INTERMISSION

Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part
Sō Percussion and Caroline Shaw

To the Sky
Lyrics by Anne Steele (from The Sacred Harp hymnal, 1760)
So fades the lovely blooming flow’r
Frail solace of an hour
So soon our transient comforts fly
And pleasure blooms to die

Is there no kind, no healing art
To soothe my anguished heart
Spirit of grace be ever nigh
Thy comforts not to die

Let gentle patience smile on pain
Till hope revives again
Hope wipes the tear from sorrow’s eye
And faith points to the sky

The Flood is Following Me
Lyrics by James Joyce from Ulysses (1922) and Caroline Shaw
Rhythm begins, you see. I hear.

The flood is following me
The flood is following me

And it’s almost a chorus but
Probably still a verse
Spins around

The flood is following me
The flood is following me

Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part
Lyrics by Caroline Shaw
every angle has its fabled
tangent tied behind the backs of
folded hours found about the
rounded corners
counted towards what never
quite arrived in time
an asymptote
a rhyme
unfurled and
further curling
further finding
cursive foiling
wrapped around
this mortal coil
let the soil
let the soil
let the soil
let the soil
let the soil play its simple part

Do you ever think of me?
I hope that you are well.

lyrically we seem to be
sympatically derived from
integers insistent on a
keen resistance
pen in hand you handed me
your altogether pen in hand
you handed me your further
curling further finding cursive
foiling wrapped around this mortal
coil let the soil let the soil let
the soil let the soilletthe
soilletthesoilletthesoilletthes o i
l l e tt h e s o il let the soil
play its simple part.

Do you ever think of me?
I hope that you are well

Long Ago We Counted
Lyrics by Caroline Shaw
Ago, ago, ago
Time until
Ago, ago, ago
Hours fill
Long ago we counted
One, two, three, four, five, six

Ago, ago, ago, ago, ago
Hours find
Ago, ago, ago, ago, ago
Fit the line
Long ago we . . .
One, three

Until, until, until
Side by side
Until, until, until
By and by

Again, again, again
Long ago we . . .

One

A Gradual Dazzle
Lyrics by Anne Carson from Hopper: Confessions
“Room in Brooklyn”published in Men in the Off Hours (2000)
This
slow
day
moves
Along the room
I
hear
its
axles
go
A gradual dazzle
upon
the ceiling
Gives me that
racy
bluishyellow
feeling
As hours
blow
the wide
way
Down my afternoon.

Lay All Your Love On Me
Lyrics by Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA)
Don’t go wasting your emotion
Lay all your love on me

Don’t go sharing your devotion
Lay all your love on me

Cast the Bells in Sand
Lyrics by Josh Quillen
Tolling are the versions of
Slight versions of the same
Varied similarities

Cast the bells in the sand
Cast the bells in the sand
Cast the bells in the sand

A singular voice, alone
Is its own

Some Bright Morning
Lyrics by Albert E. Brumley from “I’ll Fly Away” (1929)
Some bright morning
When this life is over
I’ll fly away
To that home on that
celestial shore
I’ll fly away

When the shadows
of this life are over,
I’ll…
Oh glory
Oh morning

When I die
Hallelujah by and by
I’ll fly away

A Veil Awave Upon the Waves
Lyrics by James Joyce from Ulysses (1922)
Did not : no, no:

All is lost now

A veil awave upon the waves

Wait while you wait.

Other Song
Lyrics by Caroline Shaw
Find where you go
Behind the glare
Is what I know
The melody climbs higher

The song is in the fold
The harmony is cold
What’s old is new
Is ever, ever told

I go, I go…

I go where you are
I know there is no
Assigned melody

The song is in the fold
The harmony is cold
What’s old is new is old
is ever, ever told

The detail…

Find the line
Find the line

I go where you go