ATLANTIS!
a conspiracy theory rock opera

cast/players:

narrator: Dustin st. wright
guitar: KAI
accordion/piano/harp: Jesse Autumn
bass: Dabu
drums: Dustin White
fiddle: JJ
story board: MIMO


Song 1
C, F


The story im about to tell you may sound far fetched
but I swear that every word of it is truth
I know its true,
because it happened to me...
This is my story...

I grew up in new york city.
And I had one hell of a strange childhood.
It was just me and my mom
This was not the strange part of my upbringing.
The strange part
was that my mother
was not your typical
single-mom-from-the-suburbs sort-of-a-lady..

To put it lightly...
…my moms fucking loaded!
I mean filthy ... filthy-fuckin-rich!

An independently wealthy woman;
who seemingly conquered her own way to the top!
An Empress,
A Queen,
A... uh...
a really, really rich lady
is the point I'm trying to get at here.

And yet,
in some ways,
she was a single mom like any other
Taking care of her son!
Just her...
and, uh,
several hundred stunningly gorgeous women.
professional models!

You see my moms business,
her stock and trade,
her empire,
was…
The Modeling Industry!
Yes, The Modeling Industry ladies & gentlemen!
The buy, sell trade of the chosen ones:
the fit & the beautiful

and yet even amongst the madness
of running a multinational modeling firm
she still took the time to be around me,
to be my mom!
she even somehow found the time
to sing me lullabies in bed.
we always sang my favorite song:

(C, C, F, C, F, C, C, G, C)
"You Are My Sunshine,
My Only Sunshine,
You Make Me Happy,
When Skies are Gray.
You'll never know dear,
how much i love you,
please don't take
my sunshine away."

So after the years in this same old game
Anything I would try my mom found a way
to help along with her riches and fame
so that nothing I did ever felt like I did it

I began to see that when you are given privilege
and a mind to question it
you realize that privilege doesn't hold water,
but it sure is full of shit
you see the game
and who seems to be running it,
and you want to shout,
"ya know what, thanks anyways but, i quit."

i wanted to do something genuine,
something authentic,
something true,
i wanted to be something worthwhile
something new.
so i made a band,
(some sort of nerdy short musical interlude)
the music was decent,
my enthusiasm high,
and we blew up in the scene
with out even trying

i found fame
but I found fame just the same,
another fake face game,
people lost in pain
and displacing the blame,
another song,
another check,
some more drugs, what the heck,
a trip to jail,
to top the charts,
no honesty,
nothing from the heart,
another money making machine,
honed, toned, lean and mean,
ruthless and for one purpose alone,
to steel your money
and strip your soul right off your bones.
And so i cried in my solitude,
the only thing that kept coming up
amongst all the chatter, talk of some mysterious club,
one of those clandestine high society joints,
invite only, some sacred place for rock stars and royalty
big time actors and of course big time money
a night club, infamous beyond reputation or public list...
a place, where the truly elite rub shoulders and kiss
this club called... Atlantis. Atlantis. Atlantis!


Song 2
C, D, F, C, G

“Way Down Bellow the Ocean,
That’s where I want to be,
She may be”

This type of place you'll never hear of unless
you're cursed, or blessed, to be one of the proud,
one of the beautiful, the fit, top 1% of the top 1%,
so all the fame came with a touch of pain ,
and an invitation was sent.
so I went, I don't really know why,
hoping to find answers of how to feel alive
underneath the public eye. 
hoping for a real life inside this dream!

When I got to the club it was just as i thought,
it was the same lecherous crowd and i felt caught
unable to breath, disgusted at the lies,
mistrusting all these people,
unsure of why anyone even tries,
to pretend that they are happy,
and so into a bottle i dove,
and after i had too many
i hopped in my car and drove,
off the railing, off a cliff,
out of my mind with no will to live,
I crashed...

 "down bellow the ocean,
that’s where I want to be,
she may be"

...and when i awoke a soft voice spoke,
familiar, and yet i cannot give
a recollection of what was said,
as though merely a dream inside my head,
and then i heard a tv announcer say,
"the poster boy for rock and roll died today"


Song 3
C, F, G, fm

he was talking about me and i thought,
"could this be heaven?",
but that feeling quickly passed,
as john travlota came over
to offer me water in a glass
and to ask me how i was feeling,
a distant smile on his face,
and all i could muster to mutter was,
"who are you, and what is this place?..."

"this is atlantis," came a gentle voice,
as john turned and walked away,
and i saw elvis presley,
looking as though he hadn't aged a day,
now i know this sounds fantastic,
in fact i wouldn't believe it if i were you,
but this is the way it happened,
and its just the beginning of all that's true.

Just the beginning!


Song 4
Am, C, G, F (part of this world)

Dazed and shaken, I swore this a dream...
This man a fraud,
"Antlantis??"
"heha... You look just like Elvis man..."
I spoke... still confused and drugged.
"That can't be right! I mean... right ?!?
Atlantis was just that freaky club that I went to last night..."
"that's not quite true," said the man all elvis clad,
then he said, "did you know that man who just left is your dad?"
"fuck you," I said, before I knew what i'd said.
"don't feel bad kid, just get up and look instead."
and then he left, and I was shaken, but I got up even so,
and I started walkin around this place
all these faces, half human ageless smiles
famous
and I heard them all talking
something about lizards
then hunter s. walked by muttering...
who are all these reptiles
something terrible is happening all around us..

then I heard Marilyn Monroe say to Hoffa,
"oh, thats the child of the reptilian high priestess!
it must be amazing to be her child.
do you think i should go meet him?"

Then I was cornered
by a group of famous people I thought were dead,
all trying to tell me things
I couldn't fit in my head

like: I was told that they control us all
the government robots;
the irrelevance of the average Joe;
Isis used to run the computer that ran the world
but she got bored,
passed the job to Judy Garland,
so she could control the vicious hordes
controlled by the robots controlling the world
unconsciously controlling every boy, every girl
every cognizant creature and many who aren't
from the daftest of life forms, to the incredibly smart

I watched and I saw, all these things
big scaly backs and fat diamond rings,
I was struck by the arrogance of these people that "ruled
the world" like a toy, the rest of us merely fooled

I thought:

look at this place
look at this stuff
these people all fake
this reality's fuct
lookin around
yeah you'd think, hey, they've got everything

they've got gizmos and gadgets a plenty
they've got hoozits and whatsit galore
you want thingamabobs they've got 20
but who cares
no big deal
they want more
they want more!

Instrumental/a capella jam out

I wanted to run, but didn't know how to start
consumed by fear and the beating of my heart
so I ducked into a room, then ran down a hall
then jumped through a window only to fall
finding only an elevator which to my surprise
took me out of this place, to grey colored skies
it was a landscape
all covered in snow,
the type of place
where no one would go.
barren, freezing,
and somehow desert like,
but i was so afraid of what i had just seen
that i started to hike
through the dry desert snow
until i fell to the ground.
i must have laid there for hours
before i was found
by a huge bernese mountain dog
with a barrel around it neck.
it gave me the whiskey
and took me on deck
and pull me for miles
through this great barren land
until we came to a cabin
housing a strange bearded man.
i didn't recognize him at first
because his beard was so thick,
and when i finally figured it out
i figured it must be a trick,
because i had just seen this man
back in that place
accept back then
he had no hair on his face.
it was john travolta,
but looking haggard and strange
much different then in the hospital room,
but how had he change?
that was only a matter of hours ago,
something was wrong.
nevertheless, he took me inside
and sang me this song.


SONG# 5

verse: C, E, Am, F
chorus: Dm, G, F

verse:
my boy, my boy, it's been so long
i've been waiting here and i wrote you this song
in case i ever met you, which i hoped i would
so that you could see that i'm not no good

i could have tried a whole lot harder to be your dad
i hope in hearing this you are not mad
i have always loved you as any father would
i hope you can see that i'm not no good

chorus:
i am your dad
i am not bad

verse:
i was seduced by your mom so long ago
then when things went wrong she put me out to this snow
far away though i gave it all i could
and i hope you can see that i'm not no good

chorus:
i am your dad
and i sure am glad
to be seeing you

verse:
pull up a chair my boy, you look to old to accept these toys
i made them so long ago, hoping someday i could show
you all the love and all the care, i had even though i wasn't there
believe me when i say i did all i could
i hope you can see that i'm not no good

chorus:
i am your dad

verse:
i am so sorry i could never say
i love you my sunshine i hope you had a nice day

chorus (end on C):
i am your dad
i am not bad
i sure am glad
to be seeing you
today


Song# 6

D, F#, G, A

i felt scared and confused,
just come in from the snow,
and now john travolta with a beard
is telling me things as though
he thinks he's my dad,
could that actually be true?
after his song he looked like
he could guess, or he knew,
all the things in my head,
as he took a chain from his neck
with a medallion which looked
familiar, so i took mine out to check,
and sure enough they matched perfectly,
like two parts of one coin.
a gift my mother had given me
when i was just a small boy

then john smiled a sad smile,
a tear rolling down to his chin
and he said, "sorry for the terseness son,
we haven't got much time, so i'll just begin."
then he told me a story even stranger
then what i had just seen.
that place was atlantis
not just some scary dream.
and all those famous people
were real and still alive,
controlled like worker bee's
inside a hive.
with my mom as the queen,
though she wasn't a bee,
she was the high reptile priestess,
she controlled the whole thing,
with her minions of reptiles as
second in command,
they were the true underground leaders
ruling almost everything that happened on land.
atlantis, he told me, was the same
lost city from the history tales,
hidden under the antarctic polar ice caps
like a resort, in a jail,
for the worlds elite
who kept the whole show going,
controlling all through the media
though none of them knowing
why they do what they do,
but they just keeping doing it because
they liked all the lime light,
all the big media buzz.

i didn't want to believe him,
this strange bearded man,
making claims that any other point
i would’t even remotely understand.
but after all the crazy
things that i’d seen
i almost believed him,
though i still thought this might all just be a dream.

he could see my uncertainty,
he could tell i was distressed,
so he gave me some signs to look for
beginning with how my mother dressed,
and the food that she ate,
and the way that she walked,
and the amount of water she drank,
subtle tones as she talked.
by the time he was done
i had a huge list i could check,
but i felt so damn tired,
felt like my life was a wreck.
i told him to eat all his words,
saw a button on his desk marked "don't touch".
i thought, 'fuck this shit',
and slammed the button a whole bunch,

i faintly heard as he yelled,
'no. my boy. don't go yet',
but the button was pressed,
my destination set.
i felt like i was spinning through space
as though i was staying still but moving fast
and all at the same time
everything passed.

(“spinny” musical interlude)


song # 7
Am, G, C, F(power chord)

and i found myself awaking
to familiar sounds,
to a familiar place,
as though i'd just suddenly come down
from the craziest trip
i'd ever been on,
and i looked out my window
to a clear distant dawn,
felt a sharp pain in my head,
found my mom by my bed,
my head all in stitches,
and my mom she cried as she said,
'oh my god, my son,
my sweet sunshine,
your still alive, i knew it,
i knew everything would be fine."

she told me i had nearly died,
drove myself off a cliff,
that she had taken me home
from the hospital, unsure if i'd live

i quickly decided it all was a dream,
that while i was out, the whole time i was gone
there must have been a movie staring john travlota on,
and everything that i thought i had just gone through
was no more real to me than it must have sounded to you

so i gave a little chuckle
and told my mom my crazy dream
and i noticed she laughed,
but behind her laugh was something that seemed
as though she wasn't quite comfortable
with the things i was saying,
so i asked he if she though it was 'bull',
and i felt like she was delaying,
before she said, 'what do you think i think,
it sounds pretty far fetched.'
and as i took out my necklace,
it seemed like she almost retched.
but for only a moment
i couldn't be sure really was there,
so i asked her about the necklace,
for a moment she stared,
then she told me the same story
i'd heard a million times,
she gave me that necklace
and it's the only one i'd ever find,
that looked anything like it
and i didn't want to sound crazy,
so i dropped it all then,
hoped it would all become hazy.
a distant thought from my past,
but the more i ignored it,
i started to notice the signs,
even though i abhorred 'em.


song #8
(creeping build up)
Bm, F#m, A, E

just like john had told me,
my mom controlled all whom she knew,
she slept very little,
drank lots of water and kept few
whom were close to her,
always seemed ahead of the game
never made a mistake,
never took any blame,

i started to think i was going crazy
so i took a trip on my own,
i didn't tell anyone i was leaving,
i just needed a short time alone.

but when I got back to new york,
where this whole journey began
I found something more menacing
and much more scary at hand.
i found my mom WAS a reptile,
her human suite only half on.
where once were her legs
now all humaness gone.
no soft pink skin,
only dark green scales,
a bifurcated tongue,
and a huge slithering tail.
she turned towards me
and I screamed and I yelled
and I fell to the ground,
and on the ground I dwelled,
in my misery and fear,
in my shame and my guilt,
on all the false truth
upon which my meaningless life had been built.
but my mom saw me there,
and she knelt down where I lay,
and told me the craziest things
I'd heard anyone say.
and I am sure you stopped believing me
a long time ago,
but I wrote a lullaby of what she said,
just in case you wanted to know.

She sang:


Song #9

verse: C, E, Am, F
chorus: Dm, G, F

verse:
Boy don't cry
it's gunna pass you by
everything that scares you
it's all only a lie

it's all part of a larger
more important thing
every plant and animal,
every human being

chorus:
and i may be queen,
but this is all a seed,

verse:
for the mushroom overlord
the great fungal god-king
who was sent to our planet
so that he could help bring

life back to the future
which is where he is from
far after the light of this sun
will be gone

chorus:
and i may be queen,
but it's you i need

verse:
come with me to meet MOL
be ready to live,
by loosing control
you're life a gift to give

so that those that created us can come into being
here my darling, just put on this ring
Come meet the great fungal god-king

chorus: (end on C)
and i may be queen,
but it's you we need
and i am so glad
to be seeing you today


Song #10
Bm, F#7

and even though I was confused and scared
I did what she said, and now I am surprised that I dared
and when I put on that ring I was taken
to a strange beautiful place
and met a being with no look on it's face,
neither man, nor woman, neither animal or plant,
so it was not hard to believe it'd been sent
from a strange distant future, as a seed for all life
and he spoke to me strangely, as I will now try
to portray for you, so that you can now know
why we were planted here, and why we must grow
here’s what he said:

(Music cuts/
unison monotone speech)
(everyone on a mic with a different emotion)

you are the future we need,
the one who was born of a reptile
by a mamilian seed,
able to withstand the journey
to our beloved pliaties,
as an encrypted spore
with your dna at the core
But don't be afraid,
we just need to know,
if you would survive
and if you would grow,
and you did and that's great,
so now you can just sit back and contemplate
the beauty that is life, the love, loss and strife
the joy and the fun, the excitement of living
under this beautiful sun,

Music returns (Bm, F#7)

mol said all of this,
with an nondescript face.
then the fungal god-king
turned to gaze into the emptiness of space,
the being was saying these words
but convaying much more
that i’ve tried to portray,
but my translation is poor,
though i do recall
the last thing that was said,
as though the soft but strong words
still ring in my head.
mol told me to tell you,
“if you want to live,
and wonder where to begin,
you must simply and sweetly
let the sun shine in.
just let the sun shine...”

song #11

Bm, F#7, F#7, Bm, G, D

let the sun shine, let the sun shine, the sun shine in!

and as the mushroom overlord left me,
my mom took me on one last crazy trip,
back to the polar ice caps,
right back to the tip,
to a small wooden cabin,
where a bearded john Travolta dwelled,
and we both went inside,
and my heart almost burst as i was held
by my mom and my dad,
in a big warm embrace,
like a bright ray of sunshine,
falling on my big smiling face.
and i just…

(music cuts; a capella:)

let the sun shine, let the sun shine, the sun shine in!

Bm F#7
you are my sun shine,
F#7 Bm
my only sun shine,
G D
you make me happy,
Bm F#7
when skies are grey,
F#7 Bm
you’ll never know dear,
G D
how much I love you

(back into origional lyrics (X6)
and end with: a capella “let the sun shine”
walking off stage with audience singing along)