SUM'S NOTES: Ok, I lied. This is my favorite song on the album. Badtouch made this beat specifically for The Nobody Hole and I didn't like it at all...at first. He insisted that I roll around with it for a while...and I obliged. I remember it feeling too ambiguous, not edgy enough at first. But one night on the D train, on my way home from work, about 4 am (again), the music came on and a brainstorm happened like no other. What if I told a story behind the old wives tale of "the devil beating his wife", which is what folks say when it's raining while the sun is out. Some folks call it a "sunshower". They also say that if you put a needle in the dirt you can hear her crying. This became the inspiration for a song that all but wrote itself and explained the birth of The Nobody Hole. I didn't map out the story at all when I started writing, the whole thing just kinda poured out and wrapped everything up in a nice package without any effort. Pure magic. I remember writing in such a frenzy on the train, I completely missed my stop and had to go all the way to Coney Island. The sun was just about to start coming up, I'll never forget it. I remember writing this in pen on an envelope, which was weird for an era where I wrote everything in my old Sidekick II...but my phone was dead. So this is the only song I actually physically wrote in ink. The Nobody Hole wouldn't have it any other way.
lyrics
LYRICS
Once upon a time, the devil beat his wife because he lost a bet, it aint what you expect
Far off in the west, the sun began to set
He stumbled in a bar, disguised as a drunk
Mischief for measure, Chaos for fun, he challenged anybody with the wits to match him up
“I bet you all my money I can draw a perfect jewel”
Everybody turned away on they barstools
But not one fella, he played it kinda cool
He carried simple tools, a pencil and a book
And by the way he looked, his life was pretty cruel
People looked away but loved to look at what he drew
The devil went first, and finished quick smiling
Held up the sketch, behold a perfect diamond
In the setting sun, ooos aaaahs sighing
It was just a drawing but it sparkled and it shined
The fella scribbled next, The Devil smiled wide, but he gambled with the wrong customer tonight
Cus dancing on the sketchpad was the most beautiful jewel brought to life
It was The Devil’s Wife
The Devil dropped his jaw, so did all the men cus the woman that they saw was fine as all sin
What followed was applause for the clever fellas wits
What started as a draw, ended in a win
A bet’s still a bet, whether gambler or priest
So the strange young fella made a deal with the beast
He said listen here, I know ya wife well
She lays down with me when you off raisin hell
All you gotta do, since I earned the winnings, is give me the gift to make all my art living
Real flesh and bone, give me a throne pass on my gift to all who got my blood in em
Well the devil did oblige, grant the gift he did
But he got tricks way up his sleeve hid
The fella got his throne, but nobody was home
His kingdom was an empty place and so he ruled alone
Just above hell, just below earth… he took it all in stride somebody had to be first
He battled stray demons and fallen gods strong
Never lost a fight and built a castle from they bones
The Devil beat his wife, because he lost a bet
Or maybe cus she broke the heart inside that he forgets
She cried a thunderstorm, a howling wind moaned
It opened up the ground around the Castle made of Bones
The first time it rained in the lonely kingdom, the lonely king looked up from his lonely throne
And heard his love cry, tears fell from the sky, leaked through the roof and dampened up his clothes
The water brought life, his pain brought light, his soul took root in his old bone throne
He became a flower that shed sunlight and gave gloom a glow in this limbo hole
When the sun is still bright but it’s rain fallin down, you can hear her cry, just stick a needle in the ground
Now broken hearts come from the whole world round, when they lose that part that never gets found
And the old king knew when he won that bet, he and the devil’s wife had sons on earth
So a long line of kings have to come to the hole, keep the demons out and reinstill the hope
The only way to do it is by choppin off the bulb, throw it far below and watch the colors spread
Then sit on the throne like ya ancestors did, till you become the flower then the cycle starts again
Two-time Indie Music Award nominated
songwriter, with music all over your favorite TV shows and videogames. Almost 20 yrs deep, always getting better, virtually unknown but constantly collaborating with legends, go figure. My space-funk band is called The Milky Way, we are currently hibernating. See my website for the full story....more
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