Webley tours all over the world. He usually performs solo, but occasionally plays with his long-time band mates - Michael McQuilken, Jherek Bischoff and Alex Guy.
Webley used to stage a theatrical death every Halloween, only to resurrect on May Day of the following year, but in 2005 he discontinued the tradition, claiming he did not wish to die annually again. He owns a Toyota Corrolla, which he's altered and named "The Tomato" and he organized and ran Camp Tomato in April of 2005, with friends and fans known as Tomato Scouts ( in retaliation to the comment that he was a sadistic cult leader. ) Camp Tomato has since been a more or less annual event.
pyramid
Jason Webley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You've been watching so much longer now than I.
Do you know Margaret, just what will this day deliver,
Does it work out tooth for tooth and eye for eye?
They started stacking up the stones the very day that you were born.
No matter how you grew, they would tower above you.
You could change your name, move all the way to sunny California.
Who was it Margaret, that chose to resurrect you here for me, in scattered lines of poetry,
This distant, wistful girl I see reflected in your eyes?
Forgive me Margaret, all the ways I am mistaken, all the liberties I've taken,
I've projected you in costumes I don't think were quite your size.
Now here I'm climbing up these stones a hundred years from where you were born,
Looking for a song that could take me to you.
I have traced these roads, drove past your home in Burbank, California,
But you were not inside—you've found a better place to hide.
And tell me Margaret, when I'm gone, what will I want,
To be left at the bottom of a garbage bin, or dusted off and pulled up onto stage?
Will it please me when someone lights a candle and says my name?
Will I say—leave me in my pyramid, blow out the flame and close the lid,
This story's done, why can't we turn the page?
The lyrics of Jason Webley's song Pyramid are rife with deep contemplation about life, death, and legacy. In the song, the singer (presumably Webley himself) asks Margaret, another character whose significance is unclear, about the river that they are both watching. He wonders if Margaret knows what the day will deliver and if karma will indeed be served with an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The lyrics hint at a sense of unease about what the future holds and whether or not one's actions will come back to haunt them.
The singer then seems to compare his life to Margaret's, mentioning how stones were being stacked up from the day she was born, indicating a sense of predestination or inevitability in life. He ponders whether changing one's name or location would make a difference in the end. He also mentions how he has projected his own beliefs and values onto Margaret, almost creating an imaginary persona of her that may not be entirely accurate.
Line by Line Meaning
Tell me Margaret, what is coming down this river?
Jason is curious about the future and is asking Margaret if she knows what it holds.
You've been watching so much longer now than I.
Margaret has been observing life for a long time, while Jason is relatively new to it.
Do you know Margaret, just what will this day deliver, Does it work out tooth for tooth and eye for eye?
Jason asks if Margaret knows if the day will be fair or if it will be about revenge.
They started stacking up the stones the very day that you were born.
The pyramids were built before Margaret's time and will outlive her as well.
No matter how you grew, they would tower above you.
The pyramids are so large and grand that they would be imposing no matter Margaret's size or growth.
You could change your name, move all the way to sunny California.
Even if Margaret were to change her identity and move across the country, the pyramids would still loom over her.
But when you start your life anew, does that long shadow follow you?
Jason wonders if Margaret will still feel the impact of the pyramids on her life even if she tries to start over.
Who was it Margaret, that chose to resurrect you here for me, in scattered lines of poetry,
Jason ponders who brought Margaret back to life as he reflects on her through his poetry.
This distant, wistful girl I see reflected in your eyes?
Jason sees a melancholy version of Margaret in his mind's eye.
Forgive me Margaret, all the ways I am mistaken, all the liberties I've taken,
Jason tells Margaret that he may have inaccurately portrayed her in his works and asks for forgiveness.
I've projected you in costumes I don't think were quite your size.
The version of Margaret that he imagines is not entirely accurate, as he has given her fictional attributes.
Now here I'm climbing up these stones a hundred years from where you were born,
Jason imagines himself climbing pyramids many years after Margaret's time.
Looking for a song that could take me to you.
Jason is searching for inspiration that can bring him closer to Margaret's spirit.
I have traced these roads, drove past your home in Burbank, California,
Jason has explored the world she lived in to better understand her but to no avail.
But you were not inside—you've found a better place to hide.
Margaret's spirit is elusive to Jason; she has moved on to another realm, and he can't find her.
And tell me Margaret, when I'm gone, what will I want,
Jason wonders what he'll desire after his death.
To be left at the bottom of a garbage bin, or dusted off and pulled up onto stage?
Jason considers if he would be happier being discarded or remembered for his work.
Will it please me when someone lights a candle and says my name?
Jason considers if he'll find any solace from being remembered.
Will I say—leave me in my pyramid, blow out the flame and close the lid, This story's done, why can't we turn the page?
Jason reflects on the power of legacy and how he will want to be remembered after he has died.
Contributed by Maria H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@thomasotten4876
So Jason grew up in a town called Everett, just north of Seattle. One day, he's showing his friend around Everett, and she asks why there are so many things in the town named "Rucker" - the Rucker hill, Rucker Mansion, Rucker Avenue - and Jason is like "I'm not sure, but you want to see something cool?"
So he takes her to the cemetery, where there's a massive Pyramid:
http://www.world-walk-about.com/travel-2/pyramids-in-washington-everetts-evergreen-cemetery/
That houses the Rucker family. Jason and his friend climbed it, as is common in the town, and continued with the trip.
The next day, they flew down to do a concert in San Francisco, and stayed with their friend Chicken John. They get to talking and Jason mentions he's from Everett - he typically tells people he's from Seattle to save hassle. Chicken John stops and says "I have someone I'd like you to meet." He takes Jason to another room and tells him this story:
When he[Chicken John] first moved to San Francisco, he didn't have the money for an apartment, so he operated out of a van for a while, doing odd jobs. One such job was to take a bunch of trash down to the city dump and throw it away, but he spent the money on other things, and was therefore looking for a dumpster to toss his trash so he could lie down in the back and sleep. He found a dumpster with some furniture in it, and thought "I could take that out, throw the trash in, and sell the furniture tomorrow. I won't be able to lie down to sleep, but it'll be worth it."
However, by the time he's done taking the furniture out, he is tired, and it's windy. Due to the latter thing, he climbs inside the garbage bin and lights a cigarette. He finds some trash in there, but also a candle. Lighting the candle and his cigarette, he looks around, and what he finds is a big leather bound scrapbook. The scrapbook is the story of someone's life - the first page being their birth certificate and the last their obituary. Everything in between is someone's life, told in newspaper clippings, sepia photos, and poems - as the person was a poet. The person's name was Margaret Rucker, and she was buried in the same pyramid Jason had climbed up less than two days ago.
So Jason got as many musicians as he could to help write a show for Margaret, and compose a book for it [I own the book/album - you can purchase it for $25: http://www.jasonwebley.com/music_margaret.html] Before Jason and Chicken John had met, the latter of the two got sick to the point of almost dying, so he made his own show. The original scrapbook was huge, but he photocopied only 35 pictures/poems/stories to make a presentation, and told the crowd to take the book - one photo at a time. Thus, the original scrapbook is lost. However, during the research for the second show - with Jason and Friends - They found that Margaret had been born shortly before the Pyramid had been constructed, and at one point moved away from Everett, but in death was buried in the Rucker Pyramid.
@shiteyanyo1111
Still can't believe how hard it is to find Jason Webley's songs. He's such a talented guy
@Luverr111
"I had dreams of Margaret, and in everyone of them she was alive"
@crystalm2460
What is this from?
@annabellefawn4171
What is that quote from?
@Luverr111
@@annabellefawn4171 I wish I remembered :/
@thezodiacfucker
@@Luverr111 now do you remember?
@larg9673
Alright so I just heard the full story the other night bc I went to the live show and Jason told it so here it is:
the story goes is that Jason grew up in Everett Washington which is just outside of Seattle. One day one of his friends visited and while driving all around town his friend noticed that the name Rucker appeared all over town. On street signs and public buildings. Jason didn't know the history behind the name but he recognized it. In the cemetery in their town was this giant pyramid with the name Rucker on it. Naturally they climbed to the top of it. The next day he goes to California to meet another person and Jason mentions where he is from and the guy instantly recognizes the name of the town and say "oh man you gotta see this" so he goes and gets this scrap book and begins to tell the story of how he found it.
The story is: back in the guys younger years he was living in his van and traveling doing odd jobs just trying to get by. One night he found himself in Everett doing a job. He had his van full of trash and he was driving around trying to find a place to illegally dump it bc it was getting late and he was tired. After driving for a while he found a dumpster. He hopped out and found that it was full but it was full of old but nice furniture. He decided it would be better if he just took all the furniture to sell and replaced it with his trash so after a bit he got all the furniture out and decided to take a break. He went to light a cigarette but the wind was blowing so he hopped in the dumpster so it could block the wind. After he hopped in he found this beautiful old leather scrapbook with the name Rucker on it. He found an old candle and lit it and read it and it contained the life of a woman named Margaret Rucker. It contained the story of her life from her birth (early 1900s) to her death. It contained pictures and poems since she wrote a lot. She had a lot of tragedy in her life even though she was from a prestigious family. the guy just fell in love with the girl. And it turned out the pyramid in the cemetery was being built all throughout her life. So the song is sort of about Margaret and what it was like for her knowing that throughout her life the pyramid being built would always be her final resting place and no matter what she did and where she ran she'd always end up there.
@billyjovitagonzales9317
Thank you for sharing this with us.
@XlittleXdrummerXgirl
Every time I hear the story, I get chills.
@KakaHush
Read this at the perfect time the songs lines up with the story gives me chills