We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

The Ghost of Alexander

from The Ghost of Alexander by Buggy Jive

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

Come to find out all these years later that maybe ol' Alexander Twilight wasn't welcomed with open arms to a certain college campus as a fully acknowledged black man; much evidence now suggests he was white passing. Retcon!

lyrics

It's midnight at Twilight, first night, swing set adventure
She's just a stranger right next to me
The drinks have got me singing out of tune so she be like:
"You must be from Schenectady."

Don't sweat it boy, you ain't done nothing wrong here.
Don't sweat it, boy, of course you belong here.
If it gets too painful, he's got all the answers
Your guardian angel is the ghost of Alexander.

Curled up on a Sunday with a jazz book
To unpack the myth of Old Glory
It's beautifully written so I can't put it down
But it's a messy story.

The professor assures me we’re supposed to dislike the bad guy
Because he's singing replacement songs.
But I've seen the letters where Francis sings them songs, too
So maybe I do not belong here after all.

That's in the past boy, of course you belong here.
Not since 1820 we ain’t sung that song here.
If it gets too painful, he's got all the answers
Your guardian angel is the ghost of Alexander.

So don't worry, boy.
These folks ain't gonna do you no harm.
They welcomed Alexander with open arms.
So his ghost has got your back
For as long as you stay black.

"The dream was already behind him
Somewhere in that vast obscurity
Where the dark fields of the republic
rolled on under the night.

"And blessed are the dead that the rain falls on."

Professor heart-and-soul-searching whaddya know
It turns out: nothing is what it seems.
Alexander ain't yo ghost, he's just a box of bones
That they dug up to service yo dreams
To the tap tap tap of their pats on the back
they found it very necessary
To drag them bones into the colored section of the
Picklebury Cemetary
But the brotha said nothing about his African past
The brotha said nothing and nobody asked
The brotha wasn't actively tryna pave the way
That may not be passing but it sho' is strange.

Skeleton marionette cakewalk dancer
Skeleton marionette positioned to pander
Don't call me ungrateful for just wanting some answers
My guardian angel is just the bones of Alexander.

Just a box of bones.

"To whom it may concern: Keep that [REDACTED] boy running."

"And blessed are the dead that the rain falls on."

credits

from The Ghost of Alexander, released December 1, 2022

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Buggy Jive image

Buggy Jive Albany, New York

BUGGY JIVE is a soul rock singer-songwriter quietly uploading music from a basement somewhere in Upstate New York.

Equal parts Zeppelin and D’Angelo and Prince and Joni in sound and sensibility, his lyrics often mine the literature of the past to make sense of the present – from Ellison to Morrison to Eliot to Didion.

“Literary Kravitz,” as some say. ... more

contact / help

Contact Buggy Jive

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Buggy Jive, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featured guests are the golden-voiced Baby Rose and psyche soulsters Brainstory.
listen now