A young girl passionately delivers this monologue over the opening two minutes of A Silver Mt. Zion's Built Then Burnt (Hurrah! Hurrah!). The half-deadened resonance of her voice makes it clear she is preaching to a small, empty room. Overwhelmingly melancholy organ and strings pulse in the background. The overall effect can only be described as devastating. Numerous times I have found myself physically flinching at some of this child's stronger declamations. I've tried to capture here some of the tension, energy, and starkness so immediate on the record.
Dear brothers and sisters
Dear enemies and friends
Why are we all so alone here?
All we need is a little more hope
A little more joy
All we need is a little more light
A little less weight
A little more freedom
If we were an army
And if we believed that we were an army
And we believed that everyone was scared
Like little lost children in their grownup clothes and poses
So we ended up alone here
Floating through long wasted days
Or great tribulations
While everything felt wrong...
Good words, strong words
Words that could have moved mountains!
Words that no one ever said
We were all waiting to hear those words
(And no one ever said them)
And the tactics never hatched
And the plans were never mapped
And we all learned not to believe
And strange lonesome monsters loped through the hills
Wondering why
Though it is best to
never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever wonder why
So tangle
O tangle us up in bright red ribbons!
Let's have a parade!
It's been so long since we had a parade
(So let's have a parade)
Let's invite all our friends!
And all our friends' friends
Let's promenade down the boulevards
With terrific pride
And light in our eyes
Twelve feet tall and staggering
Sick with joy
With the angels there
And light in our eyes
Brothers and sisters
Hope still waits in the wings
Like a bitter spinster
Impatient, lonely, shivering
Waiting to build her glorious fires
It's because of our plans, man
All our beautiful ridiculous plans
Let's launch them like careening jet planes
Let's crash all our planes into the river
Let's build strange and riddled machines
Because Jericho is waiting to fall