CHANGELING'S_RETURN CD LINER NOTES

TRAVIS EDWARD PIKE
OTHERWORLD COTTAGE INDUSTRIES

ABOUT THIS COVER: This is a genuine 3D mosaic made of pieces of floor tile (the standing stones), small chips of colored glass, and fish bones that work well as feathers for the magical owl icon that rised from its background, passing from its dimension into our own. Designed by Travis and his more-than-graphic artist, Linda Snyder to reveal the emergence or return of the owl, a singulaar creature that is able to travel, especially on May Eve and All Halloween between our world and otherworld, an image embracing the magic of the hero's journey manifest in Changeling;s Return. This now hangs in the kitchen of Otherworld Cottage--hangs rather than lies. If you've ever trod upon a sea shell, whether on shore or in the sea, you'll never forget the sometimes deep, bloody and always painful cut. The Morningstone shrine site and its singulat standing stone are also depicted in the mosaic, an excellent and iconic image for both the novel and the music CD.

01. "Changeling's Return," AKA "Morningstone Title Theme," introduces the music of Morningstone, welcoming listeners to the mystical, mythical, magical, musical realm beyond the veil.
02. The Stranger, a Beantown Home Cookin' hit, performed with the Trashbabies, the singing, dancing chorus of nine beautiful young women featured at the end of Morgen's live televised debut concert in England, intended to launch a summer European tour, a hypnotically seductive tune that drives concert-goers, home viewers, and the assembled media wild. Morgen skips out on the scheduled meet and greet with the U.K. and European press to take a refreshing, rainy spin in a sports car supplied by the record company, but with the rhythmic slap of the windshield wipers, and chorus from The Stranger running through his mind, falls asleep at the wheel and crashes into a ditch.

     03. "Morningstone." Unbeknownst to Morgen, when he crossed the bridge, he entered Otherworld. The "Goths" are Furies, Guardians of the Threshold, as is the Mastiff. At daybreak, Morgen hopes to find help at Morningstone, a quaint little village in the middle of nowhere, its tenuous links with the outside world apparently knocked out by the overnight storm. At the local pub, he quietly observes a movie in which Laura, the lovely teacher of the local heritage class, sings this invitation to mystery and destiny, forever intertwined.
     04. "The Likes of You." Due to local May Day celebrations, there are no rooms available at the inn, so Laura drives Morgen to a secluded cottage where he may rest until help arrives, in a pony cart decorated for the local festival, and on the way, as she points out local sights of interest, Morgen hears not her words, but her singing, inspiring his song that neither actually sings aloud, but both share and mentally sing together. The magical song is briefly interrupted when they stop to visit Morningstone's ancient ancient stone circle, but picked up again as they descend the wooded hillside, splash across a brook and arrive at the cottage. There Fiona, a sprightly mature woman, with gleaming dark eyes and a pale face framed by shiny, white hair, stops stirring the special local stew she's prepared for their American guest, and toasts Morgen with a glass of her strong home-made nectar, then, with so much still to do to prepare for the day's festivities, joins Laura in the pony cart for the ride back to the village, and as they ride away, we hear the last verse of "The Likes of You."
     05. "Bemused (First Canto)." Morgen sleeps the day away, and awakens to find a note from Laura, saying she decided he needed rest more than company. Rested, alone and famished, Morgen sips some more of Fiona's nectar, dines on her ambrosia, and finally sets out on an evening stroll to visit the megalithic shrine by moonlight, where the song reveals his thoughts as he rests on the hillside above the megalithic shrine and drifts off to sleep.
     06. "In The Place. "Morgen is awakened by a local womens choir singing an eerie intro to to In This Place. Inside the stone circle, Morgen sees a central monolith, cloaked and crowned with an antlered headdress,and as the choir's intro ends, on the hillside nearby, Morgen sees an all male local orchestra begin play a solemn processional. The masked choir flirts provocatively with them, then returns to the shrine, where Laura arrives in her pony cart, dismounts, and performs her erotic dance to welcome spring.
     07. Peeping Tom, underscores Morgen's reaction to Laura's dance. He stalks and chases her through the woods, determined to have his way with her, much to the delight of the Furies, Fates, and Muses! She escapes in the form of a doe, tumbling him into the cold brook. Morgen rises to discover his way back to the cottage is blocked by the mastiff, and the hillside bank is blocked by the hostile Furies. However threatening they seem, the Furies are all talk. The mastiff stops growling and trots away. Feeling guilty and churlish, Morgen sloshes back to the cottage to spend a chilly night alone.
     08. "The Tomb of Every Hope." In the morning, rather than face the locals, Morgen decides return to the bridge where the car went into the ditch and walk back the way he drove in, but seeing the car is gone, hurries to the village. From her village bakery shop, Fiona sees Morgen trying to peer into the repair shop, and tells him if he's looking for the mechanic, he'll be up at the shrine for the closing ceremonies. She leads him there via her personal shortcut. On the way, the mastiff befriends him, and when they arrive, the locals greet him like a hero. He is allowed to enter the stone circle, and follows the mastiff past the Furies into an opening in the side the hill. Thunder booms. Moans and screams ring out as the locals sing their horrific whole-moan invocation. Inside the hill, Morgen follows the mastiff into an ever-shrinking stone slab corridor leading to the Tomb of Every Hope, wherein Laura, representing Nature, is fettered, scourged, and polluted by civilization. Morgen is put on trial for humanities crimes against Nature.
     09. "The Fool." The sentences the Furies propose are death by fire, ice, or plague, but the Fates toss Morgen a key with which to free Nature from her shackles. He hesitates, weighing the danger of Nature unleashed. Laura's chains fall away without his help. Believing he has failed the Fates' test, Morgen follows Laura, saying he would have freed her. She offers him a sip from her Cauldron of Inspiration. Again, Morgen hesitates, but as Laura begins to withdraw her ladle, he grasps it, drinks, and falls to the floor. He awakens in a richly appointed chamber, and inspired, embraces his role as The Fool, announcing himself in song as he marches out to offer himself to the adoring villagers waiting outside.
     10. "The Mystery." Tossed into the Sacred Pool by the men of Morningstone, Morgen surfaces, discards his soaked clothes and covers himself with the cloak that on the night before adorned the central monolith, then carrying its antlered headdress, leads the men up the back of the hill to the shrine site, where the men take up their instruments and as the drums sound and the choir sings, Fiona leads Laura into view and up the hill toward Morgen. Laura rides side-saddle on her unicorned pony, her right leg curled around the saddle horn, providing a nest for the hare she carries in her lap, her left foot dragging the ground, her long golden hair held in place by the weight of the golden fishnet draped over her. Morgen dons the antlered headdress. The ritual wedding between Man and Nature continues as Laura dismounts, releases the hare, shrugs off her golden fishnet and goes, naked to embrace Morgen. But Fiona has left the unicorn untended. The Muses, Fates and Furies appear and the unicorn charges uphill toward Morgen. The mastiff rises and rushes to intercept the unicorn, both colliding with Morgen and Laura, knocking her aside and sending Morgen, headlong into the flower-covered stone dolmen.

     11. "Bemused (Second Canto)." Morgen awakens in the hospital, the song running through his mind, revealing his thoughts and desires. If it was a genuine out-of-body experience, would he ever be able to return to Morningstone, or is it gone forever? The police report states Morgen skidded off the wet road and crashed into a tree. Drugs and alcohol were ruled out, so insurance covered the car, but Beantowm Home Cookin's European tour was cancelled,and Morgen is in the doghouse with the band's manager and financial backer, Rodney. But Morgen remembers all the music and lyrics from his otherworldly adventure.
     12. "Witchy Stew." Back in Massachusetts, one of the Trashbabies announces shes leaving to get married. The group plans a wedding shower and her last performance as a Trashbaby in Witchy Stew, another Beantown Home Cookin' favorite. Captured on video, it's a huge hit at her wedding reception, and helps Morgen and Rodney settle their differences. While Rodny negotiates a fall European tour, Morgen rehearses the band and chorus, introducing them to his new material.
     13. "Bemused (Third Canto)." Back in England to record their second album, due for release coinsiding with the start of their fall European tour, Peeping Tom is unilaterally rejected by the record company chairman, who threatens to cancel the album altogether. Morgen's A&R man tells Morgen to write a new song to replace Peeping Tom. Never having written a short-order song before, Morgen's earliest efforts fail, but he does come up with the third element of his three-part song, Bemused, providing a resolution to the previous Bemused (Second Canto) that had ended its vocal on a seventh note.
     14. "Mystical Encounter." Discouraged by his inability to compose on demand, Morgen stretches out on his bed and closes his eyes. He feels a warm body moving over his, and awakens to find Laura in his arms, and if her caress and salacious smile are not enough to arouse him, her words are. Your mystical encounter will soon be a matter of record, she whispers, and Morgen's new song, Mystical Encounter soon becomes a matter of record.
     15. "Sweet Mystery." In an effort to keep the memory of their interrupted nuptials alive, Morgen had blended its music with a vernacular invocation of his goddess he calls Sweet Mystery, in the hope that if he cannot return to her, she might find a way to come to him. Could his Mystical Encounter have been inspired by this song, and if so, when it is finally broadcast worldwide, will she return to him?
     16. The Fool in Concert is Morgen's recapitulation of The Fool, both sublime and bombastic, followed by a verse from Laura's Morningstone promising a revelation of her mystery and our destiny, forever intertwined, and reminding Morgen of the purpose of his otherworldly journey.
     17. Flying Snakes is Morgen's reaction to the damage modern civilization's dependence on technology is doing to our ecosystem, and calls for an awakening and commitment to do all we can to reduce its negative effects. We are dependent on Nature's bounty, and should the various supernatural solutions promised by humanity's diverse belief systems fail to materialize, we must make use of our natural abilty to understand and adapt to the environmental changes threatening us, in order to survive.
     18. In Dog, Roebuck, and Lapwing, the bardic symbols of yore are invoked, bringing both the ancient and the modern world together, encouraging all to read between the lines.