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Life In The Shadows

by GuidoWorld

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1.
Bad Streets 03:36
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Bad Streets 12/30/79 Bad streets full of anger and sin From those bad streets Come many bad, bad men The professional people sit behind a desk Or stare at a vile And they tell us how to cure a tortured soul Change a sneer to a smile There’s quick treatment, slow treatment Statistics by the mile That lie to you for a little while But soon give way to the truth It’s hard for me to think Of the wisdom of the shrink When mom’s at the bar and my brother’s starving So you charged up my head Learned well from what you said But values seem so small when you’re pushed out a window Bad streets make it hard to even dream of a penthouse On those bad streets so easy to be mean When you’re a faceless person When I do wrong I’m alive I feel my heart beating When I do wrong I get hurt Well it’s me that’s is bleeding The fight for survival’s tough Morals are a luxury I’d never cheat a man if I had a choice of action The money that they spend To help or put us away Would do better on those bad streets Well hello there little girl How about a little passion You remind me of my ma She takes a twenty Oh lord, I feel What a lovely place Stick with me honey We’ll climb that screwing mountain Give me a face on those bad streets
2.
Voyeurs 02:33
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Voyeurs 5/23/80 To the city at an early age Came a man who would remain back of the scenes From a town where he was always viewed In the din he felt serene for he could be Voyeurs, voyeurs Got a job on the telephone Selling siding for one’s home Good, but not content Even though he liked much music From TV he got his kicks Watch but not be seen Voyeurs, voyeurs Found a job as a cameraman behind a one way mirror Such a rush for him to doubly disappear Love to see people with guilt on their faces Then arrested by his anonymous look Voyeurs, voyeurs Took his camera to TV Never felt so complete Got his lucky break Now he’s going to a war zone Bullets flying everywhere Bodies falling in the square His camera whirring like his mind He’s no longer there Feels the power of life and death This invisible god this astralete Feels so strong and able His goals been reached A little later on that week Apollo decides his time has peaked Takes a gun to help him do Only what a god must do
3.
Life In The Shadows 03:04
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Life In The Shadows 7/4/79 I’ve had sex and drugs and cigarettes since I was young I made money since I could count All the excitement that was there to be had Has been grabbed since I partied about Maybe I can live in the shadows Instead of the light surrounding me and you Starkness may be an unexpected blessing For excitement is nothing when it’s thru I now work and I now play Been an adult since I was ten But if I sit and turn around I feel empty till I run about Maybe I can live in the shadows Instead of the light surrounding me and you Starkness may be an unexpected blessing For excitement in nothing when it’s thru I have plenty of things Nothing of my own I see with the eyes of the world The line has been drawn Piecemeal excitement I sense a cavity deep inside My shudder speed misses the spectacle Right before my eyes Life in the shadows Life in the shadows
4.
Our Times Now 02:43
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Our Times Now 3/1/79 Walking thru the life in the street Nothing is much harder than to keep Your head from bowing low from the strain Your faith, hope and love from getting stained Down to far down Running ‘round Not too proud Lazy, feeling eighty Much too hasty And let down Waiting to see someone make it go Cutting thru the muck much to slow Give me another dime says a man Who says this every morning Since I was a lad Shrouds bring them down Going now, I will plow Many of us angry We will not stand it Out times now
5.
Mock Turtle Dreams 03:30
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Mock Turtle Dreams 6/5/79 Pass the pretty princess Lying in the sand Looking at the inkblots A Freudian demand Stands a huddled mass of Laboratory rats Who sit there nodding Wires up the ass In a vault of goblins and werewolves Sits a box of horrid destruction Plethora of symbols All tied in some way Act out a secret life Another dimension Somewhere hidden On the perimeter of desire Lurks the impulse behind one’s reason Under his dialectical schemes All those mock turtle dreams Under his objective gaze All of his mock turtle dreams Diabolical queen You’re drooling on my hand Yes it gives you power This statistical sham Hiding from a childhood Picked on in your youth Now you really got them With subconscious truth Since the Fall The terrible fall of man We’ve seeked the ultimate contamination The evil from the outside comes from within Tidy little tidbits for necromancy I do say that my id is bleeding I do love you and your funky heart If you do please excuse me My libido just wet its pants
6.
Psittacism Criticism 04:14
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Psittacism Criticism 7/16/80 Coughing up those bricks Glorified shibboleths I’d give you the back of my hand If I could endorse a cliché She talks with all the class of escaping gas To sad little void heads Glazed eyes and gaping jaw (perpetual sneeze) Come to my room to play adult parchesee Unshuffle me with your card shark hands Let me be your detour if you desire reconstruction I’m sad yet hopeful, this blue blood’s not green Parched man desires refreshment But even a man dehydrate will decline HCL Where’s the party, where’s the party? Put me on remote control Oh hell, I used to be 21 There’s no time after alcohol Put me in my time Put me in my time I used to be a friend of mine till You put me in my time Tell me if you care
7.
They Do It With Mirrors 03:06
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They Do It With Mirrors 12/20/80 I say being an adult is an acquired taste You can tell what they are By the look on their face They do it with mirrors The lunatics grin We’ve seen it in the harrowed night Slave man’s walk We have got it so memorized If you feel like touching then call it love If you feel like leaving then call it lust They do it with mirrors Argue now, or tell me how you disagree Be my friend and Find the terms on which we agree Let’s talk facts and Test our aging memory If you think then There’s truth for us to see Yet those mirrors Reflecting off the other ones They look so pure but What they see is nothing more than the very way they Choose to make the world I use words to feel and Not to ascribe Yet, my meaning is there for You to devise They do it with mirrors
8.
They Got Me 03:44
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They Got Me 1/24/76 How I had you feel life Laugh and cry and argue God did they despise it So they tried to silence – my mind So they threatened my wife with their ugly letters Tortured me with jailings, spreading vicious rumors Ruining my life Asked so many questions, they tried to make me trip Constant pressure was hard for me to miss Made me bend to their demands Begged so for them to let me go They made me lie, they made me cheat They made me screw you Crawling, hiding, will you believe me? Unceasing lies plagued me thru the years Torn between my convictions and my fears I struggled to keep my dignity My respect lost, gave in for sanity They made me lie, they made me cheat, They made me screw you All my words they turned around Made me feel so ashamed Won’t you please give to me a little liberty Won’t you please leave me alone I’ll be good please don’t harm me Beating, bleeding, I’ll get you someday They tried hard to break up my mind Reduced me to a heaving animal Made my young face an aged bloody mess They made me lie, they made me cheat, They made me screw you They got me, they’ll get you too
9.
Pander 02:56
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Pander 4/27/79 Hello there darling Is there anything that you do need For let me introduce myself I’m known as the Pander Go ahead and conjure up Your most ecstatic dream If it’s on this earth it’s here Right at my finger tips Do you want a color TV or a black limousine? How about a visit to the country, Courtesy of the life machine? Do you want some pills or some dust, Or someone to share some lust, A hit TV show or a song to climb the charts? Well I’m the one who brought Harlequins to the screen When it comes to selling baby, I am supreme I’ll take a fallen hero, put him back on his feet Give me Quaker Oats and I’ll give you the voguest meal I’ve nothing but the best to excite or to rest What do you fancy, delicious or nasty? Where do you want to go? Who do you want to be? Comfortable fantasia awaits your request A gift from the Pander A sampling of his exotic cuisine
10.
Denouement 03:14
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Denouement 12/2/79 Icy steps Frozen paths Are left by aging facts Despotic real Sign meets sign Truth unmined Dapper thoughts Seen from outside Those shimmering seas Lurid underside Talk seen not absorbed Moot point defined By math’s design She goes back to him Lover of torsion Bound by fate Mania and reason Fuse on converging planes Faith is the only one Comic god of perfection The gift of free will His perverse punch line Man enters sight Thru his decline God/man uncoincide She goes back to him Faith is the only one
11.
Our Times Now 03:20
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Our Times Now Walking thru the life in the street Nothing is much harder than to keep Your head from bowing low from the strain Your faith and hope and love from getting stained Down too far down, running ‘round, not too proud Lazy feeling eighty, much too hasty and let down Waiting to see someone make it go Cutting thru the muck much too slow Give me another dime says a man Who says this every morning since I was a lad Shrouds bring them down, going now I will plow Many of us angry, we will not stand it, our times now These are the hands which will carry you to safety This is the time to make our statement Our time, our time is now This is my life this is my day This is my life out of my way This is my life, all done my way This is my love, freedom today Freedom, freedom today

about

This album was originally released in 1983 when we (Ekstasis) were a performing band out of the Chicago area. This release on the 30th anniversary of the album involves little more than a re-EQ and some minor tempo adjustments. I've also added a second version of Our Times Now which creates a more gritty island political feel than the burnt our city streets of the original.

The album as a whole depicts the struggle of urban youth to find their way in a rapidly decaying society. I find it interesting that many of the lyrics of this album have become even more relevant than they were 30 years ago.

While a handful of copies of the album still exist, I'm very happy to have the opportunity to re-release it in this format. While the modifications of the album are minor I believe it better captures the energy and intensity of Ekstasis than did the original Life In the Shadows project.

credits

released October 1, 2013

Ekstasis Members:

Jim Guido vocals, sax, and minor synth work
Brad Foutch guitars, synth, and synthetic percussion
Kent Cantwell Keys and synth, back up vocals
Bob Minikel Bass
Steve Rainey Drums

Guest Musicians:
Archie Parks Piano on Our Times Now and Denouement
Jack Dixon percussion on Our Times Now
R. Levy for seriously wicked sax on Psittacism Criticism
C. Thompson for female vocal solo on Psittacism Criticism
Jennifer Hollingsworth female solo vocals on Bad Streets
Michael Tally back up vocals
Tony Pettinato Bass on Our Times Now

Words and Music by Jim Guido
Orchestrations by Ekstasis
Produced by Jim Guido
Engineered by Tony Pettinato
Album art based on photo by J. Waters

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GuidoWorld Asheville, North Carolina

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