Home Recording #1

The Train (Take 1)

“Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death.”

Jean Cocteau

last year at Madame Simone, photo by Augusta Sagnelli

The above quote inspired me to write a song. Here are the lyrics:

Time is a train unto its own, forever keeping pace

As the world speeds by my window, I search for an escape

‘Cause I want to get off, take a look around

Out there, alone in my thoughts, in the fertile space

I see things I’ve never seen before my eyes, angels surround me they are light

The pendulum swings to the other side, a circle traced (dappled light)

Sunshine surrounds you in the shade

Most of what we see in life is from this train (step outside)

Exhale—mind the gap when you awake

And when, when you get off, take a look around

Outside, alone in your thoughts, in the fertile space

You’ll see things you used to see just as a child

Angels surround you they are light

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With my novelistic mind finally open to new ideas,

I’m returning to piano and voice whilst I sow the literary fields¹ for whatever story appears next. It took me a decade to finish and publish my latest novel, The Requisitions. With my literary energies now resting, I’m turning to music for inspiration.

The recording below is for my paying subscribers,

the first of a series of homemade recordings I’ll be sharing for those who’ve been supporting me over the past two years.

Why is music paywalled?

First, to honor those who’ve been supporting me since the beginning. It’s thanks to my paying subscribers that I was able to save enough money to pay an illustrator, editor, designer, and printer to independently publish The Requisitions. That being said, if you can’t afford an annual subscription, send me an email and I’m happy to provide you with a comp.

Second, I was in a band for seven years (I was the lead singer alongside my twin brother

Aaron Lopez Barrantes

) and did the music label thing, which means I know the costs involved in trying to make money with music (see: near impossible).

Voila. Thanks to all of you—paying and free subscribers alike—for taking a chance on this space. As you can see below, it’s been a slow and steady process since I started if not, Paris two years ago:

Here’s to pursuing our own narratives in all of their many forms. For my free subscribers interested in what my music is all about, you can watch this video, which includes an early instrumental piano recording of “The Train”.

For my paying subscribers: sit back, throw on a pair of headphones / a decent speaker, and have a listen: