Composed by Nick Strong
"The first cabaretists gave birth to an eclectic cat. A cat who could sing, recite, dance, create shadow plays, write music, lyrics, farce, and above all, perform. a cat at once a revolutionary and a royalist, a mystic and a teller of broad tales, a lover of the gruesome macabre and the sentimental romantic - contradictions which could only be and were, indeed, resolved in the derisive spirit of satirical laughter.
He captures the sense of the new, that modern moment the...artists inhabited - a moment in which meaning no longer lay in dusty antiquity, but in the popular culture of the streets with their brash images, their crowds, each one a subject for a pulp fiction."
-Lisa Appignanesi
"The Cabaret"
The Black Cat in the 21st Century is a piece I wrote about the parallels between the artistic cabaret movement of the late 1800s-early 1900s, and the punk rock movement of the late 1970s. Both movements were born in small venues like bars or clubs, and relied heavily on breaking the barrier between performer and audience. Both thrived as a subculture in major cities, until their growth led to their demise: Cabaret turned into an entertainment venue, while punk evolved into a radio-friendly genre with little of its edge.
But the most important similarity was the idea behind each movement. Both of them focused on an intense rebellion against the upper class and their societal norms, and used shock and vulgarity to express their views. They were highly politicized, and focused on using their music to shock the average person. Punk clubs as well as cabarets were filled with violence, sexuality, and most importantly, rebellion. But as both gained popularity, the lyrics turned from rebellion to emotions, leading to the death of both styles.
This piece was performed at the MSU College of Music Undergraduate Premieres Concert, which was, other than my piece, an all classical music performance. This gave the piece additional shock value, and made the vulgarity and satire all the more poignant, since nobody in the audience was prepared for a piece of this kind.
This is the second movement, titled Every Punk's Heartbeat, and takes place in New York City, in 1976. It is about the punk rock movement, told through the eyes of two young teens in the city. They are led by the black cat to a punk rock club, where they meet. This movement, while about punk, is influenced musically by the cabaret. The lyrics can be found below.
II. Every Punk's Heartbeat (New York City, 1976)
Male:
Dear mom and pop,
I've got some news to make your heart stop.
Was raised by street corners and blacktop,
And I learned everything I know
Out in the blackest neon glow
Of hazy apathy and smoke.
And Ive learned not to lie
On top of your land mines,
So lets breathe one collective sigh
Because as far as Im concerned,
Its about fucking time.
Female:
I walk nightly these streets,
Deflecting the dreams of family
And all of the things that you think that I need.
A life already planned,
Just follow your hand,
And make sure I look just as nice as you think that I can.
But its been 19 years,
Both: And I still wake up screaming, screaming, screaming
Both:
One night I followed him
A shadow of coal with a floating grin
Took me to my home and he letmein.
Male: Through the noise and smoke, I met her eyes,
Female: Could tell he felt the same fire inside.
Male: The guitars and yelling were silenced as I pulled her aside.
Both: With no word to each other, we joined hands before
Slipping upstairs, past the junkies and through a tattered bedroom door,
We lay in stained sheets that we only stained more.
Sweating and moaning as the burning raged in our cores,
Until every last strand of our past lives tore
And we were let go.
We lay naked, relieved, but still neither of us spoke,
No matter what we said, it would seem like a punchline to some sitcom joke,
So we savored it, until we rose and finally broke
Free of those worries, and arm in arm, and through the smoke,
Over broken needles and in a haze of coke,
We hit the streets.
Just hours fore dawn, and were miles from anywhere weve seen before
The night air at our backs, whispering a sweet promise of refuge from our homegrown war
But we cling not to each other, no, its only freedom that binds our two hearts,
The black cat crost our path, and we go our own ways. Weve played our parts.
Nightly, I see her/him back there,
Shooting up with the junkies under the stairs,
But we dont care theres no we, we belong to the scene,
And the scene belongs to me.
Waited my whole life for the night she/he walked through those doors,
Alone again, but alone nevermore.
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6:44
Dark The Suns Goneby tsouros1312,006 views
This one is my favorite. It's fabulous.
mellowcellist17 2 years ago
Awesome music & lyrics!
jhamelin424 2 years ago
2:20 is freakin' nice!
Johnicles 2 years ago