Dennis Cleveland (Remastered)

EXITMUSIC 1012
Written, arranged and produced by
Mikel Rouse
EXITMUSIC RECORDINGS

“DENNIS CLEVELAND is the most exciting and innovative
new opera since Einstein on the Beach…”
-Kyle Gann, THE VILLAGE VOICE

Click here for Kyle Gann’s Liner notes!

01. Prelude (We Deliver)
02. Life In These United States
03. Soul Train
04. Beautiful Murders
05. Apparent Money
06. Why Are You Here Today
07. Altered Bodies
08. Madison Square

Lyrics

PRELUDE: We Deliver

Guests:
Age of reason
Age of reason
Age of reason

Dennis Cleveland:

The mark of the true believer-
unbuttoned and paraphrased to death-
is the vapid look,
the right between the eyes.
The conformity that passes
for individualism.
It is the most widely exercised form
of cross-breeding known to man.
The animist watusi.
The recovered memory.

The sound of the gun at post time.
The confusion of animals riding other animals.
Knowing where you stand.
The idea of self-help books as literature.
A blurring of titles like
Women who love too much and the men that negotiate them.
The fertile land rover
The memory set.

One lacks form, desire, zest for life;
a set of principles to live by.
But most disturbing:
lacks the ability to make money.
In this highly charged atmosphere
decisions are made,
faults are flaunted,
dishonesty looms.
And in the back pocket of every free man:
The Bottle.

(Pause for reflection)

There is a small miracle that takes place.
Everyone is involved.
Everyone participates.
And in this communal atmosphere
there are great explosions.
There are myths of competency.
And it all lasts about two hours.
The lag time between miracles is life.
The population boom.
The ultimate prelude: We Deliver

LIFE IN THESE UNITED STATES

Dennis Cleveland:

Angela, Angela, Angela.
Angela, Angela, Angela.
Angela, Angela, Angela.

Guests:

Life in these United States
Life in these United States

Guest #1:

When I get my sex on I like to position
if I can’t position then I ain’t enjoyin’ it.
When I get my sex on I like to position
if I can’t position then I ain’t enjoyin’ it.

Guest #2:

That’s messed up man.

Guest #3:

Open up, open up to me.
Open up, open up to me.

Guest #1: Guest #2: Guest #3:

When I get my sex on I like to position That’s messed up man. Open up, open up to me.
if I can’t position then I ain’t enjoyin’ it. That’s messed up man. Open up, open up to me.
When I get my sex on I like to position That’s messed up man. Open up, open up to me.
if I can’t position then I ain’t enjoyin’ it. That’s messed up man. Open up, open up to me.

Guest #4:

She sits on a chair, eats, drinks, smokes, watch talk shows.
She sits on a chair, eats, drinks, smokes, watch talk shows.
No you don’t. Guest #2: Oh yes I do, yes I do.
No you don’t. Oh yes I do, yes I do.
No you don’t. Oh yes I do, yes I do.
No you don’t. Oh yes I do, yes I do.

Guests:

Life in these United States
Life in these United States

Dennis Cleveland:

Look at her now!
Look at her now!
Look at her now!
Look at her now! Dennis Cleveland: Guest #4:
Look at her now! I know, but she’s changed on me!
Look at her now! I know, but she’s changed on me!
Look at her now! I know, but she’s changed on me!
Look at her now! I know, but she’s changed on me!

Guest #3:

If you don’t love me the way I am then you can go.
If you don’t love me the way I am then you can go.
If you don’t love me the way I am then you can go.
If you don’t love me the way I am then you can go.

Guest #1:

My way or the highway
straight up! Guest #3: Well you know there’s a byway too…Whoo!
My way or the highway
straight up! Guest #3: Well you know there’s a byway too…Whoo!

Dennis Cleveland: Guests:

Angela, Angela, Angela. If you don’t love me the way I am then you can go.
Angela, Angela, Angela. If you don’t love me the way I am then you can go.
Angela, Angela, Angela. If you don’t love me the way I am then you can go.
Angela, Angela, Angela. If you don’t love me the way I am then you can go.

Guests:

Life in these United States
Life in these United States
States
States
States
States
States
States
States
States
States
States
States

SOUL TRAIN

Chorus (Guests):

Soul train unchained
All set: U-bet
In frame I claim sunset
We’ve met

Dennis Cleveland:

I was walkin’ on the earth.
The planet earth was blue.
I was sittin’ by the road.
By the road’s where I met you.

Your ideas were kinda strange-
‘made me think of flying trees
I declared my love for you;
I got down on my knees.

We set out for destiny:
The place where all ends meet.
We were gassing up the car,
we were caught up in the heat

And down the road appeared a light.
It was a blinding sort of thing
and both our hearts began to swell.
I thought I heard the angels sing:

Guests:

I’m glad if you’re glad
I’m sad if you’re sad
I’m glad if you’re glad
I’m sad if you’re sad

Guest #1:

It was a simple kind of verse,
not profound in any way.
But as I tried to catch your eye
your mirage began to sway.

And I thought: How can it be
that a mindless sort of phrase
could encourage this response…
could put this woman in a daze?

She said, “Baby can’t you see
that our meeting wasn’t chance?
That by sitting by the road
you were waiting for this dance.

“And the power of suggestion
in this moment, on this day,
is the way we make religion:
how we make up what to pray.”

Who’d’ve thought I’d find a meaning
on the road and all alone.
Think: A group of lonely people
create a King, create a Throne.

I live, I live for the moment
Uptight, uptight for the moment
Lonely, lonely for the moment
Only, only for the moment

Audience member #1:

This time last year
I was into a twenty year old experience
and I often think about her.
Now, this girl was really beautiful
and also very bright
and I swear to God
I thought she was at least as old
as the current girl I was being unfaithful to.
(26)

We get to talking and I find out
she’s just turned twenty
and some type of alarm should be going off
but it isn’t.
We make a date for breakfast.
This is my favorite time to meet people.

When I show up her legs are so long
that they pour out of the booth
and onto the floor
and an alarm should be going off
but it isn’t.
The mornings I’ve spent at this coffee shop meeting people.

We chat and make a date for that evening
and as we say goodbye
I tell her that she’s fun to look at.
I take her to my favorite bar

which is a slightly redone version
of the original bar.She mistakes the Rolling Stones for
a more recent aberration
and an alarm…

We end up at my place after a brief stop.
Back at home I don’t even know how
this topic comes up
but somehow it surfaces that she’s a virgin
and we have a great laugh about it
until I realize she’s not joking.

Like most great American myths I haven’t bought into,
this virgin idea is no great shake.
But now I’m starting to feel anxious
and I couldn’t have known why
but what happened later is remarkable.

Her parents want to meet me.
Well, I never even did something like that
when I was her age,
but it’s clear that this isn’t
an unreasonable idea.
Besides, her folks are really progressive.
They’re also really loaded.
They own their own building.
I think they made their fortune
from being in on the ground floor
of some fossil fuel development.

Anyway, like I said,
they’re very liberal in that New York way
that you can’t totally trust.
It’s only on the day that we’re supposed to meet
that I find out that they’re leaving town for the weekend
and are expecting that the de-flowering of their daughter
will take place on the premises.
All they expect is to meet me and make sure
I’m not some madman from Missouri.
All in all, pretty progressive.

Guests:

I claim sunset Audience members:
We’ve met
Soul train unchained We’ve met
All set: U-bet Soul train unchained
In frame I claim All set: U-bet
Sunset we’ve met In frame I claim
Soul train unchained Sunset we’ve met Sunset we’ve met
All set: U-bet Soul train unchained Soul train unchained

BEAUTIFUL MURDERS

Audience member #1:

This time the finger
that I put into the pie
‘sgonna be a gold retriever,
not just pointing to the sky.

This time the mystery,
the questioning of life
will surrender to addiction;
the celebrity of hype.

This time the mandate
that you passed off on the world
will be shuffling the money
leaving nothing left to earn.

This time the finger
that I put into the pie
‘sgonna be the qualifier,
the excuse to say goodbye.

Guests: Dennis Cleveland:

Beautiful murders Celebrity all the time
Beautiful, beautiful murders Celebrity all the time

Audience member #2:

This time the murders
that you worship from afar
gonna join you in the bedroom,
maybe meet you at the bar.

This time the magazines
that guide your every move
will be slipping information
through the glossy interlude.

This time the plastic
that connects you to the world
will be borrowing your image
to reflect its deep concern.

This time the finger
that I put into the pie
‘sgonna be the last reminder
of the simple corporate lie.

Guests: Dennis Cleveland:

Beautiful murders Celebrity all the time
Beautiful, beautiful murders Celebrity all the time
Beautiful murders Celebrity all the time
Beautiful, beautiful murders Celebrity all the time

Guest #3:

It’s the Real Thing
in the pocket to burn
to stand in line and take your turn.
To motion sickness
to mothers milk
at the turn of the century
it’s the murder mill.

And the safety in numbers
that you got from TV,
that you got from the Movies,
that you got from maybe…

is the line to oven
where nothin’ spells lovin’
like the plank that you walked
when you gave up the talk.

The momentum
it’s a given
that there’s nothin’ gonna be left around
for this reason:

When the time was there
you built another hotel.
Billy goat don’t know the difference
from wholesale,
gonna be the prominent
mobile, upscale,
got no point in the middle of life
so you take all the love in one night.

Guests: Dennis Cleveland:

Beautiful murders Celebrity all the time
Beautiful, beautiful murders Celebrity all the time

APPARENT MONEY

Guests:

Ending the summit
Ending the summit
Ending the summit
Ending the summit
Ending the summit
Ending the summit
Ending the summit
Ending the summit
Ending the summit
Ending the summit

Dennis Cleveland:

I’d like to talk to you about money

Audience member #3:

A moment, that’s all I ask for,
a moment or two of your time.
A bucket of sand and a flask-full
to hold your attention to mine.

In truth, I am not a receiver;
I’ve never set foot on the beach.
But that morning I just could not leave her:
her mirage was the measure to reach.

Audience mender #3 + Dennis Cleveland:

All my life I’ve been loveless Guests: L-O-V-E-L-E-S
Out of spite and above it L-O-V-E-L-E-S
Look, if I can create this L-O-V-E-L-E-S
Then the sky is the limit L-O-V-E-L-E-S

Audience members:

And leave And leave off the last ‘S’ for savings
And leave And leave off the last ‘S’ for savings
And leave And leave off the last ‘S’ for savings
And leave And leave off the last ‘S’ for savings
And leave And leave off the last ‘S’ for savings

Guest #1:

At a nearby clam bar
I accept the message…
that my time here has finally been defined.
I have no regrets, certainly no remorse
for the period that has passed.

The occasion spent searching-
well, searching is a bit strong-or misleading;
I was mostly watching TV…
but still, hoping for some idea of purpose.
Days would come and go.
I loved coffee shops.
I loved bars.
Bars with talk shows especially.
These weren’t just stop offs-they passed as life.

And life takes a shape,
turns it ’round,
has a conversation with itself,
is oblivious to passions,
to mistakes,
to favorite foods,
to the rise and fall.

The rise from Luna Park
and over the sea wall: the parachute drop.
The decline and fall of a near city.
Crossed off a vacationer’s list
and paraphrased to death.

It is in my best interest
(a thought enters my head)
to snoop around this place
so that Dreamland should not happen to me.

The descendants of Steeple Chase:
their lives gone,
and where they lived and played gone,
so that any meaning remaining would be,
so to speak, up for grabs.

So much so, like the meaning of money:
cold hard cash-
that you could hold; use it to hold
over others heads.
Money is everywhere-turn around and it’s there.
(Ending the summit of apparent money)
Money is everywhere-turn around and it’s there.Guests:

Ending the summit
Ending the summit
Ending the summit
Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money
Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money
Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money
Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money
Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money
Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money
Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money

Audience members:

Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money
Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money
Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money
Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money
Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money
Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money
Ending the summit Money Money, Mon-ey Money

Audience member #4:

I take walks and it’s some consolation
that the mind is a blank most ‘the time.
I have mastered the art of creation
if creation’s attendant to rhyme.

I’m content in my own observation:
for saints this is how it must be.
If no answer appears on the station
I inherit another TV.

Audience member #4 + Dennis Cleveland:

All my life I’ve been loveless Guests: L-O-V-E-L-E-S
Out of spite and above it L-O-V-E-L-E-S
Look, if I can create this L-O-V-E-L-E-S
Then the sky is the limit L-O-V-E-L-E-S

Audience members:

Money Money, Mon-ey Money Ending the summit
Money Money, Mon-ey Money Ending the summit
Money Money, Mon-ey Money Ending the summit
Money Money, Mon-ey Money Ending the summit
Money Money, Mon-ey Money Ending the summit
Money Money, Mon-ey Money Ending the summit
Money Money, Mon-ey Money Ending the summit
Money Money, Mon-ey Money Ending the summit

Audience member #5:

Born to crawl, born to walk, born to end-run.
In a uniform dressed in a suit.
And the numerous takes under the sun
draws a line in the sand I can shoot.

The bombardment from TV is endless.
I can bear it with suitable ire.
The unwinding of constant remembrance
brings to mind an unspeakable choir.

Audience member #5 + Dennis Cleveland:

All my life I’ve been loveless Guests: L-O-V-E-L-E-S
Out of spite and above it L-O-V-E-L-E-S
Look, if I can create this….

WHY ARE YOU HERE TODAY (She Feels Like)

Dennis Cleveland:

Why are you here today?
There’s gotta be some place else. Guests: Yeah, yeah,
yeah
You have been with Michael for four years.
How’d you get back together again Guests:Yeah,yeah,yeah
You, you… this is the woman that you love?
Do you want to marry her? Guests: Yeah, yeah, yeah

She feels that you let her down though.
She feels that you let her down though. Guests: Yeah, yeah, yeah
She feels like she gave you so much.
She feels like she gave you so much. Guests: Yeah, yeah, yeah
She feels like you let her down though.
She feels like she gave you so much. Guests: Yeah, yeah, yeah

A person you trust, a person you’re close to, a person you’re vulnerable with.
A person you trust, a person you’re close to, a person you’re vulnerable with.
A person you trust, a person you’re close to, a person you’re vulnerable with.

Why are you here today?
There’s gotta be some place else.
A person you trust, a person you’re close to, a person you’re vulnerable with.

You have been with Michael for four years.
How’d you get back together again?
A person you trust, a person you’re close to, a person you’re vulnerable with.

You, you… this is the woman that you love?
Do you want to marry her?
A person you trust, a person you’re close to, a person you’re vulnerable with.

Guest #2:

He’s outa there. I want him gone. He’s outa there.
He’s outa there. I want him gone. He’s outa there.
He’s outa there. I want him gone. He’s outa there.
He’s outa there. I want him gone. He’s outa there. Guest #5:

He’s outa there. I want him gone. He’s outa there.
He went out that night, met a girl an’ married her.
He’s outa there. I want him gone. He’s outa there.
He went out that night, met a girl an’ married her.
He’s outa there. I want him gone. He’s outa there.
He went out that night, met a girl an’ married her.
He’s outa there. I want him gone. He’s outa there.
He went out that night, met a girl an’ married her.

ALTERED BODIES

Dennis Cleveland:

You’re better off, I think, in limbo
Falling apart, inflated eh eh ego

Guests:

(Over and out, an age, an age of reason)
(Caroling arms, a race for every season)

Dennis Cleveland:

You kinda beat the road for info
You can believe I’m not a a wide load

Guests:

(Blind to the world, to gone to care what time sees)
(Defining yourself you lose, you alter bodies)

Audience member #11:

The pins, the puns as you gather together
The flesh, the bone, the remarkable leather

Guests:

Currency of doubt reflect away
Legacy about to over-stay
Welcome to all out: the table-sway
Being to be not, it doesn’t pay

Dennis Cleveland:

I think it’s better
If you model the face that way.

Guests:

Imaging: Altered Bodies
Imaging
Imaging: Altered Bodies
Altered Bodies See Altered Bodies
Imaging: Altered Bodies
Imaging
Imaging: Altered Bodies
Altered Bodies See Altered Bodies

Dennis Cleveland:

The motivation speaks an insight
Filling a hole in the soul and that night…

Guests:

(Over and out, an age, an age of reason)
(Caroling arms, a race for every season)

Dennis Cleveland:

You got a lease on life, an outlook
Sitting alone you notice what the time took

Guests:

(Blind to the world, to gone to care what time sees)
(Defining yourself you lose, you alter bodies)

Audience member #11:

The face is fun, it seem so familiar
The lines and marks disappear with the gender

Guests:

Currency of doubt reflect away
Legacy about to over-stay
Welcome to all out: the table-sway
Being to be not, it doesn’t pay

Dennis Cleveland:

My pain is permanent.
Cancel at any time.

Guests:

Imaging: Altered Bodies
Imaging
Imaging: Altered Bodies
Altered Bodies See Altered Bodies
Imaging: Altered Bodies
Imaging
Imaging: Altered Bodies
Altered Bodies See Altered Bodies

Audience member #11:

The pins, the puns as you gather together
The flesh, the bone, the remarkable leather

Guests:

Currency of doubt reflect away
Legacy about to over-stay
Welcome to all out: the table-sway
Being to be not, it doesn’t pay

Dennis Cleveland:

Blind to the world, to gone to care what time sees
Defining yourself you lose, you alter bodies

Guests:

Imaging: Altered Bodies
Imaging
Imaging: Altered Bodies
Altered Bodies See Altered Bodies
Imaging: Altered Bodies
Imaging
Imaging: Altered Bodies
Altered Bodies See Altered Bodies

Audience members:

Give it up in the age of reason
Give it up in the age of reason
Give it up in the age of reason
Give it up in the age of reason

MADISON SQUARE

Audience members:

In fact, in fact
Gimme some fact in
Gimme some fact in
In fact

Audience member #1:

It’s always hard to tell when to listen close.
There must be the real advice and the auto-pilot advice.
It takes a real event for a person to step outside of themselves
and give the real advice and each person can only define
the real event from their own perspective because to look beyond that
would require alot more work than most people can fit in between
the work week,
the family,
the movies,
self awareness,
shopping,
countless forms of recreation.
All these things must define the real event
and in 1995 the real event for most people
is the movies.

Dennis Cleveland:

I’ve been waiting for this: a potential arcade
with a salary twist and a spicy new blade
that I run ’round my wrist kind of capturing calm,
instead of diving for dollars and righting past wrongs.

I could have called for back-up, back-up and leveling time.
Cause a break in the tableau of American crime.
Instead of crossing what lingers in the state of lip balm
And saluting the mentors kind of capturing calm

Guests:

And the line that I walk is just to calibrate
all the time that I spend alone and out of date.
It’s a single in motion, it’s a tidal wave
of the closet containing all the souls I save.

Audience member #3:

Boy do I know this stretch of eighth avenue.
I’ve never set foot in any of these places,
but their neon signs are all familiar.
Their smells are all familiar.
The people who go in and out are all familiar.
I could tell you anything about any of these places
without ever having gone to them.

Take Madison Square Garden.
Only the wildest sort of folks go there.
They go there to see these things called
monster trucks and Billy Joel.
It’s hard to believe that Madison Square Garden
wasn’t always on eighth avenue, but it wasn’t.
I think it was once uptown on the west side.

These things take on the meaning of monuments
and it’s only when you’ve lived long enough to see them move
or be torn down that you can really comprehend
the impermanence of things and I guess it depends alot
on your upbringing how that will effect and shape
your world view.

I’m forever looking for meaning in everything
so the thought of all this building and unbuilding
tends to enforce a certain hopelessness.

I could imagine that a developer is looking for meaning
and most likely the more things move around,
get torn down and put somewhere else,
the more meaning it has for him.
I’m sure it has alot to do with upbringing.

Guest 1, 2 & Audience member #1: Audience members 2, 3, & 4:

And remorse? I’ve felt remorse for years
And the point? Well, I’m still waiting here. It’s a single in motion,
I believe all things to those who wait it’s a tidal wave
Referees will be placed at the gate of a closet containing
And for dreams the cost will be extreme. all the souls I save.

Guests: Remaining Audience members:

(Safer, Safer, Safer, Safer) In fact, in fact
Gimme some fact in
Gimme some fact in
In fact

Audience members 5 & 6:

They’ll be dreams, they’ll be uneven heals Dennis Cleveland:
Dead charades: they’re bound for cotton fields
In a way I’m ’bout to be revealed I’ve been waiting for this:
As the Savior of “the deal” a potential arcade
And remorse? I’ve felt remorse for years with a salary twist
And the point? Well, I’m still waiting here. and a spicy new blade

I believe all things to those who wait that I run ’round my wrist
Referees will be placed at the gate kind of capturing calm,
And for dreams the cost will be extreme instead of diving for dollars
and righting past wrongs.
I could have called for back-up,
back-up and leveling time.
Cause a break in the tableau
of American crime.
Instead of crossing what lingers
in the state of lip balm
and saluting the mentors
kind of capturing calm.

Audience members 5, 6, & 7:

And the line that I walk is just to calibrate
All the time that I spend alone and out of date
It’s a single in motion, it’s a tidal wave,
of the closet containing all the souls I save.

Audience member #7:

It was just another brownstone
until these two dentists from Queens
decided to make a killing in the
free-wheeling, razzle-dazzle real estate boom
of the New York mid-eighties.
First, they had to move out
all the little old ladies
who were gonna keep their
$120 a month rent controlled apartments
instead of having the supreme satisfaction
of owning their own share
in a building
and paying six or seven hundred dollars in maintenance.
Next in line would be those deadbeats
who always pay their rent on time
and never cause any trouble
but could never afford to buy into a co-op.
I fall into this second category.

I must have been in court the entire spring and summer of 1991
trying to keep my apartment
while trying to keep my girlfriend
while trying to finish these demos
for the manager that was finally going to get me the deal
that was going to make trying
to keep my apartment and girlfriend unnecessary.

I kept the apartment
and the two dentists lost their mortgage to the bank
and now everyone in the building
is sort of out there in space
wondering where they’ll end up after the foreclosure.
I only worry about that once a week or so.

Guests:

(Safer, safer, safer, safer)

Dennis Cleveland:

I’ve been waiting for this: a potential arcade
with a salary twist and a spicy new blade
that I run ’round my wrist kind of capturing calm,
instead of diving for dollars and righting past wrongs.

And the line that I walk is just to calibrate
all the time that I spend alone and out of date.
It’s a single in motion, it’s a tidal wave
of the closet containing all the souls I save.

Guest 3, 4 & Audience member # 8: Audience members 9, 10, & 11:

They’ll be dreams, they’ll be uneven heals And the line that I walk
Dead charades: they’re bound for cotton fields is just to calibrate
In a way, I’m ’bout to be revealed all the time that I spend alone
As the savior of “the deal” and out of date.
And remorse? I’ve felt remorse for years
And the point? Well, I’m still waiting here. It’s a single in motion,
I believe all things to those who wait it’s a tidal wave
Referees will be placed at the gate of a closet containing
And for dreams the cost will be extreme. all the souls I save.

Guests: Remaining Audience members:

(Safer, Safer, Safer, Safer) In fact, in fact
Gimme some fact in
Gimme some fact in
In fact