#24: Heavy is the Crown

I grew up with The Beatles who never wrote the same song twice. It's fun watching young people do reaction videos on YouTube because they'll listen to "Eleanor Rigby" followed by "Helter Skelter" followed by "Octopus's Garden." What kind of band can do this?


Consequently, I never thought of "styles" of music growing up. To me, all music is good music if the music is good. Which leads to this week's song, Heavy is the Crown. It was inspired by all the strong men around the world, now and in history, who grab as much power as they can, "they think that power lasts forever."


And the phrase "heavy is the crown" kept popping into my head. You think you have everything you want, but once you get all that power, how do you keep it? And what new problems arise once you have it? You become both king and target.


I did some research on power hungry mad men and found Caligula, who built a statue to himself in the worship centers and put his horse in the Senate. And the song came to me almost immediately, along with -- and now I'm back to the Beatles again -- a techno dance beat. It was the only thing that fit. So "Beatle Steve," as Gavin calls me when we busk in Central Park, is veering from his usual piano/vocal vibe and hitting the dance floor.


Let's dance into the apocalypse together!

Heavy is the Crown
©2025 by Steve Schalchlin

Caligula came tumbling down
Heavy is the crown X2

V1
Gold embroidered purple robes
Precious jewels, a golden laurel
From his famous floating bridge
The water shines in candle light

V2
Four white horses thundering hooves
A goblet spilling royal wine
A taste that fed his fever to
The Senate’s final bloody night

CH
But Caligula came tumbling down
Heavy is the crown x2

V3
On Palantine in marble halls
Footsteps echo, smoky incense,
The Forum, colors, banners, noise
Gladiators, mangled limbs

V4
At the temple to the gods
Built a statue to himself
Oil lamps, gold leaf, sacrifices
Virgin whores, unholy hymns

CH
But Caligula came tumbling down
Heavy is the crown

BRIDGE
Contemporary emperors
Dancing on their empty yachts
Grasping on with greedy hands
Ruling from their ivory tower
They think that power lasts forever

CH
But Caligula came tumbling down
Heavy is the crown


Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/us/album/heavy-is-the-crown-feat-steve-schalchlin-single/1795999699
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/track/2osUyYvy5qMc8yXLKbFEN4?si=387f33a97cfc4425
Amazon Music
https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0DWLTBGP9?marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&musicTerritory=US&ref=dm_sh_I7VqQOie591yzwnAlgytBKDXo&trackAsin=B0DWLT45Y2
YouTube Music
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lV1iDwopoIy7iUB6fnLCkqHCu01PJGSjc&si=48XK3zXeTRUMujCO


And don't forget March 7th. It's selling out. Reserve your tickets now!
https://shows.donttellmamanyc.com/8788-steve-schachlin-friends-3-7-2


You are free to stream the songs but purchasing them is the best way to support independent artists such as myself. Or if you have the means, you can make a small donation through PayPal or Venmo using my email address: steveshack@gmail.com.


And please share this with friends!


[This is the hand-crafted, no-AI, non-bot newsletter of Steve Schalchlin. If you wish to be removed from the list, send me an email. If someone sent you this and you want to be added, write me at steveshack@gmail.com]--

Steve Schalchlin

Living in the Bonus Round


Spotify Links

2024 Songs https://tinyurl.com/3su9t85m

Love Songs by Steve Schalchlin https://tinyurl.com/stevelovesongs

Personal Songs by Steve Schalchlin https://tinyurl.com/stevepersonal

Comic/Humor Songs by Steve Schalchlin https://tinyurl.com/stevehumor

Inspirational Songs by Steve Schalchlin https://tinyurl.com/steveinspire

Meditation Music by Steve Schalchlin https://tinyurl.com/stevemeditate

Political Songs by Steve Schalchlin https://tinyurl.com/stevepolitics

Rebel Nerd Songs - lyrics by Steve Schalchlin

https://tinyurl.com/steverebelnerd

#23: Valentine's and Going It Alone

This week, Charlie Viehl (on violin), and I were honored to sing for a group of women writers and authors with Three Tomatoes Book Publishing's remarkable leader Cheryl Benton, who has published remarkable memoirs, novels, books of essays and biographies. Mostly of women but not exclusively.
https://www.thethreetomatoespublishing.com/

Charlie and I were blatantly promoting our show on March 7th, of course. But I personally love the gift of having a violin playing along with me, especially Charlie. I'm hoping to expose him to more musicians and performers and musical directors because he's talented, he's fast and he's a real pro with a sweet, cooperative disposition.

This being Valentine's week, I'm going to link to one of the most popular songs from The Last Session, "Going It Alone." Not a traditional love song.

In fact, when I started writing it, it was meant to be a battle song about the war inside my body as I fought HIV, but then, in that early morning hour., I heard Jim stir in the other room asleep. And I thought, "I know what I'm going through, but what must it feel like for him? To be on the outside looking in, feeling helpless and watching someone you love fade away?"

And that's when it turned into "Going It Alone."

There are a number of excellent renditions of this from various casts for which you can search online.

But I've chosen the one I recorded for a CD called "The Bonus Round Sessions." This is partially a album I made in almost a single hour back 25 years ago, sitting at a piano playing and singing live with no pitch adjustments or do-overs.

(I had only enough money to rent the studio for an hour.) It also contains most of the original demos for The Last Session using members of the cast of the first staged reading, including Chip Esten, recently the star of the TV show Nashville.

If you have someone special, do something extra special for them this week. If you don't, then find someone else who might be alone and could just use a friend. Share the love.

GOING IT ALONE
Music & Lyrics by Steve Schalchlin

Though you’ve been a rock for me to stand on
Beside me every moment of the fight
Even though you make it so much better
When I go to sleep at night

The fight that I am fighting is my own
And it feels as though I’m going it alone

Now and then my friends take me to dinner
And tell me how they’re with me all the way
They lean across the table and they
Say they’re thinking of me

Then they take the bill so
I don’t have to pay

And they tell me they’re so proud of how I’ve grown
And they say they know I’m going it alone

But is it such a lonely battle?
Have I been so wrapped up in myself?
What about what you’ve been through as well?
Do you lie awake and worry
Never falling back to sleep?
Are you going through some private kind of hell?

Do you also feel you’re out there on your own?
Do you feel as though you’re going it alone?

Do you lie awake and worry, never falling back to sleep?
Have I put you through some private kind of hell?
I’d have to read your mind to even tell

Just before I turn to go to sleep
I brush a little hair back from your eye
Suddenly the loneliness I felt just melts away
And I smile because I know the reason why

Can we really say we’re out there on our own
Can we really say we’re out there on our own
When together we’ve been going it alone
When together we’ve been going it alone

©1996 by See No Evil Music/Lil Shack O Tunes (ASCAP)

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/track/1y18S4tGWHOG05mqu5ekYx?si=4927ca2e026d4c76

Amazon Music:
https://music.amazon.com/albums/B01BIUT0RO?marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&musicTerritory=US&ref=dm_sh_pQ7eJd7jabmpsX1CFH0PgM8oG&trackAsin=B01BIUT41Q

Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/going-it-alone/1082085482?i=1082085646

YouTube Music:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn7zuS16fZo&si=jygkIiD_ARBl2PeP

#22: My Surgical New York Life

Two great pieces of news today. One, my surgery went quickly, successfully and almost painlessly. As you read this, they'll be pulling the stitches out. I don't know if I'll get that fierce pirate scar I was hoping for because the surgeon was really good, but that's how it goes.

Two, Blake Zolfo and I made a successful studio recording of a tricky song that works so well in person. Tricky because it has a LOT of subtle humor that requires timing and context.


Here is the video of us performing it this past year at a party at Jane Goldman's home. You'll see exactly what I'm talking about. Blake is such a skilled entertainer, watch him find every moment of humor and pathos. Seriously, people are screaming with laughter before crying their eyes out.
https://youtu.be/LHkVLPHTb6A?si=4zfayQGQnf0J_4xf


Knowing we couldn't reproduce that in a studio without audience feedback, I instead worked out a full orchestral arrangement. I confess I'm really proud of it. I hope you'll add it to your playlists.


And don't forget! Blake will join me for our one show only! March 7 at 7pm at Don't Tell Mama here in NYC. Tickets: https://shows.donttellmamanyc.com/8788-steve-schachlin-friends-3-7-2


My New York Life
Words & Music by Steve Schalchlin


Down on 42nd street they built a new hotel
With cruise ship cabin-sized Japanese pods
The sign out front is purple
And the halls inside are purple
And the bar is serving nectar from the gods

Just across 10th avenue the sandwich shop is closed
The sign out front says taxes are still owed
And the sign out out front is yellow
Like the cabs out front are yellow
As they fight for strong positions on the road

And though you think I do not know
Each night when I do a show
I can actually see your cell phone glow

This is my New York life / This is my New York life
This is my glamorous New York life
This is my New York life / This is my New York life
My glamorous New York life

Now I work at Equinox
Front desk guy at Equinox
Last month I almost paid my rent on time
And the tourists come from Asia
Cuz the money's all in Asia
So the Broadway shows don't even try to rhyme


A subway virtuoso plays
Songs that have seen better days
How I wish I known the Village in its prime


This is my New York life / This is my New York life
This is my glamorous New York life
This is my New York life / This is my New York life
My glamorous New York life


And they're building castles facing Jersey
Cuz it's such an honor facing Jersey
And rain pours down from misty skies
And some kid surfs a subway train and dies

Up on 42nd street I hear the scream of sirens
The homeless are almost swept away
The grocery stores are closing up
The mom and pops are dying out
But I can get a hot dog any time of day

And I love my neighbors at this bar
Where we’re all just who we are
Some I don’t know
Some I do
But long before the night through
Someone has to play the Broadway star

Cuz everyone in town’s a Broadway star
Or thinks they are

This is my New York life / This is my New York life
This is my glamorous New York life

And all my books are on my phone
And all my friends are home alone
This is my glamorous New York life


Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/track/3jiJOBbPb9WF5Y3aABHtPp?si=a6c9040a8e354798

Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/my-new-york-life-feat-bonus-round-band-steve-schalchlin/1792853791

YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=O0EwCWQEa3Y&si=rOG_8M9fWVzlojWw

Amazon Music:
https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0DV3Z5S9S?marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&musicTerritory=US&ref=dm_sh_0XvzrKTf7sKxTS48WYqXDMf1





As always, I'm happy if you stream the songs but purchasing them on Apple or Amazon is the best way to support independent artists such as myself. Or if you have the means, make a small donation through PayPal or Venmo using my email address: steveshack@gmail.com.


And please share this with friends!


[This is the hand-crafted, no-AI, non-bot newsletter of Steve Schalchlin. If you wish to be removed from the list, send me an email. If someone sent you this and you want to be added, write me at steveshack@gmail.com]--



Steve Schalchlin

Living in the Bonus Round







Spotify Links

2024 Songs https://tinyurl.com/3su9t85m

Love Songs by Steve Schalchlin https://tinyurl.com/stevelovesongs

Personal Songs by Steve Schalchlin https://tinyurl.com/stevepersonal

Comic/Humor Songs by Steve Schalchlin https://tinyurl.com/stevehumor

Inspirational Songs by Steve Schalchlin https://tinyurl.com/steveinspire

Meditation Music by Steve Schalchlin https://tinyurl.com/stevemeditate

Political Songs by Steve Schalchlin https://tinyurl.com/stevepolitics

Rebel Nerd Songs - lyrics by Steve Schalchlin

https://tinyurl.com/steverebelnerd