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Song: Elvis Has Left The Building




it was a hot august night on dorinda's couch in allentown
there was a ring around the moon
the man on the tv said "elvis has left the building,
there'll never be another like him soon."

must be a record of his here somewhere
so we can pay tribute to the vegas king
must be an album of his but i can't find it
i guess i never really liked the way he'd sing

but listen,

chuck berry rocked me fats supplied the rolls
from new york to detroit memphis to muscle shoals
make it hot authentic make it black and real
i like the parts that the king could never steal

if all he were known for were those stupid movies
he'd rank right up there with good old sal mineo
but he brought feeling to the music
when he brought conviction to the theft of soul

but listen,

chuck berry rocked me james brown supplied the soul
from new york to detroit, memphis to muscle shoals
make it hot authentic make it rock and real
i like the parts that the king could never steal

it was a hot august night on dorinda's couch in allentown, new jersey
there was a ring around the moon
the man on the tv said "elvis has left the building,
there'll never be another like him soon."

chuck berry rocked me little richard supplied the rolls
from new york to detroit, memphis to muscle shoals
make it hot authentic make it freaking real
i like the parts that the king could never steal

(c) douglas brent smith

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The Mysteries of Love

  The Mysteries of Love -- painting by Douglas Brent Smith, acrylic, 14 x 18, painted at 2065 Pennington Road, Ewing Township, NJ, not dated.

The Towers of Vettunder

  The Towers of Vettunder - painting by Douglas Brent Smith, acrylic. This one feels like another cover to a science fiction novel. In the 70's I might have tried to write that book. Maybe it's not too late. 

The Insecure Plumber

  The Insecure Plumber -- painting by Douglas Brent Smith, acrylic, 16 x 20, December 1976. As I photo these paintings the change in the light delights me. So much depends on how you look at things, how long you look at things, in what light, in what mood...it brings art even more alive. I didn't say it was good art, just delightful art. Only you can decide if it's good (to you). I have not painted like this in years. Perhaps someday I will again.

With Every Available Device

  With Every Available Device -- painting by Douglas Brent Smith, December 1976. This is another of the series of acrylic paintings that I did in Oak Lawn, IL, living with Mom and Jack for a brief few months. My favorite art movement is surrealism, and this one clearly emulates the work of the surrealists, in particular Yves Tanguy .  When I moved from Colorado to Newtown in 2016 I threw away a number of my paintings, many from this period of time. I did not like them enough to keep them, I guess although I feel some regret at heaving them, one can't save everything and I live in an apartment that's about 600 square feet. No real storage room. This one survived the cut.  

Do The Math

  Do The Math -- pencil sketch by Douglas Brent Smith, 20 October, 1999.  Is it odd that I don't usually draw in pencil? There is so much more opportunity to make changes in pencil, both additions and subtractions. Somehow, though, ink has usually been my choice. I think it might have something to do with contrast. For this rendering I increased the contrast in the file and saturation to bring the drawing out more. I also did what I could to minimize the notebook lines, even covering over the holes and cropping beyond the wire binding.  I'm not sure what my head was thinking at the time -- we were shopping for a car to replace the Chevy Cavalier that "drowned" in a storm. 

Machine Work

  Machine Work - collage by douglas brent smith, 1980-81 Note: As a part-time security guard, I sometimes would read books to pass the time. One night my job required me to guard and observe a location from my car -- a black 1966 Volkswagen beetle. It was night, so I brought a kerosene lantern to read by. It was almost like camping out, as long as I kept watch on the construction site and reported anything out of the unusual. Nothing was out of the unusual. That has nothing to do with this collage, except for the one line on John Updike. Run, Rabbit, Run.

Dune of Destiny

  Dune of Destiny - collage by douglas brent smith, 1979