Nov. 29: ‘Little Demon’ Day

Since first waking up this morning and seeing that the audio for Rick Springfield’s newest song, “Little Demon” was available, I’ve already listened to it countless times and am pretty sure these are the lyrics:

Little Demon, did we go south
I was sure I could haunt you
Skin to skin, we were mouth to mouth
Little Demon, I want you

Little Demon, you’re in my head
I keep trying to replace you
Still burning for you in bed
Hoping time will erase you

Little Demon she slept with God
And he sent me a warning
Stay away from my girl, Nimrod
Or you won’t see the morning

(Woman’s voice at the end:) Hey! Guess who’s got a new boyfriend!

Like I mentioned in the previous post, it seems like a story will unravel as we hear more songs. The use of the word “Nimrod” set me off on a little biblical research since I’ve heard the name but wasn’t that familiar with who he was. In case anyone is interested, he was a great-grandson of Noah and was the king who was responsible for the Tower of Babel. Interestingly enough, according to one source (Rashi), Nimrod was a manipulator who ensnared people with his words. The reason this is interesting, of course, is because in the song, it appears that the narrator, whom we can assume is RS, is called “Nimrod” and in real life, RS’s lyrics have “ensnared” (but in a good way) many fans. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it’s keeping me busy until the next song is released.

There was also news posted today about “The Snake King” being available for pre-order on red vinyl LP and in regular black vinyl, RS’s first vinyl release since “Rock of Life” in 1988.

There was also an article about the album on Billboard.com: “Rick Springfield explores his blues side on new album “The Snake King.”

Or course the article mentions “Jessie’s Girl” in the first line, but RS seems to have accepted that eternal connection so I guess I should just get over it, too. Other than that, it’s a nice little article and it’s great to see that the album is already getting some recognition.

And on a personal note, and funny coincidence, my one order from Cyber Monday was delivered today, which seemed like an appropriate “Little Demon” Day delivery:

 

First song from ‘The Snake King’ released: ‘Little Demon’

Incredible! It gave me chills. Wondering what the story behind this is, especially that part at the end. Amazing guitar playing – there aren’t many lyrics, but it’s almost like the music is telling its own story. So exciting to hear the new music, can’t wait to hear more.

The CD is listed as “hard rock” on iTunes and there’s also now a song list available, making it clear that “The Snake King” will be VERY different from “Rocket Science“:

Land of the Blind
The Devil That You Know
Little Demon
Judas Tree
Jesus was an Atheist
The Snake King
God Don’t Care
The Voodoo House
Suicide Manifesto
Blues for the Disillusioned
Santa is an Anagram
Orpheus in the Underworld (a 10-minute song!)

It feels like some big story is about to unravel… And maybe some insight into RS’s soul. Are you ready for it?

Who is Josephine?!

I just had a weird experience and was wondering if anyone has an answer.

This afternoon I’ve been listening to Rick and the Newsflash radio and all of a sudden this song plays that I’ve never heard before – “Hey Josephine” off of a limited edition of “The Day After Yesterday,” one of RS’s albums that I haven’t listened to.

OK, so what’s weird about that, you might ask. Well, the weird thing is that it made me think of a song I wrote back in 1988 called “Hey, hey Josephine.” No, I don’t think somehow RS found his way into my little spiral notebook and got the lyrics (I wasn’t writing music at that time, but I remember the melody –  I was attempting a ska sound as I was a big fan of The Specials at the time), but I was just wondering who Josephine is? Was it a character or something that I don’t remember? My song topics are inspired by so many different things, I have no recollection of where the name Josephine came from.  Was the song “Hey Josephine” ever released earlier than the 2005 limited edition version of “The Day After Yesterday” that I might have somehow heard?

My lyrics are nowhere close to RS’s song (his lyrics here, mine are below, from my 18-year-old self ), but it’s just still so strange how “Hey, hey Josephine” was used in both, nearly three decades apart.  If anyone has any clue, please share. Thanks! (Oh, and thanks Rick and the NewsFlash for the great Thanksgiving weekend radio show!)

 

 

Update on Nov. 26:

I did a little more research on the song and found this explanation on the RS song on the wonderful Rick Springfield fan site, rickspringfield.us.

It was an unreleased demo from “Shock, Denial, Anger, Acceptance.” On the back cover of the limited edition: “Musically it didn’t fit on the album so we ditched it. I kind of wished we’d at least attempted to record it properly. Again a rough demo recorded at my house in Vegas during EFX.”

(SDAA was released in February 2004.)

AND I learned about another Josephine song called “Hello Josephine” that Fats Domino (may he rest in peace – he died last month) recorded in 1960. It was covered by many different artists, some of who changed the name to “My Girl Josephine,” “Josephine” and “Hey Hey Josephine,” the last one by the U.S. Army Airborne in 2006.

‘The Snake King,’ ‘Little Demon’ and ‘In the Land of the Blind’

Having a lazy Saturday afternoon and thought I’d do a Google search to see if there’s any more information out there on “The Snake King.” He recently announced at a concert that the first single will be “Little Demon” and then this European website announced another one of the songs, “In the Land of the Blind” and the title track, “The Snake King”:

Here’s what the website said about “The Snake King”:

“Rick Springfield’s resume as a successful musician and actor need not be repeated here as it has been well documented many times over the years. What needs to be discussed here is that The Snake King will NOT be the Rick Springfield album you or anyone else was expecting. Rick, not for the first time in his career, has thrown a curveball that surprises and absolutely delights at the same time.

The Snake King finds Rick travelling down a dusty dirt road to explore the blues side of his rock ‘n roll. All you have to do is check out two of the first couple cuts on the album, “In The Land Of The Blind” and “Little Demon” or also the title-track to get an understanding of the blues laden journey Rick had decided to allow us to join him on.

And of the many delights on this album, Rick’s grossly underrated guitar playing really shines here, perhaps moreso than on any album in his storied catalog. As for the lyrics? Not what you’d expect either, but we’ll leave it up to the listener to decide what’s being relayed there.”

Sounds intriguing – now we just have to wait two months and a day until we can listen to it. (Unless some songs will be released earlier like in the past. Hope so!)

A few notes from ‘The Snake King’

Now we have a little teaser from Rick Springfield’s new album “The Snake King.”

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Between that and the symbolism of red (danger, energy, passion, aggression), I’m wondering if this is a hint of the feeling of the new album.

Maybe I am reading too much into it, but it’s fun to think about. It helps pass the time until Jan. 26. 🐍👑. 🔥

The Snake King to be released Jan. 26

Yesterday there were shots of a desert photo shoot  and today the first glimpse of “The Snake King” cover! (No snakes…) And the announcement that the release date of Rick Springfield’s new blues album is Jan. 26, 2018, about  two months earlier than originally anticipated!

Andrew McNeice is the owner of melodicrock.com and a journalist/promoter in Australia and he shared some of the earliest information on “Rocket Science” back in 2016 (wow, was that only last year – how lucky are RS fans that we get two albums in two years?!) so you may want to keep an eye on his Twitter page.

And MAYBE RS and the boys have been practicing a song or two from “The Snake King” and plan to play one at an upcoming show? Or, if like “Light This Party Up” and “Down” from “Rocket Science,” we’ll get to hear a song or two a little earlier?