Lyrics on an art site? Why not? Music and intensive labor at the drawing board go together like Lennon & McCartney, Karen & Richard, Mick 'n Keef, Simon & Garfunkel, Hope Sandoval & David Roback, and other personal favorites. Ever stop and think about how many great examples of fantasy art might not exist at all, if not for the incalculable push of a jolt of inspiration from background music, wafting through an artist's studio?

Food for thought. It's well known, for example, that Frazetta reveres the songs and voice of Sinatra. Would Death Dealer live and breathe, perchance, if not for Night and Day, or The Song Is You? Or how about Dave Stevens, cuing in the appropriate mood music for the era, Jesse Crawford and At Sundown, and pushing himself to sit down and finish those last few Rocketeer chapters?

Alan Aldridge did it for me. Somewhen about '72 or thereabouts, while still in high school, I stumbled across his fantastic, two-volume set of
The Illustrated Beatles Lyrics. Talk about a charge, and a revelation! Aldridge's compilations, originally published in '69, are treasure troves of graphic inspiration for Beatles fans, or for anybody who appreciates the dynamic synergy between words, mental images, and music. I think I started writing songs a week later.

Imagine, if you can, visual treatments of the Beatles' words by the likes of Peter Max, Ralph Steadman, David Hockney, Victor Moscoso, Rick Griffin, and even Barry Smith (pre-BWS). As a testament to its enduring appeal, the book's still in print, and available from amazon.com in an updated, hardcover edition. Highly recommended!

Maybe Frazetta never listens to music when he's working, as tough as that is to imagine. Who knows? But maybe he does.

All we really do need is Love,

UNDERWATER

HOW'M I GONNA GIVE YOU MY LOVE?

I WILL

PEACE

DEPEND

MET A GIRL

FOREVER
(Doesn't Mean What It Used To)

STILETTO

VALE OF TEARS

IN ASIAN EYES

COVET ME

RIBBONS