My Visions of Madame Blavatsky
2004, 60:00
Two Voices and Large Amplified Ensemble
Written for Simon Vollenweider, David Dramm, Steamboat Switzerland and Orkest de Volharding
Lyrics
II. De Lange
(Daniel de Lange)
Just across the border
from where the whores of Ensenada lie in wait
for the well-tequila’d hombres
on the way home from the bullfight
where a young matador stares at the gate
Well the missionaries came to save the red man
and God came in to save the ones they missed
and the sun shone down on a little harbor town
where the girls remember ev’ry sailor they ever kissed
Just across an ocean
ten hundred thousand miles before tonight
In nineteen eight and ten out of Rotterdam
the rain poured down
never set foot in that kikkerland again
Just across the border
from where hands are cracked and bleeding from the hoe
We got orange and lemon trees
a salty water breeze
the tumbleweeds just blow on down the road
Blow on down, just blow on down, just blow on down…
III. The White Whale of Beverwijck
(D. Dramm, based on a diary fragment of Antony de Hooges (1647))
(Madame Blavatsky)
In the year sixteen forty-seven
A fish appeared before us
here in the colony Beverwijck.
Snow-white. Without fins.
Round of body. Round and large.
He blew water up out of his head, up out of his head.
Only God knows what it means.
Snow-white, from so far away.
Snow-white.
IV. The Secret (D. Dramm, based on the texts of H.P. Blavatsky)
(Madame Blavatsky)
Who knows the secret?
Who proclaimed it here?
Whence this manifold, whence this manifold creation sprang?
The Seven themselves came later into being.
Who knows from whence this great creation sprang?
(Madame Blavatsky and Daniel de Lange)
Time was not,
for it lay asleep in the infinite bosom of duration.
Infinite,
causeless,
in dreamless sleep.
VII. The Seventh Vision (D. Dramm, based partially on the texts of H. P. Blavatsky and A. de Hooges)
(Madame Blavatsky)
Nor Aught nor Nought existed;
yon bright sky was not,
nor heaven’s broad roof outstretched above.
What covers all? What shelters? What conceals?
Nor Death, nor Breath nor nought immortal.
Nor Day, nor Night
The only One breathed breathless by itself.
Darkness there was, veiled was all, in Gloom profound.
An ocean without light, without light.
The germ that lay covered in the husk, covered in the husk burst forth,
one nature, from the fervent, from the fervent heat.
And when the subterranean flame shall burst
flame shall burst its prison
and devour, and devour and devour the flame
Nor Aught nor Nought existed; yon bright sky was not.
What co-vered all? What covered all?
What sheltered and what concealed?
And when the subterranean flame shall burst
flame shall burst its prison
here in the colony Beverwijck.
Snow-white. Without fins.
Round of body. Round and large.
He blew water up out of his head,.
(Madame Blavatsky and Daniel de Lange)
Light is cold flame
Flame is fire
Fire is heat
Heat yields water.
(Daniel de Lange)
Just across the border
from where the whores of Ensenada lie in wait
for the well-tequila’d hombres
on the way home from the bullfight
where a young matador stares at the gate
Palm trees sway at the waters edge
Sandy beaches as long as the eye can see
Well, the missionaries came to save the red man
Who will come to save me?
Daniel de Lange and Chorus:
Come to save me, come to save me
Who will come to save me?
© 2004 voLsap Music, Amsterdam