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Moonflower

from New Traditions by Karter Schachner

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"I will tell you something about stories,
They aren't just entertainment.
Don't be fooled.
They are all we have, you see,
all we have to fight off illness and death.

You don't have anything
if you don't have stories.

Their evil is mighty
but it can't stand up to our stories.
So they try to destroy the stories
let the stories be confused or forgotten.
They would like that
They would be happy
Because we would be defenseless then..."
-from Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Inspired by contemporary Native American literature and traditional Native American poetry, these lyrics are spoken from the perspective of Moonflower, a foreseeing two-spirit mystic who has faced adversity from Christian settlers during Western expansion-era America. Her tribe has given up resistance and has almost fully assimilated into Christian-American culture, but Moonflower holds strong to her personal revelations, which include stories of the past and dream-visions of the future. She believes that through her songs and incantations, she is able to synthesize a Truthful reality that brings the past and the future together in the present moment.

lyrics

I'm trying to tell you a story
I'm trying to put this into words
I'm trying to tell you a story
If I could write this story down, I would
This story is meant to be heard
And felt and tasted and buried
I'm trying to tell you a story
I'm trying, but I'm failing
I'm trying to tell you story
I am not wise
I am not brave
I am not strong
I am not unique or special or beautiful
I'm trying to tell you a story
I would like to know who you are
I like for you to help me know who I am
I'm trying to tell you a story

I know nothing that you don't know for yourself

They set my house on fire
Just to watch it burn
I set my heart on fire
They choke the flames with dirt and sweat and fear
They took us from our homes
They took us far away
They took us from our hope
By the sword
By the sword of a lonely god

I'm trying to tell you a story
I'm so tired
From lack of sleep and lack of empathy
I'm so tired
I'm trying to tell you a story
But I can't make you listen
And I can't make myself forget

I fear the day
and the light it brings
I hear the night
and the song it sings:
It goes La da da da da da da

credits

from New Traditions, released April 4, 2015
Karter Schachner - Vocals, programming
Daniel Strait - Piano
Dave Douglas - Percussion

license

all rights reserved

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Karter Schachner image

Karter Schachner Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Avant-garde singer-songwriter from Pittsburgh, PA.

///Allow me to grab & lift you into mystical dreamscapes.
///Allow me to sonically deconstruct the binaries that separate us.
///Allow me to foster New Traditions of truth & empathy.

(cover photo by David McCandless) ... more

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