Vapors of Morphine honors the progressive legacy of it’s predecessor. Original Morphine members Dana Colley (baritone sax) and Jerome Deupree (drums) are joined by transplanted New Orleans’ slide guitarist Jeremy Lyons. They create dreamy soundscapes, applying inventive arrangement to the unique instrumentation of electric baritone saxophone (evocative of Jimi Hendrix’ guitar), the Sandman-style 2string slide bass (sometimes electric bouzouki or guitar) and mad jazz-rock drums. Morphine songs are performed alongside psychedelic renditions of West African tunes, noise rock, originals and obscure covers. And it all fits together. Vapors of Morphine leave audiences from Boston to Brazil, New Orleans to the Netherlands wanting more.
The band was officially formed in 2009 to perform a tribute to Mark Sandman in Palestrina, Italy, where Morphine’s singer, composer and 2string bassist died of a heart attack on the very same stage ten years earlier. Since then the group has released one CD (under their original name “The Ever Expanding Elastic Waste Band”), and played selective shows at home and abroad. Highlights have included Mês Da Cultura Independente (São Paulo, Brazil, 2014), The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (USA, 2012); Virada Cultural Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil (2012), New Orleans’ Voodoo Experience (USA, 2011); and Maquinaria Festival in Santiago, Chile (2011). VoM have appeared at Film Festivals in the US in Chicago, Kansas City, Boston, Salem, Austin,; in Tui, Spain and Amsterdam, Netherlands. All in tandem with screenings of two documentary films, Cure for Pain: the Mark Sandman Story and Morphine “Journey of Dreams” (to which they contributed music).
All three surviving members of Morphine — Dana, Jerome and succeeding drummer Billy Conway — met blues guitarist Jeremy Lyons in September 2005 after he was washed up on Massachusetts’ shore from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. A bond was quickly formed between the musicians, born of a mutual love of New Orleans, horror at the disastrous flood, and empathy based on their own, personal disaster of only six years before. A musical simpatico was clear from the start. After informal collaborations prompted Dana to invite Lyons to the gig in Italy, Lyons had a 2-string slide bass like Sandman’s built and began learning much of the Morphine cannon. Deupree is the primary occupant of the drum throne, but the group has played with either or both Morphine drummers, appearing occasionally as a quartet.
Morphine’s Film Noire-tinged sound was inspired by the Beats, by the Boston rock scene, and by the Blues. Jeremy’s background help anchor the new band in the bedrock of the old. The bandmates’ interest in experimental and exotic musics (of West Africa and beyond) reflect a restlessness that insures that this group will ALWAYS be more than a simple tribute band. Their tendency to segue between songs with sound-scapes of ethereal jamming is a tribute to the mythology of Morphine, which was NOT in fact named for the narcotic, but rather for Morpheus a Greek God of Dreams (tapping into the Sandman mystique of European folklore).
VoM has had some hiccups along the way; they were unable to agree on a band name early on, beginning by alternating between “Members of Morphine & Jeremy Lyons” and the “Elastic Waste [sic] Band,” which morphed into “The Ever Expanding Elastic Waste Band”… until early in 2014 when someone asked Jeremy if he didn’t “play with the… um… the ‘vapors’ of Morphine?” And there was the name.
Another hiccup came in 2012: Jerome had been suffering from tendenitis for some time. and ended up taking off more than a year for rest and therapy. Billy Conway filled in on a couple shows in New Orleans, but Billy lives in Montana now, so drum duties for local gigs were taken on by their friend Jeff Allison, who continues to play gigs with the band, even now that Jerome has come back off the bench and onto the stool again.
Vapors of Morphine is currently recording new music and accepting bookings across the world.
The Other Side
Vapors of Morphine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's a man I wanna see
Yea he's the ferryman
He'll recognize me
I'm going down now to the riverside
There's a place I wanna be
I'm going to talk to the ferryman
He'll be expecting me
Life is better there on the other side
The grass is greener there on the other side
And I I get even there on the other side
And everything will turn out all right
On the other side
I'm crossing over now to the other side
The other side
I walked by the church house late last night
Yea I walked by the church house but I didn't go inside
Cause I I once slept with the preacher's wife
She handed me a ticket to the other side
I'm crossing over now to the other side
To the other side
The lyrics to Vapors of Morphine's song The Other Side are somewhat cryptic, but seem to be about a journey to a better place. The singer is going down to the river to talk to the ferryman, who will recognize him. This seems to suggest that the singer has made this journey before, or has some familiarity with it. The next line, "there's a place I wanna be," further emphasizes the idea that the singer is searching for something, or has a destination in mind.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "I'm crossing over now to the other side," which reinforces the idea that the singer is leaving something behind and moving toward something new. The lyrics also suggest that this new place is better than where the singer is currently, with lines like "life is better there on the other side" and "the grass is greener there on the other side." The phrase "I get even there on the other side" is a bit more difficult to interpret, but could suggest that the singer is seeking some kind of justice or balance in the new place.
The second verse provides a bit more context for the journey, with the singer walking by a church house. The mention of sleeping with the preacher's wife and receiving a "ticket to the other side" could be interpreted in a few different ways. It could mean that the singer has sinned in some way and is seeking redemption, or that he has been given some kind of opportunity or reward for his actions.
Overall, the song seems to be about a journey to a new, better place, whether that's a physical location or a metaphorical one. The repeated chorus emphasizes the idea of leaving something behind and moving forward, and the cryptic lyrics leave room for interpretation and reflection.
Line by Line Meaning
Going down to the river
Heading towards the river
There's a man I wanna see
There is a specific person the singer is searching for
Yea he's the ferryman
The person being sought after is a ferryman
He'll recognize me
The artist expects to be recognized by the ferryman
I'm going down now to the riverside
The artist is approaching the side of the river
There's a place I wanna be
The singer wants to go to a specific location on the other side of the river
I'm going to talk to the ferryman
The singer plans on speaking with the ferryman they are seeking
He'll be expecting me
The artist believes the ferryman is anticipating their arrival
I'm crossing over now to the other side
The artist is in the process of crossing the river
Life is better there on the other side
The artist expects life to be better on the other side of the river
The grass is greener there on the other side
The singer believes the quality of life is superior on the other side
And I I get even there on the other side
The artist expects to get revenge on the other side for something in their past
And everything will turn out all right
The singer is optimistic that everything will work out in their favor
On the other side
Reinforces the singer's desire to be on the other side of the river
I'm crossing over now to the other side
Reiterates the singer's current actions of crossing the river
The other side
Refers to the opposite side of the river
I walked by the church house late last night
The artist walked past a church during the night
Yea I walked by the church house but I didn't go inside
Despite walking by the church, the singer chose not to go inside
Cause I I once slept with the preacher's wife
The singer had relations with the preacher's spouse in the past
She handed me a ticket to the other side
As a result of the affair, the preacher's wife gave the artist an opportunity to cross the river
I'm crossing over now to the other side
The artist is once again stating their intent to cross the river
To the other side
Refers to the desired location on the opposite side of the river
Contributed by Scarlett D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.