Over the weekend, on my travels, I was listening to a bit of music on my iPod, and doing some meditations/chanting to Antinous to some of it. However, eventually I started hearing a bit of The Eleventh Muse, and recalled how I had already written alternate lyrics to several of her songs, including turning “Alejandro” into “Hadriane“ for the second act of the Bakkhoí Antínoou play, and “Paparazzi” into “Polydeukes” for the festival of Polydeukion in March. I had long intended to turn a few of her other songs that I know well and like into further Antinoan filks/hymns, and so at last, on the feast of Disciplina on Friday, July 1, I put pen to paper and came up with versions that I thought were suitable, and danced around the room listening to them and saying the alternate lyrics as much as I could.
And, as I was doing this, it suddenly occurred to me that there is a song by Queen called “Radio Ga Ga.” The lead singer/superstar of Queen was Freddie Mercury, and he is an Ekklesía Antínoou Sanctus, so it would be a dual honor to recognize him and one of his songs alongside the new lyrics I’ve created based on Lady GaGa’s songs. (I did a bit of research on him meanwhile, and while I knew his parents were from India, I didn’t know that he was a Zoroastrian!) And, it turns out that Lady GaGa took her name from the Queen song! So, there’s a line of transmission there as well…wonderful!
Thus, in my further efforts to become the Weird Al Yankovic of pagan/Antinoan devotional music (and Weird Al himself has recently turned his hand to Lady GaGa as well!), I present to you two further songs based on her hits: “Pancrates,” based on “Poker Face” and featuring some of the lore and things associated with Pancrates/Pachrates the Egyptian magician/poet/priest; and “God Romance,” a song based on “Bad Romance” that was hinted at in the Bakkhoí Antínoou play’s second act and which features Hadrian singing to Antinous.
Pancrates
B-b-b-ba…
B-b-b-ba…
B-b-b-ba…
B-b-b-ba…
B-b-b-ba…
I wanna cast spells like they do in Egypt, please
Roll them on papyrus scribed with hieratic ease
(Nekhetet!)
Death is not an ending but a glorious new start
And after he’s entombed we’ll weight a feather with his heart
IAO, I, A O,
IAO, I, A-A, O-O
IAO
I’ll make him god, with Osiris’ nod
IAO, I, A O,
IAO, I, A-A, O-O
IAO
I’ll make him god, with Osiris’ nod
Can’t defy, can’t defy,
No one can defy Pancrates
(It’s tragic, he’s so magic)
Can’t defy, can’t defy,
No one can defy Pancrates
(It’s tragic, he’s so magic)
P-P-P-Pancrates
P-P-Pachrates
B-b-b-baa…
P-P-P-Pancrates
P-P-Pachrates
B-b-b-baa…
I wanna chant with him–Egyptian mystery!
A little vowel-chanting is fun when you’re with me!
(Nekhetet!)
Initiation’s not the same without a tomb–
And, baby, if you’re thirsty he’ll get water with a broom!
IAO, I, A O,
IAO, I, A-A, O-O
IAO
I’ll make him god, with Osiris’ nod
IAO, I, A O,
IAO, I, A-A, O-O
IAO
I’ll make him god, with Osiris’ nod
Can’t defy, can’t defy,
No one can defy Pancrates
(It’s tragic, he’s so magic)
Can’t defy, can’t defy,
No one can defy Pancrates
(It’s tragic, he’s so magic)
P-P-P-Pancrates
P-P-Pachrates
B-b-b-baa…
P-P-P-Pancrates
P-P-Pachrates
B-b-b-baa…
B-b-b-baa…
B-b-b-baa…
I won’t tell you all my secrets–
Like an egret in the rushes
With my hushes and my silence
I’m just tryin’ out my mythic lions
Just like an ibis in the Nile
Take your guts before your trial
Yeah, I promise this, promise this:
Check this spell ’cause I’m marvelous!
Can’t defy, can’t defy,
No one can defy Pancrates
(It’s tragic, he’s so magic)
Can’t defy, can’t defy,
No one can defy Pancrates
(It’s tragic, he’s so magic)
Can’t defy, can’t defy,
No one can defy Pancrates
(It’s tragic, he’s so magic)
Can’t defy, can’t defy,
No one can defy Pancrates
(It’s tragic, he’s so magic)
Can’t defy, can’t defy,
No one can defy Pancrates
(It’s tragic, he’s so magic)
Can’t defy, can’t defy,
No one can defy Pancrates
(It’s tragic, he’s so magic)
P-P-P-Pancrates
P-P-Pachrates
P-P-P-Pancrates
P-P-Pachrates
(It’s tragic, he’s so magic)
P-P-P-Pancrates
P-P-Pachrates
B-b-b-baa…
P-P-P-Pancrates
P-P-Pachrates
B-b-b-baa…
P-P-P-Pancrates
P-P-Pachrates
B-b-b-baa…
P-P-P-Pancrates
P-P-Pachrates
B-b-b-baa…
*****
God Romance
Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o, Oh-o-o, caught in a god romance!
Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o, Oh-o-o, caught in a god romance!
Ave, Gaudete! Ave, Antinoe! Ave, Hadriane! Hieros Gamos!
Ave, Gaudete! Ave, Antinoe! Ave, Hadriane! Hieros Gamos!
I want your beauty, the curls of your hair
I want to see you and just gawp as I stare
I want your love
Love Love Love
I want your love
I want your dramas to light up the stage
I want your poetry to sing from the page
I want your love
Love Love Love
I want your love
You know that I want you
And you know that I need you
You are my god
You’re my god romance
I want your love and I want your defense
You and me are in a god romance
(Oh-o-o-o-o…)
I want your love and all your love is defense
You and me are in a god romance
Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o, Oh-o-o, caught in a god romance!
Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o, Oh-o-o, caught in a god romance!
Ave, Gaudete! Ave, Antinoe! Ave, Hadriane! Hieros Gamos!
I want your hunting, I want you divine
You won’t be Aktaion as long as you’re mine
I want your love
Love Love Love
I want your love
I want your virtue, your honor and vim
I wanna lick you like Achilles’ shield-rim
I want your love
Love Love Love
I want your love
You know that I want you
And you know that I need you
(‘Cause I will free it, baby!)
You are my god
You’re my god romance
I want your love and I want your defense
You and me are in a god romance
(Oh-o-o-o-o…)
I want your love and all your love is defense
You and me are in a god romance
Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o, Oh-o-o, caught in a god romance!
Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o, Oh-o-o, caught in a god romance!
Ave, Gaudete! Ave, Antinoe! Ave, Hadriane! Hieros Gamos!
Ave, Gaudete! Ave, Antinoe! Ave, Hadriane! Hieros Gamos!
Hunt, hunt, lions baby, strike it, move that horse, you’re crazy
Hunt, hunt, lions baby, strike it, move that horse, you’re crazy
Hunt, hunt, lions baby, strike it, move that horse, you’re crazy
Hunt, hunt, spiders baby, catch it, I will free it, baby…
I want your love and I want your defense
I want your love, and I wanna be friends
Tu mei amor, tu delicia es
Tu mei amor, and I wanna be friends
And I wanna be friends
And I wanna be friends…
Hieros gamos!
I want your love and I want your defense
You and me are in a god romance
(Oh-o-o-o-o…)
I want your love and all your love is defense
You and me are in a god romance
Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o,
(Hieros gamos!)
Oh-o-o, caught in a god romance!
(Hieros gamos!)
Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o,
(Hieros gamos!)
Oh-o-o, caught in a god romance!
Ave, Gaudete! Ave, Antinoe! Ave, Hadriane! Hieros Gamos!
This. Is. Awesome!
By: Brett Buffalo on July 5, 2011
at 12:13 am
Thank you for reading! Glad you approve!
By: aediculaantinoi on July 5, 2011
at 1:50 am
I wanna lick you like Achilles’ shield-rim
*spits coffee*
Having wiped away most of the tears, I now wonder if perhaps it should’t be”…bite you like Achilles’ shield rim”?
By: mizstorge on July 5, 2011
at 10:16 am
Well, berserkers are into biting their shield-rims. Hadrian was no berserker…
I think licking is more affectionate, in any case, and then saying “shield-rim” in association with licking then brings to mind a certain sexual activity that might be frowned upon in some circles, including the Roman one. The dirtiness of the suggestiveness of this line fits with GaGa’s original song a bit, but also the double entendre would appeal to Hadrian’s sense of humor.
By: aediculaantinoi on July 5, 2011
at 1:26 pm
[...] as you may recall, I posted some new song lyrics, and in doing so made reference to one of our Sancti, Freddie Mercury. Since then, I’ve learned of the deaths of two other people called some form of the name [...]
By: No More Dead Freds, Please… « Aedicula Antinoi: A Small Shrine of Antinous on July 5, 2011
at 6:07 pm
You are fucking awesome, man. If anyone else was doing this I’d roll my eyes and get as far away from them as possible lest lightning strike … but somehow you seem to make it work. I think it’s because, despite the levity, you approach this with a devotional spirit.
By: thehouseofvines on July 5, 2011
at 6:36 pm
Thank you, dear friend!
Yes, it is sort of fun to be this silly; but, Hadrian (and, I highly suspect, Antinous) were known jokers, and levity is an important part of spirituality in my opinion. Yes, we have our moments of (often very great) gravity as well, but there is always levity to balance it out. (The gravity has come, for example, in the post I made just a short while ago.) Both Hermes and Pan are syncretized to Antinous, and the entire relationship of Antinous and Hadrian was under Aphrodite’s patronage, and she is “the laughing one,” amongst other things. So, I think it’s the right thing to do…
Plus, what were Sappho, Lukian, and Strato in their own day but the Lady GaGa, the Weird Al, and the Freddie Mercury of their own times? (It’s like the thing about Hellenic recons wearing chitons and so forth–it’s not that those were “sacred” clothes back then, it was that they were clothes full-stop!) Or, at least I think so, anyway…?!?
By: aediculaantinoi on July 5, 2011
at 7:29 pm
[...] with some of my Eleventh Muse (a.k.a. Lady GaGa) treatments of matters for Antinous, Polydeukion, and others (Pancrates and Hadrian); you may also be familiar with my Glykonic take on Rebecca Black. Well, that song bug has bitten me [...]
By: The Song Bug Bites Again… « Aedicula Antinoi: A Small Shrine of Antinous on October 6, 2011
at 4:03 am
[...] the meantime, the best I can offer that I have written myself is this–it’s the second [...]
By: Dies Natalis Divi Hadriani Augusti « Aedicula Antinoi: A Small Shrine of Antinous on January 24, 2012
at 5:43 am