Coo coo coo it's cold outside.
Coo coo coo it's cold outside.
Ooo coo coo. Don't forget your mittens.
And so, because it was spring,
and because I had avoided it for so long,
I set off, lowering myself into a hole
and then out onto the wide plain.
A sky full of autumn.
And everything shaking, long blue shadows.
I carry a photograph of a city.
A car comes driving out of a film,
headlights blinking and goes right past.
Hello. Excuse me. Can you tell me where I am?
Hey Pal! How do I get to town from here?
And he said: Well just take a right where they're going to build that new shopping mall,
go straight past where they're going to put in the freeway,
take a left at what's going to be the new sports center,
and keep going until you hit the place where they're thinking of building that drive-in bank.
You can't miss it.
And I said: This must be the place.
Ooo coo coo. Golden cities. Golden towns.
Golden cities. Golden towns.
And long cars in long lines and great big signs
and they all say:
Hallelujah. Yodellayheehoo.
Every man for himself.
Ooo coo coo. Golden cities. Golden towns.
Thanks for the ride.
Big Science. Hallelujah.
Big Science. Yodellayheehoo.
It was such a huge hole, right in the middle of the city.
And so the architects were summoned.
"How about a hill of beans?", says one.
"No, how about something very tall?
Very large number and terrific height that will stagger the senses.
Maybe impersonating people."
"What about a slab of cheese?", says the other.
"Something pure, organic. Something everyone will like".
"Well, a slab of cheese, or a donut.
Something with thoughts of happier times.
Don’t make it look abandoned.
Or like it’s been irradiated.
Another large and noble empty plaza to remind us of our insignificant size."
"How about a fancy banister?
One that goes all the way to Mars?
Or one made of teardrops and spilled ink?"
You know, I think we should put some mountains here.
Otherwise, what are all the characters going to fall off of?
And what about stairs?
Yodellayheehoo. Ooo coo coo.
Here's a man who lives a life of danger.
Everywhere he goes, he stays - a stranger.
Howdy stranger. Mind if I smoke?
And he said: Every man, every man for himself.
Every man, every man for himself.
All in favor say aye.
"Now Winnie, we've got unfinished business, you all know what it is I bet"
So who the hell or what, I said to myself.
Let's look at whose fault this actually was.
Let's throw in the towel, shall we.
Let's look at whose fault it was and assign it right now.
All we're talking about gold and winners -
Let's talk about who the losers are.
Big Science. Hallelujah.
Big Science. Yodellayheehoo.
Hey Professor! Could you turn out the lights?
Let's roll the film.
I smelled a certain something.
I smiled.
Play it one frame at a time, I said.
Let's go back and play it one frame at a time.
Big Science. Hallelujah.
Every man, every man for himself.
Big Science. Hallelujah.
Yodellayheehoo.
('Big Science' lyrics by Laurie Anderson (1980?))
(fragments of 'The End of the Moon', lyrics by Laurie Anderson (2004))
The pictures are screengrabs from a delicate short film called 'Life on a String', composed onto the music of the Laurie Anderson album with the same title, directed by Steven Lippman.
