black tape for a blue girl: The Aflame (ep)


1. As one aflame laid bare by desire 
2. Dulcinea
3. On broken shells of crystal dreams
4. Could i stay the honest one?

Tracks 1 + 2 from As one aflame laid bare by desire [PRO86 | 1999]
Tracks 3 + 4 are studio renditions of songs from the live set;
they are only available in this form on this maxi-cd.
3 originally on This lush garden within [PRO38 | 1993]
4 originally on A chaos of desire [PRO30 | 1991]

julianna towns vocals & guitar
lisa feuer flute & backing vocals
sam rosenthal electronics & vocals

with Ken Soltesz oboe on track 1

1 As one aflame laid bare by desire

she moved like a dancer, skin so pale, hair cut sharp across her cheek. defined in an instant of desire, my heart laid bare. a train across aplatform, a reflection in a window . . . her passage breaks into successiveframes. she vanishes, begging that i retain what we have shared. from herface, from her dress, from her gestures, from practically nothing at all. ihave devised her story. and sometimes i tell it to myself and weep. andsometimes i tell it to myself and weep.

– last four lines paraphrased from: Charles Baudelaire, “Windows,” Paris Spleen.

You pass by my window, yet i will never have you
awakened by your vision, draw me to life
i know nothing of you, taking on such proportions
as you overwhelm me
i will never have you, yet what has transpired
in this union absent of flesh and blood?
in endless delay, unachievable
i await, i await, i await . . .
await my transition, lost within this vision
await the kingdom which i will never obtain
await hands upon my flesh, that i’ll never feel
await your love, that i will never know
await the day when you never return
await the day when you never return
the day i make my transition
the passage from virgin to a bride


2 Dulcinea

DULCINEA emerges . . . the BACHELOR waits alone . . . through windows above me . . . DELAY DELAY . . . DULCINEA emerges.

“The movement depicted in not merely physical: as the woman moves acrossthe picture plane she leaves her clothed state behind and emerges nude,like a butterfly from a cocoon. [Dulcinea depicts] a female form in theprocess of being stripped bare by a male imagination, a ‘bachelor.’ Herethe stripping is performed not by an anonymous unmarried man, but byDuchamp himself, his interest in the unclothed female form justified ontraditional artistic grounds, but aroused by his male curiosity about ayoung woman with whom he had no social connection: he later recalled thathe did not know her name . . . “

– Jerrold Seigel, The Private Worlds of Marcel Duchamp (University ofCalifornia Press 1995), 41.

3 On broken shells of crystal dreams

cast out by angels, cast out by faith. like fallen stars. like martyrs wefall, blessed is the sufferer. with these eyes, these hands . . . we almostgrasped paradise. you lie alabaster translucent on broken shells of crystaldreams. defiled and destroyed. how can i pray to this cruel god who avertshis gaze? how can i believe in a god who creates puppets and sheep?

4 Could i stay the honest one?

if your words lodged within me
burning streamers . . . how could i stay
the honest one? harbouring these feelings
. . . engulfing me

burn my memories . . . your tears the ultimate
beauty . . . so deceived, by honesty

similar needs, similar traits . . .
a fear of being turned against, so hard to open . . .
desire . . . desire . . . lose this fear; reveal my heart to you

remain in this house as the walls tumble down
my faith swirling round . . . my faith swirling round
maybe this all reveals . . .
within each other, have we found our spirit?

Click to Join, hit send, and I’ll add you to the list. – Sam