I love horror and sci-fi anthologies. When I was younger, I wrote a series of twist-ending short stories, and later sketched out a bunch of anthology segment ideas I've always meant to turn them into stories, or podcasts, or whatever. Nothing came from my plans until this song. Three verses, each its own horror story, each chorus the twist ending of that story. I had so much fun writing this song, I decided to make a trilogy of anthology tunes. I recorded the second part, “That’s the Twist...Again!” a year later, and wrote the conclusion a year after that. If that surprises you, that's because I still haven't quite gotten around to recording “That Was the Twist.” Maybe someday you will hear it. Probably. Maybe.
lyrics
There is a man
Has a lot of money and
A greedy family who wants it all
They tried and tried to
Cash out before he’d died
So he devised an evil plan
To get rid of them all
Invites them for the weekend to his mansion on the hill
Promised every one of them that they could take their fill
Little did they know that in the bushes he would hide
They’d go in, he’d lock the door, and toss a match inside...
But there’s a twist, there’s a twist!
And the twist, you see, is this:
Just before his family arrived
They all died in a car crash
Twisted fire and ash, and now their
Vengeful ghosts break through the door
And drag the man inside!
And that’s the twist!
A hunting accident
Leaves one hiker dead
A panicked hunter in dismay
Go to the cops
Risk everything he’s got
Or cover up the crime
And drive away?
He picks up his victim and sets off into the trees
Plans to dump the body in a spot no one will see
Stomps across a clearing carpeted in fallen leaves
Stops to catch his breath and hears a sound that makes him freeze...
‘Cause there’s a twist, there’s a twist!
And the twist is simply this:
The clearing’s not what it appears
All those leaves, brushed away, reveal
A partly frozen lake
That can’t support the weight of both the hunter and his prey!
And that’s the twist!
Intermission!
Intermission!
Here's the twist:
There is no intermission!
A car breaks down
In a dusty town
The driver calling out for help
But no one’s there
The streets are bare
It's deadly quiet all around
Then the sound of buzzing
Rises sharply on the breeze
Followed by a massive swarm of angry killer bees
That chase the hapless stranger
Desperate for a hiding spot
Ducks into a dingy church
With windows boarded shut...
But there's a twist, there's a twist!
And the twist is finally this:
Although the bees are still outside
In the church
Something worse
A pocket universe
A portal through which
Monsters pour
Of every shape and size!
And that's the twist!
That's the twist!
That's the twist!
Recorded on the Grecian isle of Hydra, this is blissed-out psych pop with stacked falsetto harmonies and luscious arrangements. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 9, 2023
Two dozen 12-string acoustic improvisations that feel undeniably haunting, like lost transmissions from ancient Appalachia, rediscovered. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 17, 2022
