The record was published as Citadel CT 7022 (LP, 1980), Colosseum VSD-5327 (CD, 1992), and Varese Sarabande VSD 5327 (CD, 1992), all of which are out of print today, unfortunately.
Here's an mp3 (2:34, 3.0 MB, 160 kbps) which was digitally ripped from the DVD. Enjoy.
Doolittle: Let's have some music in here, Boiler.
Boiler: Sure thing!
CHORUS:
Benson, Arizona, blew warm wind through your hair
My body flies the galaxy, my heart longs to be there
Benson, Arizona, the same stars in the sky
But they seemed so much kinder when we watched them, you and I
Now the years pull us apart
I'm young and now you're old
But you're still in my heart
And the memory won't grow cold
I dream of times and spaces
I left far behind
Where we spent our last few days
Benson's on my mind
(CHORUS)
Thanks to Terry Simpson for sending in corrections for the lyrics!
Thanks - I am John. In 1973 or so, I was friends with Carpenter and
other USC Film School filmmakers. Carpenter heard me sing once, and
asked if I'd do the lead vocal for the Dark Star theme. The background
vocals were recorded on a sound stage at USC where the film was being
shot, next to the full-size space-ship interior. I also sang in the
background vocal, with the others, though this isn't credited. My lead
was recorded in an evening, at the apartment of a friend of Carpenter's,
with Tommy Wallace on pedal steel guitar, I think, and Carpenter said
the mix was exactly what he wanted. If you have any questions, I'd be
happy to answer them.
John
And John was kind enough to answer my questions and let me share his mail with you:
Hi Daniel-
It's fine with me if you post my answers. Gratifying to know that
people appreciated the song, and the film - it was a brilliant effort in
a number of ways.
I was never a professional musician, apart from being in a band in
college. I'm afraid "Benson" is the only thing I did that's
commercially available.
I agree about the comments about the country & western genre - the
thing that makes "Benson" so good is that it uses that idiom to convey
an intelligent, and very uncountrylike idea, and the contrast makes the
song unusually poignant.
I'm sure your interpretation of the song as revolving around
relativity and the space traveler remaining young is correct, but I
don't remember anyone discussing it - I think we all appreciated the
cleverness of the idea, but took it pretty much for granted.
Carpenter's a smart guy, a highly motivated, successful and talented
writer and filmmaker, as well as a musician, and the song was no more
than you'd expect from him.
As far as Benson itself, I have no idea why Carpenter chose it. I
assume he traveled through there at some point, but I don't know. Not
long after we recorded the song, I drove east across the country, and
chose the extreme southern routet, specifically to go through Benson,
which isn't far from Tombstone. It was August and over 100f when I was
there. Very barren. Somewhere I have a picture of me standing in front
of the Benson railway station. If I run across it, I'll scan it and
send it to you.
Best regards,
John
This page is maintained by Daniel Hartmeier, you can reach me at daniel@benzedrine.cx.