Speed of Light

1997

Programme notes

The closing movement of ‘High Octane,’ which was written for myself and ASKO Ensemble. One of my favorite live moments was premiering this in the pop temple of Amsterdam, Paradiso.

In ‘High Octane,’ I imagined the composer Edgar Varese as a space traveler, letting him sing back to the earth. Besides borrowing bits from Varese’s own ‘Octandre,’ there’s more than a hint of ‘Goodnight Ladies’ by Lou Reed as well.

Lyrics

Rodger 8 and Rodger 9 crashed into the moon
didn’t you see their snapshots of that waterless lagoon?
pictures full of silence,
holes the size of Kansas
when they never made it back, I thought we’d messed it up for good
bad dreams fell out of the sky, I didn’t know they could

whoosh, whoosh
what a starry night
gotta catch up to the sp-speed of light

I’m getting moonsick and homesick over you
the smell of stardust always makes me blue
a moonbeam is my rudder,
a waterlily my boat
the big wide screen horizon, it seemed like a good idea at the time
forget your date with the brave new world, break out the vodka and the lime

whoosh, whoosh
what a starry night
gotta catch up to the sp-speed of light

push, push
push me into flight
gotta catch up to the sp-speed of light

whoosh, whoosh
com’n, hold me tight

as we slowly fall to pieces over a thousand years
one by one, each part’s replaced ‘til nothing’s what it appears
my future’s set on rewind, I jump forward into my past
oh, saint augustine
oh, doctor nerve
oh, mama
it’s all over and over and over and over and over…