Things Don't Change (That Much)
Max:
The sun in this city fakes me out
It leaks through the drying leaves
and dimly dances about
It falls on the concrete, where the sparrows clean their wings
and on the old park bench
where I sit to sift through things
Things don't change that much
The cry of a siren wakes me up
It weaves through the tree tops
and the sound of passing trucks
It winds down the canyons of mirror, glass and steel
and makes its way down streets full of feet, and hats, and wheels
Things don't change that much
Peaceful Your Eyes
CAST:
Did you say something?
I'm sure you tried
I remember you dancing, just the other night
MAX:
Peaceful your eyes
Heavenly gates
Quiet we lie; like paradise
A voice says:
CAST:
Maybe we should slip away,
Maybe die sme other way
So wide, this full moon sky!
Cascading stars, hi-li
This was to be over
In a week . . . or two
We were good soldiers,
Loyal through and through
Smoke and fire, bullets and rain
Rats and corpses, horses and brains
HANNAH:
Peaceful your eyes
Like paradise
Wild Horse Dancing
FRANZ: Slow fox hunting with the Tsar, the Kaiser and the Kings
MAX: mmm, Royal ladies under parasols, naked on the beach, ooooh
MAX & FRANZ:
Blue blooms the autumn sky
Blue ends the summertime
MAX: Backed up back to mossy walls, suffocating in the peace
FRANZ: The air is poisoned now . . .
Stuck dead still, flunking steps, every clock a ticking tease
MAX & FRANZ:
Falling down on our knees
Wake us somewhere, elsewhere, please
CAST:
We will play with the horizon
We will ride rails of light in our babies' eyes
We will feel low tides risin'
We will drink burning tears like wine
Savor every dream every night
FRANZ: Dressed up fussy clowns, feathers, medals, brass and beads
MAX: They're old and tired now . . .
Cries rock down the cobblestones, and echo up the streets
MAX & FRANZ:
Falling down on our knees
Blue flowers blossom bitter sweet
CAST:
We will play with the horizon
We will ride rails of light in our babies' eyes
We will feel low tides risin'
We will drink burning tears like wine,
Savor every dream every night
MAX & FRANZ:
Polo ponies and croquet
Cold beer and lemonade
Paris Trio
MAX:
Brush strokes soft on canvas, pink and ochre skin, smooth-curving thighs
FRANZ:
Life-like Cowboy Bob streaks through a blackened room in flickering light
MARIA:
Done now, run it again, never an end of sneaking truth revealed in equal signs
TRIO:
Spin, shake, snap, roll, rake, scrape,
Break the clock and skew the rulered lines
MAX:
Always a ghost, drifting paces behind, solo hands idle at my side
FR & MAR:
Unison feet, dancing perfect, in time, perfect arms spinning 'round with mine
MAX & FT MAN: The grays of shadows are drawn and hollow
FR & MAR: The blood of love, red and yellow
MAX:
Blow the ceiling off and break all the windows,
Blast the walls away and tell a tale of more than meets the eye
FR & MAR:
Beat, pound, throb, pulse, heave, sigh, thrust and shudder,
Die a thousand times
MAX:
Yellow the dawn arriving on a birdsong in lace-patterned light
If only the joy of colors made a bed warm and held me at night
FR & MAR:
This now a plunge into a racing river, floating away
Soaking in deep and blending in the pleasure
Each night, every day
CAST:
Split by the light the quiet night is shattered,
Our sleep broken through
So much for all the animated laughter
And all we knew
MAX & FT MAN: The grays of shadows are drawn and hollow
FRANZ: The blood of love
TRIO: Red and yellow!
Love
FRANZ:
Writing you from some battle,
Thinking of my hands in your hair
Feeling the soft heat of your breathing
On my lips, close to yours, there
MARIA:
Gently your touch fully awakens
Softly your eyes strip me bare
Dreaming we are overtaken
I'll hold you forever here
FR & MAR:
I soothe myself by dreaming
Of your heart beating by my head
Of life unfolding
Of days ending always in deep sighs,
Kisses, touches and sighs
Picturing you laying by me,
Perfectly joined near some fire
I smell the scent of your skin here,
Blending with smoke, blood and iron
I promised you the feeling
Of my heart beating by your head,
Of never leaving,
Of days ending always in deep nights,
Kisses, touches and time
Puke
HANNAH:
I can't possibly eat as much as I'd like to puke
into the shiny boots of jingoes making news
Who was it who said we'd be better off dead?
Some bloodless fool who always laid alone in bed
Hey boys, what's this race about?
Don't you havbe better ways of gettin' this out?
These words ramble aimlessly;
Why this silly sewing done so . . . seriously?
I used to lie
On a beach with peach-colored sand
I knew I'd die
With one touch of some Romeo's hand
Hey, man! Those are mighty big holes!
How did you dig them without letting people know?
Great hands, like Michelangelo's!
A shame, you could have rubbed my legs . . .
instead of digging holes
Hey, boys, shall we call it a day?
Let's have a beer and think of other games to play
Here's our victor, on the sewing machine!
A man with his tools: A goddamned glorious thing!
I closed my eyes
On the beach with peach-colored sand
I hoped that I
Would be Queen of King Romeo's land
Slinking our way to the backs of our minds,
Not a pretty picture, just as well we're going blind
Wishing these days could be left far behind,
Wishing those boys were marching home in peaceful times
I can't possibly eat as much as I'd like to puke!
Wish the boys were home now,
No more news
Fancy This
HANNAH: Fancy this!
HANN & MAX:
Fancy this, a heart after all!
In the open blue it was hiding here
It is so unclear, and inviting
So why not seize the day?
Get undressed, throw the armor away?
Take a chance, let it come what may
La la la la la la, etc
HANNAH:
You have a darkness in your eyes;
It's a little scary,
and not the kind of thing I would typically trust
MAX:
Tu as . . . je ne sais quois
Et moi, I may be feeling something not a little unlike
Lo . . . . . . ust
MAX: Yield to this
MAX & HANN:
Yield to this. Why brace for a fall?
Floating weightlessly!
Breathing heavily!
It is plain to see what we're looking for,
So why not celebrate?
Throw our clothes off, get carried away?
La la la la la la la . . . (etc)
Eyes and Bones
MAX:
So much for yellow dawn and birdsongs;
Not much left of subtle shades of gray
HANNAH:
So much for boyish fantasy games
Way too much of blending right and wrong
BOTH:
Eyes and bones
Silhouettes, a rosy spire
Teeth and foam
Statuettes: a silent choir
MAX:
So much for the beauty of fields
Not much left of my favorite green
HANN:
So much for the orange of a fire
Way too much of blurring strange and real
BOTH:
Eyes and bones
Silhouettes, a rosy spire
Teeth and foam
Statuettes: a silent choir
MAX:
So much for thinking life is sublime
BOTH:
So much for shooting blind
So much for angels, waiting,
arms spread wide,
Trading lives for lies
Eyes and bones,
Silhouettes, a rosy spire
Teeth and foam,
Statuettes, a silent choir
Franz's War
FRANZ:
Dark, when we close our eyes.
Cold, in this place we lie.
Wait . . .
I saw one blue horse run,
wild through yellow pastures,
strong as a cannon,
electric, melancholy eyes
MARIA & HANNAH:
He dreamed of perfect plains,
blue lakes, black rivers,
new skies entirely pink,
pale, sweet, radiant and clear
CAST:
Dark, when we close our eyes.
Cold, in this place we lie.
Wait, peace will come tonight.
I saw a golden sun
bathing fields in amber,
green grasses combed by winds
as soft as lovers' sighs
Dark when we close our eyes.
Cold, in this place we lie.
Wait, peace will come tonight
Eiffel Tower
MARIA:
Fire, water, ice
Silence, patience, time
Doorways, windows, eyes
Changes, oceans, sighs
Each day is like no other,
no century like another,
in a river every moment passing new
This day was like no other,
I climbed the Eiffel Tower,
and saw the rooftops from the angels' view
Now things will never, will never be the same
They will never, will never be the same
It took me by surprise,
the shocking new-ness of my seeing,
to find the round earth flat and crossed by lines.
I though of you in Paris
I remembered us together
I thought of all the things I should have said.
Now things will never, will never be the same
They will never, will never be the same
We took a plunge in the river
and floated away,
Tangled ourselves up in pleasure,
and lived day-to-day,
Let the world fall all around us
and always believed
we could wrap ourselves 'round each other
and do as we pleased
This day was like no other,
I climbed the Eiffel Tower,
and when I closed my eyes I thought of you
I imagined you in Paris,
I remembered you, there, sleeping
I felt your quiet hand still held in mine
But things can never, will never be the same
They will never, will never be the same.
Never, no never be the same
No Place But Up
MAX:
Pink skin on the porcelain
of a toilet magnificently clean
The cool tip of a finger
on a silk sink spectacularly clean
The mirror: untouchable mercury
A vague face appearing in a pool
of floating steam.
Floating steam.
HANNAH:
Pieces, broken pieces
may be pieces we never would have seen
Time is just a river,
only fools try to paddle up that stream
The quaking has rattled us from our sleep
The world will awaken fitfully
Wait and see. Wait and see.
MARIA:
The fact is, even science
is as sensuous as anything might be:
The caress of cool equations,
and the firm touch of soothing certainty
The fire: immutable, orange and blue
The face in the mirror, passing through
Passing through. Passing through.
CAST:
No place but up, no place to hide
The slate wiped clean, the canvas white
Walls and ceilings blown apart,
bare feet on shattered glass
Draped in gauze of shame and fear
we're naked now at last
The water breaks, blood-rushing tide
The forceps reach and squeeze the prize
Black and restless, sparkling beads:
Our newborn babies' eyes
scan the room for useful clues
and blurs are all they find
FRANZ:
Oil sits on the surface of the water,
annoyingly still
Floating, never blending,
Never soaking in the gravity or thrill
of vibrating voices in my ears,
the heat of your skin
when you are near
When you are near.
Not a Flaw
MAX:
A no-man's land in Weimar
of what was and what could be
We're whistling past the graveyard
and stuffing full what's empty
HANNAH:
Don't you think I'm very pretty?
Drinking alone's such a pity!
You're losing ground
You should try fishing!
Why bring us down?
Why not start living?
MAX:
The ghosts that come to haunt me
Can't look on things as pretty
They died alone in funk-holes,
filthy, silent, frozen, empty
HANNAH:
Do you prefer brown or blue eyes?
Why don't you tell me what you'd like?
You're turned around!
You should try knitting!
What's with this frown?
We should start living!
MAX: What a silly, mixed-up world
HANNAH: Restless boys and feeling-frisky girls
BOTH:
We thank the Lord, the Lord our God
For all she gave, for all we've got
We would never
not adore her
She would never
let us . . . rot.
We thank the Lord. The Lord our God.
MAX:
They told us not to bother,
they told us not to worry!
In one ear, out the other:
It's OUR friends dead and buried
HANNAH:
Do you think I'm ample-breasted?
Won't these help you feel connected?
MAX & CAST:
You shamed our weakling fathers!
You crushed the hearts of lovers!
You cursed unmarried daughters,
And widowed most the others!
You screwed our virgin sisters,
Ripped bare the wombs of mothers,
You murdered half my brothers,
YOU MAKE ME SICK, GRANDFATHERS!
MAX & HANNAH:
We're turned around!
We should try fishing!
What's with this frown?
Why not start living?
Dark Party
MAX & HANNAH:
Out on the pier overlooking the lake
Stars sparkle gaily on midnight blue waves
Visions I thought I put safely away
Float on the surface and screw up my days
But you're right . . .
I really don't care if we're happy tonight
It's all the same if we cry, aye aye
I'm . . . always high
It's all the same if you sleep with me tonight
I really don't care if we die, aye aye
Eyes, bleeding soldiers
Cowboys and guns
Wrestling under our bed
Seeping through cracks in my sleeping,
You're right,
I'll roll on . . . take up the next fight
Mmmm, your neck smells nice
(Let It) Slide Through Your Hands
MARIA:
Some stories blow that are soothing to spin
Of gentle gods and of ships coming in
On breezes that fill our flopping sails
And float on a sea of fairytales
A passing grip, and then they slide through your hands
Mischievous drips of things we can't understand
You dressed up a god to hear your prayers
And for all the prayers to show, one day
Lies will fade,
Fade away,
Some day
If you had raised your eyes
He might have turned and walked away
Open your fist, and let it slide through your hands
It's still a wind, without ships coming in
The sparkle of stories fades away
And leaves us the golden dust you made
Master This
HANNAH:
World be gone.
World be gone, and let rest begin.
I'll entomb this heart,
Let all senses part
Through a dream from which
I'll awaken
I will seize the day,
Let him go, and be carried away
La la la la la . . . etc.
I'll be a dancing tree,
A huge head draped in African beads
Bid adieu and say "Job well done"
La la la la la . . . etc.
Master this.
Master this, and brace for the fall
All the orphaned words
That have gathered here
Will be locked away
and abandoned.
Pro Patria Mori
(verses inspired by Kurt Schwitters' "Ursonate"; title and refrain from Horace, quoted in Wilfred Owens' "Dulce et Decorum Est")
HANNAH:
RRRR BEEE BO, RRRR BEEE BO BO FUMMS, WO TAA
RRRR BEEE BO, RRRR BEEE BO BO FUMMS TAA TZAA
SRRR DA UN, SRRR DA UNDA SRRR, WO TAA
Sir! DA? Sir! I wll accse you, Sir, DA DA!
Totally unreasonable life!
They'll torture us, they'll torture them
And then they'll torture you, too!
SEEE LAY RUNN, SEEE LAY RUNN NOH DAY, PAA PAA
SEEE LAY RUNN, SEEE LAY RUNN NO DAY, TAA TZAA
BRRR MEE KOH, BRRR MEE KOH KOH WAA, MAA MAA
Sir! DA? Sir! I will arrest you, Sir, DA DA!
Totally unfashionable life!
They'll screw the jews communists too, ja ja
And then they'll screeeeew you, too!
Weeping mums, you zesty ones,
will you still pawn the lie:
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori?
LAA BO WAA, LAA BO WAA TOH REE, WAA TAA
LAA BO WAA, LAA BO WAA TOH REE, TA TZA
Wilfred O., Wilfred O. was killed, LA LA
One week shy, one week shy of going home
Totally unfathomable life!
We've murdered him, we've murdered them,
We'll likely murder you, too!
Weeping mums, you zesty ones,
will you still pawn the lie:
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori?
Heaven
FRANZ:
Someone's sleeping
The rest of the night
They won't see this sunrise
They don't know what it's like,
Each day following each night
They could tell us to stand down
If they say it, we could turn around
Dreaming of falling
Feeling lighter than air
Eden may lie over there
Over these fields,
A sky as blue as the sea,
Blue as what heaven must be
They don't know what it's like,
Each day following each night
They don't know we died at all
They don't know a hawk from a handsaw
Use to be we would hover over the ground,
Drunk with the "end of the world"
Sliding through days, we smiled,
And threw off our clothes,
Thinking that heaven is real
Womb is empty, no child
Drained and bleeding . . . on time
Angels on the Levee
HANNAH:
All ships that are sailing
Will come again to port
Speeding quietly to harbors
That wait for them to moor, again,
Just as before
MAX & HANNAH:
I am waitiing in the crow's nest
With a moonless night in tow
My sailing hosts are tidy,
A mystery these peaceful ghosts
and the rituals they know
The angels on the levee
are smiling out at me
Their patience is unfailing,
Even though they've seen me pass this way
So many times before
The angels on the levee
are waiting there for me
I'm up in the crow's nest
Trying to unwind the rope
That lets me down below
All ships that are sailing
will come again to port
Speeding quietly to harbors
that wait for them to moor, again,
just as before