The Origins
The name Desdanova first appeared in the song Astronomy on the Blue Öyster Cult album Secret Treaties (1974), as well as the songs Subhuman and Secret Treaties. These songs formed the basis for the concept album Imaginos (1988). In that album the full story of Desdanova is told. It is mostly the brainchild of Al Bourchard, the one-time drummer for BÖC. In his solo project, The Brain Surgeons, he has composed several more songs to finish the story started in Imaginos.
The Story
Desdanova is a character that goes by many different names and disguises for at least 200 years (maybe more). He plays many roles over this time, affecting the flow of history. He is last heard from just after the start of the twentieth century, just before the start of World War I.
The Song: Astronomy
The clock strikes twelve and moondrops burst
Out at you from their hiding place
Like acid and oil on a madman's face
His reason tends to fly away
Like lesser birds on the four winds
Like silver scrapes in May
And now the sands become a crust
Most of you have gone away
Come Susie dear, let's take a walk
Just out there upon the beach
I know you'll soon be married
And you want to know where the winds come from
Well it's never said at all
On the map that Carrie reads
Behind the clock back there you know
At the Four Winds Bar
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Four winds at the Four Winds Bar
Two doors locked and windows barred
One door let to take you in
The other one just mirrors it
Hey, hey, hey, hey
In hellish glare and inference
The other one's a duplicate
The Queenly flux, eternal light
Yes the light that never warms
Or the light that never warms
Never warms
Never warms
Never warms
The clock strikes twelve and moondrops burst
Out at you from their hiding place
Miss Carrie nurse and Suzie dear
Would find themselves at the Four Winds Bar
It's the nexus of the crisis
The origin of storms
Just the place to hopelessly
Encounter time and then came me
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Call me Desdanova, eternal light
These gravely digs of mine
Will surely prove a sight
And don't forget my dog
Fixed and consequent
Astronomy...a star (repeat indefinitely)