LIVING UNDER [alternate version, previously unreleased]

from OUT OF THY STAR by The Ophelias

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about

Track: 3
Title: LIVING UNDER [alternate version, previously unreleased]
Authorship: Leslie Medford
Publishing: BrowBeat Music, BMI
Recording date: December 1988
Recording place: Dancing Dog Studios, Emeryville, CA
Recording engineers: David Bryson & David Immerglück – 16 track
Remastered by Carl Salbacka & Leslie Medford
Running Time: 03:21
First appeared on Out of Thy Star, Bandcamp
Released 23 November 2020 [streaming only]

Leslie Medford : vocals, all guitars
David Immerglück : siren
Terry von Blankers : bass guitar
Drum machine by Medford, Bryson, Immerglück

Particulars: This version is slightly shortened from that on The Big O [1989 LP]. The only Oafs song to use a drum machine. Medford starred in an independent short film (23 minutes?) of the same name, released in 1982. The title refers to “living under the threat of nuclear war” which underpins the film, shot in mid-1981. In the immediate aftermath of this professional acting gig Medford composed and home-recorded a four-track reel-to-reel recording of “Living Under” which was included on his first release, a collection of demos called “Works-in-Progress” [1982, cassette only]. The film does not include the demo or any scene resembling that which Medford paints in his song, but the theme and title are commonalities.

lyrics

LIVING UNDER

The radio you clutch is drowned by the sirens wailing.
This is it! This is it! and the family is helter skelter!
You’re running down the steps that lead to your private shelter,
But it won’t do you any good.
The radio announced that the nuclear dawn has arrived.
The radio announced that you’ve twenty-three minutes alive.
The radio announced that only undergrounders survive.

This is it! This is it! and the family is helter skelter!
You’re running down the steps that lead to the private shelter.
The radio you clutch is drowned by the sirens wailing,
But it won’t do you any good.
The radio announced that the nuclear dawn has arrived.
The radio announced that you’ve twenty-three minutes alive.
The radio announced that only undergrounders survive.

You’re running down the steps that lead to the private shelter,
This is it! This is it! and the family is helter skelter!
The radio you clutch is drowned by the sirens wailing.
And it won’t do you any good.
The radio announced that you’ve really only seconds minutes alive.
The radio announced that the nuclear dawn has arrived.
The radio announced that only undergrounders survive.

The radio you clutch is drowned by the sirens wailing.
This is it! This is it! and the family is helter skelter!
You’re running down the steps that lead to your private shelter,
But it won’t do you any good.

credits

from OUT OF THY STAR, released November 23, 2020

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The Ophelias San Francisco, California

The Ophelias are a psychedelic rock band formed in San Francisco in 1984.

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