Chocolate Genius, Inc. is a loose collective of musicians centered around M… Read Full Bio ↴Chocolate Genius, Inc. is a loose collective of musicians centered around Marc Anthony Thompson, a singer-songwriter from New York City.

Thompson released two albums during the 1980s under his own name, and has been compared to a wide variety of musicians, including Tom Waits, Prince, Jeff Buckley, D'Angelo, Lenny Kravitz, and Terence Trent D'Arby.

He signed to V2 Records for Black Music, his 1998 debut under the name of Chocolate Genius. The album garnered a 9.0 rating from Pitchfork Media. In 2001, he released his next album, GodMusic, followed by, in 2005, a switch to Commotion Records and the release of Black Yankee Rock, produced by Craig Street. The album featured many prominent New York musicians, many of whom had appeared on his previous two records: Marc Ribot, Abe Laboriel Jr., David Stone, Glenn Patscha, Me'Shell NdegeOcello, Oren Bloedow, Yuka Honda, and the legendary Van Dyke Parks, among others.

Marc Anthony Thompson has also worked extensively in scoring film and theatre productions. He won an Obie award in sound design for A Huey P. Newton Story in 1997 and has written music for Rikers High (2005), Brother to Brother (2004), Colorvision (2004) (which he hosted in the same year), American Splendor (2003), Urbania (2000), and Twin Falls Idaho (1999). His version of The Beatles' "Julia" was included on the soundtrack to the film I Am Sam. He recently completed a month-long residency at the Largo club in Los Angeles.

In 2006, Marc Anthony Thompson was enrolled in the line-up for the Bruce Springsteen with The Seeger Sessions Band Tour, playing acoustic guitar, providing backing vocals and sharing the lead vocals on several songs, including "Eyes on the Prize" and "When The Saints Go Marching In".

In 2010, Marc Anthony Thompson released his fourth album as Chocolate Genius Incorporated, Swansongs.

Safe And Sound
Chocolate Genius Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I remember tears streaming down your face
When I said, "I'll never let you go"
When all those shadows almost killed your light
I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight

Just close your eyes
The sun is going down

You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound

Don't you dare look out your window
Darling, everything's on fire
The war outside our door keeps raging on
Hold onto this lullaby even when the musics gone

Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound

Just close your eyes
You'll be alright

Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound

Overall Meaning

"Safe and Sound" is a mesmerizing and emotional song by Chocolate Genius. The song talks about a person who has gone through quite a lot of darkness and has hurt themselves badly. The song's theme mainly revolves around hope, love, and reassurance, and the lyrics focus primarily on helping the person become "safe and sound" again.

The song starts with the artist remembering the past when tears were streaming down the person's face, and they promised never to let them go. The person was almost destroyed by the shadows they faced in their life, and they begged not to be left alone. However, everything that happened is now a thing of the past, and they only need to close their eyes and wait for the morning light to come.

The lyrics provide a sense of comfort and assurance that no matter what happens, the person will be safe and sound. Even though there might be fires and wars outside, the person listening to the song doesn't need to look outside their window. Instead, they only need to hold onto the lullaby and close their eyes. The song's message overall is that no matter what struggles one goes through, one can rely on love and hope to get through them.

Line by Line Meaning

I remember tears streaming down your face
I recall seeing tears rolling down your face

When I said, "I'll never let you go"
When I said that I'll always be there for you

When all those shadows almost killed your light
When you were going through a dark time that almost took away your happiness

I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"
I recall you asking me to not leave you by yourself

But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight
But that period of time is over and gone now

Just close your eyes
Simply shut your eyes

The sun is going down
The sun is setting

You'll be alright
You will be okay

No one can hurt you now
Nobody can harm you anymore

Come morning light
When it's light outside in the morning

You and I'll be safe and sound
You and I will be protected and secure