Comes in a 4 panel Eco Wallet. Photography by Bill King and Graphic Design by Shandy Kern
Includes unlimited streaming of Outside The Box
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 10 days
$15CADor more
about
O, Maximus! is my favourite tune on the whole record. I am really proud of the whole record, but I am especially proud of this particular tune, from start to finish. The smoky Jazz feel is just gorgeous, vulnerable and sensitive, and the band plays beautifully throughout the whole tune.
I also think that this song has my best guitar playing on the whole record, especially the guitar solo. O, Maximus! and the whole of Outside the Box is my way paying tribute to my mentor Brian Cober, who invented Double Slide Guitar in 1971. Brian passed away in 2016, and without him, this record wouldn’t exist. On the whole record, but especially on this song, I think I’ve done Brian proud.
Lyrically, this tune is a think piece about queer oppression. While it’s a work of fiction set in ancient Rome, in many parts of the world, what the song talks about - government oppression and destruction of queer relationships and the suicide that often results from it - is still very much the reality for many queer people today. That’s why it was so important for me to write this song: it looks at our queer past, but also our queer present. This song is my contribution to the fight for a better world for queer people.
lyrics
Lyrics:
The air was strangely fragrant
When you first came to me
Pregnant with perceptions
Of possibilities
O Maximus,
You loved me every day
O Maximus,
You loved me every way
You loved me every way
And in clandestine darkness
I felt you cling to me
Longing for your touch,
I hungered to be free
O Maximus,
You gave your heart that day
O Maximus,
I loved you every way
I loved you every way
Yes I did, boy
And in the holy Senate,
They propagated lies
Tried to break our bonds,
And sentenced you to die
And when they read the verdict,
I wept upon the floor
Begged them for their mercy
To sunder bonds no more
Ecce, O Senate Romane!
Ecce, O Senatores Romae!
Ecce homo, Proditor Romae Totae,
Maximus Decimus Vero,
Nunc condemnatus mori!
And in the Coliseum
I tied you to the post
With sell swords at my neck
I extinguished every hope
O Maximus,
I took your life that day
O Maximus,
I'm crying every day
O Maximus,
I give my love today
O Maximus,
I give my life today
credits
from Outside The Box,
track released January 14, 2022
Produced By: Chris Birkett and Mike Nagoda
Engineered and Mixed By: Chris Birkett
Mastered By: Chris Birkett and Jacob McCauley
Performed By Mike Nagoda and the Spectrum Blues Band:
Mike Nagoda- Acoustic and Electric Double Slide Guitar, Vocals
With virtuosic guitar-playing and evocative singing, Carl “Buffalo” Nichols returns Black stories to folk and blues. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 9, 2021
Imposing, echo-drenched, and soulful, James Apollo’s “accidental live record” captures the singer at the peak of his powers. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 15, 2016
The second album by French-Moroccan power quartet Bab L' Bluz is packed with dizzying melodies and rich instrumentation. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 14, 2024
