Jackson Crash in an original one-man musical performed by Jonathan Riedel, and written by Jonathan Riedel and Sherri Muroff Kalt. It depicts, with humor and vulnerability, a queer young man’s journey from bullying and parental neglect to becoming a truck driver, starting a family, surviving addiction, and searching for his own honest identity -- all the while being chased by an insidious demon called The Creeper-Man -- the dark embodiment of his anxiety and depression. The show emphasizes the fundamental importance for all human beings to be grounded in their authentic core, and revels in the adventure to find the people we can call family and places where it is safe to be you. Jackson Crash is both an everyman and his own unique creation. Come hear his story.
1. WHEN THE CITY IS OURS
This town doesn’t love us
They laugh as they cut us
If nobody wants us, my dear
We’ll tear down the border
And when the city is ours
The freaks will be free
The werewolves will turn them
The witches will burn them
The zombies will learn how to steer
We’ll shake the world order
And when the city is ours
The freaks will be free
The stars will burn brighter
And the freaks will be free
We’ll storm through the streets, love
We’ll wake all the creeps, love
We’ll climb until heaven is near
And topple it over
And when the city is ours
The freaks will be free
The stars will burn brighter
And the freaks will be free
With no one to stop us
The freaks will be free
2. THE INVISIBLE MAN
When the world’s so blind
How can I be seen
When the the world’s so bound
How can I be free
It’s like I wear a veil
On my ugly face
Like I’m camouflaged
And put in my place
No one even glances
It’s criminal
I guess I’m born to be
Invisible
Invisible
One day I dared to scream
And someone dared to look
They pointed claws at me
They laughed until they shook
It’s like I’ve got these horns
And these scars to match
It’s like I’ve got this hump
Growing out my back
Every shameful mark is
Indelible
I’ve got to keep this freak
Invisible
Oh, Invisible
I might as well not be
Here at all
I fade into these streets
And these padded walls
I’m just a mix of flesh
And chemicals
That’s what it takes to be…
I paid a pretty price
Just to be me
I had to bleach my heart
Just to get clean
Don’t even say my name
it’s pitiful
There are no words for me
Just…invisible
Only angel eyes
Can see a ghost
You never had my back
When it mattered most
And how can I be saved when
Your plate is full
I guess I’m born to be…(invisible)
The only thing that’s left is
Oblivion
I turn my eyes to see
The setting sun
I never had the strength for
The trigger pull
And so I walk this earth
Invisible
I am invisible
I am invisible
You’ll never see me cry
You’ll never see me cry
I am invisible
I am invisibleh of us
3. THE BURNING GROUND (THIS IS FIRE)
It was a hot day
The sky was stark white
I couldn’t think straight
For all the bright light
My clothes were soak’d wet
My mouth was suck’d dry
I stank of hot death
I cracked a black eye
You left me broke’ neck’d
You left me ship wrecked
These heart strings
Cut like a wire
This isn’t love
This is fire
Burns so clean
There’s nothing for miles
Nothing but ecstasy
And fire
I staggered to my feet
I hobbled through the pain
I caught you on the street
Your face a mess of flames
I clapped you on the back
You whipped your head around
A thunder cloud c-rack’d
The rain began to pound
You threw the first punch
I popped your sweet face
It didn't take much
To trash up the place
The fists were flying fast
The guns began to blast
These heart strings
Cut like a wire
This isn’t love
This is fire
Burns so clean
There’s nothing for miles
Nothing but ecstasy
And fire
When God is away
The devils go wild
This is hell
This is fire
Just broken bones
And little bits of wire
Everything else burned
In the fire
And now we lie here
Staring out in space
And Mars is so clear, oh
I can see his face
We could’ve laid low
We could’ve played meek
We could’ve let it go
Or turned the other cheek
But it was too late
The world had run red
We couldn’t fight fate, no
It was a made bed
These heart strings
Tangles and briars
We burn at the stake
Tied to the fire
See my eyes
And call me a liar
It’s only gasoline
For the fire
This burning ground
Kiss it goodbye
And feel yourself float, float, float
Oh-oh
We built this house
On vengeance and ire
There’s nothing here for us
But fire
There’s nothing here for us
But fire
4. SO RUNS THE BEAST
From the cage I’m unleashed
I move like a beast
I tear back the curtain
I pound through the streets
I hunt with the wolves
I swim with the sharks
I stare down the light and
I howl in the dark
You can be my
Hallelujah
You can be my
Saving grace
You can be the one to ride me
As long as you can keep the pace
I slide through the deep
I slouch and creep
I coil and I wait for
The city to sleep
I’ve got tails, I’ve got horns
I’ve got fire in my breath
I’ve got wires in my brain
I’ve got bombs in my chest
You can be
La bella donna
You can be
The knight in white
You can be the hand that feeds me
As long as you don’t mind the bite
From the heart I’m released
I flood through your streams
I swell with the tides
And I stride with the steeds
I’m a primal sc-ream
I’m a wet, hungry dream
I’m a grip on the clothes
And a rip at the seams
You can be the blushing beauty
You can be the shepherd meek
You can be the dragon slayer
But tell me, can you slay a beast
I fight like a beast
I bite like a beast
I feed like a beast
I need like a beast
I’m built like a beast
I move like a beast
I love like a beast
I’ll die like a beast, so to live
I will live like a beast
From the pit I upheave
I shake off the fiends
I stand on my four legs
And stretch out my wings
I’m a scourge in the north
I’m a plague in the east
I’m a war in the south
I’m a western disease
You can be my common logic
You can be my moral ground
You can be the voice inside me
As long as you don’t make a sound
You can be the righteous lover
You can be the dirty freak
You can be the tragic figure
As long as I can be the beast
You can be the devil’s spider
You can be the angel’s wings
I will be a thing of beauty
I am a beast
And so runs the beast
And so runs the beast
And so runs the beast
5. THE CREEPER-MAN (NOBODY, NOBODY)
I’ve got one leg chained to the other
Bound at the waist and bound at the collar
Bag on my head and my face is smothered
Gag in my mouth, rope burns like a mother
And the creeper-man is coming
And the creeper-man is coming
And the creeper-man is coming
He’s dangerous and stunning
He’s ludicrous and cunning
He sends the angels running
Nobody, nobody gonna hear me scream
Nobody, nobody gonna wake this dream
Nobody, nobody gonna shake this fear
Nobody, nobody gonna find me here
Floating in the ocean, bobbing in the water
No blood left so the sharks don’t bother
Thinking of my little boy, thinking of my daughter
I wonder if they’re out there looking for their father
Alone in the dark tonight
Alone in the dark I wait tonight
Alone in the dark tonight
And the creeper-man is coming
And the creeper-man is coming
And the creeper-man is coming
Nobody, nobody gonna wake this dream
Nobody, nobody gonna hear me scream
Nobody, nobody gonna shake this fear
Nobody, nobody gonna find me here
And the creeper-man is coming
And the creeper-man is coming
And the creeper-man is coming
9. ONE MISTAKE
Just like the story of Matthew
That shepherd was battered and run through
They tied him to a fence
They left him there defenseless
They claimed that his love was an issue
Sometimes I feel afraid
Just being how I’m made
Sometimes I lie awake
And pray to God I make
No mistakes
Just like the march of the Queen
Her riots caused millions to dream
She lead the great parade
She kept her children safe
They found her like driftwood downstream
Sometimes I feel afraid
Just being how I’m made
Sometimes I lie awake
And pray to God I make
No mistakes
Sometimes I feel ashamed
I’m cursed. I’m sick. I’m blamed
My life and soul at stake
I can’t afford to make
One mistake
7. THE DAY I BLACKED OUT ALL MY DREAMS
It was a dark and violent night
I lost a long, long vicious fight
It was the crime of the century
The day I blacked out all my dreams
I rolled my car down a crooked road
I heard the crash and the tank explode
I threw my keys into the night
I turned my back on the burning light
I walked a year into the trees
Another ten under the sea
I trekked the mountain to its peak
I felt the ground fall from my feet
I tried to read from the book of old
I tried to buy what the prophet sold
I tried to preach what the cult would say
I tried to wash my brain that way
I couldn’t dam those rapid streams
I couldn’t pipe down pressured steam
I couldn’t pen my pacing rage
It only bit right through its cage
And so I soaked my life in bleach
I sold my blood to a hungry leech
I broke my back and I burnt the rest
And still I bear this beating chest
I sewed my eyes so they couldn’t seek
I bit my tongue so it couldn’t speak
I tied my throat so I couldn’t breathe
I cursed a god I could not believe
And now I run from the blazing sun
I’m gonna run ‘til the blazing’s done
I’m gonna crash through a million walls
I’m gonna thrash 'til the towers fall
The day I blacked out all my dreams
(The day I blacked out all my dreams)
The day I blacked out all my dreams
(The day I blacked…out…all)
I told my son I would always stay
My little girl, I would never stray
And even though I’m standing here
I haven’t been right here for years
It was a dark and violent night
I lost a long, long vicious fight
It was the crime of the century
The day I blacked out all my dreams
The day I tore down all my beams
The day I ripped out all my seams
The day I silenced all my screams
The day I blacked…out…all…
8. BACK COUNTY GHOST
Midnight I drive
Twist, climb and dive
Roll through red lights
Cut turns too tight
Snap go my wires
Slack go these tires
Skid down back county road
My whole life on fire
And I’m burning
And I’m floating
And I’m turning
And I’m choking
Pain cleans my mind
Eyes see through time
Body spills out
Heart stains like wine
And I’m reeling
And I’m reaching
And I’m steeling
And I’m breaching
And I’m flying
And I’m dreaming
And I’m crying
And I’m screaming
Quiet and still
Violent and shrill
No one sees me
Ghost on the hill
Kiss me good bye
Give me this lie
Tell them how tried
Lived free and died
And I’m soaring
And I’m sailing
And I’m warring
And I’m wailing
And I’m flying
And I’m dreaming
And I’m crying
And I’m screaming
And I’m dreaming
And I’m screaming
And I’m dreaming
And I’m screaming
9. THE SPARK OF LIFE (BRIDE OF THE BEAST)
The art of the wait
To know when to strike
You can’t rush the storm
You can’t push the pull of the tides
The monster will wait
’Til he’s ready to rise
He’ll dream of his lover
He’ll shudder and open his eyes
Maybe tonight
Maybe tonight
We’ll open our wounds
We’ll undo our seems
We’ll trade all our parts
Be something the world’s never seen
You’ll be the man
And I’ll be the wife
I’ll give you my body
You’ll give me the spark of life
Maybe tonight
Maybe tonight
The spark will ignite
Maybe tonight
Awaken the creature
Awaken the beast
Awaken the wild one
Awaken the witch
Awaken the priest
The wires will fray
The currents will cross
The shackles will break
The scaffolds will fall
We’ll laugh through it all
We’ll break through the bars
We’ll bathe in the stars
This lightning in jars
It all could be ours
The power to be
The power to give
The power to change
The power to live
The world is electric
The world is aflame
To live is our duty
To live is our game
The creed of the scarred
To dream is an art
A scream from the heart
The stream and the spark of life
We’ll be what we are
This beauty bizarre
Regal and naked
And wired to the spark of life
We’ll love like machines
Fruitful and clean
Our children will lead
With their hearts and the spark of life
Until the night
We walk to the light
And shine in the sky
Like the gods and the spark of life
10. I CAUGHT FIRE
I was just a pile of bones
Brittle and dry and all alone
’Til I stood up on my own
I put myself on hold
So safe and so controlled
And all the scars and the creases,
The wrinkles and the imperfections
I ironed out the folds
And I was faceless
And I was empty
And I was spit shined and
see-through, a pane of glass with no reflection
And I was nothing
But not now
But not tonight
I caught fire
I burn bright
There was a violent jerk
My system ran berserk
And all my flesh burned, my skin flayed
My sweat was steaming up to heaven
The angels did their work
Now I’m aflame
Now I’m alight
I caught fire
I burn bright
And so today
And so tonight
I caught fire
I burn bright
“And I rolled around in bleach
And I shaved my head
And I pulled my teeth
And I wrapped my eyes with tape
And I shut my mouth
And I gut my shape
Now I shine like a diamond ring
Like a holy fire
Like a pearly wing
Now I’m whet and galvanized
Like a soldier’s blade
Like an Eagle’s eye
I’m wider than the sky
I’m flying ten miles high
And all the fear and the pain and
The wicked ones who pull me under
I pluck them from my eye
And they’ll be faceless
And they’ll be empty
And they’ll be bad dreams I wake from
that fade away with light of morning
And they’ll be nothing
This is the hour
This is the night
I catch fire
I burn bright
I won the war
I won the fight
I caught fire
I burn bright
And I rolled around in bleach
And I shaved my head
And I pulled my teeth
And I wrapped my eyes with tape
And I shut my mouth
And I gut my shape
Now I shine like a diamond ring
Like a holy fire
Like a pearly wing
Now I’m whet and galvanized
Like a soldier’s blade
Like an Eagle’s eye
Now I’m deep as the ocean
As I press the sky
As I carve the mountains
As I fly from star to star
‘Til the edge of eternity isn’t far
Now I roll with the old ones
with the mighty gods
and the quantum motions
All I can do is expand
with the whole of the universe in my hand
All I can do is expand
with the whole of the universe in my hand
I caught fire!
I caught fire!
And with my song complete
The world will hear me sing
I'll burn a mighty heat
Until I'm everything
And with my song complete
The world will hear me sing
The world will hear me sing
I'll burn a mighty heat
Until I'm everything
Until I'm everything
Until I'm everything
Until I'm everything
I caught fire!
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