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Pepper’s Ghost (Aquae) Lyrics by Alan Moore

The Highbury Working: A Beat Seance

2000

Up from the cellar depth to shimmering Victorian avenues, murk jewelled with phosphorus, ambiguous dusk, the Eastern steams and perfumes of a street bazaar.
The city's pleasure hill, its Venus mound, venue for lost weekends, atilt over the sexual edge, gin-blur and brothel frenzy, an erogenous zone shades into the Twilight Zone.
Old smokes linger. 1381, Peasants’ Revolt. St John's Priory at Highbury, home of Robert Hale, who raised the Poll Tax, is burned down, a blood and torchlight drama.
Rising from the priory's ash, the Highbury Barn, a tavern in five-acre grounds with bowling greens and trap-ball alleys; haunt for Walter Raleigh, for Oliver Goldsmith on his walks to Islington. In 1861 a defrocked clown, Giovanelli, buys the barn, imports a freak show, builds the Alexandra Theatre, and crams the fog with lamps and voices.
Giovanelli launches eel-pie fairs, sewer scampi served en croute, rat-killing contests, ballrooms, and the magical perfume of quim upon the breeze.
A million lights.
His freak show opens 1869. The city’s dreams and visions are precipitated in an eerie haze.
Namatar the Man-Frog in his grotto, hyperthyroid eyes upon the women, spawning ritual. He spots the most susceptible, flushed in this chilly hall of monsters.
Chang and Eng stroll by, fused at the chest, the first Siamese twins, while Leotard, the acrobat, in his remarkable costume, tumbles above us through the frosted air.
Henry Dirks, inventor of the Dirksian Phantasmagoria, an optical effect, meets showman Joseph Pepper, swamps the barn with lantern spooks in an ethereal mob. Pepper's Ghost, depending only on a lamp, a sheet of angled glass, will nightly conjure raves accompanying performances of Hamlet. Couples hug each other in the hush. Entranced by men of light in a refracted afterlife, reality becomes imagined death in an unsilvered mirror. All the boundaries begin to slide; even the human body is unfixed. Manifestations of the double-headed Hackney Brook, Chang and Eng seem to be attempting to walk through each other, gaseous as Pepper's phantoms. Namatar the Man-Frog lets the woman touch his webbed hand. Anything could happen.
Highbury becomes a high-risk borderland, a mauve zone, a condition that could spread, infect the city, spectre epidemic. Pepper's Ghost suggested as a culprit in the Spring Heeled Jack plague of the eighteen-seventies, blamed for the rowdy orgies, for the ghost sex current spilling out through Highbury Barn.
The venue is closed down as an intolerable nuisance, as a danger to the health and safety of the young. The luscious creepiness is dissipated, and the area becomes a void; invites untested energies; invites a new miasma…
Credits
Alan Moore

Alan Moore

About “Pepper’s Ghost (Aquae)” by Alan Moore

Read the complete lyrics to "Pepper’s Ghost (Aquae)" by Alan Moore from the album "The Highbury Working: A Beat Seance" in 2000. On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Non-Music, Spoken Word, Experimental.

"Pepper’s Ghost (Aquae)" is performed by Alan Moore. from the album "The Highbury Working: A Beat Seance" in 2000 This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "Pepper’s Ghost (Aquae)", explore more songs by Alan Moore using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

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Frequently asked questions

"Pepper’s Ghost (Aquae)" is credited to Alan Moore. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

"Pepper’s Ghost (Aquae)" appears on "The Highbury Working: A Beat Seance" in 2000.

Visit the Alan Moore artist page at /artist/alan-moore for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.