Operation Rango: The Ringmaster Primer
Ringmaster concept art by Kimmberly Miles.
All of the music in Check 1,2 and most of the music in the Into the Snow trailer comes from a demo of my song The Ringmaster. The Ringmaster was originally conceived as the opening from a concept album and stage show, but plans have changed and now it’s the finale on my forthcoming 2012 album Temple of Zither. It features a cast of characters that includes the Ringmaster, Daddy, an acrobat who takes a fatal fall, and his Little Boy. Angel is on the lighting tree, not to be trusted. The clowns Dimitri and Alexander are fighting for the spotlight bumbling around with their kazoos while little Nicolai, a violin virtuoso, times his scales to the arcs of the acrobats overhead and the sway of the purple elephant’s trunks while circling them on his unicycle. This is currently a demo, and producer Stuart Epps (Led Zeppelin / Elton John / Matthew Meadows) is taking over from here. This song is inspired by a real event I witnessed at a circus 25 years ago. Cue the lights, bring up the scrim, and spotlight stage right on the man in the hat.
The Ringmaster by Matthew Meadows
Ringmaster concept art by Kimmberly Miles.
The lights go up
The clowns tumble in
Painted on faces
And blue collar grins
The elephants
Lined up in a row
Won’t somebody stop the show
The ringmaster leads
A hit parade
Lions and tigers
Provincial charade
Angel pulls
the puppet strings
Above the lights,
In the middle ring.
When Daddy was
A little boy
He always hid
his favorite toy
A circus made
Of wood and lace
He kept it in
A special place
He kept it safe
He kept it sound
Swore upon a bible
It would never be found.
Ringmaster concept art by Kimmberly Miles.
I couldn’t believe
I couldn’t unwind
I couldn’t get the ringmaster
Out of my mind
There’s a man on the floor
He can’t take anymore
There’s a man on the floor
He couldn’t take anymore
Won’t somebody stop the show
Turn out the day
But not the light
Don’t leave me here
Alone tonight
I can’t believe
I can’t recall
To a little child
He was ten feet tall
But in my mind
It was the end
Of everything
That I pretend
Was innocent
And pure you see
That ringmaster
He took from me
There’s a man on the floor
He can’t take anymore
There’s a man on the floor
He couldn’t take anymore
Won’t somebody stop the show
Rango's Dog House 