https://sandmanjazz.wordpress.com/2020/09/17/30-day-album-challenge-day-17/

I’ve received many albums over the years but this one brings back an special memory. Keep in mind this is before the internet. My Grandma didn’t drive nor did she actually go into stores so the fact that she pulled this off was pretty cool. Grandma called my friend Shar and asked for help. Grandma wanted to give me a gift I would truly love. Shar didn’t live very far from my grandparents so she went and picked up the money and went to the record shop downtown and got the album I was saving to buy.

It was my 14th birthday and the last thing I expected from my grandmother was an album. I never expected to get Steppenwolf Live. I squealed and jumped up and down like a crazy person.

Steppenwolf Live was a collection of recordings from a concert early in 1970 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium by Steppenwolf staged in support of their 1969 album Monster.

“”Hey Lawdy Mama” and “Magic Carpet Ride” are banded together as a single track, with a total running time of 7:13. A differently edited version of “Hey Lawdy Mama”, incorporating a fade-out instead of the segue, was released as a single. The songs “Twisted” and “Corrina, Corrina” are also studio versions which were EQ‘d and given some delay effects to match the actual live recordings and overdubbed with audience sounds at the beginning and ending of the songs” ~ Wikipeida.

I loved Magic Carpet Ride and Born to Be Wild. I played those two songs so much my grandmother wouldn’t let me bring the album when I came to visit her. She was sick of hearing them over and over after a couple of weeks.

Born to Be Wild

Get your motor runnin’
Head out on the highway
Lookin’ for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yeah Darlin’ go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into spaceI like smoke and lightning
Heavy metal thunder
Racin’ with the wind
And the feelin’ that I’m under
Yeah Darlin’ go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into spaceLike a true nature’s child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna dieBorn to be wild
Born to be wildGet your motor runnin’
Head out on the highway
Lookin’ for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yeah Darlin’ go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into spaceLike a true nature’s child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna dieBorn to be wild
Born to be wild

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Mars Bonfire

Born to Be Wild lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

“Born to Be Wild by Mars Bonfire, which is the stage name of Dennis Edmonton. He wasn’t a member of Steppenwolf, but his brother Jerry was the band’s drummer. Bonfire wrote a few other songs for Steppenwolf as well, including “Ride With Me” and “Tenderness.”

Explaining how he came up with the song, Bonfire said: “I was walking down Hollywood Boulevard one day and saw a poster in a window saying ‘Born to Ride’ with a picture of a motorcycle erupting out of the earth like a volcano with all this fire around it. Around this time I had just purchased my first car, a little secondhand Ford Falcon. So all this came together lyrically: the idea of the motorcycle coming out along with the freedom and joy I felt in having my first car and being able to drive myself around whenever I wanted. ‘Born To Be Wild’ didn’t stand out initially. Even the publishers at Leeds Music didn’t take it as the first or second song I gave them. They got it only because I signed as a staff writer. Luckily, it stood out for Steppenwolf. It’s like a fluke rather than an achievement, though.”” ~ https://www.songfacts.com/facts/steppenwolf/born-to-be-wild

Magic Carpet Ride

I like to dream, yes, yes
Right between the sound machine
On a cloud of sound I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near
To the stars away from hereWell, you don’t know what
We can find
Why don’t you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet rideWell, you don’t know what
We can see
Why don’t you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you freeClose your eyes girl
Look inside girl
Let the sound take you awayLast night I hold Aladdin’s lamp
So I wished that I could stay
Before the thing could answer me
Well, someone came and took the lamp awayI looked
Around
A lousy candle’s all I foundWell, you don’t know what
We can find
Why don’t you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet rideWell, you don’t know what
We can see
Why don’t you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you freeClose your eyes girl
Look inside girl
Let the sound take you away

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: John Kay / Rushton John Moreve

Magic Carpet Ride lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management

Released in September 1968, Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride” became one of rock’s first songs to open with an extended passage of guitar distortion. The eerie prologue lasts 20 seconds and includes chugging electronic tones before dissolving into the song’s rhythmic power chords and blues-rock vocal. The timing of the longer guitar distortion in Magic Carpet Ride after Hendrix’s Foxey Lady’s short guitar distortion set the bar for heavy metal bands.

https://esthernewtonblog.wordpress.com/2020/09/17/can-you-tell-a-story-in-81/

Can you tell a story in five words, using the word TOOTHPASTE in it somewhere?

Minty toothpaste refreshes my mouth.

Toothpaste can’t clean that mouth.

Toothbrush and toothpaste are packed.

Give me back my toothpaste.

https://sandmanjazz.wordpress.com/2020/09/15/30-day-album-challenge-day-15/

Behind every mask there is a face, and behind that a story. – Marty Rubin

How can anyone think of the 80’s without thinking of Michael Jackson? The man behind the mask, the mystique of his life discussed and re-discussed in every cult magazine.

“Thriller was the sixth studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records. Thriller became Jackson’s first number one album on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart, where it spent a record 37 weeks at number one, from February 26, 1983 to April 14, 1984. Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time, with sales of 66 million copies worldwide. It is the second-best-selling album in the United States and was certified 33× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2017″~ wikipeida.

Billie Jean was my favorite song on this album but for the life of me I never understood why it wasn’t the opening song to the album. It certainly soared like a rocket when it was released.

The man himself was an enigma, the media couldn’t decide if he was a monster or an angel. “Before the success of Thriller, many felt Jackson had struggled to get MTV airing because he was black In an effort to attain air time for Jackson, CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff pressured MTV and declared, “I’m not going to give you any more videos and I’m going to go public and fucking tell them about the fact you don’t want to play music by a black guy. His position persuaded MTV to begin airing “Billie Jean” and later “Beat It“, (along with Prince‘s “Little Red Corvette“) which led to a long partnership and later helped other black music artists to gain mainstream recognition. ” ~ wikipedia

Naturally, MTV denies claims of racism in their broadcasting but I do remember how the early years of MTV white artists dominated.

The world is full of monsters with friendly faces and angels full of scars.

RIP Michael Jackson

August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009

Phew I’m caught up again.

https://sandmanjazz.wordpress.com/2020/09/14/30-day-album-challenge-day-14/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPUImuISHow

I have to go with Janis Joplin. Another Piece of My Heart, Bobby McGee, and Summertime are songs that just take me back to my youth.

“Piece of My Heart” is a romantic funk/soul love song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, it was originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. The song got mainstream attention when Big Brother and the Holding Company (featuring Janis Joplin … Although,the original version of “Piece of My Heart” was previously recorded by Aretha Franklin. 

Me and Bobby McGee” was written by American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller. Fred Foster shares the writing credit, as Kristofferson intended. A posthumously released version by Janis Joplin topped the U.S. singles … Later that year, Kris released his version. Interestingly Janis and Kris were lovers on and off.

I don’t know what it was but Janis Joplin, 1969 performance of Summertime … made her seem so much older and wiser than her then 26-years. … It’s been said that Janis was “the authority of a very old spirit.”.

Joplin’s death in October 1970 at age 27 stunned her fans and shocked the music world, especially when coupled with the death just 16 days earlier of another rock icon, Jimi Hendrix also at age 27. I mourned both of them.

https://sandmanjazz.wordpress.com/2020/09/12/30-day-album-challenge-day-12/

I’m playing catch up. Album that begs to be played loud. I have to go with CCR here since I already did the Rolling Stones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMmpmHdnXK4

How can anyone play Have You Ever Seen The Rain softly? They’re not Credence fans if they do. It begs to vibrate the room like most songs on this album.

My favorites were Susie Q, Proud Mary, Bad Moon Rising, I Heard it on the Grapevine, Up Around the Bend and Looking Out My Back Door.

If you’re interested in what went down with this amazing group this article is interesting.

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/creedence-clearwater-revival-break-up/

I’ve worn out albums, and cassette tapes playing them to death. Thankfully, the cd’s hold up better.

https://sandmanjazz.wordpress.com/2020/09/09/30-day-album-challenge-day-9/

An album with a really great title… I’m going with Don’t Mess Around With Jim primarily because of the song Time in a Bottle. The way this song came together and ended up on the album is noteable.

“Time in a Bottle originially appeared on his 1972 ABC debut album You Don’t Mess Around with Jim and was featured in the 1973  made-for-television movie “She Lives!“.  But ABC originally didn’t intend to release the song as a single; but when Croce was killed in a plane crash in September 1973, its lyrics, dealing with mortality and the wish to have more time, had additional resonance.” The skeptic in me says ABC capitalized on the money aspect.

According to Wiki, ” Tommy West discovered this mix when he came in the morning and discussed it with Jim. Jim said, “The night before we were going to mix, I was watching a horror movie on TV, and something must have lodged in my brain because when I walked into the studio the next day, I saw this harpsichord sitting in a corner and got an idea. A jingle company had used it on a session and in walked a couple of guys from SIR [Studio Instruments Rental] to haul it away. I asked them to take a lunch break and told Bruce to put a couple of mics on it. He was whining that it was out of tune, but I asked him to let me try something. I added two tracks of harpsichord, told the movers they could remove it, walked into Jerry’s office and asked if I could borrow the electric bass that was sitting on his couch, played that on just the second verse and the outro, and that was that! Radio compression worked in our favor on that record. It made the harpsichord blend with the two guitars in an unusual way.” Tommy and Jim thought this arrangement would only be an album cut but it went a lot further.

You Don’t Mess Around with Jim is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce, released in April of 1972. It’s so hard to believe this album was rejected by 40 labels. Were they crazy? You Don’t Mess Around with Jim was the best selling album in the U.S. for five weeks in early 1974.

1.	“You Don’t Mess Around with Jim“	3:02
2.	“Tomorrow’s Gonna Be a Brighter Day”	2:57
3.	“New York’s Not My Home”	3:10
4.	“Hard Time Losin’ Man”	2:29
5.	“Photographs and Memories”	2:09
6.	“Walkin’ Back to Georgia”	2:53
7.	“Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels)“	3:50
8.	“Time in a Bottle“	2:29
9.	“Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy)”	2:46
10.	“Box No. 10”	2:46
11.	“A Long Time Ago”	2:53
12.	“Hey Tomorrow”

I owned this in vinyl originally then I replaced it with the two cd set that was re-released in 2006.

“If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I’d like to do
Is to save every day
‘Til eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I’d save every day like a treasure and then
Again, I would spend them with you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I’ve looked around enough to know
That you’re the one I want to go
Through time with

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I’ve looked around enough to know
That you’re the one I want to go
Through time with”

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Jim Croce

Time in a Bottle lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Don’t we all wish we could stop time in a bottle…

https://sandmanjazz.wordpress.com/2020/09/08/30-day-album-challenge-day-8/

Fully Loaded God’s Country by Blake Shelton is the last music purchase I’ve made. The three songs that appealed to me the strongest are Hell Right, Nobody But You, and Came Here to Forget. But Turning Me on is pretty good as well. I’m really glad I purchased the cd versus just hearing it on YouTube or Apple Music. I was pleased to see that Blake co-wrote some of the songs.

Hell Right because it reminds of so many memories with my children and friends around bonfires. Lots of booze tossed back, laughter, and tears. Some days I miss those bonfires but not many of the people unfortunately other than my children. It’s funny what happens after a divorce, people who you believed were your friends disappear. Some continued being my friend and some came back around to being a friend. But those days of tossing back booze right the fire aren’t the same. Kind of like that adage, you can’t go home again.

Hell Right

Hey
Yeah?
Tell ’em that story you were tellin’ meCouple boys clock out about 5:35
Tryna put a little hammer in their head
Standin’ in the liquor store, starin’ at a fifth
But they picked up a handle insteadHell right (hell right?)
Hell right (okay)Couple girls with their boots on got their Bluetooth on
T-shirts sayin’ “Go Sooners”
Then the girl from the small town took off the “Old Town”
Put on a little Hank Jr. (Thank God)
Hell right
She got all her rowdy friends comin’ over tonightHell right (hell right), hell right (hell right)
Everybody’s throwin’ down on a Friday night
Somewhere in America
There’s a bottle to burn and a fire to light
And you ain’t done nothin’ if you did it half way
If you gonna raise hell, then you better damn raise
Hell right (hell right)
Hell right (hell right)
Hell rightThere’s a guitar on the ground that was makin’ some sound
‘Til somebody pulled a hillbilly slip
Now there’s fog on the window, she never woulda kissed him
If he didn’t play a lick like thisHell right
Hell rightHell right (hell right), hell right (hell right)
Everybody’s throwin’ down on a Friday night
Somewhere in America
There’s a bottle to burn and a fire to light
And you ain’t done nothin’ if you did it half way
If you gonna raise hell, then you better damn raise
Hell right (hell right)
Hell right (hell right)
Hell rightNow it’s 7 a.m
Damn if there ain’t an empty handle on a square hay bale
Everybody’s passed out drunk, but when they wake up
They’re all gonna hurt like hell right
Yeah, boyHell right (hell right), hell right (hell right)
Everybody’s throwin’ down on a Friday night
Somewhere in America
There’s a bottle to burn and a fire to light
And you ain’t done nothin’ if you did it half way
If you gonna raise hell, then you better damn raise
Hell right, hell right, hell right

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Brett Tyler Mikkelson / David Arthur Garcia / Michael Hardy

Hell Right lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Spirit Music Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

*******************************************************************

Nobody But You because I don’t have to look back and wonder who I love is married too, because Vic is married to me. We’ve been married 12 years. I remember like it was yesterday when he was here in Jersey and I was in Maine wondering if he wanted me to be part of his life as much as wanted him to be in mine.

Nobody But You

Don’t have to leave this town to see the world
‘Cause it’s something that I gotta do
I don’t wanna look back in thirty years
And wonder who you’re married to
Wanna say it now, wanna make it clear
For only you and God to hear
When you love someone, they say you set ’em free
But that ain’t gonna work for me

I don’t wanna live without you
I don’t wanna even breathe
I don’t wanna dream about you
Wanna wake up with you next to me
I don’t wanna go down any other road now
I don’t wanna love nobody but you
Looking in your eyes now, if I had to die now
I don’t wanna love nobody but you (you)

All the wasted days, all the wasted nights
I’ll blame it all on being young
Got no regrets ’cause it got me here
But I don’t wanna waste another one
I’ve been thinking about what I want in my life
It begins and ends the same
If I had to choose what I couldn’t lose
There’d only be one thing

I don’t wanna live without you
I don’t wanna even breathe
I don’t wanna dream about you
Wanna wake up with you next to me
I don’t wanna go down any other road now
I don’t wanna love nobody but you
Looking in your eyes now, if I had to die now
I don’t wanna love nobody but you (you)
I don’t wanna love nobody but you (you)

I wanna say it now, wanna make it clear
For only you and God to hear

I don’t wanna live without you (I don’t wanna live)
I don’t wanna even breathe
I don’t wanna dream about you
Wanna wake up with you next to me (next to me)
I don’t wanna go down any other road now
I don’t wanna love nobody but you

(I don’t wanna love nobody)
Looking in your eyes now, if I had to die now
I don’t wanna love nobody but you (you)
I don’t wanna love nobody (you)
I don’t wanna love nobody but you (you)

Source: LyricFindSongwriters: Joshua Osborne / Ross Copperman / Shane McAnally / Tommy Lee James

Nobody But You lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc

***************************************************************

Came Here to Forget just so I’m clear … I wasn’t looking for rewinds from my ex. But it was very challenging getting past the damage of thirty years. I wasn’t confident and dating was terrifying. John had browbeat me for years. I never imagined any one would love me again.

I would sit on a bar stool just like in the video, drinking to forget. Drinking to I couldn’t walk and dialing the phone… wondering who to call and then realizing there wasn’t anyone to call…Those nights locking myself in the car and sleeping it off before even trying to drive. Then the mad dash looking for a place to empty a really full bladder. I could have easily gone on a no return spiral but I didn’t. Trust me. Don’t ever give up.

Came Here to Forget

Girl getting over him and I’m getting over her
The eyes have it made, ain’t gotta say a word
Misery loves company, that’s why it’s you and me
Buying each other drinks, back at the bar, thick as thieves
Stealing these little sips
Doing our best to make the best of the worst of it

Keep playing them songs, keep singing along
Keep leaning it on in closer
Keep salting the rim, getting even with her
And with him before the night is over
That first kiss was like a Colorado hit
You better keep on keeping it lit
‘Til we can’t remember
Can’t remember what we came here to forget

Go ahead and check your phone, like I’ve been checking mine
Nobody’s ex is texting for a rewind
Looks like it’s just me and you
Falling in love just enough to get us through
While we’re getting through

Keep playing them songs, keep singing along
Keep leaning it on in closer
Keep salting the rim, getting even with her
And with him before the night is over
That first kiss was like a Colorado hit
We better keep on keeping it lit
‘Til we can’t remember
Can’t remember what we came here to forget

Yeah, first of all we came here to forget
Looks like it’s just me and you
Falling in love just enough to get us through
While we’re getting through

Keep playing them songs, keep singing along
Keep leaning it on in closer
Keep salting the rim, getting even with her
And with you before the night is over
That first kiss was like a Colorado hit
You better keep on keeping it lit
‘Til we can’t remember
Can’t remember what we came here to forget

What we came here to forget
What we came here to forget
Baby, baby
That’s what we came here to forget

Source: LyricFindSongwriters: Deric Ruttan / Craig Wiseman

Came Here to Forget lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Round Hill Music Big Loud Songs, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Remember when I chose Bobby Bare and I mentioned how Shel Silverstein (poet and songwriter} had wrote Bobby’s music. Well, amusingly, he also did Tequila Sheila for Mac Davis and Blake did a cover of the song on this album.

https://sandmanjazz.wordpress.com/2020/09/07/30-day-album-challenge-day-7/

I’m in agreement with Sandman, wtf is a Saturday night album??? So I went to google. Surprise Bobby Bare did a Saturday Night Album. I’ve always enjoyed Bobby’s music. Did you know most of his work was actually written by Shel Silverstein, an awesome poet.

“Great American Saturday Night, a concept album of impressively diverse and interestingly inspired songs written by the legendary Shel Silverstein. The album was completed in 1978, but consigned to a record company vault somewhere until this year. The good news is, the album finally will be available April 17th, 2020. The better news: It couldn’t sound fresher if it had been recorded last week.” ~ https://www.cowboysindians.com/2020/04/bobby-bare-gets-the-last-laugh-with-a-great-album/

“Great American Saturday Night”

It’s a great American Saturday night
Drink a little more till the world looks better to ya
Anybody here wanna fuck or fight?
It’s a great American Saturday night
Great American Saturday night

You work all week at a job you hate
Now the weekend’s here and you just can’t wait
‘Cause Mary tells you it’s gettin’ late
And you ain’t gettin’ younger, you know
So get your clothes out of the cleaner’s and blow-dry your hair
Spray deodorant everywhere
And paste on a smile like you really don’t care
Then get ready to go

On a great American Saturday night
Drink a little more till the world looks better to ya
Anybody here wanna fuck or fight?
It’s a great American Saturday night
Great American Saturday night

First you say, “Hi”
Then you say, “My!”
“Do you come here often?
Well, neither do I
And, hey, my place is right close-by
And I’d really like to be your friend
Then you wake up Sunday, it’s a coal-gray day
You almost got lucky but it slipped away
But Saturday’s only six days away
And you can start tryin’ again

On a great American Saturday night
Drink a little more till the world looks better to ya
Anybody here wanna fuck or fight?
It’s a great American Saturday night
Great American Saturday night

It’s a great American Saturday night, yeah
Drink a little more till the world looks better to ya
Anybody here wanna fuck or fight?
It’s a great American Saturday night
Great American Saturday night

written by Shel Silverstein

I always play Marie Laveau at my Halloween gatherings. It’s such an amusing song and easy for us girls to sing along

A couple years back, we went on a Halloween River Cruise. I dressed up as Marie and Vic was Handsome Jack. We had a lot of fun that evening.

A writing friend of mine when I mentioned who I was dressing up to be had never heard song nor did he know it was written by Shel Silverstein with the help of Baxter Taylor. Apparently a lot of people had no idea Shel was an amazing songwriter in addition to writing great children’s poetry.

The most famous of the voodoo queens that ever existed
Is Marie Laveau, down in Louisiana
There’s a lot of weird ungodly tales about Marie,
She’s supposed to have a lot of magic potions, spells and curses….

Down in Louisiana, where the black trees grow
Lives a voodoo lady named Marie Laveau
Got a black cat’s tooth and a Mojo bone
And anyone who wouldn’t leave her alone

She’d go another man done gone
She lives in a swamp in a hollow log
With a one-eyed snake and a three-legged dog
She’s got a bent, bony body and stringy hair

If she ever seen why’all messing round there
She’d go another man done gone
And then one night when the moon was black
Into the swamp come handsome Jack

A no good man like you all know
He was looking around for Marie Laveau
He said Marie Laveau, you handsome witch
Give me a little a little charm that’ll make me rich

Give me a million dollars and I tell you what I’ll do
This very night, I’m gonna marry you
Then It’ll be another man done gone
So Marie done some magic, and she shook a little sand

Made a million dollars and she put it in his hand
Then she giggled and she wiggled, and she said Hey, Hey
I’m getting ready for my wedding day
But old handsome Jack he said goodbye Marie

You’re too damned ugly for a rich man like me
Then Marie started mumbling her fangs started gnashing
Her body started trembling and her eyes started flashing
And she went another man done gone.

So if you ever get down where the black trees grow
And meet a voodoo lady named Marie Laveau
If she ever asks you to make her your wife
Man, you better stay with her for the rest of your life

Or it’ll be another man done gone

Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Baxter Taylor / Shel Silverstei

This week we have something totally different, that being using a song that is from a Musical or an Opera, and I think everyone will have fun with this. 

https://jimadamsauthordotcom.wordpress.com/2020/09/05/entertainment-with-culture/

Thank you Jim.

My choice is The Music of the Night from the Phantom of the Opera.

I’ve loved the intricacies of this story from the very first time I saw it on television in the 60’s. At the time, I didn’t know it was based upon the novel The Phantom of the Opera (French: Le Fantôme de l’Opéra), by French author Gaston Leroux.  I’m amazed how many versions before and after of this incredible tale exist. I’ve enjoyed watching many of them. I can’t choose a particular one as my ultimate favorite but I will say Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical contributions are incredible. However, in Webber’s musical, his focus was making it more of a romance piece. Whereas Leroux’s novel was a mystery and a romance and bits of other genres that had broader appeal to more audiences.

If you’re not familiar with the tale, it’s about a love triangle between the Phantom (Eric), Christine, and Raoul.

“Look! You want to see? See! Feast your eyes, glut your soul on my cursed ugliness! Look at Erik’s face! Now you know the face of the voice! You were not content to hear me, eh? You wanted to know what I looked like? Oh, you women are so inquisitive! Well, are you satisfied? I’m a good-looking fellow, eh?…When a woman has seen me, as you have, she belongs to me.She loves me forever! I am a kind of Don Juan, you know!…Look at me! I am Don Juan Triumphant! -Erik in The Phantom of the Opera” ~ Gaston Leroux

“You will be the happiest of women. And we will sing, all by ourselves, till we swoon away with delight. You are crying! You are afraid of me! And yet I am not really wicked. Love me and you shall see! All I wanted was to be loved for myself.” ~Gaston Leroux

Christine ran off with Raoul because she loved him, not Erik. A relationship based on pity will never survive. The story revolved on the pity she felt for Erik, but pity does not equal love. Plus, she was /terrified/ of Erik; he murdered innocent men, kidnapped her, stalked her, pretended to be her deceased father. I’m as much of an Erik lover as the next person, but Raoul was definitely the better choice for Christine.

Erik has been compared to other Gothic monsters like Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, Dracula and Dr. Jekyll. I can see the comparison because there’s hints of madness, jealousy, revenge and despair in Eric but then if truth be known those traits have also been mine too, from time to time. But I’m not called a monster, at least to my face.

“Know that it is a corpse who loves you and adores you and will never, never leave you!…Look, I am not laughing now, crying, crying for you, Christine, who have torn off my mask and who therefore can never leave me again!…Oh, mad Christine, who wanted to see me!” ~ Gaston Leroux

You must know that I am made of death, from head to foot, and it is a corpse who loves you and adores you and will never, never leave you!”~ Gaston Leroux