Moby Dick Lyrics trascribed by Ruth ( rs @ insomnia-productions.com ) The Island Where I Come From (probably out of order, transcribed by koba_no_gomi) (21 minutes into CD 2) There are man who see the world Darkest Africa, Siberia or France. When you ask them, "Hey, how was it?" They say "I dunno, it was.... uh.... nice" There are a lot of writers Who use a lot of big long words [something] the beauty of print, they write it down But, ooh, words are nothing Without their windy sounds Ooo, we see x2 Jewels and Satin, and rising water Visions I've seen and cries I've heard I can't put these things into words, Might as well put some beads in a hollow gourd and Shake it, Shake it. There are lots of people who talk Just to hear the sounds of their own voice But take an empty shell, and put it up to your ear. You can hear the ocean rolling around in there Ooo, the green sea... Heads You know, when Melville finished Moby Dick he sent it to a friend along with a note that said: "Concerning my forthcoming book, don't you open it, don't you read it. It's made of rough ropes and chains. A polar wind blows through it. And birds of prey hover over it." Pretty amazing thing to say about your new book. But I guess there are a lot of artists who finish a big work and they step back and they look at it. And they're kind of revolted or at least sort of disappointed. And there's Melville begging his friends not to read his new book. This book that he thought was going to be his masterpiece. I have the Bantam paperback edition and it's pretty ripped up at this point I read it so many times. And it's strange, each time I read it, it seems like there're all these new themes and subplots and undercurrents. Now, Melville calls his book a draft of a draft of a draft. And he keeps jump cutting around and there are all these long chapters about fishing rights and the crusades and alchemy. And then he creates all these characters and he puts them on a boat and he ships them out. And they only gradually realize that it's not at all clear where they're going. But no one ever says: "Exactly what is it that we're looking for, Sir?" Anyway, I've finally decided that what Moby Dick is really about is enormous heads. And not just Melville's head, so full of secrets and stories and theories. But there's the whale. And what the whale looks like to them is this huge monstrous sort of disembodied head floating out in the middle of nowhere. Sort of bobbing up and then disappearing below the surface. Just this huge head with a tail. My favorite story is right in the middle of the book and it's about the time they cut the whale's head off. And they suspend it from the side of the ship with cables. And then they drill a hole in the head and they lower buckets inside to get up the oil. And then to get the last bit of oil they lower this guy inside. And then Melville creates this really weird accident. Suddenly, the cables snap and the head no longer buoyant with the oil starts to sink rapidly to the bottom of the ocean with this guy inside. And then he sort of jump cuts to this medieval German theory about the spine which is that each vertebrae is actually a tiny miniature skull and they're all stacked up and they terminate in this big one that's balanced up on top. But when you think about it, humans are the closest mammals to whales in terms of sheer proportional head size. We're born with these enormous and so monstrously huge heads and these tiny, tiny bodies. And our heads are so huge and heavy that we can just barely lift them off our pillows. You know, I always wondered what the name was for this little groove right above our mouth, this little trench. And it's just odd that all the other things on our faces have such familiar names: eyes, nose, mouth. And then there's this thing. Now, recently I found out that it is called "the phyltrum " and that according to Jewish mythology we're born knowing everything. Where we come from and where we're going. But just as we come to life an angel flies down and puts a finger right here. And it leaves this mark. And this mark is called "The secret of all beginnings". Natural History You know, when I first started working on this project about Moby Dick I did a lot of research on whales. So I went to the Museum of Natural History in London to talk to the people in the whale department. Now, this place like a lot of institutions is kind of running low on funds and they've been economizing and doubling up on personnel. So I talked to the new head of the whale department and as it turned out he really didn't know that much about whales at all. His speciality was worms. And he had his new book on worms on sale at the gift shop, completely illustrated with his own hand drawings. Anyway, we got to talking about various groups that'd been trying to make contact with whales and checking out some of their websites. And one of these groups has a plan to build a large tin barge and they sort of tap dance the whale's clicking language patterns on the barge in an effort to raise him up. And the other part of the group plans to dress in giant squid costumes and then sort of dangle their tentacles over the side as bait. Now, the idea of dressing up as the whales favorite food and then trying to make contact with him without knowing the code. Well, you have to say that seems sort of suicidal. Anyway, just one more point before going on and that's concerning the characters and let's say plot in Moby Dick. And I'm thinking of the 1926 Warner Brothers movie starring John Barrymore. Now, briefly, here's the plot. Ahab has fallen in love with Esther who actually isn't a character in the book. But she doesn't really love him back so as a consequence he ships out to hunt Moby Dick. Now, in the movie version you actually see the whale rip his leg off. So he is down in the hold and he's trying to recover and he's sweating and hallucinating. And his half brother happens to be there. And the half brother says: "You know, listen, a lot of girls would really be put off by a guy with only one leg. But, you know, Esther just isn't that kind of a girl." By the way, the half brother is also in love with Esther. Anyway, pretty soon there's a big ball. And Ahab sees Esther at the ball and she seems on the surface pretty repelled by the stump. So he ships off again to hunt Moby Dick. Anyway, a few years go by and he's hunting somewhere near Japan and there's a big typhoon. And Esther and the half brother just happen to be at the area at the time and the typhoon sinks their ship. And the half brother sort of floats by the Peaquod and Ahab fishes him out. And the half brother confesses that actually Esther was in love with Ahab all along. And it was all a big mistake. Now this makes Ahab so angry that he rips his peg leg off and he beats his half brother to death and he throws him over board. Kind of a Cain and Ahab sort of subplot. Anyway, few more years go by and Ahab is back in Nantucket. And he decides just, you know, for old time's sake to stop by Esther's place. So he walks down the road an he opens her gate, knocks on her door and suddenly there is Esther. Just standing there. She hadn't drowned at all. Anyway, there're several other characters in the movie that are never mentioned in the book and one of them is a hangman named Johnny. And he sings this really long sea chanty over the opening credits about his plan to hang various members of the crew. So I thought it would only be fair to do something from the movie tonight as well as the book. So, this is it. Hanging Johnny They call me Hanging Johnny, cause I hanged so many men. I keep the men in line, I give their orders to them. So pull lads, pull all the way Stick your hand in fire, walk on the polar ice. Or we'll hang you from the yardarm, we won't think about it twice. I give the orders, I am the captain's will. So pull boys, pull. We call him Hanging Johnny 'cause he hanged so many men. I'd hang my dear old mother, I'd hang my best friend. So when you see a whale boys, lower for the kill I give the orders, I am the captain's will. Oh, the beauty of a night on the summer sea. Written up there in the dying stars the way the world should be. Then we'll cut you down and put you in a box Drop you in the water without a second thought We'll reduce you to a teardrop, a teardrop My name will be written in the starry nights I look around in the wild heights Written up there in the polar lights. Remember me. My name will be written in the starry nights I look around in the wild heights Written up there in the polar lights. Remember me. Stick to the Boat Now, on this ship there was a little cabin boy named Pip. And he had a little tambourine and he loved to hit it. Oh, rigadig ding dong dig. He was the bell boy. How many bells? Eight bells. But then one day they lowered the boat and they threw a line and it wrapped around his throat. And it choked him out into the water. Boy over board. And then the boatswain said, "Cut the line, cut it back." and they wheeled him in like an old drowned rat. And then the boatswain said: "Listen now Pip. The modelling way here is: Stick to the ship. But if you choose to jump again we gonna leave you there. Out in the deep end". Well, you know what happened. Pip jumped again and they left him out there for a night and a day, bobbing around like a piece of old hay. Boy over board. Pip Pip the cabin boy. He slipped and fell. Landing in the water. He fell into another world. Boy overboard. Boy overboard. He slipped slow motion down A ringing in his ears Ding dong bell. He fell. He fell. He fell. Shafts of light, everything is striped Underwater light. The sweet things of the world The thundering hills, the cheeks of young girls They become just thoughts. Pip the cabin boy. He dropped down to the bottom He fell without a sound And down on the ocean floor he walked around. Boy overboard. Boy overboard. Pip saw God the weaver working on his loom. And God said, listen Pip, even if you drown, down here in the gloom Even if you call, I can't see you. I can't hear you. I'm busy. All creation mechanical. All creation mechanical. Falling Man Up in the masthead high above the deep black sea Sparkling rain is wrapping all around me Comets fly by, planets turning in their spin I whirl, I whirl around with them. I fly through the silent night I'm a part of it, a tiny speck, a molecule Just a drop in the heart of it. On bright days the great white clouds go sailing by They look like giant whales and boats in pursuit of them. On dark nights great panoramas in the sky Down below me the ocean's rolling. But then I think, what if I slip? Or move my foot or hand a bit? I'd find myself falling Through a hole in the world Down into the summer sea. Some believe that there's a bigger plan And accidents are just another part of it. But I am just a simple man I'm flying, falling into the heart of it. And if a man is what he knows Then I would be a tiny speck, a molecule Just a drop in the heart of it There are divers who go down They walk on the bottom of the ocean Just to take a look around But if I fall from way up here what would I be? Just another drop in the heart of the green sea. And the waves roll and the crests and the swirls And if I slip I would fall, I'd be falling Through a hole in the world. Down into the summer sea And the waves roll and the crests and the swirls And if I slip I would fall, I'd be falling Through a hole in the world. And the waves roll and the crests and the swirls And if I slip I would fall, I'd be falling Through a hole in the world. Noah Noah was a righteous preacher. He was the son of Abraham. His righteousness was leaking all over the land. God said to Noah, "Listen, I'm gonna flood out the world. I'm gonna drown all the men and women. I'm gonna drown all the boys and girls." Hey! Hey! Hey! Line 'em up. Line 'em all up. So get yourself an architect. Build yourself a boat. Fill it full of animals and make sure that it floats. Now the fish down in the ocean, they didn't need no Ark. They were happy swimming down there in the dark. The mighty squid, the dolphin, they never got rounded up. The little shrimp, the great whales, old Noah couldn't count them up. Yeah, promise me a rainbow, go ahead. Promise me this rain will end. And tell me this: What is a man if he outlives the lifetime of his God? What is a man? What is a man? Mechanical Man Carpenter, come over here. I need a new leg. This one here is splinters. This time make it waterproof so I can stand in the rain. Take my legs, get rid of them. Let the sharks finish them. Make me, make me, make me a mechanical man. Make me strong a hundred fold. A metal fist of solid gold. Make my eyes cold. Make my eyes cold. Make my arms into giant cranes. Give me thousands and thousands of acres of brains. Make my muscles into pulleys and chains. Make my muscles into pulleys and chains. Cut my heart out. Leave my spleen. Make my hands magnets That will pull me, pull me, pull me towards Moby Dick. Fill me full of mercury. An iron hand sharpen me. Say that I was lost at sea and this new man replaces me. Make me, make me, make me a mechanical man. Make my hands magnets, make my hands giant magnets That will pull me, pull me, pull me towards Moby Dick. Make my hands magnets, make my hands giant magnets That will pull me, pull me, pull me towards Moby Dick. Sharks well governed Now, every slave ship that crosses the Atlantic has it's entourage of sharks. Those diamond tooth accommodating dogs of the sea who travel alongside ready just in case a parcel needs to be carried anywhere or a dead slave is thrown overboard and needs a decent burial at sea. Now, when the crew kills a whale they cut off the head and they suspend it from the side of the ship where it bobs up and down for days. And the sharks wallow and spin in the bloody black buoys scooping out globular pieces of whale as big as a human head. And they get so excited that they bend themselves around into these circular bows and they begin to tear out their own entrails. Eating machines of the highest most efficient order. But then again turn the picture upside down and what do you see? The men on deck are hacking away at the meat of shark and whale and wolfing it down. For who is now a cannibal in this world? Anyway, one night the second mate Stubbs was up on deck and this racket was going on down on the ocean, the sharks ramming and tearing and he says to the cook: "Hey cook! Listen, go tell those sharks to keep it down out there!", So the cook goes over to the side of the ship and he leans over and says: "Okay. Listen you sharks, second mate says to keep it down out here.". "No, no, no!" says the second mate. "They never gonna hear that! You gotta preach to those sharks. Try again." So the cook says: "Okay. Listen fellow creatures. Fill your damn traps but stop that racket.". "Look, cook" says the second mate. "When you're preaching you gotta coax 'em a little bit, you know. Like, flatter them. Once more.". So the cook says: "Okay. You're sharks, that's certain. Your voraciousness, well, it can't be helped, that's nature. But to govern the wickedness in you, that's the point. For if you govern the shark in you, why, then you will be an angel. For an angel is nothing but a shark well governed.". "That's it!" says the second mate. "Now give them the benediction.". "Cussed fellow creatures. Kick up the __?__ as ever you can. Fill your damned bellies till they bust. Sink to the bottom of the ocean. Go to sleep on the coral. And then… die!