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the mandala sessions

by lawrence collins

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MACKIEWICZ Reine
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1.
mandala intro 04:52
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2.
paradise 08:02
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In the embrace of illusion I have found paradise. She lulls me with a vision of what a soul could be… The mind is set alight by a single spark and the body follows willingly. Paradise, like God, is what you want her to be. In the chaos of confusion you will find paradise. Here, in the realm without reason, life itself will suffice, for no truth outweighs another once you learn to see that a thought often reflects the mind that set it free. Paradise, like Truth, is what you want him to be. You and I may live worlds apart, speak in tongues that can’t relate and blame our differences on fate; But to the rain, all ground is the same, all rivers flow as one into the ocean. All water is just a part of the greater whole; The ultimate existence justifies itself by simply being. Paradise, like Existence, is what You let it be.
3.
my god 04:02
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My God is a dog who barks in the dark, she hunts in the shadows and tears me apart… My God is a rock, pure crystal white, I’m gonna drop to my knees and get baptized tonight… In each man lies the answer… In each man lies the answer to… In each man lies the answer… In each man lies the answer to the question… My God is a screen that tells me what to think, he shows me how to dream and takes me to the brink… In the hours when I feel the routine dragging in, his illusions heal and dull my daily pain… In each man lies the answer… (I don’t know where I’m going) In each man lies the answer to… (I’m not sure where I’ve been) In each man lies the answer… (I don’t know where I’m going) In each man lies the answer to the question… (I don’t know who I should believe in anymore.) I don’t know know what to believe in anymor… Could you tell me, tell me, who’s my God? My God is a dog who barks in the dark, she hunts in the shadows and tears me apart; with words so sharp, her teeth find my pain and gnaw at the secrets that I’m afraid to name… In each man lies the answer… (I don’t know where I’m going) In each man lies the answer to… (I’m not sure where I’ve been) In each man lies the answer… (I don’t know where I’m going) In each man lies the answer to the question… (I don’t know what to believe in) I don’t know where I’m going, I’m not sure where I’ve been but I find myself in the smoke’s holy mane… I don’t know where I’m going, I’m not sure where I’ve been but I find myself in the beast’s cruel game… I don’t know where I’m going, I’m not sure where I’ve been but I find myself in the screen’s easy fame.
4.
the silent desert 05:41
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Teenage soldiers walk their beat beneath the hate filled eyes they flee, through this land I once called home, where only fear is free to roam… Strange how he looks just like me in his dusty green fatigues; strange how he shakes just like me, face to face on these ruined streets our histories meet… Now the guns ring out insane as ever- bullets and stone scream at each other, but the words are the same and the blood is the same- tell me now, when will our desert find silence again? Tell me, how many years, how much more pain until our desert finds silence again?… I won’t lie for you anymore… I won’t die for you anymore… As we walk these streets, our eyes must meet and learn to see- only the innocent bleed… Our leaders preach a hate they need to drive a fear, to feed their greed; So you and I must put aside fifty years of blood and pride- only then will peace be heard once again in our Silent Desert.
5.
unborn son 03:45
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I was bleeding when I wrote this ‘cause I didn’t know what to do- I’ve spent a lifetime waiting for you, but I have to see this through… For a single night of passion, I’d offer a lifetime full of pain, so I’ll make you drink the poison- you’ll be the child I’ll never name… Now the Angel bleeds for me, the Angel bleeds for me and my unborn son bleeds for me… I was bleeding when I wrote this, ‘cause it tore me up inside to lose our unborn memories ‘cause the time just wasn’t right… So I sit here in the dark, I try to justify the reason and the cause I chose to take your life… Now the Angel bleeds for me, the Angel bleeds for me and my unborn son bleeds for me… I was bleeding when I wrote this ‘cause I didn’t know what to say- should I beg for your forgiveness, or should I turn my head away? But I know you’ll always be there in the soul of lives to come, in the heart of this old man you will remain my unborn son… Now the Angel bleeds for me, the Angel bleeds for me and my unborn son bleeds for me…
6.
l'amour comme tu te venges 04:10
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Dans ces endroits cachés immaculé, je suis décrypté comme un bouquet de pleurs je t’offre mes pêchés Tu fais l’amour comme tu te venges Tu te découvres encore en te donnant à tous, les connais-tu à tort ceux qui te détroussent? Tu ne caresses que leurs corps, ton esprit, lui, les repousse; restera-t-il assez fort après toutes ces secousses? (allume ton corps pour éteindre ma mémoire) Tu fais l’amour comme tu te venges…
7.
the pearl 03:37
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If you feel the grain that burns inside, would you let it rule your world? Or would you coat the pain until you turn the sand into a pearl? Tell me… I know my pain leads to your pleasure… If I tell you the truth, you know, it might bring me to my knees (I’m afraid to tell you how I feel…) ‘cause here in my shell, I cherish the pain that slowly makes me bleed (In your arms my fantasy becomes real…) (I know my pain leads to your pleasure…) We can play this dangerous game… …if you’d like too, I might just let you in… If you’d like to, I might just let you in… Tell me now, who is the slave, who is the master? (Tell me now, who is the grain, who is the maker? Tell me now, who is the sand, who is the treasure? Coat my blood around your heart, Why must we suffer?)
8.
stay 02:33
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I find my way beneath your touch, I close my eyes and see your light; You soothe the pain that burns inside, you calm my storm with a sigh, but I can’t see you anymore. I don’t know why, it seems so strange, we turn in circles, yet still we change; I don’t believe these words you say, you say, this time you’re leaving for good- Do I make myself understood? Do I make myself understood? I need the air that breathes inside of you, I don’t believe you know how much it hurts to hear these words, don’t run away, please bear my madness oh, stay- will you stay? (so don’t run away, please bear my madness… won’t you stay? Please bear my madness…)
9.
le somnambule 03:50
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Si mes nuits parlent de toi c’est que chaque soir je dois t’inventer d’avantage- Si tu n’existes pas, dans mes songes, ton visage s’éveille plus fort à moi… et je tourne sur moi même en incrédule; seul, dans mes rêves je révèle le Somnanbule… C’est pour te retrouver que je dors sans arrêt, assommé de cachets et j’ai l’éternité pour encore te rêver, pour tout recommencer… et je brûle, sur les braises, je me consume… Quand je suis face à face, je retrouve en double dans la glace des yeux morts qui n’attendent plus que le sommeil pour relever le Somnanbule… Dans mes nuits agitées j’ai toutes les libertés de cinglé, de sauvage, mais si je reste entier c’est aussi pour prouver que je suis de passage… et je tremble à l’idée de lâcher… Quand je suis face à face, je retrouve en double dans la glace des yeux morts qui n’attendent plus que le sommeil pour relever le Somnanbule… Quand je suis face à face, je retrouve en double dans la glace des yeux morts qui n’attendent plus que le sommeil pour réveiller le Somnanbule.
10.
je te regarde 03:43
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Je te regarde je te guette et j’imagine entre mes désirs que tout seul je m’éscrime à te voler des instants la nuit durant… Je te regarde sans que tu le sache Retour sur terre, plus de mystère, les rideaux sont poussés; aveux d’amants dans la lumière n’ont rien à éspérer… On se réveille seuls en parallèlle- Je te regarde… Je te regarde et commence à deviner les réponses aux questions que tu m’aurais donné si j’avais su comment te lire notre avenir- avant même de te connaître, j’ai appris à t’aimer… Retour sur terre, plus de mystère, les rideaux sont poussés; aveux d’amants dans la lumière n’ont rien à éspérer… On se réveille seuls en parallèlle- Je te regarde… Je te regarde et je vois ce que nous aurions pu devenir si l’un d’entre nous avait eu le courage, de se dévoiler, se partager, peut-être de s’aimer ou, tout simplement, apprendre à s’écouter… retour sur terre, plus de mystère, les rideaux sont poussés; aveux d’amants dans la lumière n’ont rien à éspérer… On se réveille seuls en parallèlle- Je te regarde…
11.
the dreamer 05:24
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He works from 9 ‘till 9 and wishes he were somewhere else, in a paper mashee dream floating on a carnival street amidst the waterlilies of roads not taken and hopes long ago forgotten… He works from 9 ‘til 9 and wishes he were somebody else, a six foot Adonis with golden skin who’s reality bends to his slightest whim… under the unchained, insatiable momentum of youth not yet tamed… I work from 9 ‘till 9, roaming like a lost thought through the catacombs of a mind who’s reins I barely hold… But it is here, in the dark, that I find myself; it is here, in the silence, that I hear myself; it is here, in the tombs of forgotten souls, that I find myself… I am just the dreamer who’s learnt to kiss the sin, and found that, in a world of tin, sometimes the gold you seek lies within… I am just the dreamer who’s learnt to kiss the sin, and found that, in a world of tin, sometimes the gold you seek lies within…

about

ENGLISH
The Mandala Sessions was a musical adventure that took almost 2 years to complete, from concept to birth, before finally coming to life in May 2000...
Since late 1997, I had wanted to produce an album that would mix acoustic, lyric driven songs with a more “trip-hop” or electronic feel, an album that my friends around the world could put on after a hard day’s work, kick back, have a drink (or spark up...), and travel with for an hour or so, loosing the stress of modern day life while traveling through a forest of acoustic and electronic sounds. By the fall of 1998, I had begun writing and re-working songs with this goal in mind but hadn’t yet found the path I really wanted...


A few months later, during the summer 1999, my new musical brother Fly and I were playing at our boy Boubou’s restaurant, The Mandala, on the Carribean island of Saint Bart’s (rough gig... really...). One evening, with Boubou on the turntables, we improvised a set that mixed some of our songs with add-libs on samples that Boubou was playing for us. As Fly and I avidly listened to the recordings of the show later that night (4am, to be precise) we realized that the roadmap that we had been looking for had just been sketched. We invited some friends to sit in with us and repeated the jam sessions over the next 10 days...
Back in Paris, I re-mixed over twenty hours of improvisation and combined them with existing songs that we re-arranged to create the album. Our road map was the set-list of that infamous first concert. All the new recordings were done in my grandmother’s living room- a magical space with a view on the Eiffel Tower. Luckily for her, Kinkin was almost deaf at the time... a state some neighbors didn’t share... too bad... The whole process took almost 10 months and, finally, a day in May 2000, The Mandala Sessions were born.

FRANCAIS
Les Mandala Sessions ont été une aventure musicale qui dura presque 2 ans, de l’élaboration de son concept jusqu’à sa réalisation finale en Mai 2000.
Depuis 1997, J’avais en tête une idée d’album qui mélangerait des chansons à texte, accoustiques, avec des sons électroniques et Trip-Hop. Un album pour mes amis dans tous les pays qui pourraient l’écouter tranquillement après une journée de boulot, tout en sirotant un petit verre (ou un petit buzz...). Un album qui, à travers des paysages sonores accoustiques et éléctroniques, offrirait un voyage pour laisser derrière soit les bruits et le stress de la vie moderne. Avec ce concept en tête, j’avais commencer en automne 1998 à écrire et à re-travailler des chansons, mais je n’avais pas encore trouvé la clef du voyage...
Quelques mois plus tard, en Août 1999, mon frère musical Fly et moi étions en tournée sur l’île de Saint Barthélémy dans le restaurant La Mandala (dur dur la vie... Vraiment...). Avec Boubou, le maître des lieux, nous avons fait un concert qui combinait certaines de nos chansons avec des improvisations sur des samples mixés par le Boub. Tard dans la nuit (vers 4h du matin), en écoutant les enregistrements du concert, Fly et moi avons réalisés que nous venions de trouver la clef que nous cherchions. Nous avons donc invités des amis à taper le boeuf pendant les 10 jours qui suivirent...
De retour à Paris, j’ai re-mixé plus de 20 heures d’enregistrements qui, combinées aux chansons existantes, ont donné un album. Notre fil conducteur a été le set-liste de ce fameux premier concert. Toutes les nouvelles prises furent enregistrées dans le salon de ma grand-mère, un endroit magique avec vue imprenable sur la Tour Eiffel. Heureusement pour elle, Kinkin était presque sourde... Pas certains de nos voisins... Dommage pour eux!!!! Le travail dura presque 10 mois et, par un beau matin de Mai 2000, les Mandalas Sessions virent le jour.

credits

released June 15, 2000

special guests: WILLIAM BALDE, CONSTANCE AMIOT, NICOLAS BUFFET & NICOLAS BAUDINO

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lawrence collins band Bordeaux, France

Lawrence Collins is an american-egyptian singer songwriter, born in France and brought up in France, England, India, and the United States who speaks 4 languages fluently. His music reflects a life spent travelling and experimenting with different cultures, and he has produced 8 studio albums, a movie soundtrack, a live album, and played over 1700 shows during his 20 year career. ... more

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