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Scattershot Symphony Episode #24: Theater of the Imagination 3

Scattershot Symphony Podcast
Series 1


Episode #24 – Theater of the Imagination – 3

King Of Hearts

Episode #24 – Theater Of The Imagination – 3

King of Hearts

Listen to the Podcast Episode

View the Transcript


Podcasting …

The evolution of the musical is upon us.

It’s time for new works. Scattershot Symphony will now evolve from the past, to the present and into the future. Theater Of The Imagination. It’s inevitable. So here we are at the cutting edge of 21st century musicals – the musical podcast.

It’s Radio Re-Imagined … only better. 

Today we offer a PRELISTEN, to songs from a musical written by Peter Link, Steve Tesich and Jacob Brackman.. 

This episode is entitled

Theater Of The Imagination – Part 3”

The Musical …

King Of Hearts

A Broadway Musical,
and eventually,
A Podcast Musical


We’ll take you back to the 60s when the movie, King Of Hearts ran for 6 years every Saturday night in Harvard Square during the Cold War. Then to the 70s when King Of Hearts, the musical, opened on Broadway after the end of the Viet Nam war and finally to the last day of World War I when King Of Hearts took place. This whimsical anti-war story, sadly, seems to never lose its timeliness and power.

Join Peter Link and his merry band of lunatics!


Theater of the Imagination 3
Explore the Playlist

View lyrics from the song playlist. Thanks for listening!


  • Title: Transformation Suite
  • Artist: Gordon Weiss, Millicent Martin
  • Duration:
    07:56
  • Sample:
  • Lyrics:

    Transformation Suite
    Words by Jacob Brackman
    Music by Peter Link

    [Genevieve]
    Somehow this place is a place I know
    Deja vu, deja vu
    Familiar from so far ago – deja vu
    Not even the shadows have been rearranged
    Everything here is exactly the same
    I know I have been here before – deja vu

    The trunks and the sawdust
    The flags in the breeze
    Siberian tigers
    The flying trapeze
    La la la la la la

    And clowns shot from cannons
    Through circles of fire
    And fat ladies swallowing spears
    With each feat of daring
    Eliciting gasps and cheers
    It's exactly the same after all these years

    [Barber]
    Somehow this place is a place I know
    Deja vu, deja vu
    Familiar from so long ago – deja vu
    Not even the shadows have been rearranged
    Everything here is exactly the same
    I know I have been here before – deja vu

    The candy cane door pole
    The leather, the chrome
    The snip of sharp scissors
    The scent of cologne
    La la la la la la

    Here is young Brutus
    My trusty old doily
    I've missed your protection, my dear
    And the feathery tickle
    Of tresses behind my ears
    It's exactly the same after all these years

    [Barber and Genevieve]
    All these years
    Here I am
    Still the same
    Home again
    It's exactly the same
    After all these years

    [Chorus]
    The air in this town is alive with the feeling
    Funniest feeling I've been here before
    The air in this town is alive with the feeling
    Funniest feeling I've been here before
    It's exactly the same after all these years
    La la la la la la la la

    Music is in the air
    It's breezy
    Strolling around the square
    It's easy

    Time for a promenade
    Life is enchanting in town
    Everyone's down in the street

    [Two Female Lunatics]
    It's a promenade
    What a promenade
    Such a promenade ha ha

    [Chorus]
    Morning's sweet and we're free to greet her
    Free to choose how to pass the day
    Pastry shop never did smell sweeter
    Since the shop keeper's away
    Lovely fetching
    Winsome catching
    Charming tresses
    Disarming dresses
    Fashion perfectly chic dear
    Passion pumped to the peak
    Exciting careers
    We're all magnifique

    What a feast for the eyes
    What a stunning surprise
    To be free and to see
    That there's no one else here
    Who knew that dreams could come true
    After all of these years

  • Title: Close Upon The Hour
  • Artist: Don Scardino
  • Composer: Peter Link
  • Lyricist: Jacob Brackman
  • Source: Book by Steve Tesich
  • Duration:
    03:26
  • Sample:
  • Lyrics:

    Close Upon The Hour
    From KING OF HEARTS
    Lyrics by Jacob Brackman
    Music by Peter Link

    Up till now my time of trial seemed far away
    I barely even thought about it
    Up till now content to dream my life away
    Like Sunday afternoon
    Suddenly it's happening
    Forces are converging
    I realize the urgency before me

    All at once I feel my power gathering
    I'm close upon the hour now
    I'm close
    So close
    So strong

    Up till now, the flames of love burned far away
    I barely even saw em flicker
    All at once, my veins have turned to fire clay
    There's fever in my blood

    Suddenly it's happening
    Yes the air's become electric
    The moment when I least expected it
    And all at once I feel as if I'm seeing
    From inside another human being
    Close
    So close
    So strong
    Yes it near to overpowers me
    So strong
    I never dreamed
    My time was at hand
    I'm only a man
    Lord, help me do what is right
    Now all at once I'm open to whatever comes
    I'm standing on the threshold now
    I'm close
    So close
    So strong
    I'm close upon the hour now
    I'm close close

    © Westrax Music Publishing

  • Title: Nothing Only Love
  • Artist: Don Scardino, Pamela Blair
  • Composer: Peter Link
  • Lyricist: Jacob Brackman
  • Source: Book by Steve Tesich
  • Duration:
    03:38
  • Sample:
  • Lyrics:

    NOTHING ONLY LOVE
    From KING OF HEARTS

    Lyrics by Jacob Brackman
    Music by Peter Link

    Some people say it all ends sadly
    I‘ll have to pay with tears in time
    Prob’ly I should beware
    But I don’t think I care
    ‘cause nothing matters
    Nothing only love

    Soon you’ll know all my secret places
    I’ll have lost all my mystery then
    How can then matter now
    I can’t stop anyhow
    ‘cause nothing matters
    Nothing only love

    The sky may fall but I don’t care
    The light may fail but it doesn’t matter
    The wind may blow me anywhere
    But I don’t care cause it doesn’t matter
    My hands may shake
    My dreams may shatter
    My heart may break
    But it doesn’t matter
    No nothing does
    No no nothing matters
    Nothing only love
    No nothing only love
    No nothing only love

    Minutes ago my mind was racing
    Now all my worries feel so small
    Now there’s just you and me
    And in your eyes I see
    That nothing matters
    Nothing only love
    The moon may crack
    The sea may boil
    The song may die
    But it doesn’t matter
    This river may carry me anywhere
    But I don’t care
    ‘cause it doesn’t matter
    My hands may shake
    My dreams may shatter
    My heart may break
    But it doesn’t matter
    No nothing does
    No no nothing matters
    Nothing only love
    No nothing only love
    No nothing only love


Let the Credits Roll!

Click to Learn More About Peter Link and Scattershot Symphony


Listen to The Theater Of The Imagination Podcast Series here:

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3 thoughts on “Scattershot Symphony Episode #24: Theater of the Imagination 3

  1. Thank you for bringing this Magical Theatre Of The Imagination experience into my home!
    The story of how it came to be is as rich as the piece itself.
    Mr. Link, your tender love and belief in this work is evident from the first note!
    Bravo and Brava to the immensely talented cast who brought the words and music on the page to this beautiful light!

  2. Let’s get this show on Broadway! The music is SO much better than what I’ve been hearing on the Broadway stage lately! I have to be a bit cynical: Broadway audiences and critics these days seem to be much more into loudness and self-pity. We don’t need more of that. We need songs like these.

    1. Thank you for your thoughts, Paul. As far as Broadway goes, King Of Hearts had its moment, as you no doubt heard in the podcast. Mounting it again probably won’t happen in my lifetime. But I appreciate your supportive thoughts and agree with your disappointment on the state of today’s Broadway musicals.

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