Hanging Gardens

Three main versions:

* "1981 Version " (1981) - Chemical Playschool 2 (4:33)

A quiet, pretty song with very little change throughout. The lyrics during the long lead-out are bathed in plate reverb and very difficult to hear.

Unavailable elsewhere.

Instruments: Sequenced keyboard bassline; organ chords; single vocal track; high-pitched synth melody.

* "Lush Version" (1982) - Brigher Now (6:15)

Fades in from the drums at the end of "City Ghosts." In a different key than the 1981 version. Instead of the woman's tears feeding the weeds, the line is now "so much salt and water flowing free," though the weeds are still mentioned during the chorus. At 4:00 the song crossfades into the same song played backwards with a slightly different mix.

Instruments: Sequenced keyboard bassline; single vocal track with additional vocoder treatment on another track; second vocal track repeating key lyrics; gentle synth pads; acoustic guitar; heavy echo effects;

* "Flowmotion Version" (1982) - Stained Glass Soma Fountains (4:16)

Once again, in a different key from the other two versions, and a new recording. Often the tracks are mixed with heavy reverse echo and delay effects. Uses the updated lyrics ("so much salt and water flowing free"). The hanging gardens are described as "no place for little girls" and "the bell is tolling." Ends with samples from the "Ooooh" suffix at the end of the Full Band Version of "Red Castles."

Instruments: Sequenced keyboard bassline; single vocal track; gentle synth pads; acoustic guitar.

What It's About:

A man has been hung in the "hanging gardens," supposedly because he was a thief, but his defense was apparently ignored at his trial. A female admirer comes occasionally to visit, mourn, and leave mementos for him. The gardens are a peaceful place full of gently twisting corpses, and when the admirer faints she feels disgraced. Meanwhile the ghosts of the dead insist upon their innocence.

In this song, the phrase "hanging gardens" means a garden in which people are hung, but it is also a reference to the hanging gardens of Babylon.

Lyrics (adapted from the Cloud-Zero archive):

Twisted east south north with the wind that rippled his hair.
I stared constant, laughing, but the joy had gone.
Snuffed out by the dawn, the rope had torn his flesh and broke his neck,
set him dancing on the air...

in the Hanging Gardens.
Dancing with the dead.
So peaceful there.

Branded as a thief, they stole his name, they stole his face.
Gone without a trace, they killed his dignity, squeezed him dry.
Cried for mercy but to judges with no ears,
no heart, smart in their black caps...

in the Hanging Gardens.
Nice. Nice.

Love notes and carnations fading, slowly dying, lying at his feet.
Sweet aroma lingered on the air. Stood and stared.
Was numb now. Cried so much it had no meaning.
So much salt and water feeds the choking weeds...

in the Hanging Gardens.
Flowing gently. Flowing free.

Dressed in virgin's white she masked her eyes with cold surprise.
Cursed her name, the pain was creeping swiftly.
Twisted her inside, she retched and reached out for a hand,
landed on her face, disgraced, no place for fainting queens...

in the hanging gardens.
No place for us.

[?]

Talk to me.
Talk to you.
[?] the hanging gardens
Can you hear the ghosts screaming their innocence?

Why You Should Care:

"Love Notes and Carnations" is also the title of a Tear Garden song.

Red Castles

Two main versions:

* "Pulsing Keyboard Version" (1981) - Chemical Playschool 2 (4:53)

Much longer than the Full Band Version, mainly due to its leisurely pace, the frequent choruses, and the long gaps between each verse. The "excels in here" lines are spoken only by the vocoder voice, and the two final verses are not yet in the song.

Unavailable elsewhere.

Instruments: Two pulsing keyboards providing melody, bassline, and rhythm; organ chords; intermittent vocoder saying key lyrics; two vocal tracks

* "Full Band Version" (1982) - Brighter Now (3:28)

Even with the addition of the final two verses, this version moves along much faster and has a more accessible structure. The "excels in here" lines are now part of the lyrics. The song ends suddenly with the "Ooooh" suffix.

Instruments: Acoustic drums; bass guitar; organ chords; pulsing keyboard with changing modulation; single vocal track, with second vocal track during choruses; backup echoey "ooooh" vocals not by Ka-Spel during choruses.

Suffix "Ooooh" (0:25):

On Brighter Now, the song cuts suddenly into a small instrumental suffix featuring overlapping and pitch-bended samples of the "ooooh" vocal with occasional keyboard effects, gradually fading out.

These samples also appear at the end of the Flowmotion Version of "Hanging Gardens."

What It's About:

Everybody -- no matter how noble or how lowly -- is the king of their own personal castle, at least in their own minds. This includes bar hooligans, troubled partiers, pill-poppers, homeless tramps, and kids just having fun at the beach.

Lyrics (adapted from the Cloud-Zero archive):

Maidens in towers and nights on the town
shields up, convinced that the barricade's down.
Fighting in bars. Biting the cars.

They said "we're kings of the castle.
Oh we're kings of the castle."

Two aches in the head, H20 in the wine.
Two hits off the mirror to help you unwind.
Sure, you learned how to drink. Turn now to shrinks.

And he'll say that you're king of the castle.
Oh, you're king of the castle.

Blood on the bypass. You're passing the pills.
They're painted and plastic and make you feel ill.
Make you kick in the night. You're sick in the light.

King of the castle.
Oh, you're of the castle.

A tramp chews a dog-end, a dog chews a tramp,
tears holes in his raincoat and howls 'cause it's damp.
He counts up to nine, he chokes on a coin.

But he's king in his castle.
Dirty king in his castle. His glory, his glory
excels in here.

Pagans in showers and kites on the Downs.
Polka-dot patterns and strings turning brown.
They shut out the sun. Oh, what jolly fun!

But we're kings in our castles.
Yes we're kings in our castles. Our glory, our glory
excels in here.

Why You Should Care:

The song "Black Castles" on The Golden Age has a very similar chord progression.