The Mystery Figure // “A Penguin’s Tale (Extended Version)” // PERADVENTURE (Deluxe Version)
When I initially recorded PERADVENTURE, I planned for a lot of multiple projects to represent the whole entire thing. Unfortunately, I had very little resources and not enough time to do all of them. One of those projects was releasing a “deluxe” version of the album, which featured different versions of my songs along with demos of the music I had made. Now that I have a lot more time on my hands and some more resources (although not enough) to work with, I decided to revisit my old songs and see what I could do with them.
This is a remake of the single version of “A Penguin’s Tale”, originally released as a promotional single for PERADVENTURE through SoundCloud and, later, YouTube. I hope to release the entire deluxe version of the album before I release AQLTITD.
For now, I hope you enjoy this version of the song - because it’s definitely the best version of it yet.
If you’d like to download the track, then click here.
This picture means so much to me. It's hard to see on here, but that's the original photograph of the album cover I released last year. I took that photo not knowing what it would end up becoming, on the exact phone I'm using now to type this. 2015 was a hard year for me. 2016 felt even worse. But this year, even though things aren't perfect and I still have a lot to work towards, I think I'm making progress. PERADVENTURE was just a beginning. This music stuff is a hobby, yes, but it's been a big part of my life. From listening to life changing albums to composing songs that are about myself, I've definitely come a long way. That's why I framed that picture. I never thought I'd get to do that to one of the pictures I took on my smartphone.
FULL ALBUM: NINETY EIGHT | ILLUSIONS | MEMORY IS THE KEY | A VIEW OF THE OCEAN | UNDERWATER ADVENTURES (INTERLUDE) | HAPPY DREAMS | A PENGUIN'S TALE | A VICTORY SONG FOR THE LOST (HIDDEN TRACK)
Part of the project I created, PERADVENTURE, is to create a booklet. Just as physical albums have booklets with information about the tracks, lyrics, and photos, so does this online presentation. I used Microsoft Sway to create this “online booklet” which features links, lyrics, and photos that go along with the album.
I created this booklet because I have no way to physically print or create copies of the album, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and do this instead. Quite honestly, I prefer it so much better than anything I’ve ever seen before - digital PDF booklets with limited engagement, physical booklets with potential errors, or lack of booklets to begin with.
The links within the online booklet should be working; any broken links should be reported here! If there are any mistakes within the booklet, report them here as well.
*If there is anything wrong with the booklet, or it cannot be viewed, then I will do whatever is in my power to fix these errors. Anything that cannot be fixed or changed will be reported. Any questions about the booklet should be sent here.
I hope you enjoy this booklet. It’s taken me months to work on it, and I’m finally glad to have it available to others. [Note: This is NOT a sponsored ad or sponsored content. I, alone, chose to use Microsoft Sway and have NOT been paid to use it or promote it].
Download the album here | Follow “The Mystery Figure” on social media @intrpidbhaviors | Hear the album on YouTube
It's a shit quality. I fucked up the volume settings when I recorded it, and it sounds so low that you have to turn it up on your device all the way up, leaving you fucking scared when the interlude plays. So, I went back and I fixed that. It took me a long while because I literally don't have any way to do it on my laptop, and I needed to do it on the original device I recorded the song in.
So, I will have the song + the track available to stream on YouTube & download through SoundCloud. Unfortunately, I don't have a way to upload music on Google Drive because I don't have the space anymore. Therefore, all uploads will be through SoundCloud; I will also accommodate for other users who wish to download a different format.
I promise that in the future, when I'm recording projects, that everything is fine before I bother to release it (although I don't believe I'll be able to in the near future).
Listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibSACcnc69s
Listen on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/intrpidbhaviors/a-view-of-the-ocean-remastered
The artwork for PERADVENTURE was taken on a smartphone, edited on the phone and on Instagram. The “original” image was also edited. All of the artwork used for the album followed a similar fashion, being edited with a black-and-white filter rather than using color.
About
PERADVENTURE is the self-released, independent musical project by musician Roberto G. Juarez under the name The Mystery Figure. It was released on March 2016, and was released for free on SoundCloud and YouTube. Some of the music for the album was composed in 2010-2011, while The Mystery Figure was learning to play piano in high school. In early 2015, TMF decided to work on a project to release music for free via his SoundCloud account after leaving college for one school year in order to “take a break”. The album was originally meant to be recorded and released during the summer, but due to unexpected events, the production of the album was halted. TMF was only able to record “Underwater Adventures (Interlude)”, and demo versions of “Ninety Eight” and the then untitled hidden track, which were ultimately released as demo versions in 2015. During his “time off” from recording, The Mystery Figure worked on other aspects of the project, including rearranging the music, writing lyrics for the songs, gathering footage to use for promotional content, and planning the album’s details. On New Year’s Eve 2015, the artist released a demo version of the song, “Memory is the Key” (titled “The Memory”), the third track of the album. This demo was recorded during Christmas Eve 2015, and was taken from a one-take recording session.
The album itself was later recorded in a short time span and was later released. The videos for the album were uploaded much later, and a deluxe version will be released in the future.
Background
During his Sophomore year of high school, Roberto G. Juarez began to learn playing the piano as an elective course. Having already known some music theory from playing the violin, the alto and baritone saxophones, and the acoustic guitar, piano was not an extremely difficult subject for the musician. While learning to play the piano, Juarez began composing small portions of songs that would later become “Ninety Eight”, “Illusions”, “Happy Dreams”, and “A Penguin’s Tale”. Of the four, “Illusions” and “A Penguin’s Tale” were performed live or released to the public indirectly. After graduation, Juarez became a student at Arizona State University, where he majored in psychology before switching to Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations in music and Spanish; later, concentrations in music and sales & marketing.
During the second semester of his Sophomore year of college in early 2015, Juarez was diagnosed with acute dysthymic depression, and resolved to “take a break” from school in order to fix some of his physical, emotional, and mental health issues. In this time off, Juarez began planning and recording EP1, an independent, self-released music project. He wanted to create music without boundaries, music that had long been remembered but never recorded. It was at this time that he began composing “Underwater Adventures”, “The Memory”, and the untitled hidden track. Of the eight songs planned for the project, only three (“Ninety Eight”, “Underwater Adventures”, and the hidden track) went through a recording process in the summer of 2015. Shortly after recording, the process was halted by unexpected events which would set the musician back.
After moving homes, Juarez began to develop plans for the album, including rearranging the compositions of the songs, writing lyrics for the songs, developing a digital booklet, gathering footage for use of promotional content, and planning the album’s details. Without the ability to record any music, Juarez was unable to record, produce, and release his project in 2015 and resolved to do so in 2016. During Christmas Eve, Juarez recorded a one-take session, playing through the track list of his songs. This was announced in a letter electronically submitted online on Google Docs. For New Year’s Eve, he released a demo version of “The Memory”, the third track of the album, from the recording session. Along with the release of the demo, the musician also released promotional videos for the song and “Underwater Adventures”, which was previously released for free on SoundCloud.
Recording
The earliest recording of any songs from EP1 originate from an old YouTube channel that has uploads of Juarez performing in piano recitals during his high school years. Of the videos, only one is not a live performance, and is a demo version of “A Penguin’s Tale”. Initial recording for the project began in early 2015, with the original recording of “Underwater Adventures”. Other songs, such as “A View of the Ocean” and “Memory is the Key” were undergoing composition during this time. In summer of 2015, recording for “Underwater Adventures” was finalized; demo versions of “Ninety Eight” and the hidden track were also recorded. A one-take session occurred during Christmas Eve 2015, which spawned the release of the demo for “The Memory” on New Year’s Eve. The remaining songs were recorded in 2016, and “Ninety Eight”, “Illusions”, and “A Penguin’s Tale” were used to promote the release of the album.
Release
PERADVENTURE was originally planned to be released during the summer of 2015, but production was delayed when unexpected circumstances took place. The album was released in March 2016.
The album is free, available as a digital album.
Promotion
“Underwater Adventures (Interlude)” was the first promotional track for the album. It was released on 6 May 2015, as a free download on SoundCloud. The track was preceded with the original recording of the song a few weeks earlier, but was not an informal release.
“Untitled Track (Demo Version)” was the second promotional track for the album. This was released on 27 July 2015 as a free download on SoundCloud. The track was released “in place of the lack of work I’ve been doing”.
“The Memory (Demo Version)” was the third promotional track for the album. This was released on 31 December 2015 as a free download on SoundCloud. The track was also released as “the final recording of 2015″ for The Mystery Figure. The track was also promoted with a video on YouTube, featuring the single artwork, the first of the promotional tracks to do so.
“Ninety Eight” was released as a single version, the first single for the album. A video featuring the artwork was released on YouTube.
“Illusions” was released as the second single for the album, also with a video uploaded to YouTube.
“A Penguin’s Tale” was released as the third single for the album.
“Memory is the Key” was released as the fourth single for the album on 7 July 2016.
“A Victory Song for the Lost” was released as the fifth single for the album, on 9 September 2016.
Track List
Standard Version:
1. “Ninety Eight” (7:02)
2. “Illusions” (5:10)
3. “Memory is the Key” (4:52)
4. “A View of the Ocean” (4:45)
5. “Underwater Adventures (Interlude)” (1:31)
6. “Happy Dreams” (6:10)
7. “A Penguin’s Tale” (8:00)
8. “A Victory Song for the Lost (Hidden Track)” (5:31)
TOTAL: 41:59
Deluxe Version:
Disc 1
1. “Ninety Eight” (7:02)
2. “Illusions” (5:10)
3. “Memory is the Key” (4:52)
4. “A View of the Ocean” (4:45)
5. “Underwater Adventures (Interlude)” (1:31)
6. “Happy Dreams” (6:10)
7. “A Penguin’s Tale” (8:00)
8. “A Victory Song for the Lost (Hidden Track)” (5:31)
Disc 2
1. “Ninety Eight (Demo Version)” (4:11)
2. “The Memory (Demo Version)” (4:18)
3. “Underwater Adventures (Original Recording)” (0:26)
4. “Untitled 1 (Demo Version)” (2:49)
5. “Wedding Song (Demo Version)” (2:21)
6. “Ninety Eight (Single Version)” (5:16)
7. “Illusions (Single Version)” (2:55)
8. “Happy Dreams (Single Version)” (5:57)
9. “A Penguin’s Tale (Single Version)” (3:52)
10. “A Victory Song for the Lost (Single Version)” (4:18)
11. “Illusions (New Version)” (5:10)
12. A Victory Song for the Lost (Edit)” (4:32)
TOTAL: 1:29:01
You can download the album for free here. Watch the album on YouTube here.
Track 8: A Victory Song for the Lost (Hidden Track)
Artwork
Official artwork for the hidden track.
Background
The eighth track of PERADVENTURE is "A Victory Song for the Lost”, a hidden track. This song was created during the planning and recording of PERADVENTURE. Just like “Memory is the Key”, which was also created during the planning and recording of the album, the track was meant to be a happy song to contrast the darker tones that overtook the album. The song is influenced both by Coldplay’s “Hurts Like Heaven” and Sara Bareilles’ “Brave”, which are happy, upbeat songs with positive messages. The song closes the album with a happy note, and an intended feeling of glory.
Recording
A demo version of this song, called “Untitled Track (Demo Version)” was released on SoundCloud as a promotional single on 27 July 2015. A download link via MEGA was added on 14 October. The cover used for the demo version is the same as the album artwork, but with a purple filter over it. This cover was later revealed to be the cover for the deluxe version of the album, which will be released at a later time.
The final version of the song starts after a long gap of silence after “A Penguin’s Tale”. Unlike the demo version, which consists of only a verse/verse structure, the final version includes a chorus. The song includes a reprise at the very end, where the melody is played in a higher octave once more before ending.
Release
The demo version was released on SoundCloud as a free download.
The final version was released as the hidden track at the end of the album, after “A Penguin’s Tale” with a long gap of silence in between. This makes it the eighth track of the album.
An unreleased single version of the song also exists.
“A Penguin’s Tale” is the seventh and final track from EP1. It serves as the third part of the “happy” side of the project, and is the “sad” song in the segment. This is the fourth song created while The Mystery Figure was learning to play piano (“Ninety Eight”, “Illusions”, “Happy Dreams”, and “A Penguin’s Tale”).
Like “Underwater Adventures (Interlude)”, “A Penguin’s Tale” is based on a dream I had. This was a one-time dream I had. In the dream, I woke up at night to find myself in my bedroom, with only the sound of rain. Since I enjoy the rain, I looked out the window to see whether it was really raining or not. There was no sign of rain, so I figured it was a light sprinkle or something. I walked to my door and opened it in an attempt to make my way outside. Instead, the door opens to reveals a frozen wasteland. I close the door behind me, which automatically disappears. Then, large waves of water make their way towards me. Rather than hitting me and drowning me, the water forms some form of tunnel that leads in one direction. I start walking through, and it is revealed that the ice I’m on is breaking into pieces. I start jumping from piece to piece, and see that at the end of the tunnel, there is a glowing object. I make my way towards it, almost falling into the cold water at various points, and touch this “glowing object”. A door seems to be there, so I grab the door knob, and pull it open. The entire vision disappears, and I find myself back in bed. In my real life, I wake up to the same idea of there being rain, but there isn’t. I open my door, and there’s only the living room.
Lyrically, “A Penguin’s Tale” is the most personal song I’ve ever written. I’m describing how I have been feeling inside for a long, long time. I was diagnosed with acute dysthymic disorder, a form of depression that is not as severe as major depressive disorder, during my second year at college. I had been having depressing thoughts all throughout my life, but it wasn’t until high school and college that these thoughts truly did become a lot more present and stronger. In the song, I’m speaking to myself - something I do - and I’m asking myself I can go back to being a kid again, where I actually have dreams about weird and random things like the “penguin’s tale” (the aforementioned dream) that my mind created. The chorus breaks down my negative thoughts; I imagine that my future self, who will have taken care of himself and won’t have these thoughts, will be dreaming once more like the child self I used to be. This song is definitely the most emotional of all the songs because it’s one of the few where I’m actually opening up and spilling my thoughts.
Recording
The first version of “A Penguin’s Tale” was created around the time I was learning piano as a Sophomore in high school. I finished the base structure of the song during that summer, using an old keyboard I no longer own to record a version that I posted online on an old YouTube channel. This keyboard did not have any pedals, and the volume was changed manually (on a normal piano, you would control the volume by hitting the keys soft or hard depending on how loud you want the sound to be).
The album version of the song rearranges the chorus to remove the sample and replaces the lyrics with my own. It continues from “Happy Dreams”, and is a quiet, sad song. Of all the songs in the project, “A Penguin’s Tale” uses the least amount of instruments, using only piano. The song also includes a reprise after silence, similar to “Illusions”, before leaving a large gap in between for the hidden track.
Release
“A Penguin’s Tale” was originally recorded four years ago, and the video was posted online. The final version was released as the seventh track of PERADVENTURE. A single version was also released to promote PERADVENTURE.
Lyrics
(Verse 1):
I awake in bed to find myself
Hiding
From all of the pain that I have dealt
With
Don’t you see that I am breaking down
As I’m
Dreaming of a penguin’s tale my
Mind creates
(Chorus):
You’re always so quiet
Your thoughts are dark inside
It’s just too much to handle with
And I find myself
Dreaming once more with you
Dreaming once more with you
(Verse 2):
Everyday I realize that I
Am not
Coping as well as I would like to
Don’t you
Have something—a cure, a drink—for me
To have
Fill my veins so I don’t lose this dream
Mind creates
(Chorus):
You’re always so quiet
Your thoughts are dark inside
It’s just too much to handle with
And I find myself
Dreaming once more with you
Dreaming once more with you
(Verse 1):
I awake in bed to find myself
Hiding
From all of the pain that I have dealt
With
Don’t you see that I am breaking down
As I’m
Dreaming of a penguin’s tale my
Mind creates
“Happy Dreams” is the sixth song from PERADVENTURE, and is the third composition created by The Mystery Figure when learning to play piano (Ninety Eight, Illusions, Happy Dreams, and A Penguin’s Tale). It is the second song of the “happy” part of the project. The song was created from a combination of two separate songs, an untitled song and another song called “Black Ice”. Both songs existed as piano arrangements until the PERADVENTURE planning and recording, when lyrics were added. They were later combined after realizing that each individual song was too simple to play along; together, they make a cohesive track.
Recording
“Happy Dreams” was originally created around the time that “A Penguin’s Tale” was created. It was originally two separate compositions: one untitled and the other titled, “Black Ice”. The melody of “Happy Dreams” makes up the untitled composition, and the bridge section makes up “Black Ice”. I created the original compositions as a contrast to “Ninety Eight” and “Illusions”, which were both sad, dark songs. I wanted to create a happy sounding song. The idea to combine both songs occurred during the planning and recording of PERADVENTURE because I came to realize that both compositions were too simple to play; my other songs (“Ninety Eight”, “Illusions”, “A View of the Ocean”, and “A Penguin’s Tale”) all were rearranged to sound better on piano alone whereas the two compositions were simple melodies that could include a lot more sound to them. The original concept was to release “Happy Dreams” as two songs in one; part one would be the untitled melody and part two would be “Black Ice”. By combining both songs, I would get rid of this concept and leave still have eight songs for the record.
The song begins with a happy melody with hopeful lyrics that are contrasted with the hopeless lyrics of the “Black Ice” portion. The song then becomes a dark, sad song that leads into “A Penguin’s Tale”. This juxtaposition mimics that of the “sad” side of the album (“Memory is the Key” is meant to be the happier song in the middle of the sad songs / “A Penguin’s Tale” is meant to be the sadder song in the middle of the happy songs).
Release
“Happy Dreams” was released as the sixth track on PERADVENTURE. There exists two versions of this song: an unreleased “single” version, and an “album” version.
Lyrics
(Chorus):
These are the happy dreams
They are waiting for me
Within my own mind
These are the happy dreams
They are waiting for me
Within my own mind
(Verse 1):
I find myself hiding in false hope
I find myself wondering why life’s hard
I find myself coping with this pain
I find myself stuck inside this ice
(Chorus):
These are the happy dreams
They are waiting for me
Within my own mind
These are the happy dreams
They are waiting for me
Within my own mind
(Verse 2):
I catch myself thinking all these thinks
I stop myself so I won’t feel hurt
I say to myself, “You will make it tonight,”
I find myself stuck inside this ice
(Verse 3) [repeat x2]:
You are there
Hurting me, hurting me
You won’t leave my side tonight
You are there
Helping me, helping me
You won’t leave my side tonight
