"Phantasmagoria in Two" is a song that was composed by Tim Buckley, as opposed to the Larry Beckett/Tim Buckley collaboration that was more commonly credited during Buckley's earlier years, and released (with Once I Was) as the third and final single from his second studio album, Goodbye and Hello.
The plot follows the eponymous narrator, sir Max, as he leaves our "real" world for phantasmagoric fantasy city of Echo.
Evocative of early magic lantern and Phantasmagoria shows, The Martyred Presidents is part of a cycle of films made by the Edison Studios to chronicle the McKinley assassination in Buffalo, New York at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition.
The album version from Phantasmagoria was remixed slightly by Jon Kelly for a single release, and was backed with several live tracks, recorded at the Woolwich Coronet during the band's 11 July 1985 gig.
Eight books of his Swinburne-influenced verse were published between 1884 and 1893, including 1885's the Bloody Heart, 1887's Phantasmagoria: Dream-Fugues and 1889's Love Sonnets.