Amen II
(by Uncle Teddy)
The Libertine Bar near 1st St. / Washinton St.
A band from Globe performing in a bar on the ground floor of the Korricks department store building from 1914.
The Libertine Bar near 1st St. / Washinton St.
A band from Globe performing in a bar on the ground floor of the Korricks department store building from 1914.
Realistically, we stated our thesis with the antepenultimate track. This audio is from a band out of Globe performing at a bar near 1st St. and Washington during Tuesday night trivia. Globe is a mining town, like Duncan, Safford, and Miami (traditionally pronounced maɪ-mə or MY-muh). Many of the mines ran out by the mid 20th Century, but the towns have carried on and, when necessary, begun to find other ways to propel themselves into the future. One of the most awe-inspiring places in Arizona is the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum, established in 1924 along Queen Creek where it passes Picket Post Mountain, outside Superior. Some of the trees here are now surpassing 100 years in age, and they are incredible to witness. In late 2025, massive flooding damaged many of the towns in this region and they are actively trying to rebuild. Meanwhile, the same rains bring relief in Downtown Phoenix, where October still delivers stiflingly high temperatures. Outside this bar, there is one of those built-up decks jutting out into the street from the sidewalk. One of the ones where you can tell there used to be parking spaces underneath—the ones restaurants were allowed to build during COVID in order to expand their outdoor seating. Sitting at these tables, watching traffic roll by like a tumbleweed, a man approaches. It’s a poet, Eric Hamilton, who lives in the area. He prints his verses on paper that looks like a scroll because he shares wisdom that goes back thousands of years, but he won’t tell you that—you have to recognize it. The building in front of us was first opened in 1914 as Korricks department store, a brand built up starting in 1895 by a trio of brothers from Grodno, near the Polish border in modern-day Belarus. The building is now an office tower with a cafe, restaurants, and other small businesses on the ground floor. It’s unassuming, but for the people who work there every day—it’s home. Phoenix is similar, absent the characteristics of a modern city, but for those who call it home—especially those who have called it home since beyond history, there’s no place like it. Even for those who only pass through, it becomes a moving memory, like a mirage—like the shifting sands of the Sonoran Desert. Some people come here to fall in love, others come to die, still more come to find themselves—hopefully not tangled up with a cholla. The Valley of the Sun leaves a lasting impression on every one of us, like the petroglyphs baking in the heat for five thousand years. If anything is certain, this Valley and its people will persist, no matter what comes. The same should be said for the city’s music. This record is by no means a comprehensive collection, but we hope that it serves as medium to engage the listener with the historic sites and sounds of Downtown Phoenix. The band’s name in this recording is a reference to Teddy Roosevelt—26th President of the United States, born to a wealthy family in New York City—in 1911as president, he authorized the creation of the Roosevelt Dam in the Superstition Mountains to prevent flooding in the Salt River Valley. Thus, much of Phoenix’s development over the years owes him a dam debt of gratitude, and Phoenicians maintain a unique affection towards him. The instruments used in this recording are a pair of gyil—wooden keyboard instruments from Ghana—which the band purchased on Amazon.com and learned to play through books and YouTube videos.
(Some of the information in these liner notes is fictional, presented here in the attempt of satire)
(Some of the information in these liner notes is fictional, presented here in the attempt of satire)
LYRICS
"For me, mistakes have been anything that didn’t turn out as I intended. Decisions that I made, things that I did that went wrong. But there is beauty in our mistakes, and anything beautiful cannot be entirely wrong. The beautiful thing about mistakes is that, from the perspective of other people, your mistakes may just be the very things that make you who you are."
Chicken, baby, on my breast
Honey, let me taste your thigh
We can both take wing
They can play their drums all night
But I’ll never know, sugar
Where I can go
‘Til I speak your name
‘Til I speak your name
Amen, amen
Amen, amen
Amen
Chicken, baby, on my breast
Honey, let me taste your thigh
We can both take wing
They can play their drums all night
But I’ll never know, sugar
Where I can go
‘Til I speak your name
‘Til I speak your name
Amen, amen
Amen, amen
Amen
Chicken, baby, on my breast
Honey, let me taste your thigh
We can both take wing
They can play their drums all night
But I’ll never know, sugar
Where I can go
‘Til I speak your name
‘Til I speak your name
Amen, amen
Amen, amen
Amen
Chicken, baby, on my breast
Honey, let me taste your thigh
We can both take wing
They can play their drums all night
But I’ll never know, sugar
Where I can go
‘Til I speak your name
‘Til I speak your name
Amen, amen
Amen, amen
Amen
© 2025 Malno Music