Jack Casey, Trojan Songwriter, Releases “Spanish Stairs” TROY, NY (09/09/19) — Author and Songwriter Jack Casey, of Troy, has released a new music video in remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001. Radio stations are invited to play the song (download link below). “Spanish Stairs,” is a moving orchestrated ballad set in Rome. As Casey explains, “I was in Rome shortly after the terrorist attack when I learned that America was bombing Afghanistan. In despair, I walked out onto the Spanish Steps. As I stood there, looking out over Rome, I realized that the Eternal City had seen so many conquests and massacres over so many years and the idea for this song came to me.” Los Angeles-based Adam Jones orchestrated and recorded the symphonic track, and North Carolina-based Keaton Lusk provided the vocal. The video uses historical paintings and photographs spanning more than 2,000 years, from Roman executions of Christians, to Mussolini’s troops and then forward to more modern tragedies, making it relevant to today’s headlines. "Writing stories and songs helps me process things," Casey said of his music and novels. "The tragedy of 9/11 changed our world forever. This piece helped me put the horrible attack into perspective, and I hope its release will help others do the same." Watch the video at: https://www.youtube.com/JackCaseySongwriter or https://www.facebook.com/JackCaseySongwriter/
The following are the lyrics to “Spanish Stairs.” SPANISH STAIRS Don’t be downhearted with the news from home Take my hand, walk with me, you won’t feel so alone We’ll climb up at sunset, and you’ll forget all your cares Gazing out over Rome from the Spanish stairs This has all occurred before, open up your eyes. Like a day in the Colosseum beneath the brutal skies They screamed for the blood of Christians and gladiators out in the glare Murder for our amusement as we watch from the Spanish stairs Emperors sent their legions To conquer strange and distant lands And enslave savage peoples In forests and across the desert sands See the generals march through their triumphal arch With their loot and treasure, dragging slave girls by the hand Popes raised up their armies to save the Holy Land They say it’s for religion so that we’ll understand But it’s only wealth and power when the truth is laid bare Ignore the wailing in the darkness below the Spanish stairs And here rides bold Napoleon on his entry into Rome The greed and lust of empire beneath St. Peter’s dome And Mussolini’s fascists goose-stepping through the square Listen and you’ll hear all the echoes from the Spanish stairs There’s treachery and betrayal, Senators spilling Caesar’s blood And the bread and circus rabble Cheering chariots in the mud And as if somebody cared, you and I have been spared To witness the destruction like Noah at the rising of the flood Back home it’s raining brimstone, the towers are now dust You say your friends were slaughtered, it’s not right, it’s not just Now flags are waving and squadrons of bombers fill the air As another red sun sets over Rome and the Spanish stairs So let the darkness soothe you in the labyrinth below We’re strangers in a strange land no matter where we go There’s never any refuge in our sorrow or our prayers Hear the groaning of the ages rising up the Spanish stairs
ABOUT JACK CASEY Jack Casey is an author, songwriter, playwright, screenwriter and humorist who draws from his careers in politics and law, and from history, to tell his stories and write his songs. His website is JackCaseyMusic.com and his YouTube Channel is: https://www.youtube.com/JackCaseySongwriter. His facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/JackCaseySongwriter/ His novels include "A Parliament of Fowls," (2012), "Kateri - Lily of the Mohawks" (2012, 1984), "A Land Beyond the River" (2005, 1988), and "The Trial of Bat Shea" (2011, 1994). He just completed a novel about Alexander Hamilton which will be published in November.
Comments