image by Pat Jensen

www.soundcloud.com/strangefamousrecords/death-of-the-boombox

We are all about to do shows together in Brooklyn NYC, Providence RI, and Portland Maine. We will also be joined by B. Dolan and special guests!
Here are two videos from the “Working Man” album (I am featured in Drug Dealer):

BROOKLYN, NY - 5/24 
@ Knitting Factory
Sage Francis, Prolyphic, B. Dolan, Metermaids.
DOORS AT 8PM, SHOW STARTS AT 9PM
All Ages. Click here for TICKETS.
The Facebook event page is here.

PROVIDENCE, RI - 5/25
@ The Fete
Sage Francis, Prolyphic, B. Dolan, Metermaids.
This will act as Prolyphic’s “Working Man” record release show for the home city. Expect surprise guests and special announcements. All ages! Doors at 8. Show starts at 9.
CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS.
The FB event page is here.

PORTLAND, MAINE - 5/26
@ Space Gallery
SAGE FRANCIS, Prolyphic, B. Dolan, Metermaids.
All Ages. TICKET LINK!

SANTA ANA, CA – 6/8
“Back 2 Basics Fest” @ The Observatory.
Sage Francis, The Pharcyde, Dilated Peoples, People Under The Stairs, Del The Funky Homosapien & more. Doors at 4pm. All ages! TICKETS.

SANTA CRUZ, CA – 7/20
Info coming soon! Sign up for our mailing list at www.StrangeFamous.com to make sure you get the announcement.

As we are celebrating the “10 Year Anniversary” of PERSONAL JOURNALS, the songs from that album will be the main focus at upcoming shows!

This blog gets updated frequently. All old show announcements have been deleted.

Follow Sage Francis on: Twitter & Facebook.

Hansen: Do me a favor and just go have a seat. What are you doing here?

Pope: I don’t know.

Hansen: You don’t know. Now…in your chat here you essentially say that you’re a Pope.

Pope: Yeah. I’m a Pope.

Hansen: Don’t you think that might impress an alter boy? What was your plan here today?

Pope: I seriously don’t know.

Hansen: Well it looks like you do based upon this chat. What made you think it was okay at 85 years old to walk into a home and use your authority as the Pope to get a 13 year old alter boy to play “confessional” with you? You know that he’s deaf, right?

Pope: Well, I wasn’t so sure he was deaf to be honest with you. But I wasn’t here to…listen, I’m here for a friend. That wasn’t me in the chat log you’re holding.

Hansen: So you’re not HitlerYouthPope1927?

Pope: Ugh. I wasn’t going to do anything. I came to check on a situation we’ve been dealing with at the Vatican.

Hansen: A Vatlileaks situation.

Pope: Yeah. What we’re dealing with here is bigger than one old man visiting one young boy. Listen, I’m not going to yank your chain. This is well beyond an isolated incident. This is a systematic problem within my organization and I’m trying to deal with it my own way. Wait…are you a police officer?

Hansen: No, I’m not a police officer. We’ll get to who I am after you explain yourself a bit. I see you brought a bag. Do you have condoms in that bag? Why am I asking that…of course you don’t.

Pope: Alright….listen.  I’m the leader of the most powerful and politically influential religion in the world. You see this pimp ass cane? See the righteous, jewel-bedazzled hat that I’m wearing? That means I’m the infallible shit. However, years ago when I was archbishop in Munich, I helped out a few serial pedophiles. Rather than refer them for prosecution I simply transferred them to other parishes. I was all like, “WWJD?”…judge not or whatever whatever. Well, as you might expect they went on to molest more boys. A lot more. Which really sucks because I did the dude a solid thinking he’d get his act together.

Hansen: Do you know how many times I hear that same story?

Pope: Do you know how many times I hear that same story? No, I know. I’m sure. But I was in charge of dealing with thousands of abuse cases on behalf of the Vatican and things just got out of control. Thankfully the Church was able to suppress the news on a lot of these cases, and it also helps that clergy priests don’t get included on sex offender lists. But now I’m stuck dealing with a whole new batch of problems and it’s the same shit! We’ve got 200 deaf boys trying to embarrass the church by ratting out a priest named Father Murphy. I should have defrocked him when I had the chance.

Hansen: Shoulda woulda coulda. But that doesn’t make it right for you to…

Pope: I know. It looks bad that I’m here and my story is all over the place but I’m just nervous right now. I’m here to confront the boy and talk some sense into him. Be a mentor, ya’ know?

Hansen: A mentor. I understand that Catholicism has a great consolidation of power and control, but here’s the problem…not everyone plays your reindeer games.

Pope: I know, I know. A lot of people are leaving the church. It’s like a mass exodus. That’s a whole other stress I’ve gotta deal with now. People don’t seem so keen on the constant guilt trips anymore, especially not when they come from such a hypocritical source. It’s got me rethinking this whole “clerical celibacy” thing. I mean…we don’t even allow masturbation and we just pulled that rule out of thin air basically. Turns out that “no sex ever” thing might make the human brain go haywire. Maybe we should go back to the way things originally were and let priests get married and have sex and, ya know…live their lives in a natural and healthy manner.

Hansen: Hey, maybe you’ll even let gay people do the same thing someday. But I’m not here to help you update your practices so that you can pretend to still be relevant. You don’t believe in evolution anyway. I just want you to know that my name is Christ Hansen. You see these cameras? We are doing a story on spiritual predators. If you have anything else to say please do, otherwise you are free to leave at any time.

Pope: Oh wow. Love your show. OK…well…just understand something. If you put this on television you will find yourself in a world of shit. I’ve already proclaimed that any criticism against me is an act of terrorism. Those are kinda the measures we need to take unfortunately.

Hansen: You’re free to leave.

Pope: Bless you.
—-
When Pope Benedict XVI exited the house he was not arrested.
He was not tackled onto the ground by overzealous cops.
He did not run.
He sauntered over to the helicopter and flew off into the sunset.
No…not into it. Over it.
Just to make sure he could live out the rest of his days the way he always enjoyed them…
Out of reach
and above the law.

——————————————————————————————————-
(c) 2013, Sage Francis

Many thanks to Redball for putting together the gif. Perverted monk photo by Anthony St. James.

You can order yours HERE.
In other news, it was Varick Pyr’s birthday yesterday. He produced the beat for “Bridle” on my A Healthy Distrust album.

Varick Pyr now goes by the name of Romero Shaw, and you can check out the work he’s doing under that moniker here.

It was also Johnny Cash’s birthday yesterday! Rather than post my “Jah Didn’t Kill Johnny” song, I’d rather share the funniest video I’ve ever seen of the man in black. Many thanks to Buck 65 for putting me onto this one.

I never held a funeral for that big part of me that died.
I need to put these thoughts to rest.
I need to find a peace of mind.
I need to piece my mind,
I need to find a piece of mind to rest in.
I need to find someone to confide in then let the rest in.
I need to start resting.
Needless to say, I couldn’t hide.
While thinking, “Grown men shouldn’t cry.”
Had I known then what I know now.
Had I thought now what I knew then…
I might still be human
with all those little stupid fix-ins.
As I fix sins and vixens vick souls,
stitch clothes for the characters they play then switch roles.
Nail me to the cross dress.
The hole-y cloth costs less.
I’d toss less if i still had your soft breasts to rest my head on.
Since you’ve been gone,
I recalled my issues with problems and hate,
but i can’t exactly remember the model or make.
Now glass bottles break in my death grip.
I’m about to take the next quick exit and end this head trip.
My bed’s stripped of its blankets, comforters, pillows and sheets,
but I might have to peel off all my skin to remove your scent in order to sleep.
I had my highs and lows.
When on top I let you peek out over my nose,
sitting on my shoulders and I suppose if I had a backbone,
you might still be here.
My skin is filthy…
from my lows when you weren’t there.
But to keep from feeling guilty,
I collected the dirt. I kept it piling up.
Now Mr. Feel Nothing saves his tears inside of a cup.
And he drinks. And he forgets that he’s an asshole.
Jealous of his ghosts and doubts he even has a soul.
My secret pleasures have my inner demons gossiping.
I’m a ghost writer for the horrorcore lyrics my personal monsters sing.
I’m sitting in a stranger’s tub…
with all my clothes on, shivering, considering the dangers of love.
They get half of what I have to give. If that.
It’s all about the packaging. They’re distracted by the gift rap.
Predictable. Easy to manipulate.
They’re foreshadow puppets and I’m waiting for their strings to break.
The pillars that once held up my halfway house have been taken out.
I’m in my last days now.
There’s a change coming soon.
I just want to crawl back into my mother’s womb.
I need a comfort zone,
but obviously I need to find another home.
To call my own. And always return to.
And I want it to be you. And I want it to be truth.
I sit and stare, zone out, think a lot and never sleep,
creating memories to remember and then I forget to eat.
Went to the street you used to live on,
stared at the bedroom window of your old home
with puppy eyes…
waiting for God to throw me a bone.
I’d settle for one more goodbye kiss
while I settle for less
I’m unsettled at best,
sulking while abandoning settlements.
Insulting my companions intelligence,
conversing with baby talk.
Practicing mind games,
rehearsing with playful thought.
It’s the way we fought that made my blood bubble
then turn cold,
when you made me walk through rain and mud puddles
on a dirt road.
it left me
so messy,
forget me…not.
I’ve got more mud to sling…
“shot through the heart, and you’re to blame, you give love a baaaaad naaaaaaame.”
—————————–

Sage Francis, “PITCHERS OF SILENCE” off of the Personal Journals album.

Click the pic. Clicka da pic!!!

These Sage Francis hoodies are now available in Kelly Green here: www.tinyurl.com/SAGEGreenZip

Here’s the back of the hoodie:

There’s a war going on inside nobody’s safe from.

BACK:

Click the picture!

The Personal Journals album is available on MP3, CD & vinyl (SIGNED) here: www.tinyurl.com/PersonalJournals

The video:

*UPDATE 1/15/13
Thanks to the Ubuntu song/fundraiser, the kids were taken out shopping for school gear last weekend! They are incredibly grateful for all your help and support. So am I. The next thing we’re going to do is get their roof fixed. For now, check em out lookin’  Durban fresh.

*UPDATE 12/28/12
So far we have raised $3,672.81!!! Instead of one single bed, the kids now have TWO separate bunk beds. Once the holidays are completely over, a person has been commissioned to fix their roof and other faulty items in their house. This is all thanks to the help of my friends Iain and Karen Robinson, who are facilitating everything for us on the ground in Durban.We’ll continue to raise money, put it toward the bare essentials, school supplies, medical care and whatever else we can. The kids are incredibly grateful. This was a great holiday for them thanks to your generosity.

As many of you know, there are millions (if not billions) of people who live in abject poverty in this world. Because of this, children are needlessly dying of preventable diseases. Some of these unfortunate kids may live next door to you. Some may live in a neighboring state. I just so happened to fall in love with this particular family while I was in South Africa and I’m in a position to make a lot of people aware of their story as we work to improve the situation. So that’s what I’m doing. To be sure, these kids represent a much larger contingent that deserves more attention. My aim is to reach the folks who are willing and able to provide that support, all while raising awareness about an issue that is often ignored by the media. I found myself wondering how I could do this. Since music is my craft, I did my best to do it through song. After facilitating a small circle of logistic support, and finagling a way to get the money to the kids as directly as possible, that’s exactly what I did. And that’s when other people came into play to help out…like you. The funds will continue to be raised and work will continue to be done. I’ll post updates as this campaign goes on. THANK YOU.

THE FULL BACKGROUND STORY and Song Lyrics:
I have thought about these children every single day since being acquainted with them almost two years ago, I decided that I can no longer sit on this song. In January of 2011 I visited Durban, South Africa to help mentor and provide care for HIV-infected children. For me, it was a crash course education on their situation, culture, history, and various forms of treatment (or lack there of.) With a reported 5.6 million people living with HIV, South Africa has the highest HIV infection rate in the world. That is mainly due to misinformation propagated by the government as well as the people’s lack of access to education and proper medical care. With so many people dying of AIDS in this area, many children are often left to fend for themselves in overcrowded “orphanages”, many of which have no electricity or running water according to what I witnessed.