Sermons on the Subtleties of Love and Hate, Track 4: "First Reading: As in the Void"

My friend Sam, who writes and performs trip-hop music as "The Revisitor", performed this spoken word for me on the EP. He has a style all his own, and while you may not agree with me I have to assert that I'm not kidding when I say that he makes some of the best and most interesting music I think I've ever heard and I've heard so much. Please check him out when you get the chance at www.myspace.com/madvisuals4u ; I can't wait for his album to drop!

4.) First Reading: As in the Void

I sit looking down on myself, observing behavior in ritual. I come to the realization that something massive has escaped me: my soul, my soul. I no longer have one. I’m living in a spiritual void, spiritual void. And everything seems empty all around me: spiritual void. And everyone is singing but it’s hollow, resonating not on tired ears. Everyone is trying to pile together, all into the void. They’re paranoid, paranoid. Into the void, paranoid. I am the void. Irreconcilable.

"Sermons on the Subtleties of Love and Hate" is Dropping Very Soon!!!!

Not that I actually think that anyone reads anything I put on here, but if you do, you probably know a thing or two about me. I'm in a couple of bands here in Cleveland, both of which are about to release albums. I play solo under the name Soapbox Prophet, and my debut solo EP, entitled "Sermons on the Subtleties of Love and Hate" will be available at the beginning of August. It will feature 6 songs, a few a' cappella tracks, and some poetry/spoken words that I have written that some of my best friends (Soda and Sleazy C from Deaf By Arms, and independent hip-hopper The Revisitor) performed on the album for me.

For anyone paying attention to that project, I am going to begin posting the lyrics/poems up here for people to read if they happen to want to sing along. I'll be doing it in reverse order from 12 to 1 and I should have them all up here before I leave for the small mini-tour I'm doing between August 7 and August 15 with my good friends Presque Vu, Mush Mouth, and MC Homeless & Jinx. Keep your eyes open for them and leave me some love somewhere in the comments if you care to do so. And if you're actually reading any of this stuff, thanks for contributing to my therapy. The arts seem to be all I care about, and I'll argue with anyone that they're all that should ever be cared about. Peace, love, and liberation from the societal chains that bind us!

~Ray