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The Tale of Jan Reynolds and the Devil

from FAWM 2023 + Black Friday Connections EP by Strange Talking Animals

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FAWM 2023 Song 6, written (musically) and recorded on February 10, 2023.

Collab with @troyificus (lyrics).

An old English folk tale from Dartmoor.
I tried to do this in an early 1970's heavy metal vein. Nearish Sabbath and Alice Cooper, maybe. I don't have the chops to play like those guys, but I will always try!

'52 Tele, Jazzmaster, Rickenbacker 4003s, Tama Club Jam, Moog Voyager, OB-6 (organ), Eventide Space, SA Collider

lyrics

Come hear a tale of sin and greed
Of a man with no morals, faith or creed
Jan Reynolds his name, a small town miner
Who felt his life could be much finer
He gambled with horse, cards and dice
Never to quench his thirst for vice
An Ace was found concealed in his sleeve
And to save his hide he took his leave

Short of coin and out in the cold
Jan sold his soul in return for gold
The Devil laughed and said to he:
“Listen well and hear my decree!
Just know in the coming days
You will not mend your sinful ways
From a sermon in rain and thunder
I will come rend the church asunder
You would vice in the house of God
And I will catch you on the nod.”
Jan scoffed at his words and returned to his passions
Of women, drink and the latest fashions
So enthralled in the life of party and revel
He soon forgot his deal with the Devil

2 years past, on a Sabbath day noon
Thunder did break with a deafening boom
Jan was caught whilst out on the plains
And looked for shelter against hammering rains

He came across the Wydecombe Parish
And inside the chapel he did then vanish
Away from the squall Jan took his rest
And took place amongst the god-fearing guests

In the town of Poundsgate lies the Tavistock Inn
And the patrons inside heard a deafening din
As a the storm was battering across their roofs
There came the sound of clattering hooves
Those nearest the window did cry out in terror
For a fearsome sight were the rider and its bearer
The figure jumped down and strode to the bar
Its air of menace fully felt from afar
He came to a stop and surveyed the crowd
And all heard him when he spoke aloud
“I’ve come to collect what is rightfully mine
For the thunder is walking and that is my sign
On my hunt for Jan Reynolds I will not fail
But first my thirst requires an ale!”
The barman poured with nary a word
And was handed a coin of wealth unheard
(The assemblage gasped at the sight of the gold
For they were not rich men it has to be told)
The greed of wealth overrode their fright
And the barman hid the coin from sight
The stranger laughed when he heard them grizzle
And he drank his drink to the sound of sizzle
Steam poured forth from the mouth of the man
And many of the drinkers just turned and ran
He turned on his heel and stalked to the door
Only pausing to spit and scorch the wood floor
He and his horse rode into the night
While the barman groaned in loss and fright
For the coin he had hidden in his case of thieves
There was nothing left there but pennies and leaves.

While at the Parish the sermon did drone
Jan held a yawn with a stifling groan
At the rear of the church he saw men sneak
And wandered back himself for the slightest of peeks
He found men, his brethren in vice and gamble
And joined them swiftly without preamble
As he threw the dice his heart gave a lurch
And thunder shook the roots of the church
A flash of light, searing the eyes
And wall of sound with tears and cries
The church window shattered like the soul of a sinner
And the dark rider galloped with a grin that did glimmer
He went straight to Jan, who cowered and cried
And with fear in his heart he begged as he died
The rider, victorious! Took of his prize
And cowed those Christians with fear in their eyes
For his passage has been one of fire and death
And those who fell before him, breathed their last breath
Collecting Jan’s body he galloped into the sky
The ruined church awash with wail and cry
As Jan's body slumped, from his pocket, cards fell
And the Devil took his prize, all the way to Hell.

credits

from FAWM 2023 + Black Friday Connections EP, released March 1, 2023
lyrics by Troyificus
music by Brad James Beske
recorded at the Uranium Playpen, in the Dungeons

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Strange Talking Animals Springfield Township, New Jersey

Born in raised in Madison, WI. Transplanted to Brooklyn, Jamaica, and finally Springfield. Versed in chamber pop and rock, psychedelic and prog, and expanding musical horizons to experience electronic and ambient musics and experiment with modular and chaotic synthesis.Overfed with science fiction and fantasy and actual science. And stay-at-home dadness. ... more

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