Musician
One of my darker songs, in which I take the concept of a man's loss of control in the face of great beauty and... Push it a little further than most romances. :)
Verse 1
You do something to me,
Nothing good.
I could put out the eyes
Of every other guy
That ever watched you whilst you're dancing.
You do something to me.
Verse 2
You do something to me,
It boils my blood.
I could never bring myself to cause you pain
But everyone else you ever cared for is fair game.
Oh, now, you do something to me,
You do something to me.
I swear I was a peaceful man before I saw your face,
It caught the light and looked so free,
I knew I had to catch it and to hold it and control it just for
Me.
Chorus 1
You... x4
Verse 3
You do something to me,
Nothing right.
I'd break each finger of every hand
Of every other man
That ever touched you in the night.
You do something to me.
Verse 4
Yeah, you do something to me,
I'm terrified.
I guess it won't console you but it's true,
Sometimes I swear I'm just as scared as you.
Oh, now, you do something to me,
You do something to me.
The laughter in your eyes is so alive with your defiance,
It thrills me and it shocks me
And I know I have to lock it up and shut it up and stop it mocking
Me.
Chorus 2
You, ah... x4
Outro
In my heart, there's a hole,
It's a fit for your soul,
Made for you and you, alone.
It's a custom-built cell,
It's your personal hell,
No escape, it's your fate,
It's home.
I'd do anything to please you,
Anything but release you,
To mark how much I need you.
Oh, baby, stop your crying,
Makes me feel like I'm dying,
And if I died, who would feed you?
Ba-da-da, da-da-dah,
Ba-da-da, da-da-dah,
Because you do something to me.
Ba-da-da, da-da-dah,
Ba-da-da, da-da-dah,
You do something to me.
This was one of my earliest forays into exploring the darker sides of human nature. It, and the song "Time" (not yet recorded, here), represent a shift from the more optimistic and hedonistic compositions of my earlier songwriting. As with a lot of my more recent songs, the theme is thwarted desire and the extreme consequences that could arise from it.
I wanted to push the toxicity of songs like Wicked Game a little further. In such songs, the protagonist places the responsibility of his feelings and actions upon the object of his desires: "What a wicked game you play / To make me feel this way". He is helpless in the face of her beauty -- how could he possibly be held responsible for anything that he does or says in the face of such provocation?
The voice of the song's protagonist is quite heavily cribbed from the character Caliban in John Fowle's book The Collector -- a deeply disturbing account of an obsessive sociopath's abduction of a young art student. Caliban is a terrifying mixture of pure id and perfect self-justification, which enables him to dream up and execute a hideous plan to capture and imprison another human being. When the self-justifications and the appeals to grand romance fail to convince his captive, however, they all evaporate... Revealing a terrifyingly pure and small-minded Will to complete Power over her.
This video was recorded by Dan at Showvault, for their excellent Salon Sessions, in which local musicians are given the opportunity to record and share their music. Please do check them out, there's some beautiful songs by amazing artists on there!