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The Galactic Takeover (1978)

from Cooler than You: Young and Early Songs II by Stephen Berg

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about

In or 9th grade English class we were taught a poem written by Lucy Terry, and American settler and poet. She was kidnapped in Africa and enslaved. Her future husband purchased her freedom and they were married in 1756. The poem, entitled "Bars Fight," was composed in 1746 about an attack on two white families by Native Americans. It is the oldest known work of literature by an Afrian American. It is the only one of her poems that survived, and it is the basis of this song. Rob re-wrote it by using Aliens instead of Indians. The victims weren't shot, they were "rayed" and often were met with a "glowing ray." And so on, and so on. We inserted more modern names, such as "Jeff the Pilot" and "Mary Long" which was a name stolen from the Deep Purple song "Mary Long." We ended up with a piece of Galactic Mayhem that was going to be the basis of a much larger work that we had all written out, but never completed.

Used my little Yamaha parlor on acoustic, and the electric (not sure which guitar I used) is run through some fuzz and mixed with the Boss synth pedal for an erie lead, and a rhythm guitar with lots of flange.

lyrics

AUGUST 'TWAS THE TWENTY SIXTH
TWENTY ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY SIX
THE ALIENS DID IN AMBUSH LAY
SOME VERY VALIENT MEN TO SLAY

THE NAMES OF WHOM I'LL NOT LEAVE OUT
JOHN ALLEN LIKE A HERO FOUGHT
AND THOUGH HE WAS SO BRAVE AND BOLD
HIS BODY NO MORE SHALL WE BEHOLD

JEFF, THE PILOT, WAS KILLED OUTRIGHT
BEFORE HE HAD TIME TO FIGHT
THE ALIENS BEFORE HIM HE DID SEE
AND WAS RAYED, AND KILLED IMMEDIATELY

PHILIP ESTANSON, HE WAS SLAIN
WHICH CAUSED HIM MUCH GRIEF AND PAIN
PETER ESTANSON THEY FOUND DEAD
ABOUT A PARSEC FROM HIS HEAD

ALGERNON URSON WE DID HEAR
DID LOSE HIS LIFE WHICH WAS SO DEAR
ALFRED PARSECOND TREADED TO TEWATER
AND SO ESCAPED THE AWFUL SLAUGHTER

MARY LONG SAW THE ALIEN RACE
AND HOPED TO ESCAPE THROUGH HYPERSPACE
BUT HAD NOT A NOVA STOPPED HER
THE AWFUL CREATURES WOUDN'T HAVE CAUGHT HER

THEY LASERED HER UPON THE HEAD
AND LEFT HER IN DEEP SPACE FOR DEAD
JOHNNY JONES, OH LACK A DAY!
WAS MET WITH A GLOWING RAY

AND SO THE ALIENS TOOK THE SYSTEM
ONLY A REBELLION NOW COULD HALT THEM

credits

from Cooler than You: Young and Early Songs II, released August 19, 2022
Words and music by Stephen Berg and Robert Hanson. Adapted from a poem by Lucy Terry.

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Stephen Berg Minneapolis, Minnesota

Stephen is a singer, songwriter, and recording artist from Minnesota, He has been active since the early 1990's as a solo artist. Stephen's acoustically driven songs explore the themes of toil, mortality, loss, politics, greed, nature, regrets, faith, and love. He's also a pretty swell guy! ... more

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