Ric Is Dead, Long Live the Snake

A hopeless scene, a surrender line
From “live it up” to “just get by”
In fifteen years they haven’t seen the sun
They’ve grown so cold, it’s what oppression has done

Is it over? Indeed, it certainly appears
The vast horizon is no match for their fears
But deep below the surface of the desert sand
There is a spark but someone has to dig it up
Dig it up! Dig it up!

Dig it all, dig it all, dig it all, dig it

Now, this is just a metaphor
It’s not real, in a sense there’s more
Deep below this person’s mind
There is something brewing, hope, din, cruel, an divine

Is it over? Indeed, it certainly appears
The vast horizon is no match for their fears
But deep below the surface of the desert sand
There is a spark but someone has to dig it up
Dig it up! Dig it up!

Dig it all, dig it all, dig it

You’re the one who tried to control mind
Spinning all your bad-blood jealousy into whine
Shaking off anything stable in life
Dealing 21 cards, defended by a bladeless knife, an unexisting wife

Sock-hop Charlie playing all his tunes for the dead
Making love to a picture of a hollow little twister in a broken bed
No more, no more

Now, tell me son, what have you learned
Do you believe it is your turn?
Will you bet it all one this one sweepstakes?
Ric is dead, long live the Snake
Yes, Ric is dead, long live the Snake

That was just his last mistake
Ric is dead, long live the Snake

Composition © 1992, 1993 Ric Albano
Publication © 2011 Cygnus Wave Music

Performers
Ric Albano
Electric Guitars, Bass Guitar, Drums, Vocals

Listener Guide
Grade

Analysis: This song is an extreme turning point on many levels, not the lest of which is the fact that it is the very last elctric-guitar driven song that I would write. It employs heavy use of metaphors lyrically, much of it based on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, with some real-life situations interspersed.