The Egyptian Way
(by West of Eden)
The Mariposa Theatre near 2nd St. / Washington St.
A band from Tempe playing a rooftop gig at a historic venue on Washington St., with sounds from people and traffic below.
The Mariposa Theatre near 2nd St. / Washington St.
A band from Tempe playing a rooftop gig at a historic venue on Washington St., with sounds from people and traffic below.
Multiple buildings on the Northwest corner of the intersection of Washington and 2nd Sts. date from 1900 or earlier, including the Fry Building on the corner, constructed in 1885, which now houses a sports bar called Majerle’s, owned by and named for the Phoenix Suns icon Dan Majerle, who started his NBA career in Phoenix in 1988, one hundred and three years after the building was built. The restless spirit of the Wild West still clings to these historic structures, even as the glamorous amenities of a modern American city slowly crowd them out or sprout up from within them. Rumor has it that a bordello continued to operate on the upper floor of the Fry Building even after the sparkling new Symphony Hall opened up across 2nd St. in 1972. Orchestra members recall an entirely different kind of show taking place at intermission in those days. Majerle’s bar then opened in 1992, and about ten years after that, construction crews carved off forty feet of the entrance of the once-new Symphony Hall to make way for an expansion to the Convention Center, continuing a characteristic cycle of urban replacement. In one of the buildings behind Majerle’s, a storefront from around 1910, a restaurant-bar operates where this recording was taken. The band’s name is a play on the title of a John Steinbeck book, East of Eden, which in turn is a reference to the tradition that Cain was sent to live in the East when he was banished from the Garden of Eden. The source material for their introduction is a book called The Dwellers on the Nile, by E. A. Wallis Budge. For the sake of clarity, “The Egyptian Way,” in this case, seems to refer to the act of carrying on denuded.
(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
“According to Egyptologist E. A. Wallis Budge, many Ancient Egyptians did not have clothes, and actually just walked around naked all day. A similar thing happens in Downtown Phoenix in the summer, when the heat index can easily reach upwards of 50 degrees centigrade. Many of those who can afford privacy spend much of their time naked. Also, many of those who can’t afford privacy do the same.”
Don’t tell me nothing can be done
When the sky is falling down
Like crocodiles underwater
We’ll take refuge underground
And if you live downriver
Where the earth is too wet
Then just come on down to Thebes
And chill with Amenhotep
Why don’t we both take a vacation
The Egyptian way
You don’t need no shoes, no socks
Just your body, babe
Like Apophis the snake
I want to see you slither and slide
I know the river will flood
If you’re the one by my side
You’re my famine, my fury
I want to take you to Ra
His light will melt our bodies
Into a puddle of mud
And bake us hard as brick
Never to break apart
They can pick out my brains
‘Cause baby you’ve got my heart
Why don’t we both take a vacation
The Egyptian way
You don’t need no shoes, no socks
Just your body, babe
Like the lord of the skies
Yeah, we’re gonna take flight
I know the river will flood
If you’re the one by my side
Let me taste your scorpion sting
Like the desert heat, I’ll make your skin sing
Don’t say yes until you give it a chance
Like the music of the lyre, I’ll make your people dance
Let me taste your scorpion sting
Like the desert heat, I’ll make your skin sing
Don’t say yes until you give it a chance
Like the music of the lyre, I’ll make your people dance
Oh-whoa, oh-whoa, oh-whoa
Don’t tell me nothing can be done
When the sky is falling down
Like crocodiles underwater
We’ll take refuge underground
And if you live downriver
Where the earth is too wet
Then just come on down to Thebes
And chill with Amenhotep
Why don’t we both take a vacation
The Egyptian way
You don’t need no shoes, no socks
Just your body, babe
We’ll crack open the heavens
Like when Seth is defied
I know the river will flood
If you’re the one by my side
Don’t tell me nothing can be done
When the sky is falling down
Like crocodiles underwater
We’ll take refuge underground
And if you live downriver
Where the earth is too wet
Then just come on down to Thebes
And chill with Amenhotep
Why don’t we both take a vacation
The Egyptian way
You don’t need no shoes, no socks
Just your body, babe
Like Apophis the snake
I want to see you slither and slide
I know the river will flood
If you’re the one by my side
You’re my famine, my fury
I want to take you to Ra
His light will melt our bodies
Into a puddle of mud
And bake us hard as brick
Never to break apart
They can pick out my brains
‘Cause baby you’ve got my heart
Why don’t we both take a vacation
The Egyptian way
You don’t need no shoes, no socks
Just your body, babe
Like the lord of the skies
Yeah, we’re gonna take flight
I know the river will flood
If you’re the one by my side
Let me taste your scorpion sting
Like the desert heat, I’ll make your skin sing
Don’t say yes until you give it a chance
Like the music of the lyre, I’ll make your people dance
Let me taste your scorpion sting
Like the desert heat, I’ll make your skin sing
Don’t say yes until you give it a chance
Like the music of the lyre, I’ll make your people dance
Oh-whoa, oh-whoa, oh-whoa
Don’t tell me nothing can be done
When the sky is falling down
Like crocodiles underwater
We’ll take refuge underground
And if you live downriver
Where the earth is too wet
Then just come on down to Thebes
And chill with Amenhotep
Why don’t we both take a vacation
The Egyptian way
You don’t need no shoes, no socks
Just your body, babe
We’ll crack open the heavens
Like when Seth is defied
I know the river will flood
If you’re the one by my side
© 2025 Malno Music