please, God help me
They are trying to take it all away
I don`t want to die

Time moving slow
The minutes seem like hours
The final curtain call I see
Im through with this
Just get it over with
If this is true, just let it be

Wakened by a horrid scream
Freed from this frightening dream

Flash before my eyes
Now it's time to die
Burning in my brain
I can feel the pain

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Five

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
• 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden

Pain is a constant for the Creature. Physical, from the instant of his "birth." Emotional from the first rejection by his father. In many ways, I find myself thinking that the story is truly about the ways in which pain cannot be endured forever. We may put it off, we may reject it, but it's still there...waiting for our moments of weakness. The moments when it can overwhelm us, and the rational, the moral, becomes something malleable.

It's then when we become our most dangerous. When we sense that we've been pushed to the point where there is nothing but pain left to us. That is when the beast inside is strongest, and it's most deadly. Our focus becomes tight on that which has brought us to this point, and we decide to either succumb to it, or destroy it.

Rusty Cage
by Johnny Cash


You wired me awake
And hit me with a hand of broken nails
You tied my lead and pulled my chain
To watch my blood begin to boil

But I'm gonna break
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run
Yeah I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run

Too cold to start a fire
I'm burning diesel burning dinosaur bones
I'll take the river down to still water
And ride a pack of dogs

But I'm gonna break
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run
Yeah I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run

Hits like a Phillips head
Into my brain
It's gonna be too dark
To sleep again
Cutting my teeth on bars and rusty chains
I'm gonna break my Rusty cage and run

When the forest burns
Along the road
Like God's eyes
In my headlights
When the dogs are looking
For their bones
And it's raining icepicks
On your steel shore

But I'm gonna break
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run
Yeah I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Four

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
• 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits

The tracks so far have tended to the melancholy, for certain, but it's also important to embrace the rage and brutality of the creature. There is anger, there is hurt, there is betrayal, and there is pain. There is also power, pure inhuman power, and that has to be manifest in the Creature's physicality.

I, alas, am only human, and that  leaves me with the challenge of how to convey something more powerful than I could ever be. Not just in moments of violence, but also in common movements. Today's track, when it sank in, gave me a bit of the Creature's gait and walk. It's pounding and powerful, but also somewhat lurching, without the sense of...lack of forward momentum.

I'm honestly not sure how successful I have been. Truly, it's the kind of thing that you can only measure once a true audience sees what you've been working on.

The Apparition
by Iron Maiden


I'm here can you see me
'Cos I'm out on my own
When the room goes cold tell me
you can feel me
..........'cos I'm here

Here I am, can't you see me
Passing through, on my way
To a place I'd been to only in my
dreams... before

In a world of delusion
Never turn your back on a friend
'Cos you can count your
real true friends on one hand
..........through life

There are those that deceive you
There are those that'll let you down
Is there someone out there that would
die for you
..........thought not

Live your life with a passion
Everything you do, do well
You only get out of life what you put in
..........so they say

In a world of confusion
People never say what they mean
If you want a straight answer
go look for one
..........right now

In a room full of strangers
Do you stand with your back to the wall
Do you sometimes feel like you're
on the outside
..........looking in?

You can make your own luck
You create your destiny
I believe you have the power
if you want to
..........it's true

You can do what you want to
If you try a little bit harder
A little bit of faith goes a long way
..........it does

Are we here for a reason?
I'd like to know just what you think
It would be nice to know what
happens when we die
..........wouldn't it?

There are some who are wise
There are some who are born naive
I believe that there are some that must
have lived before
..........don't you?

As for me, well I'm thinking
You gotta keep an open mind
But I hope that my life's not an
open and shut case

Extrasensory Perception
Life after death, telepathy
Can the soul live on and travel through
space and time?

You know I feel so elated
'Cos I'm about to find it out
And when I know all the answers
Maybe then I'll come back
..........to fill you in

You don't be alarmed now
If I try to contact you
If things go missing or get moved around
...it's me
And don't disbelieve it
No matter what your "friends"
might say
We'll meet up again someplace
some way
..........one day

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Three

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
• 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen

I didn't know how to do this playlist without one (or more) Tom Waits tracks. In some sense, it really is all about his voice, which is so unique and evocative. It sounds like a voice that should be associated with Frankenstein. When you add to this his evocative lyrics about...here we go again...alienation and loneliness, it's pretty much a no-brainer.

I personally love his early work better than the era represented here, but, that said, the style on his most recent albums is so evocative in the sense of pure creepiness. The industrial sounds, the vocal effects, all create and dark and eerie world. The sort of place you might expect a still-living Creature to walk up to Tom in a dark alley. They'd probably become fast friends and have a few shots together.

On top of all that, lyrically, this song touches on a lot of elements that connect, if not wholly literally. I'm particularly enamored with the verse about sleeping in the graveyard. It combines to something quite lovely and evocative emotionally, which is more what I'm looking for from the songs I'm finding.

I don't intend this to just be a collection of dirges, but that's where we started....It will pick up.

Cold Water
by Tom Waits



Well I woke up this morning
with the cold water
with the cold water
with the cold water
Woke up this morning
with the cold water
with the cold water
with the cold

Police at the station
and the don´t look friendly
Well they don´t look friendly
Well they don´t look friendly
Police at the station
and the don´t look friendly
They don´t look friendly well
they don´t

Blind or crippled
Sharp or dull
I´m reading the bible
by a 40 watt bulb
What price freedom
Dirt is my rug
Well I sleep like a baby
with the snakes and the bugs

Well the stores are open
but I ain´t got no money
I ain´t got no money
Stores are open but I
ain´t got no money
ain´t got no money
Well I ain´t

Found an old dog a
and he seems to like me
seems to like me
Well he seems to like me
Found an old dog and he
seems to like me
seems to like me
well he seems

See them fellows
with the card board signs
scrapin up a little Money
to buy a bottle of wine
Pregnat women and
the Vietnam vets I say
beggin on the freeway
Bout as hard as it gets

Well I slet in the graveyard
it was cool and still
cool and still
it was cool and still
Slept in the graveyard
it was cool and still
cool and still and it
was cool

Slept all night in the Cadar grove
I was born to ramble
born rove
Some men are searchin for
the holy grail
but there ain´t nothin sweeter
than ridin the rails

(Solo)

I look 47 but I´m 24
Well they shooed me away
from here the time before
Turned there their backs
and they locked their doors
I´m watchin T.V. in
the window of a furniture store

Well I woke up this morning
with the cold water
with the cold water
with the cold water
Woke up this morning
with the cold water
with the cold water
with the cold

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Two

The Playlist So Far:

• 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon

Our second track continues the theme of alienation in yesterday's selection, but adds a heaping helping of Oedipal guilt and anger. There's one particular scene where I often think of this track

In many ways, the entire story of Frankenstein is about a child seeking acceptance from his father. I find this particular track to be deeply, deeply in touch with those feelings. Wanting to be close with a parent, yet with sometimes years of misunderstanding and rejection between you. Sometimes outright hatred, but even under that, even at one's most anguished and enraged, there is the deep need to be part of a family. To be loved, despite your failings and weaknesses.

The Creature, as always, is seeking that grace. The tragic element is that he has not the experience or maturity to deal with not getting it. When he is left out in the cold world alone, with no one to turn to for comfort...he can only imagine lashing out.

My Father's House
by Bruce Springsteen



Last night I dreamed that I was a child
Out where the pines grow wild and tall
I was trying to make it home through the forest
Before the darkness falls
I heard the wind rustling through the trees
And ghostly voices rose from the fields
I ran with my heart pounding down that broken path
With the devil snappin' at my heels

I broke through the trees, and there in the night
My father's house stood shining hard and bright
The branches and brambles tore my clothes and scratched my arms
But I ran till I fell, shaking in his arms
I awoke and I imagined the hard things that pulled us apart
Will never again, sir, tear us from each other's hearts
I got dressed, and to that house I did ride
From out on the road, I could see its windows shining in light

I walked up the steps and stood on the porch
A woman I didn't recognize came and spoke to me through a chained door
I told her my story, and who I'd come for
She said "I'm sorry, son, but no one by that name lives here anymore"

My father's house shines hard and bright
It stands like a beacon calling me in the night
Calling and calling, so cold and alone
Shining `cross this dark highway where our sins lie unatoned

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track One

The Frankenstein process has been interesting for me. The role ended up being far more physical than I expected. Our first two weeks were just combat and violence, and I suffered for my art. Pains, aches, the aforementioned wrist injury. It's just been...hard.

Thing is, there's also a very difficult emotional course to set, and the challenge of bringing the physical to the emotional. How the creature walks, how he talks, and how he fights are intimately connected to how he feels and thinks. It's been a job to create all these things, and try to merge them together. (and get the lines, which aren't there yet. Soon, I hope.)

Take a guess.

One thing that's been interesting for this role and this project is that music has become a touchstone for a lot of what's going on. I've found myself connecting with certain songs in building the character. Some of the selections are pretty on-the-nose and obvious, some get a little more ephemeral and emotional. Obviously, the artists here are some of my favorites, and probably won't surprise anybody. No apologies, this is my playlist, and my Creature.

That said...I wouldn't lay money on seeing any Edgar Winter Group tunes here.

I will continue this blog series until the show opens, or I run out of songs. I really don't have any idea which will happen first. I have the list as it is right now, but I'm finding it to be a living document, changing and evolving as my performance does.

The first track, honestly, leapt to mind the moment I was offered the part. As that might suggest, it is a rather obvious choice. Even with that, the tone of the song and the lyric are right in line with how I see the creature. It also happens to be one of my favorite tracks from my favorite album of last year.

The Creature Lives
by Mastodon



I saw the creature fall
Into the swamp from which he spawned
I heard them laugh and say
They never liked him anyway

I tried to talk to them
To help you on your feet again
They laughed and said to me
The swamp is right where I should be

The creature lives
The creature lives
The creature lives
The creature lives