Florida
My boy, my beuatiful boy, touch the rose
and hear it say
I know what blood is...
Florida
My bloom, my bloody bloom, look past the plane
of your reality
and see it...
Florida
Sweet sweet Florida
My lover, my secret lover, smell it
on the air and
you will know it's...
Florida
Hot hot Florida
My flower, my florid flower, let the nectar
drip on your tongue
and you will taste it
Florida
Long lost Florida
It's not about the state, except that in certain books of the Vampire Chronicles Armand had an island there where a bunch of vampires stayed, Daniel among them. I was, back in the day a big Armand/ Daniel shipper (and so is the character Joy AKA Velvet). There's a line in one of those books, probably in QotD and a Daniel POV chapter, where Anne Rice has the character think that in some language the word for blood was the same as the word for flowers. Of course I did reasearch to check that out. I'm not sure if there's a language they are identical, but I found closely related terms. and, this idea rather fascinated me, thus the phrases 'bloody bloom' and 'florid flower'. It seems the idea of life springing up from beneath the surface is common in flowers from the earth and blood from the flesh.
Within the Charm
Child of a child that wears a charm around his neck
Son of generations of secret love and unspeakable kisses
Son of a virgin and the virgin blood spilled for you
Within the charm you keep it there to keep you safe
Within the charm is the cure for all that ails you
Within the charm is a place you'll never return to
Child of a child the charm is gone forever now
And your body hardens inexplicably
I believe that the actual 'charm' here referes to a locket the Character Daniel (from Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles again) wore, which had a vial of vampire blood inside it, however, I am pretty sure that not all the lines refer to this character. It could be that more of it refers to the character Julien AKA Orchid from the Empty World series, who was also a member of the fictional band Velvet (he played keyboards/synths) and whom Joy was infatuated with. I know the virgin line sounds jesusy, but if one is speaking of vampires, then one could possibly be the child (in blood) of one who was a virgin.
Fall into Me
Fall into me
Fall into me
Fall into me
Like a raven
of the sea
Fall into me
and drown
Higher we
Higher we
Higher we
Will climb up up
In the sky
Higher we
Will climb
Stay with me
stay with me
stay with me
And never say
A good-bye
Stay with me
Tonight
I have no idea what a 'raven of the sea' is, but apparently that is the way this poem was originally written.
The Madness
Have you ever been so cold?
So chilled-to-the-bones-leave-me-for-dead cold?
So very lay-on-the-pavement-and die-cold?
Have you ever wanted warmth so badly that you would kill?
So in-need-of-something-warm-to-drink?
Have you ever looked at the man,
The tourist that looks up at buildings,
And wanted to kill him?
Have you ever wanted to leave his jacket and take his blood instead?
Have you ever wanted to switch your insides for his?
I guess it's only me.
And have you ever been so insane?
So screaming-screaming-at-the-moon-because-it's-there insane?
So very mad-as-a-march-hare-in-December-waiting-for-Christmas insane?
Have you ever felt that you weren't real, that you were fiction?
So desperate-for-someone-to-pick-a-fight-with?
Have you ever wanted something,
A book, a name, a watch for a pocket,
With the name of an affected queen on it?
Have you ever wanted to die but you were afraid to do it?
Have you ever wanted to be a vampire?
I guess it's only me.
This one is also inspired by an Anne Rice character.
Open
Open your mouth and let me slip it in
Kiss devouring and perfect and slow
Lace me with alcohol and kiss me
Again my poor dead and beautiful
boy there is nothing so sweet as your
Alcohol meat delerious you
Suck harder and swallow all of me
Feel black velvet now velvet blackness
Come inside I want to feel you there
know infant pleasures forever
Pull me in and hold me in your arms
No garden this dream is ours alone
Twin and twin eternal siamese
Union of two brother and sister
Joined forever immortal kiss
Slip under my skin and swallow me
It's meant to be sensual, like the song Velvet would sing while on the bed that rises from below the stage for a few songs. (I saw the Madonna's Blonde Ambition tour.) The poem is also meant to be read with slight pauses where the lines break so as to be playful and confuse meaning. There is that peculiar male-female siamese twins imagery again.
Invariably
A moon-pale face and auburn hair
Secret kiss and deepening blackness
I know the feeling...
wanting to live
Wanting to know
But the maddening reality...
You're going to die
There is finally nothing for you but death
Still a beautiful laugh can be so seductive
And black velvet against black velvet is maddening
It's just the same old dance
Invariably, inevitably, certainly
It's always the same old song
Over and over and over again
A lover dark eyes and slow lips
That kiss and deepening blackness
I know the feeling...
Wanting to drown
Wanting to go down
But the brightening light...
You're going to go mad
There's nothing left for you
Still a hand on the back can be so intimate
And black velvet, only velvet blackness is softer
I'm certain this was also inspired by Anne Rice's Daniel character.
Such Joy
Such cold and lovely
So dark and devouring
the finality
You can have what you've always wanted
Won't Desire be insanely jealous of me
Such joy
You can feel it you can taste it
Joy for tonight and every night
Is your if you claim it
It's anything
It's everything
This joy
Is what I can give you
Every Alice, Belle and Wendy will be jealous of me
Such joy
You can drink it you can swallow it
Joy for tonight and every night
Is yours if you claim it
I think that the phrase 'such joy' was from an Anne Rice book, however the poem (lyrics) is about the character Joy who would have sung the song.
The Passing of the Witches
A child dies and a nurse is hung
Estrie's buried in earth with an earth filled mouth
The family needed a scapegoat
And they were jewish too
The plague rages and and a maid is hung
The saw her running to and from sick houses
They had to blame someone
Dorothy died and so did they
When men were ignorant and didn't know it
There were millions murdered for a good night's sleep
It was the women's holocost
We call it the Passing of the Witches
The old spinster woman were burned
There were more women than men
They had to be wed to the Devil
Women aren't allowed to think
A mother was pulled from her home
They said she led young girls astray
She confessed after the third degree
Crucifixion would be kinder
A midwife burned alive
The doctors testified that she was a witch
She was bad for their business
And they killed her
Wars and witch hunts are popular
When the Church needs a scapegoat
They make a sacrifice
We call it the Passing of the Witches
Millions of women were murdered
Because they dared to think for themselves
And it was all wrong
Blood for nothing
Torn from their children
They tortured them for confessions
They were doctors and priests and lawyers
Because it was all good for business
It was all lies
No one met the Devil in the pale moonlight
But only men can have more than one lover
We call it the Passing of the Witches
This was written as lyrics to a song the character Shade would have written. At the time, I had read about times of persecution of women, often as witches. I believe Estrie was the name of a woman in a particular legend/account, and Dorothy was as well. Shade, though male, has some rather feminist views. Probably this was more folksy sounding or medival-influenced than Velvet's other songs and Shade would have sang a lot of the vocals.
The Candle Song
He opens the curtain and
sees her there
sitting on the bed
holding a flame
above her lips
that long for kisses.
"Oh, hold me, hold me, hold me," she says,
"Steal my breath with kisses;
steal my blood
and my innocence,
but not the flame
with breath or kisses,
because, I need to see you."
"Oh, take me, take me, take me," she says.
Candles fill the room
with candlelight,
flames in the air
and in hearts
and in kisses
and deep inside
"Oh, love me, love me, love me," she says.
In candlelight...
I have this vague idea that part of this is inspired by characters in some Anne Rice novel, maybe Cry to Heaven, but I am honestly no longer certain.