Easter Theatre
(Partridge)
Easter Theatre single cover |
Recordings Art Lyrics Chords and Tablature |
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Album version, 4'38.
Released on Apple Venus Volume 1.
Released as a single in the
U.K. on 2 April 1999.
Solo trumpet by Steve Sidwell.
Demo version.
Released on 2 April 1999 as a B-side to the Easter Theatre single in
the U.K.
Andy: “A nagging but nice chord change and melody had been rolling around my brain since 1986. I remember liking it so much that I kept pestering people asking, ‘Are you sure this isn't a song by someone else?’ This keeps happening to me. I'll labour over a tune excitedly for awhile then, near completion, I'll play it for the nearest set of ears and they'll say something like ‘Oh! Isn't that “Hey Jude”’? or ‘Isn't that “Surfs Up”’? But with the idea for ‘Theatre’ I didn't get this reaction, only ‘sounds nice’. I mentally filed it away for a rainy day.
“The melody didn't find a home til I Dr. Frankensteined it onto those nice brown chords, looking for a chorus, in early 94. I always had a hard job throwing anything away, and thank goodness. The two parts seemed a marriage made in heaven. I enjoyed doing the guitar solo even if it sounded a mite like the man who built his own guitar from a fireplace, Brian May. Perhaps mine is more like the man who built his own guitar from matches, Bryant and May.
“You know you're doing alright if at some point during recording a demo, your hair stands on end. Which it did when I reached the ‘Easter. . . in her bonnet’ section in the middle. Self fright or self delight is difficult to achieve at the best of times, but here, bang out of nowhere, it arrived in bucket loads. Every pore of my skin was smiling fit to bust. Where does this stuff come from? Surely it's not me thinking these songs up? I live in Swindon! Maybe my right arm is an aerial picking up the practical jokes of angels or the whisperings of Genii. Surely my washing machine motor of a secondary modern school brain isn't capable of thinking up songs like this?
“Please don't ask me what the name of the chords are, I just don't know. This is not unusual for me, not knowing the chords or even keys of songs. I'm not really a musician, more of an ideas man who found himself holding a guitar. If it sounds right to my shell likes, in it goes!
“Technical note:- There's no bass guitar on this demo as in my excitement and rush to get it finished I forgot to leave a spare track to record one on.”
Instrumental version.
Released on 17 October 2002 on Instruvenus in Japan.
[Thanks to R. Stevie Moore]
Easter Theatre single cover |
Andy Partridge's handwritten lyrics to “Easter Theatre” |
the Easter Theatre CD single |
E is for “Easter Theatre” |
lyrics to “Easter Theatre” |
Easter Theatre single back cover |
Album version:
Gold sun rolls around
Chocolate nipple brown
Tumble from your arms
Like the ground your breasts swell
Land awake from sleep
Hares will kick and leap
Flowers climb erect
Smiling from the moist kiss of her rainbow mouth
Stage left
Enter Easter and she's dressed in yellow yolk
Stage right
Now the son has died, the father can be born
Stand up
If we'd all breathe in and blow away the smoke
New life, we'd applaud her new life
Odin mounts the tree
Bleeds for you and me
Splashing on the lamb
Gamboling with spring step
Buds will laugh and burst
Racing to be first
Turning all the soil
As the prompter's fingers through her spinning script
Stage left
Enter Easter and she's dressed in yellow yolk
Stage right
Now the son has died, the father can be born
Stand up
If we'd all breathe in and blow away the smoke
New life, we'd applaud her new life
Easter... in her bonnet
Easter... in her hair
Easter... are the ribbons
She ties everywhere
Stage left
Enter Easter and she's dressed in yellow yolk
Stage right
Now the son has died, the father can be born
Stand up
If we'd all breathe in and blow away the smoke
In her bonnet
Easter... everywhere
Easter...
© 1998 Copyright Control
Demo version:
Gold sun rolls around
Chocolate nipple brown
Tumble from your arms
Like the ground your breasts swell
Land awake from sleep
Hares will kick and leap
Flowers climb erect
Smiling from the moist kiss of her rainbow mouth
CHORUS
Stage left
Enter Easter and she's dressed in yellow yolk
Stage right
Now the son has died, the father can be born
Stand up
If we'd all breathe in and blow away the smoke
New life
We'd uphold her new life
Odin mounts the tree
Pleads for you and me
Splashing on the lamb
Gamboling with spring's step
Buds will laugh and burst
Racing to be first
Turning all the soil
As the Prompter's fingers through her spinning script
CHORUS
Easter, in her bonnet
Easter, in her hair
Easter, are the ribbons
She ties everywhere.
[transcribed by Keith Hanlon, Joshua Hall-Bachner, Brookes McKenzie, and Steven Graff]
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 10:21:20 -0700 From: "Darrell C. Harvey" <Darrell (at) TheHarveys dot net> Subject: Easter Theater revised! Message-ID: <20070614102120.dnis9npo8sg0w0sk (at) webmail dot theharveys dot net> EASTER THEATER by Andy Partridge © 1994 EMI Virgin Music Ltd, London WC2H 0QY Transcribed for the XTC Forum by Jeff Truzzi and Lokrume04 (referencing the 'brown chords' in AP's 'How Easter Theater came to be.') INTRO: ****** Bb7(*) 6*x*6*7*x*x Keys (lo to hi) Bb, Ab, D Bb7(b5) 6*x*6*x*5*x Keys (lo to hi) Bb, Ab, E Bb7+ 6*x*6*x*7*x 6*x*6*x*7*x Keys (lo to hi) Bb, Ab, Gb Bb7(b5) 6*x*6*x*5*x Keys (lo to hi) Bb, Ab, E (repeat)****** Bb7 6*x*6*7*x*x Keys (lo to hi) Bb, Ab, D Bb7(b5) 6*x*6*x*5*x Keys (lo to hi) Bb, Ab, E Bb7+ 6*x*6*x*7*x Keys (lo to hi) Bb, Ab, Gb (pause) VERSE: ****** Emaj13 (no 3rd) 0*4*1*x*x*x x*7*6*6*4*x Keys (lo to hi) E, C#, D# Db(2)/F 1*4*1*x*x*x x*8*6*6*4*x Keys (lo to hi) F, Db, Eb E(2)/G# 4*7*4*x*x*x x*11*9*9*7*x Keys (lo to hi) G#, E, F# Gb(2)/Bb 6*9*6*x*x*x x*13*11*11*9*x Keys (lo to hi) Bb, Gb, Ab (repeat)******** Bb13(no 3rd) 6*10*6*x*x*x x*13*11*12*9*x Keys (lo to hi) Bb, G, Ab CHORUS: ****** G(2)maj7/B x*2*0*0*3*2 D x*x*0*2*3*2 A6/C# x*4*2*2*2*2 (repeat 2x)****** Gmaj13/E 0*3*2*0*3*2 C(2)/E 0*3*2*0*3*0 F6(b9) 1*x*3*2*3*2 F6maj7 1*x*3*2*3*0 F#7 2*4*4*3*2*0 (repeat Verse chords)******* Guitar solo: F#, C#, Eb, Ab, Gb Ab, (8va) Ab Gb, (triplets) B A# B F# D# B Ab G Ab E Db Bb Ab Gb, Bb, Db ******************** BRIDGE: "Easter...." Amaj7/C# x*4*6*2*x*0 picked: x*4*6*2*x*0 x*4*6*2*x*0 Keys: right hand alternate over left hand C# A - E G# Emaj7 (sus4) 0*x*6*2*4*x picked: 0*x*6*2*4*x 0*x*6*2*4*x Keys: right hand alternate over left hand E A - D# G# E6 (sus4) 0*x*6*2*2*x picked: 0*x*6*2*2*x 0*x*6*2*2*x Keys: right hand alternate over left hand E A - C# G# Electric Guitar "E-Z" Chorus Arpeggios: Amaj7/C#: -*-*-*6*5*- -*-*-*4*4*- Emaj7(sus4): -*-*7*8*-*- -*-*6*6*-*- E6(sus4): -*-*-*2*2*- -*-*-*1*0*- "E-Z"er Chorus Guitar Chords: Asus2/C#: x*4*2*2*0*0 Emaj7(no3rd): 0*2*2*4*4*x E6: 0*2*2*1*2*x *************** INTRO 2 (Turnaround)****** C7 8*x*8*9*x*x Keys (lo to hi) C, Bb, E C7(b5) 8*x*8*x*6*x Keys (lo to hi) C, Bb, Gb C7+ 8*x*8*x*9*x 8*x*8*x*9*x Keys (lo to hi) C, Bb, Ab C7(b5) 8*x*8*x*7*x Keys (lo to hi) C, Bb, Gb (repeat)****** C7 8*x*8*9*x*x Keys (lo to hi) C, Bb, E C7(b5) 8*x*8*x*6*x Keys (lo to hi) C, Bb, Gb C7+ 8*x*8*x*9*x Keys (lo to hi) C, Bb, Ab *************** FINAL CHORUS***** Asus2/C# x*4*2*2*0*0 E5 0*7*9*9*0*0 B/D# x*6*4*4*4*x (repeat 2x)***** D(#11) x*x*0*2*3*4 D x*x*0*2*3*2 "Hey!" French Horn Synth Notes (lo to hi): F# G# A B C# D# E A (repeat section)******** *********************** TAG: "Easter...." Amaj7/C# x*4*6*2*x*0 picked: x*4*6*2*x*0 x*4*6*2*x*0 Keys: right hand alternate over left hand C# A - E G# Emaj7 (sus4) 0*x*6*2*4*x picked: 0*x*6*2*4*x 0*x*6*2*4*x Keys: right hand alternate over left hand E A - D# G# E6 (sus4) 0*x*6*2*2*x picked: 0*x*6*2*2*x 0*x*6*2*2*x Keys: right hand alternate over left hand E A - C# G# (Loop & Fade************** ************************* (*) Note: Intro dominant 7 chords are actually (I think) 13th chords in orchestration - just can't get the voicings to sound good on guitar.
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 01:04:59 EST
From: Kevin Brunkhorst <KB305 (at) aol dot com>
Subject: chords for Easter Theatre
Message-ID: <6da3ecab.36e75d0b (at) aol dot com>
Easter Theatre
(Partridge)
For the verse, these chords are as close as I could get
to the orchestrations.
The chaotic part in the beginning has a D major line in the melody,
and a Bb in the bass. This re-occurs before the last chorus.
I've approximated this tonality with the Bb13
chord with the asterix at the end of the verse.
Emaj7/6 (07664x)
Gold sun rolls around
F#9/6/ bass E# (1x1122)
Chocolate nipple brown
Eadd2/G# (4x4452)
Tumble from your arms
F#add2/A# (6x6674)
Like the ground your breasts swell
Land awake from sleep
Hares will kick and leap
Flowers climb erect
F#add2/A# Bb13* (or Bbaug7 this chord has b6, 6, and b5)
Smiling from the moist kiss of her rainbow mouth
G2/B (x2x233)
Stage left
D A/C#
Enter Easter and she's dressed in yellow yolk
G2/B
Stage right
D A/C#
Now the son has died, the father can be born
G2/B
Stand up
D A/C# C
If we'd all breathe in and blow away the smoke
F
New life, we'd uphold her new life
F#
....
Odin mounts the tree
Bleeds for you and me
Splashing on the lamb
Gamboling with spring's step
Buds will laugh and burst
Racing to be first
Turning all the soil
As the prompter's fingers through her spinning script
Stage left
Enter Easter and she's dressed in yellow yolk
Stage right
Now the son has died, the father can be born
Stand up
If we'd all breathe in and blow away the smoke
New life, we'd uphold her new life
C#m Emaj7
Easter... in her bonnet
C#m Emaj7
Easter... in her hair
C#m Emaj7
Easter... are the ribbons
C#m Emaj7
She ties everywhere
Stage left
Enter Easter and she's dressed in yellow yolk
Stage right
Now the son has died, the father can be born
Stand up
If we'd all breathe in and blow away the smoke
In her bonnet
Easter... everywhere
Easter...Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 16:09:19 EST
From: KingJeffe (at) aol dot com
Subject: Chords and tab to Easter Theatre
Message-ID: <34d5fc1e.36d46a7f (at) aol dot com>
Easter Theatre (Andy Partridge)
XTC from Apple Venus Vol.1
transcribed by Jeffrey Fariello (kingjeffe (at) aol dot com)
Note: Most of these chord voicings are bit of a stretch (literally) on
guitar, but I think they're pretty accurate harmonically, and not
impossible to play.
WHOLE-TONE BASED, BbAUG TYPE INTRO LICK:
--4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4
--3---5---7---7---5-------3---5---7---7---5-------3---5
--3-------3-------3-------3-------3-------3-------3----
-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
CHORDS: (Names of chords open for debate!)
****************************************************************************
E6maj7 F7aug5 Eadd9(Ab bass) F#add9(Bb bass) Bbmin6/7 Gmaj7(B bass)
X X 2 4 4 2
4 4 5 7 8 0
6 6 4 6 6 0
6 7 6 8 8 0
7 8 X X X 2
X X X X X X
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
D A(C# bass) C G(B bass) Fmaj7b9 Fmaj7 F#7add11 Aadd9(C# bass)
2 X 0 3 2 0 0 0
3 2 1 3 1 1 0 0
2 2 0 0 2 2 3 2
0 2 2 0 2 2 4 2
X 4 3 2 X X 4 4
X X X X 1(Thumb) 1(Thumb) 2 X
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emaj7 E6 E Amaj7(C# bass) B(D# bass) Caug F#
0 0 0 4 X 0 2
4 2 0 2 4 1 2
4 1 1 2 4 1 3
2 2 2 2 4 2 4
2 2 2 4 6 3 4
0 0 0 X X X 2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Play intro lick...
E6maj7 F7aug5
Gold sun rolls around, chocolate nipple brown
Eadd9(Ab bass) F#add9(Bb bass)
Tumble from your arms, like the ground your breasts swell
E6maj7 F7aug5
Land awake from sleep, hares will kick and leap
Eadd9(Ab bass) F#add9(Bb bass) Bbmin6/7
Flowers climb erect, smiling from the moist kiss of her rainbow mouth
Gmaj7(B bass) D A(C# bass) Gmaj7(B bass)
Stage left, enter easter and she's dressed in yellow yolk
D A(C# bass) Gmaj7(B bass)
Stage right, now the son has died, the father can be born
D A(C# bass) C
Stand up, if we'd all breathe in and blow away the smoke/ new life
G(B bass) Fmaj7b9 Fmaj7 F#
We'd uphold her new...... life.......
E6maj7 - F7aug5 - Eadd9(Ab bass) - F#add9(Bb bass)...
E6maj7 F7aug5
Golden mounts the tree, bleeds for you and me
Eadd9(Ab bass) F#add9(Bb bass)
Splashing on the lamb, gamboling with spring's step
E6maj7 F7aug5
Buds will laugh and burst, racing to be first
Eadd9(Ab bass) F#add9(Bb bass) Bbmin6/7
Turning all the soil, as the prompter's fingers through her spinning script
Gmaj7(B bass) D A(C# bass) Gmaj7(B bass)
Stage left, enter easter and she's dressed in yellow yolk
D A(C# bass) Gmaj7(B bass)
Stage right, now the son has died, the father can be born
D A(C# bass) C
Stand up, if we'd all breathe in and blow away the smoke/ new life
G(B bass) Fmaj7b9 Fmaj7 F#7add11
We'd uphold her new...... life.......
Aadd9(C# bass) Emaj7 E6 Aadd9(C# bass) Emaj7 E6
Easter..... in her bonnet...... Easter..... in her hair.......
Aadd9(C# bass) Emaj7 E6 Aadd9(C# bass) Emaj7 E6
Easter..... are the ribbons...... She ties..... everywhere......
*Play whole-tone augmented intro riff 1 whole step higher over Caug chord*
............................Stage left.....................!
Amaj7(C# bass) E B(D# bass) Amaj7(C# bass)
...........Enter easter and she's dressed in yellow yolk
E B(D# bass) Amaj7(C# bass)
Stage right, now the son has died, the father can be born
E B(D# bass) D
If we'd all breathe in and blow away the smoke.....HEY!
*Guitar riff: -------------------------------
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
--------------------------4---7
----------4---5---6---7--------
--5---7------------------------
Amaj7(C# bass) E B(D# bass) Amaj7(C# bass)
Stage left, enter easter and she's dressed in yellow yolk
E B(D# bass) Amaj7(C# bass)
Stage right, now the son has died, the father can be born
E B(D# bass) Aadd9(C# bass)
If we'd all breathe in and blow away the smoke....
Emaj7 E6 Aadd9(C# bass) Emaj7 E6
In her bonnet... Easter... Everywhere....
Aadd9(C# bass) Emaj7 E6
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