The lyrics were some of my earliest; if I recall, Night Circus was my third poem. At the time I couldn't play a melodic instrument at all. But it was only a few months later that I got my first guitar.
The guitar sound used here got to be a trademark for me. It was a combination of effects and tone I hadn't tried before and that first time I dialed it in, it put me right back into a dream I'd had many months before. This sound had been in it. I'd forgotten it and the dream until these tones brought it to mind again. The sound seemed very personal and charged and I've been using it ever since.
When it came time to mix this down, I discovered that one of the vocal tracks had somehow faded very badly and the only way to salvage the song was to re-record that- while mixing down! I had no help and so had to do both at once. The first time I attempted this, my microphone cut out on me during a take. I spent the next hour trying to fix an intermittent short. I got it working again and recorded the existing version. Despite being 100% pleased with the performance, that's not something I would ever want to do again.
lyrics
Flying over twisted concrete
Drifting through the night's blue mist
Standing by the gates of midnight
Rainswept streets that hold death's kiss
Torn from dreams, this barren landscape
Mutant saviors roam the night
Flesh and blood and energy
Plagued with guilt, minds numbed with fright
The Night Circus has come to town
They want your life and soul
The Night Circus, nowhere to hide
They want to devour you whole
Old bad dreams are new bad reality
Old bad dreams are new bad reality
I have wandered here while dreaming
Feeling changed when I awoke
Flaming sunsets, barren midnights
Drifting through the blacklight smoke
Dead nights carry a strange freedom
Awe inspiring, fill the soul
Search the night for Eldorado
Find instead a gaping hole
The Night Circus has come to town
They want your life and soul
The Night Circus, nowhere to hide
They want to devour you whole
They're going to devour you whole
G.S., 8/12/80
credits
from Night Circus part two,
released March 27, 2014
GS: guitars, drums, vocals
Lyrics written 8/12/80. Music written early 1981.
Recorded '84 at Kenny's, and early '85 at Humphrey's (drums).
Throwing mathcore, emo, and ambient into the mix, Estonia's Kaschalot push progressive rock's multitasking approach to its limits. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 10, 2021
