The Sleeper's Opera * www.thesleepersopera.com *

Act I: The Lion's Den
Act II: Songs of the Wild
Act III: Stage Tricks
Act IV: How the Elephant Got its
Thick Skin
Act V: Beyond the Jungle

*...some animals should not be caged..*
	The Sleeper's Opera Experience 1. The Innkeeper's Grin (Keep the Customer Satisfied) 2. I'll be a Penitent Boy 3. Grace Falls 4. A Message to an Ant 5. The Lion and the Elephant 6. Contrivance of the Evangelist 7. Light My Fire 8. Ashes Turn to Stars 9. Keep Dreaming 10. Time Takes Me 11. The Queen Will Save Herself 12. Your Ears are Weapons/Your Tongue is on Fire 13. The Traveler's Dream of Motion (part 1) 14. The Uncomfortable Pose < Return to first page

Listen to I'll be a Penitent Boy

This song was very inspired by the rolling guitar lines and storytelling lyrics of early Leonard Cohen. I find myself enjoying the idea of working with more traditional sounding melodies these days. I never want anything to sound too pretty or standard, though, which is why I felt the need to destroy this song for an ending. I remember listening to the ending of Leonard Cohen's amazing "One of Us Cannot be Wrong," and having someone ask why he had to screw up such a beautiful song by screaming an off-key melody over the outtro.

Personally, I love him doing that, it's rebellious and playful. I think sometimes we take our serious music a little too seriously, and we could all do with a little out-of-tune crooning for no apparent reason.

I used the program Acid to record this song. Out of all of the songs on this album, I'll be a Penitent Boy is the one I wish the most to re-record, though, I've never been very happy with the mix. I just reached a point where I decided it's good enough for getting the idea across, and hopefully one day when I find a band to work with I can spend some time improving on the song and eventually make a better version of it.

Or not.

The constant search for perfection is ultimately a boring one to me. Maybe this song is actually perfect as it stands and I'm being overly critical based on what is technically possible for a better recording. Sometimes you can work and re-work a song to death and never have it sound as good or pure as it did in that first poorly recorded lo-fi demo version.

Or maybe I just think too much. What do you think?

(On a side note, the Penitent Boy is me. He is inspired by a real-life penitent boy I created music with once - though not the lion-man in question from "The Lion & the Elephant" - but men/boys have not been real to me since I was married, they have been temporary mirrors held to my face, and through them I become...)