Laurie Anderson may be an “acquired taste” to many. I was introduced to her strange, musical poetry at a relatively young age. “Tightrope” has got to be one of her most memorable compositions to me. The lyrics (and I don’t normally even listen to lyrics) really put me in a reflective place…
Last night I dreamed I died and that my life had been rearranged into some kind of theme park. And all my friends were walking up and down the boardwalk. And my dead Grandmother was selling cotton candy out of a little shack. And there was this big ferris wheel about a half mile out in the ocean, half in and half out of the water. And all my old boyfriends were on it -with their new girlfriends. And the boys were waving and shouting and the girls were saying, “Eeek.” Then they disappeared under the surface of the water and when they came up again they were laughing and gasping for breath…
In this dream I’m on a tightrope and I’m tipping back and forth trying to keep my balance. And below me are all my relatives and if I fall I’ll crush them…
This long thin line. This song line. This shout. The only thing that binds me to the turning world below and to all the people and noise and sounds and shouts. This tightrope made of sound. This long thin line made of my own blood…
Remember me is all I ask. And if remembered be a task, forget me. Remember me is all I ask. And if remembered be a task, forget me. This long thin line. This long thin line. This long thin line. This tightrope. Remember me is all I ask. And if remembered be a task forget me. This long thin line. This long thin line. This long thin line. This tightrope made of sound.