like a bicycle with 13 wheels
nirvana
metallica
led zeppelin
stone temple pilots
matchbox20
pearl jam
black sabbath
iron maiden
ramones
black eyed peas
the jam
rob thomas
and ozzy osbourne but i a
and the beastie boys and
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Story behind the song
When we last encountered our heroes, Icepac was on the run from the overdue library book police, a fugitive in several countries. Sknoblogger took the honest course, vowing to pay off all his fines. He set up shop in Paris, where he diligently worked off paying his debts by translating a treatise on making yak butter, from Hopi to Basque.
Icepac eventually found a basement apartment in Edmonton, Alberta where he lived under an assumed name. He did odd jobs around town, and very badly, but there was such a shortage of laborers that he continued to find work. Staying in one place for a while had a positive effect on him creatively – he began once again to feel the muse hanging around his living room, prodding him in the kidneys now and again.
Through a series of intermediaries (including Kevin Bacon and Ravi Shankar) he contacted Sknoblogger and suggested they work on some new material together. Sknoblogger reluctantly agreed (he was enjoying the steady paycheck) and they began to make plans to rendezvous, as the Americans say.
Icepac was not able to go to Paris, as there were several outstanding warrants for his arrest (“Everybody should have something outstanding about them,” Icepac was fond of saying) and Sknoblogger still had misgivings about returning to the scene of the tragedy in Edmonton. The scars from the accident still had a dull ache several years later; legislation was passed banning the use of farming implements in performance by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra until 2050.
At last they decided to meet in Ubatuba, a lovely seaside town near Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The sessions were immediately productive, with the basic tracks for several songs recorded (to be finished and released at a later date). However, they did completely finish this one remarkable song. Some background information is worth reporting. While dining in a local café, the veteran musicians first heard the legend of the living statue on the beach. There is great controversy – the more religious citizens of Ubatuba believe that a local girl was uniquely touched by God – first given divine visions, and then turned into a living statue so that she might continue to bless the people with her prophetic message forever.
Others scoffed, saying she had a rare disorder – fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, or FOP, which causes flesh to inexplicably be transformed into bone, and her pronouncements were merely the delirious rants of the poor afflicted girl.
Whatever the case, Icepac and Sknoblogger felt that they must see this amazing thing for themselves – not sure if they were going to encounter the divine, or a medical horror story, but knowing there was going to be a damn good song in it (and perhaps financial solvency, and even a sports car or two) the learned the exact location where the incredible events occurred, and they set out along the beach, with a portable digital recorder, sandwiches, and a six pack of Brahma beer.
Still, they were totally unprepared for what they finally saw when they finished their long walk – it was nothing but an ordinary rock on the beach. Several people were gathered around, in various attitudes of reverent expectation, patiently waiting for a miracle.
How did the extraordinary stories build up around this rock, with not the slightest resemblance to the human form? It is impossible to say, but Icepac and Sknoblogger were sorely vexed. They saw the money they hoped to earn disappearing in a puff of smoke.
As he was wont to do in these circumstances, Icepac quoted his favorite line from “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence” – "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
So they wrote the song up as if it had actually happened just this way.
Lyrics
Her man arranged her pillows as
She smiled at him so vacantly
She murmured strange words placidly
As she gazed out on the balmy sea
She slipped from wakefulness and fell
Down into the depths of a fever dream
Then she acquired a spectral glow
And her continence grew so serene
She said "You must leave Tel Aviv
To go see Chinese lantern shows
As black swans float upon the waves
And the flood of war refugees grows
The hangman's crying bitter tears
As he wraps a lamb inside his coat
He knew he'd seen her face before
As he placed the noose around her throat..."
She said these things twelve times again,
And then with the twilight silence fell
He took heart that she slept so sound
Though her words seemed like a magical spell
The next day came with more the same
And then one by one came so many more
Soon everyone heard of the oracle's words
From the sleeping girl by the seashore
Her lips became like alabaster
Her skin transformed into fine porcelain
She's been this way for 13 long years,
Who knows how it will all finally end
Pilgrims come from far cross the land
To hear the cryptic prophet's speech
And to marvel at the miracle
Of the living statue on the beach
(Solo)
He tries so hard to keep the faith
But the message he hears seems so unclear
And he only wants to hold the hand
Of the girl who was so very dear