“ REBEL KING “
by Stan Ridgway
Musicians :
Stan Ridgway: guitars, vocals
Pietra Wexstun: keyboards, electronics
Bruce Zelesnik: drum, percussion
Laslo Vickers: strings, lead viola
Bill Blatt: bass

At crack of dawn he died alone
Typing up a new screenplay at home
Every night he ate at Ma Massion'
Sat in his regular booth
There he would wait for the ones
Who'd made promises for films to come
They never showed they just cut and run
He'd say - some stories
suffer from the truth

Deep in voice and big and broad
On the New York radio he talked like God
He'd made a joke on Halloween
When Hitler started to march
And all believed just like he'd planned
But a Martian invasion no it never did land
Marleana later said “ he was some kind of man
But what does it matter what you say?”

Behind the gates where the fires keep burning
A camera pans on a wheel that's turning
High on a crane, track the wall and staircase
A mirror shatters with no dreams to replace

Orson Welles still burning bright
You'd said the best shots were all in black and white
Color can distract and make the dream not right
And then the dream will fade away
And then the dream will fade away

Years ago his rebel soul
Was called to Hollywood to work with RKO
He told a tale 'bout a big newspaper man
With power riches and greed - but then
Louella called her boss and said
“This film is all about you we must kill this dead”
And with one whisper on a phone from a San Simeon bed
Outside a giant white cockatoo screamed

Newspaper printed he had made a movie
A masterpiece that made them afraid of
A reputation that would not behave or
Follow orders from the ones who ordered

Orson Welles still burnin' bright
They'd said you were too dark
And that they needed more light
But with no shadow on the wall?
Then the dream's not right
And then the dream will fade away
And then the dream will fade away

After he died, went to his wake
There in Hollywood where most people fake
Sat in back, Director's Guild
The public was invited to attend
Most empty seats but loved ones there
People from his past and all the ones who cared
Moses gave a sermon 'bout the dancing bear
A traitor uttered Rosebud...

Kane and Ambersons, The Mercury Theater
Rock the Cradle, Third Man, The Stranger
Voodoo MacBeth and the Lady From Shanghai
A Touch Of Evil, hear The Chimes At Midnight

Orson Welles died alone
Slumped over his typewriter and his telephone
But not before he'd written
Where his hero goes home
And where the dreams don't fade away
People always fear what they can't buy and own
And where the dreams won't fade away
——