Blood on the Fields is a three-and-a-half-hour jazz oratorio, by Wynton Marsalis. It was commissioned by Lincoln Center and concerns a couple moving from slavery to freedom.
It received the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Music. However, Marsalis' victory was controversial because according to the Pulitzer guidelines, his work was not eligible. Although a winning work was supposed to have had its first performance during that year, Marsalis' piece premiered on April 1, 1994 and its recording, released on Columbia Records, was dated 1995. Yet, the piece won the 1997 prize. Marsalis' management had submitted a "revised version" of "Blood on the Fields" which was "premiered" at Yale University after the composer made seven small changes. When asked what would make a revised work eligible, the chairman of that year's music jury, Robert Ward, said: "Not a cut here and there...or a slight revision," but rather something that changed "the whole conception of the piece." After being read the list of revisions made to the piece, Ward acknowledged that the minor changes should not have qualified it as eligible, but he said that "the list you had here was not available to us, and we did not discuss it."
When the neon lights shine down,
and there's no one else around,
whatcha gonna do when the clock strikes two,
and all the freaks come out,
On the ave....
When the neon lights shine down,
and there's no one else around,
whatcha gonna do when the clock strikes two,
and all the freaks come out,
On the ave....
When you're on the ave...
Now I got a reason for breathin,
goodbye Hollywood and hello Cleveland.
I didn't tell my girl I was leavin,
packed my bags, jumped in the Lincoln.
Suicide doors more to the meaning,
Four on the floor, three on the tree and,
I'm doin' speed on the 405 freeway,
Officer give a white boy some leeway.
Downtown with the he-say she-say,
Dont mean nothin cause the he-she's cliche.
Downtown where your dreams just decay,
$40 for a ? $20 for a BJ
But uptown they play my CD's
Girls wanna fuck me, boys wanna be me.
Who's Mickey, she said, and smiled in a special way.
When the neon lights shine down,
and there's no one else around,
whatcha gonna do when the clock strikes two,
and all the freaks come out,
On the ave....
When you're on the ave...
Now I'm gonna keep on creepin'
Latchkey kids gettin' high all weekend.
Lookin past the hood of my Fleetwood,
Jesus on the dash and the king on the speaker.
You can find me in the back of the theater like
Pee Wee Herman, holdin my weiner.
I ain't seen her since the milk went bad
and I didn't mean to beat her is what I told her dad..
Round town it's a stone cold fact,
Avalon got a gun in his lap.
Round town you can hear the clap,
when I take the stage, and shake my ass.
Out of town you can feel the heat,
when my bus pulls up and steals your freaks.
Out of town you can feel the noise,
come on girls, rock your boys!
When the neon lights shine down,
and there's no one else around,
whatcha gonna do when the clock strikes two,
and all the freaks come out,
On the ave...
When you're on the ave...
When the neon lights shine down,
and there's no one else around,
whatcha gonna do when the clock strikes two,
and all the freaks come out,
On the ave....
When you're on the ave...
Now I'm gonna speak on freedom,
do what you like fuck other people.
They tell you what you're supposed to do,
how about your girl do me, and you do you.
Now kick rocks before you get shot,
in the back of the head all you heard was POP
Goes to weasel cause the weasel smoke rock,
Hypodermic needle paramedic on the block.
Chop your body up, drop it off the dock,
why you gotta go and call the mothafuckin cops?
It's too late babe it could've been great,
but you had to go and stab me in the back with a steak knife.
Late night, waste away,
Chain smokin' til the drapes turn grey.
Cocaine helps me face the day,
and then the pills wash the pain away.
I won't be blamed for your mistakes,
burned at the stake,
for God's sake.
When the neon lights shine down,
and there's no one else around,
whatcha gonna do when the clock strikes two,
and all the freaks come out,
On the ave....
When you're on the ave...
When the neon lights shine down,
and there's no one else around,
whatcha gonna do when the clock strikes two,
and all the freaks come out,
On the ave....