Contents: Stream complete edited versions of The White Witch Jungle Stomp and Like A Child Crucified. Also a Kansas City Blue clip (a new version with piano solo and music video scheduled for November 2021), plus 4 other Song Clips, Album Credits and the Lyrics to On A Mission.

Singles Edits

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DC Collard On A Mission
(Album Credits)


It’s taken me 59 years on this planet to commit to my own album - commitment being one of the many issues missionary kids struggle with throughout their adult lives. This album attempts to deal with a number of these, including: fear, faith, love, childhood separation, grief and anger; and that great survival technique, numbed emotions. I was born in Malaysia and lived the first 10 years of my life there - I wouldn’t change that for the world, except for what came next . . . 

Words and Music by DC Collard ©️ Black Dream Music 

Painting by Becky Almond ©️ Rebecca Calhoun 

Album design by DC Collard, with photographs (left to right) from Barrie Cadogan, Fred Collard, Andrew Dyer and Carol Barton 

And thanks to Wayne Boyter for “our” Gibson Les Paul - the only guitar I played on this album 

Pete Richards for “tiger eyes” 

Paris and London for the occasional bark! 

Recorded and mixed at WWJ Studios by DC Collard 

Mastered at Dr Caw Recording by Caw and DC Collard 

Everything you hear I performed and recorded myself - and, for the most part, each track is a complete start-to-finish performance, which means at times imperfect but hopefully capturing a natural spontaneity that will make this record come alive for you. It follows, therefore, that all errors lyrically, musically and technically are mine alone. 

With thanks and love to my Chefoo tribe; my parents, long gone from this world; my sister, Anne; my brothers in The The; and all those who took time to critique and encourage - you know who you are. 

Finally, this album would not exist without Kiki, Blaize and Bond xxx 

DC Collard, Chicago 2019

DC Collard On A Mission (Lyrics)

Words and Music by DC Collard ©️ Black Dream Music 

 

Part One 

Careless Children Theme (The Arrival) 

Negligent, remiss, irresponsible 
Reckless, foolhardy, devil-may-care 
Negligent, remiss, irresponsible 
Reckless, foolhardy, devil-may-care 
Negligent, remiss, irresponsible 
Reckless, foolhardy, devil-may-care 
Careless children, care-less children, care less children . . . 

The White Witch Jungle Stomp 

From mountain tops her fingers creep 
Down through the trees as children sleep 
She hears their longing, thoughts forlorn 
As dreams are stolen by the dawn 

Their eyes all share both fear and love 
Her tendrils snake down from above 
They cry, We see the White Witch now 
There's pain and joy across their brow 

The sun has come to take her place 
Of the White Witch there is no trace 
She's crawled back up the mountainside 
Into the clouds where she'll reside 
Until another night rolls in 
Until another dawn begins 
Enjoy this day, dear children all 
For what awaits we dare not call 

The White Witch Jungle Stomp 
The White Witch Jungle Stomp 
All you kids from six to ninety-three 
Do the White Witch Jungle Stomp with me 

The White Witch Jungle Stomp 
The White Witch Jungle Stomp 
All you kids from six to ninety-three 
Do the White Witch Jungle Stomp 

Come one come all it's time to play 
A brand new game for this fine day 
In darkness we will make you see 
The path to light comes with a fee 

Beneath the desks and curtain scrim 
Blindfolded child on hand and limb 
Do you remember Halloween? 
The touch of things that made you scream 

The White Witch Jungle Stomp  
The White Witch Jungle Stomp  
All you kids from six to ninety-three  
Do the White Witch Jungle Stomp with me  

The White Witch Jungle Stomp  
The White Witch Jungle Stomp  
All you kids from six to ninety-three  
Do the White Witch Jungle Stomp

The moral of this tale's unclear 
Emotions mixed with love and fear 
The White Witch will be ever there 
Her breath a fragrance of cool air 
She'll catch your soul and leave you bare 
Defenseless to her harm or care 
You can decide which hand's for you 
The dance is yours, now take it to . . . 

The White Witch Jungle Stomp  
The White Witch Jungle Stomp  
All you kids from six to ninety-three  
Do the White Witch Jungle Stomp with me  

The White Witch Jungle Stomp  
The White Witch Jungle Stomp  
All you kids from six to ninety-three  
Do the White Witch Jungle Stomp
Do the White Witch Jungle Stomp 
Do the White Witch Jungle Stomp 

Dance on, dance on 
Come on everyone 
Dance on, dance on 
Down from Chefoo to Brinchang 

(in the White Witch Jungle . . . Stomp) 

Dance on, dance on 
In your jungle home 
Dance on, dance on 
Are you ever alone 
Ever alone, ever alone? 

(in the White Witch Jungle . . . Stomp) 
(in the White Witch Jungle . . . Stomp) 
(in the White Witch Jungle . . . 
Do the White Witch Jungle Stomp) 

Like a Child Crucified 

Like a child crucified, I buckle in my seat 
On a plane to foreign lands 
On a journey of deceit 
Like a child crucified, I focus on the pain 
Then numb myself to everything 
So nothing hurts again 

How am I supposed to live 
In this foreign land? (England) 
How am I supposed to give 
With nothing in my hand? 
How will I count the ways 
That say I am still loved? (no love) 
All alone 
So far away from home (so far away) 

Like a child crucified, I buckled in my seat 
On a plane to foreign lands 
On a journey of deceit 
Like a child crucified, I focused on the pain 
Then numbed myself to everything 
So nothing hurt again

(Malaysia is my home) 
Father, how I miss you 
Mother, where are you now? 
(Malaysia is my home) 
Father, how I love you 
Mother, can you feel me now? 
(Malaysia is my home 
Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . 
Yeah, yeah, yeah) 

I no longer ask these questions 
I no longer look for love (no love) 
I just keep rolling forward 
Like a robot in a crowd 
My mind ever empty 
My heart hard as rock (cold heart) 
Tears are dry, the streaks a crust 
There's nothing left to shock (nothing left for . . .) 

A mindless boy-machine 
Moving through this life 
Give me something I can feel 
Something that is real 
Yeah, something I can feel that's real 

Like a child crucified, I buckle in my seat 
On a plane to foreign lands 
On a journey of deceit 
Like a child crucified, I focus on the pain 
Then numb myself to everything 
So nothing hurts again 

Like a child crucified, 
(Mother, behold your son) I buckled in my seat 
On a plane to foreign lands 
On a journey of deceit 
Like a child crucified, 
(Father, why have you forsaken me?) I focused on the pain 
Then numbed myself to everything 
So nothing hurt again 
(It is finished!) 

Dirge Time 

. . . and yet life carries on . . . 
Time passing by without rhyme 
Or reason 

Kansas City Blue 

It's early mornin' and I'm on the road 
Haulin' hard south with a heavy load 
It ain't a weight measured by the pound 
That ton of trouble buried way under ground 

Down down down under ground 
Down down down under ground 
Down down down under ground 
Down down down under ground 
Kansas City Blue 

I'm clawin' on up through rock and through dirt 
Gotta breathe in clean air to breathe out the hurt 
Now feelin' the sun wash over my face 
Though some memories I just can't erase, from 

Down down down under ground 
Down down down under ground 
Down down down under ground 
Down down down under ground 
Down down Kansas City Blue 

I've rolled in some filth, lain on freshly-cut grass 
I wallow in the truth of my checkered past 
But now it's time for me to rise 
Yes, it is time for me to rise 

Kansas City here I come 
Kansas City here I come 
Kansas City here I come 
Kansas City here I come 

You know it's where the Count spent some years 
He rose above those heartaches and fears 
Hate broke his fingers but never never 
Never broke his soul 

Kansas City here I come 
Kansas City here I come 
Kansas City here I come 
Kansas City here I come 

So look up now and you will see 
He's smilin' down on you and me 
He's smilin' down on you and me 
He's smilin' down on Kansas City (Blue) 

Down down down under ground 
Down down down under ground 
Down down down under ground 
Down down down under ground 
Down down down under ground 
Down down down under ground 
Down down down under ground 
Down down down under ground 
Down down 
Down down Kansas City Blue 

A Silent Scream! 

(Have you ever yearned for) something you have lost? 
(Have you ever cried out) I just can't count the cost! 
Maybe I should try to walk that path again 
The one I trod so long before without fear or shame 

I know this place, I see its face 
I hear the sounds and feel its power 
Like water falls in deafening roar 
A tiger stalks the jungle floor 
I hold its gaze and say it's name 
Into the dream's dissolving shower 
Find me there alone and free
Take my hand and walk with me 

A silent scream crawls up my throat 
I force it back before I choke 
I'm longing for that dream to be 
The answer in reality 
A silent scream crawls up my throat 
I force it back before I choke 
I'm longing for my dream to be 
The answer in reality 
A silent scream! 

A silent . . . scream 

To facilitate this need in me 
I must return to where I'm from 
And there unearth the buried truth 
That I've ignored for far too long 

Have you ever yearned (have you ever yearned for) 
Have you ever cried (have you ever cried out) 
Can I forgive? Can I forget? 
Can I accept? Or just deflect 
This smoldering flame year after year 
This numbing pain I hold so dear 

A silent scream crawls up my throat 
I force it back before I choke 
I'm longing for that dream to be 
The answer in reality 
A silent scream crawls up my throat 
I force it back before I choke 
I'm longing for that dream to be 
The answer in reality 
(Can I forgive? Can I forget? 
Can I accept? Or just deflect 
This smoldering flame year after year 
This numbing pain I hold so dear) 
A silent scream crawls up my throat 
I force it back before I choke 
I'm longing for my dream to be 
The answer in reality 
A silent scream 
A silent scream 
A silent scream! 

Part Two   

(Do not adjust your device)   

Back from the Dead   

Been away a long time now   
In mind and heart, body and soul   
My brain just ran a flat line through   
All the things I once knew   

Zipping through the streets of life   
A no-emotion automaton   
In vain hopes of avoiding a crash   
I never found that overpass!   

Now   
Back from the dead   
Blood pounding in my head   
I'm burning up, baby   
Can't remember, can't forget   
Back from the dead   
I feel a beat in my heart   
A rhythm spark to light a path   
Before I fall apart . . . again   
Back from the dead   

Three things I knew for sure   
The silent beat, no music to near death   
Running away from the clawing past   
And facing fears of something that will last   

Now   
Back from the dead   
Blood pounding in my head   
I'm burning up, baby   
Can't remember, can't forget   
Back from the dead   
I'm moving on ahead   
Living in the present now   
And living easy on the edge   
Living easy on the edge   
Back from the dead   
Back from the dead   

Back . . . From . . . The dead   
Back . . . From . . . The dead   
Back . . . From . . . The dead   
Back . . . From . . . The dead   

Living easy on the edge   
Back from the dead   
Back from the dead   

Beware: Mission Statement   

Your mission statement is all out of date, mate   
So time to review, write a new set of rules   
You're punch-drunk and you're sprawled out on the pavement   
Ha! Bloodied and bruised from us world-weary fools   

It's time to give you a run for your money   
It's time to quit cutting you so much slack   
I'm not really sure what you believe in any more   
But sure as hell it ain't the way to give back!   

Negligent, remiss, irresponsible   
Reckless, foolhardy, devil-may-care   
How can words like these ever be appropriate   
When there are children at large in the jungle mountain air!   

Your mission statement is all out of date, mate   
So time to review, write a new set of rules   
You're punch-drunk and you're sprawled out on the pavement   
Ha! Bloodied and bruised from us world-weary fools   

We're pounding our fists on the jungle floor   
Then digging a hole in the ground   
We'll either bury ourselves or bury you there   
'Cause something’s gotta give in this one-tiger town   

It's time to pick yourselves up, stagger home from the pub   
Make amends to the wife, even beg for your life   
Then you remember she's been long gone, and you're in the wrong   
Your children once again have been left alone all night   
(Left alone all right, left alone all night) left alone   
Day and night for years and years and years . . .   

Your mission statement is all out of date, mate   
So time to review, write a new set of rules   
You're punch-drunk and you're sprawled out on the pavement   
Ha! Bloodied and bruised from us world-weary fools   

Your mission statement is all out of date, mate   
So time to review, write a new set of rules   
You're punch-drunk and you're sprawled out on the pavement   
Ha! Bloodied and bruised from us world-weary fools   

Bloodied and bruised are we, world-weary fools   
Bloodied and bruised are we, world-weary fools   
Beware!   

Vision 2022   

Butterflies with tiger eyes   
In a dream or nightmare   
Only we can decide   
Where the snakes are spirits   
Yellow, green or blue   
In a rainforest paradise made for me and you   

Monkey cups filled to their brims   
Watch the White Witch coming   
See how she skims   
Over jungle-tops as we taste her dew   
It's the garden of eden 2022   

I don't know what's going on   
In this world anymore   
Can we fix the stuff that's wrong?   
I only know one thing for sure   
I want to be 2022   

Take me back to where I'm from   
Lay me down in the tropical sun   
Shoot me up with a blowpipe dart   
I'll hallucinate my life from the start   
Then I will face the shadows of the past   
And make my peace with you at last   
In the garden of eden 2022   
I'll give my life back to you   
In my Vision 2022   

I don't know what's going on   
In this world anymore   
Can we fix the stuff that's wrong?   
I only know one thing for sure   
I want to be 2022   
Yes, I want to be . . .   

Vision 2022   
In my Vision 2022   
Vision 2022   

I don't know what's going on   
In this world anymore   
Can we fix the stuff that's wrong?   
I only know one thing for sure   

I don't know what's going on (I want to be)   
In this world anymore (for sure)   
Can we fix the stuff that's wrong? (I want to be)   
I only know one thing for sure (for sure)   

I don't know what's going on (I want to be)   
In this world anymore (for sure)   
Can we fix the stuff that's wrong? (I want to be)   
I only know one thing for sure (for sure)   
I want to be 2022   
Yes, I want to be 2022 (2022)   

Vision 2022   
In my Vision 2022   
Vision 2022   

Vision 2022   
In my Vision 2022   
Vision 2022   

End of the Tunnel   

Is there light at the end of the tunnel?   
Are there any straight roads up ahead?   
Will I find you in this life or another?   
Will you hold me in your arms again?   

In your house, is there good all about you?   
Is evil knocking at your front door?   
Will I find my way home through the crisscross of streets   
And circles that keep turning me around?   

Is there light at the end of the tunnel?   
Are there any straight roads up ahead?   
Will I find you in this life or another?   
Will you hold me in your arms once again?   

I want to believe there is something more   
I'm living the best way I know how   
I just long for a place where I can be safe   
And never be left to the wind (and the rain)   

When I'm there at the end of the tunnel   
And looking into your brilliant eyes   
I'll finally see this journey has been   
A way through the pain and love of this world   

To the light at the end of the tunnel   
To that clear straightaway ahead   
I'll find you in this life or another for sure   
And hold you in my arms again   
Hold you in my arms   
Hold you in my arms   
I will hold you in my arms once again   

Reprisal?   

Negligent, remiss, irresponsible   
Reckless, foolhardy, devil-may-care   
Negligent, remiss, irresponsible   
Reckless, foolhardy, devil-may-care   
Negligent, remiss, irresponsible   
Reckless, foolhardy, devil-may-care   

Careless Children   
Crucified Kansas City   
Blue as a Silent Scream:   
Back from the Dead, Beware   
Mission Tunnel Vision   
The White Witch Jungle   
Could Stomp on you!   

Careless Children Theme (The Return)   

The White Witch Jungle   
(The White Witch Jungle)   
Could Stomp on you . . .      

The End