Lullaby

“Listen to the angels’ scream.
‘Round your body cages rust.
So warm the venom in your veins,
You are there.

Are you ready to dream, my sweet boy?
Are you ready to dream, my sweet child?
Come with me and taste your flesh, boy.
Are you ready to sleep?

Do you wanna have a dream or two?
Do you wanna have a dream or two?
Do you wanna have a dream or two?
I don’t.
No, I don’t.

You will see the end of me
Taking your virginity.
So cute the worms inside your head.
Don’t be scared, don’t be scared.

Do you wanna have a dream or two?
Do you wanna have a dream or two?
Do you wanna have a dream or two?
I don’t.
No, I don’t, no!

Aah, aah… Aah, aah, aah, ooh…
No… have… eeh… ehh…
No… I have… wanna have… ooh… uuh…
…You’ll have a dream, you’ll have a dream…
…You’ll have, have a dream or…
…You wanna have a… a dream or two…”

[ Lullaby – Leandra ]

Fun fact: I risked missing my train to shoot this photo, but boy, was it worth it!

I’m not entirely sure if the idea for this photo predates or not that for a Morphine project as a whole, but of one thing I’m sure: since the first time I pictured it in my head, I knew I wanted Knajfer Wintermere to pose with me for this one. Also, it was one of the first ideas I came up with in regards of graphical depictions of Leandra’s music.

Let’s just say the basic idea, though, because what you can see was sort of improvised on the spot while we were shooting. Most of the things I had originally planned are there: Knajfer looking frightened as in a waking nightmare with his brain bleeding out of his nose; black clothes; a dimly lit, grungy background; and then me putting said waking nightmare in his head. In my original idea, though, I was just supposed to stand behind him with my hands on his head, kind of squeezing the nightmare into his mind like some sort of Incubus or mythological creature.

Then, while we were shooting, it dawned on me: this song is literally a lullaby – a very twisted, unsettling one; also, there’s something creepily sexy about it. What if I actually leaned down and started whispering it into my victim’s ear those words in a creepy-slash-sexy way? Boom! I tried it, I stood up, I looked at the camera miniscreen and there it was, the very photo I wanted. A reminder that no matter how much I plan a photo, when sudden gusts of inspiration hit, I just grab and inject them into the blend.

And so, here we are, it’s Wednesday, December 2nd 2015. Tomorrow is the day. The funny thing is, I have another Inspiration Hurts photo coming out after “the big deal”, but I’m scared to death of going on and then taking them. You too, be prepared, because they’re probably going to shock you – especially if you’ve been following me for some years now.

See you tomorrow, dearies.