When I was ten years old, my family moved to the United States for good. I was very lonely, and I didn’t have any friends. (For a fictionalized account of what I was going through, read my story The Punky-Wunkies.) One of my greatest joys during that dark period was to come home after a rough day at school and watch Dark Shadows.
It was not that I was particularly interested in vampires or witchcraft, but that odd, peculiar show evoked an atmosphere that seemed to imply that life was dramatic, that what we as individuals did was important, and that romantic-heroic ideals were worth fighting for. True, it was a campy soap opera, and even then I recognized the humor in some of those overly dramatic scenes. Still, it was my only solace at the time, and I was a die-hard fan. When the show was canceled, I was devastated.
Later, we moved from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Grand Prairie, Texas, I dropped out of Junior Hight to be homeschooled, and as part of my required socialization, I joined the Girl Scouts. There I learned the song “On My Honor.”
The Girl Scout pledge was confusing to me. Like the Pledge of Allegiance, there were parts of it that I could not wholeheartedly agree to. There were things about the song “On My Honor” that I also found confusing. But the haunting melody stayed with me, and eventually I used it to write a filksong about Angelique from Dark Shadows.
Today, with the premier of the new Tim Burton movie starring Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins, I remembered that filksong, and I sang it with Bow. No, I can’t sing. But when you are singing to a chimpanzee you become very brave. Notice how he seems to understand the meaning of the lyrics, and he doesn’t start displaying until the words get violent!
Here are the lyrics to the song:
ANGELIQUE’S LAMENT
I was born in the islands,
In sorcery skilled,
And though but a servant,
I did as I willed,
Till I cam with my mistress,
My fortune to claim.
In that calm Collinwood,
In the quaint state of Maine.
Barnabas Collins
Was the man of my dreams,
A handsome profile,
From a family of means,
But he fell in love
With my mistress Josette,
A porcelain doll,
Fit to fondle and pet.
Then I vowed in my mind,
My heart full of gall,
If he would not have me,
He’d have no one at all,
So I sent him by night
To hunt and to kill,
To quaff human blood,
And to drink to his fill.
I could have but killed him,
But loved him too well;
I wanted him living,
So damned him to hell.
I made him immortal,
To dark gods I said:
Make him one of your own,
Both living and dead.
Each day by his coffin
A vigil I keep.
Let no one disturb
His ungodly sleep!
And lonely I watch him,
And longing I pine.
I daydream and wonder
Why can’t he be mine!
Then I send him by night
To hunt and to kill,
To quaff human blood
And to drink to his fill,
And I vow in my mind,
My heart cold and chill,
If I cannot have him,
By the gods no one will!
If you are a real vocalist, please contact me about using these lyrics in a video of your own. Believe me, I would rather hear you sing it!
Copyright 2012 Aya Katz
