Notes on Mischief 10: Girl with the Lion's Tail
Girl with the Lion's Tail (Lucia)
Words & music by S. J. Tucker
Guitars, vocals, percussion: S. J. Tucker
Cello: Betsy Tinney
Shaker: Michelle Dockrey
Tracked & mixed by Tony Fabris, Monkey Brains Studios Seattle
Here's a familiar face, for some of you.
I composed "Lucia" for the Quartered album, which is the official companion disc for Palimpsest, and I originally performed it as part of the book tour that Cat and I did for that novel in 2009. The song was inspired by the scene in the tea house in the city of Palimpsest. Lucia's husband Ludovico has followed her there from the waking world. Drawing up her courage when caught out, Lucia tells Ludo that she has left him for good and isn't abandoning her new home in an extraordinary foreign country--essentially dreamland, just to come home and be his kept wife again. Lucia's song is about telling the truth, about finding strength, even when you're backed into a corner, faced with something ugly you
thought you'd put behind you.
About the recording:
This song sports of my favorite cello parts of any that Betsy has written for any of my songs. You can just hear Ludo finally being forced to let go of Lucia's skirts as she pulls away, crying, and walks out. I'm very pleased with my vocal performance on this recording, as well, and I think it's one of the finest mixes that Tony and I have worked on together. We had a lot of fun getting this song done. There were rampant Fleetwood Mac jokes, among other things, and he encouraged me to write the additional high guitar line that you hear underneath part of both verses ("call me a beast as you've always done", etc). This song was in fact the very first one that we ever worked on together.
We started work on "Lucia" just about a year ago. I originally released it on June 1st 2009, just in time for the final performance of the Palimpsest/Quartered Road Show. That recording is available for download now, as part of the work-in-progress Quartered: Songs of Palimpsest. You'll hear "Lucia" in her glorious, fully mastered state on the new album.
Interesting facts:
The partial Ave Maria in the song is a nod to another scene in the book, when Ludo finds himself unable to keep silent in a church full of half-animal folk who do not speak. I won't give you any more spoilers; it's too gorgeous. Directly after the unmastered version of this song was released, Cat and I performed together on a tallship in the New York harbor. I love my job.
I love singing this song live, especially with Betsy, when I have my strength up. Here's another vid from Wayward, of just the two of us.
And here's the Quartered version, available for download now.
Special thanks to Cat, Betsy, Vixy and Tony. And Ludo.
Words & music by S. J. Tucker
Guitars, vocals, percussion: S. J. Tucker
Cello: Betsy Tinney
Shaker: Michelle Dockrey
Tracked & mixed by Tony Fabris, Monkey Brains Studios Seattle
Here's a familiar face, for some of you.
I composed "Lucia" for the Quartered album, which is the official companion disc for Palimpsest, and I originally performed it as part of the book tour that Cat and I did for that novel in 2009. The song was inspired by the scene in the tea house in the city of Palimpsest. Lucia's husband Ludovico has followed her there from the waking world. Drawing up her courage when caught out, Lucia tells Ludo that she has left him for good and isn't abandoning her new home in an extraordinary foreign country--essentially dreamland, just to come home and be his kept wife again. Lucia's song is about telling the truth, about finding strength, even when you're backed into a corner, faced with something ugly you
thought you'd put behind you.
About the recording:
This song sports of my favorite cello parts of any that Betsy has written for any of my songs. You can just hear Ludo finally being forced to let go of Lucia's skirts as she pulls away, crying, and walks out. I'm very pleased with my vocal performance on this recording, as well, and I think it's one of the finest mixes that Tony and I have worked on together. We had a lot of fun getting this song done. There were rampant Fleetwood Mac jokes, among other things, and he encouraged me to write the additional high guitar line that you hear underneath part of both verses ("call me a beast as you've always done", etc). This song was in fact the very first one that we ever worked on together.
We started work on "Lucia" just about a year ago. I originally released it on June 1st 2009, just in time for the final performance of the Palimpsest/Quartered Road Show. That recording is available for download now, as part of the work-in-progress Quartered: Songs of Palimpsest. You'll hear "Lucia" in her glorious, fully mastered state on the new album.
Interesting facts:
The partial Ave Maria in the song is a nod to another scene in the book, when Ludo finds himself unable to keep silent in a church full of half-animal folk who do not speak. I won't give you any more spoilers; it's too gorgeous. Directly after the unmastered version of this song was released, Cat and I performed together on a tallship in the New York harbor. I love my job.
I love singing this song live, especially with Betsy, when I have my strength up. Here's another vid from Wayward, of just the two of us.
Click to viewAnd here's the Quartered version, available for download now.
Special thanks to Cat, Betsy, Vixy and Tony. And Ludo.