1. Just Tell Me How To Be Loved (Batman – Stage 1)

As we’ve already found out there’s really nothing left.
It’s either gone or spoilt or else been hoarded by the rich… We’re fucked!

And if you happen to be paying attention at all you won’t need me to say
There seems to be no way to keep from blowing up ourselves… So long!

And if I see you on the other side I’ll wave to you and give you a hug and a kiss on the cheek 'cause I love you so much. I’m so glad we can be done with all this fighting and the fussing and the beating, wrestling and rather we’ll be giving each other the brotherly love we deserve! Loving our sisters and neighborhoods as well as her! Never to leave or be left alone ever again, k? 'Cause without that piece the rest’ll never happen! I can depend on you as well as I hope I can to see this plan thru the incredibly bitter end. Even with ev-er-y woman man out for themselves we could be all going home to our beds…

As you’ve already found out it’s all been done before.
But, don’t let that stop you. I hope you’re having fun along… Or else!

You’ll never really ever be able to understand what Life is all about.
And if you find it out, I better be the first to know… Tell me!

Or else I'll rip yr guts out w my bare hands, show em to you, pretend to eat em, feed to my pony and puppy and kitty and babies and other people hanging around who honestly have nothing at all to do with whether we ever see eye to eye or disagree. It has to be between me + you eternally. Yet, I will feed these people pieces of your kidney if you will not do what the fuck I’m asking you to! How could you leave me in ignorance with what’s at stake? Think of all the mistakes that I wouldn’t have to make! I’d be so grateful, I’d praise your name ev-er-y day if you would just tell me how to be loved…

2. Come + Go With Me (Castlevania II – Woods)

Are you ready to love somebody?!

Come with me! (Why don’t you try it, girl?) Come and go with me!
You can stay with me! (I hope you like it.) We’ll have so much fun it’s
Fine with me. (At least, I think so, it's.) Truly fine with me
If you’re blunt with me. (I really hope so.) You can tell me

What it is you’re fighting for and fighting ‘gainst and living with. And maybe I can help you with
It’s not your fault, it’s not your problem, you can’t get along in life alone!

Don’t give up that easy! You’ve got to try harder!

Go with me! (You wanna go with me?) Come and go with me!
You can be with me (I really like you.) in whatever way you
Wanna be! (I hope you’ll stay with me.) Come on, stay with me!
What is wrong with me? (I hope you’ll tell me.) Hope I didn’t

Make you have to kill yourself or hurt yourself or, worst of all, seek therapeutic counseling!
It’s not your fault, it’s not your problem, you can’t get along in life alone!

3. I Really Need You (Castlevania – stage 3)

Here I am! (I really need you! Yes, I really need you!)
Once again! (I really need you! Yes, I really need you!)
But this time I’m -- (I really need you! Yes, I really need you!)
Not a man! (I really need you! Yes, I really need you!)

It-It’s not like that! (Oh, it's not, huh?)
Not like last time! (Oh, I see.)
Least not this time! (Uh-huh, right.)
It’s the last time! (Whatever.)

Tho I said I’d leave you and then never need you again, I was wrong! Very wrong! (Please forgive me, baby!)
I am so effed up in the head. I wish I wasn’t dead, then I could do some good!

It’s so boring here without you; day and night without you. I find myself waiting for the time you’ll die, too.
Then we’ll be together; happily forever. And even that bond a razor couldn’t sever.

Don’t be scared! (I love you!) Don’t be 'fraid! (I miss you!) Don’t do chants to make me stay away!
I just want (I need you!) you to feel (Please join me!) how I felt. Back then I didn’t know how! I can now!

Tho I’ll never see you again as a being human, I feel bad! Very bad! (Please forgive me, baby!)
I have searched to find us a way that doesn’t end your days, but it’s hard! Bloody God!

It’s so boring here without you; days and nights without you. I find myself waiting for the night you’ll die, too.
Then we’ll be together; happily forever. And even that bond a razor couldn’t sever.

Don’t be scared! (I love you!) Don’t be 'fraid! (I miss you!) Don’t do spells that make me stay away!
I just want (I need you!) you to feel (Please join me!) how I felt. Back then I didn’t know how! I can now!

4. Breakdown, Do It Again! (Metal Gear – Jungle)

Breakfast – check!
Break the bed and – check!
Break the gun and – check!
Break the man and – check!
Break down! Do it again! (repeat)

(Break down, do it again. Check! Break down, do it again. Check! Break down, do it again. Check! Break down, do it again. Break down, do it again.)

Since the girls started soldiering, the world of your Joe Military’s upward side is down.
Nat’rally there were, as well-predicted, some troubling incidents; everybody had to learn how to get along.
Then, error...

I’ll kill them all, I promised you!
With my bare hands if need be!
I swore they’d die for what they did!
Forgive me! / Rest in peace! / Release me!

Since the first day of training camp, I noticed her skill every bit as much as her face.
If anything, having her on my team helped me out in the field; every day I’d fight to protect the one I love.
Then, terror...

Chorus

Since the war, I’ve been traveling town after town looking for the one that's not you.
Til I find her, you’ll keep me company; join me in the hunt. Everyone who had any part in killing you.
Then, horror...

Chorus

5. Déjà Vu (Megaman 2, Wiley)

We have already been thru, we have already been thru, all this shit! We have already been thru all this bullshit! We have already been thru all this crazy shit! It’s just like déjà – it – it’s just like déjà vu! (Repeat)

You know the feeling: I’ve already been here before, although you know you’ve never been there. This is how I feel now when I’m with you!

If I'm not mistaken, this is bullshit that we've already been through before. It’s just like déjà – it – it’s just like déjà vu, except it’s not quite as fun, because we’ve actually already been through all of this crazy shit! It’s just like déjà – it – it’s just like déjà vu...

We used to work so well, every moment was new to us, but now I feel as tho we’re in some godawful play, eight shows a week! If we can’t escape this nightmare, then I’m leaving right now! I’ll leave you right now, before I’ll play this part another day so make up your mind!

6. Someone's Coming, Coming Closer (Solar Jetman – Braveheart Level)

Someone’s coming, coming closer.
Oh my god, they mean to kill me!
Wait a minute -- is that my mom? It’s
Just someone I went to school with.
Never mind, I’m really sorry.

Oh my god, my heart is pounding!
Feels to me like an infarction.
Wait, it’s just this morning’s breakfast,
I’m already feeling better.
Sorry for the false alarm, I'm…

1... 2... 1, 2, 3, 4!

Please do not fear! There’s nothing to fear, it’s all part of the plan!
The plan that includes, in some awkward way, the plans of humans.
I know at times it can seem rather cruel and unusual the way that things have been set up around us on Earth. They surround us at birth, these incredible ills, trials & travails that we face on a daily basis! Impossible to remain evasive. In hospitals bodies are stacked 'cause bodies are racked with coughing and wheezing and crying and bleeding and death!

Someone left their bag behind, it's
Prob’ly filled w/ high explosives!
Wait, he went to check the map, it’s
Just some silly, clueless tourist.
Didn’t mean to freak you out there.

Is it me or does it seem that
Cancer’s caused by everything? I’m
Learning how to grow my own food
In my basement bunker/shelter.
Next I’m gonna tackle cattle.

Chorus

7. The Despoilers (Metroid – Kraid’s Lair)

We have come to wreck your fun and draw a veil before the sun.
You’ll feel you’ve won, in days to come, the lottery’s inver-si-on.
The luck you knew from days of yore, you’ll take for granted nevermore, and...

See like us, feel like us, think like us! (Come and join with us!)
Be like us, eat like us, drink like us! (Come on back for more!)
Live like us, breathe like us, kill like us! (Hover over all!)
Steal like us, stay like us, move like us! (Evil overall!)

I could never be as one of you there’s simply too much in the world of man I care about.
Frankly I’m appalled that you would even think that I could ever wanna be what you’re about!
Killing the joy of a girl and a boy who for some reason think that the world is good. Tell me more…

You think you are happy now. You’ll know true joy when you learn how
To suck the joy from others’ lives and thereby make yours twice the size.
Despite the fact it started small, you’ll double infinitesimal, and...

See like us, feel like us, think like us! (Come and join with us!)
Be like us, eat like us, drink like us! (Come on back for more!)
Live like us, breathe like us, kill like us! (Hover over all!)
Steal like us, stay like us, move like us! (Evil overall!)

Now I’m having second thoughts about the things you say you wanna do to others of my race.
Having had a chance to mull it over I am coming to a wholly better time and place.
Leave me alone, they have done me no harm and I’ll not sacrifice them for my gladness anymore…

Oh, how quaint, you think you have a say in how your soul is salved.
Go on and get some help from friends. You’ll be beside us in the end.
We’ve seen your kind; they always fold. It’s best to join before you’re old, and...

See like us, feel like us, think like us! (Come and join with us!)
Be like us, eat like us, drink like us! (Come on back for more!)
Live like us, breathe like us, kill like us! (Hover over all!)
Steal like us, stay like us, move like us! (Evil overall!)

What if I decide to take a vow and never interact with any other human being?
Then I wouldn’t have to worry 'bout the consequences of the ways I might have ever been.
If it’s between me and them, then I guess that I’ll just have to sacrifice myself, or else you’ve won… No!

8. Mushroom Town > God Is In All of Us (Final Fantasy 3, Mario 3)

We’d like to welcome you to Mushroom Town, where nobody ever fights or gets anybody down.
If you could stay the night in Mushroom Town I’m sure that you would conclude there really is no place like it!

Please make yourself at home in Mushroom Town. Perhaps you would care for tea, or maybe a slice of quiche?
Please take your leisure here in Mushroom Town. If only you’d only touch your neck, you’d see that you wear a leash!

We’d like to welcome you to Mushroom Town, where all of reality is painfully broken down.
Spend just one day and night in Mushroom Town, you’ll not be the same again, but don’t be afraid, you’ll like it! (Now try this!)

God is in all of us...
We are in all of God...

9. I’m Alright Now! (Bomberman 2 – Wiggy)

(I’m alright now! I’m alright now! I’m alright now! I’m alright now! I’m alright now! I’m alright now! I’m alright now! I’m okay now!)

Patient seems to be exhibiting averse reaction to the prescription prescribed so far.
No need, tho, at this point to revise our plan of action so my opinion is: We proceed.

(coming and going, and learning and growing, and earning and shopping, and never the stopping, and standing and sitting, and eating and shitting, and sucking and fucking, and reading and knitting, and loving and laughing, and meeting in passing, and killing and birthing, rehearsing a version, in morning and evening, in mourning and grieving, and everyone gets so much more than they even!)

Notice how he attempts to define himself out of control in the context of everything.
Slow he goes to the moment of truth the patient ventures out on his own in the big city...

Every little move that I make I feel there are cameras watching over me.
I feel like a star in a TV show that’s purportedly loosely based on reality.
Everybody waits for the time to come when I’ll do as I’m told and freak my shit!
Only modicum of control I can take is to fuck their fucking schedule up and freak out right now!

(I’m alright now! I’m alright now! I’m alright now! I’m alright now! I’m alright now! I’m alright now! I’m alright now! I’m okay now!)

Patient seems to be doing much better than when last we checked in on him at this time last year.
Most of all I am pleased to report a general brightening of his approach to his fellow man.

(waking and stirring, and baking and purring, and making and suring, your making an earning, and leaving and staying, believing and praying, and seeing and playing, a mise en scene plain, departing arriving, and parting and riving, and partners and rivals, imparting and rhyming, and running and walking, and sunning and talking, and stunning and shocking, and shunning and stalking!)

Notice, tho, that the shaking of hands and darkening of the lids underneath patient’s eyes persists.
Due to this, and with no other course to my eye, I insist that we increase the dose at once...

Every little piece of the world I feel I control can be found inside of me.
Even this is slipping away as they pump more and more of the psychotropics inside of me.
If I ever make my escape outside I will get motherfucked and freak my shit!
Only modicum of control I can take is to fuck my fucking schedule up and freak out right now!

10. Can We Go Now? (Castlevania - Intro + Stage 1)

Can we go now? I’ve had about enough of this party.
Can we go now? I’ve really had enough of this party.

Why are we even here? Can somebody explain this fact to me?
How did we end up here? This is why I frikkin hate the back seat!

We always go to the places you want whenever I don’t get to sit in the front, and I’m sick of it!
I call shotgun for the ride home! Fuck this shit! I can’t wait til I turn sixteen!

Can we go now? I’ve really had enough of this party.
Can we go now? I’ve had about enough of this party.

I can tell that you’re bored from the way you peel your bottle labels off.
It’s a bit overboard being forced to come to my ex’s boyfriend’s house.

Tho I’m supposed to be over her now, I’m finding it harder than at school somehow, and I’m sick of it!
Have you had enough for one night?! Fuck this shit! Let’s go somewhere open all night.

11. What the Fuck Just Happened? (Double Dragon 2 – Stage 2)

What the fuck just -- ! What the fuck just happened?!

What the fuck just happened?! Why’s it smell like shit in here?!
Hey, what the fuck happened?! Smells like cigarettes + beer!
I mean, what the fuck?...

What the fuck happened here? If you wouldn’t mind t-telling me, boy, I really would love to know...
The fuck am I supposed to do about my place now? Your ass got’s to go, you stupid motherfucker!…

That fuck! My shit! This place! I’m gonna kick his ass!

What the fuck just -- ! What the fuck just happened!

Hey, what the fuck happened?! How you gonna hit a girl?!
What the fuck just happened?! Now I’ma have to rock your world!
I mean, what the fuck?...

What the fuck’s wrong with you? If you wouldn’t mind t-telling me, boy, I really would love to know...
The fuck ever you’re dealing with, you deal with you, or else I will lose control, you stupid motherfucker!...

One more false move and I’ll be up inside that ass!

12. It's Time For Bed (Castlevania 3 – Evergreen)

It’s time for bed! Let’s go you sleepy head…
There’s time for that tomorrow; no need to dwell in sorrow.
And, before you sleep, kiss those you love on the cheek.
Give mom and dad a hug. Don’t get bit by bed bugs.
But the most important thing of all that you cannot forget
No matter how long a life you live is:
Take not a single solitary moment of your life for granted
No matter how small. O! Please learn from me!
Every moment of your life that God grants you is precious,
No matter how fucked up or boring it might seem, my dear!
Now, go to bed…

13. Before You Go (Goonies 2 – Wiseman)

Before you go, you really oughta know just how much you’re loved! It’s a sin otherwise.
And I’m sad when I see in your eyes that you don’t really care for yourself and you barely believe that I do.
What do I have to do to get through to you?
How to prove to you how much I love you?
And you should, too, before you go…

More About This Album:

Sophomore effort by me writing to songs played by The Advantage, an awesome rock band from Sacramento, CA that solely plays Nintendo theme songs.

Recorded by me at my apt. on the UWS, mixed by Erick Ronick at his awesome former studio in DUMBO, mastered by Michael Sarsfield for Frankford Wayne.

I love this album. I'm just very happy with my work, The Advantage sounds great, Eric totally nailed it and Michael's always good. Plus, just thematically, I thought it held together really well. In an alternate universe, this album wins a Grammy for Pop Album of the Year.

The entire album is basically about my fears and concerns regarding being in a relationship, being human, being mortal and how I attempt to find a transcendant love through self-acceptance.

I was not expecting this to be a rock album (ie, no rapping whatsoever) it just turned out that way based on the songs that appealed to me this time around. But, looking back on it, I'm so glad I made a purely rock album 'cause even the Somaphone albums have some connection to hiphop (ie, beatboxing) and I've always been self-conscious about making anything that was purely singing, no connection to hiphop whatsoever, and I don't think I'd've ever started out with such a thing in mind, yet it always felt like a very silly concern for me to have so I'm glad I'm past it in the only way it could've happened: surreptitiously / unintentionally.

Ariel Lapidus featured on "I Really Need You (Castlevania - Stage 3)".