We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Severance Songs

by Robert Gomez

supported by
Opitn
Opitn thumbnail
fussbudgets
fussbudgets thumbnail
MCM
MCM thumbnail
david heil
david heil thumbnail
Michael Roesmann
Michael Roesmann thumbnail
willibald.bohdalek
willibald.bohdalek thumbnail
kdterry
kdterry thumbnail
/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Beautifully pressed at RTI with full lyric insert.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Severance Songs via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD or more 

     

1.
ROBERT DURAND Commuter, beheaded in crash of Staten Island ferry, 2003 05:10
info
buy track
2.
CHARLES H. STUART Texas farmer, beheaded by his two teenage daughters, 1904 05:30
lyrics
buy track
Words by Robert Olen Butler
3.
CHICKEN Americauna pullet, beheaded in Alabama for Sunday dinner, 1958 05:40
lyrics
buy track
Words by Robert Olen Butler
4.
ROBERT KORNBLUTH Senior partner in advertising firm, decapitated by elevator, 1984 05:22
lyrics
buy track
Words by Robert Olen Butler
5.
CLAUDE MESSNER Homeless man, decapitated by Amtrak train after laying his neck on the track, 2000 06:49
buy track

about

The album Severance Songs is my interpretation of five selections from Pulitzer-Prize winning author Robert Olen Butler’s 2006 book, Severance. The collection of sixty-two prose poems, from which I’ve chosen five, represent the final thoughts from the severed heads of fictional and non-fictional characters, presented as a dense unpunctuated outburst of memory and reflection, revealing what each character holds dear as well as the missteps that haunt them.

Each selection consists of 240 words. A number Butler arrives upon by two important epigraphs that preface the poems:

"After careful study and due deliberation it is my opinion the head remains conscious for one minute and a half after decapitation".--Dr. Dassy D'Estaing, 1883

"In a heightened state of emotion, we speak at the rate of 160 words"--Dr. Emily Reasoner, A Scourcebook of Speech, 1975

Although not familiar with the work of Butler when I discovered this book it was only after a few times through Severance that I decided to make it my musical focus for what would become the next year and a half. Adapting a poem to song was all very new to me and as a result took me to interesting places especially in regards to form, melodic arc and phrasing. This project also took me to Florida where I would get to spend time with the author in his home , marvel at his collection of hot sauces and hold his Pulitzer Prize in my hand.

In honor of Robert Olen Butler’s Severance poetry, this statement is exactly 240 words.

credits

released November 6, 2012

Words by Robert Olen Butler

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Robert Gomez image

Robert Gomez Walla Walla, Washington

Robert Gomez is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician from TX/WA. Besides writing and performing his own music he has performed both live and on recordings with numerous other artists including Sarah Jaffe, John Grant, Centro-matic, Baptist Generals, Norah Jones, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, and Tico da Costa/ Phillip Glass. ... more

contact / help

Contact Robert Gomez

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Robert Gomez, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Beans joins the show to discuss his album release, "ZWAARD".

listen now