PLANET EATS

[Intro][Style: solo fingerpicked acoustic guitar, eight bars. The melody is simple, modal, like an English folk tune learned from a book. A single recorder enters playing the melody in unison.] [Style: A children's choir hums softly underneath. Light brushed snare enters. The mood is *radiantly cheerful*.] [Verse 1][Style: boy soprano soloist, Cha Dawn, clear and bright, the way a child sings in a school recital] The worms came up through the red grass this morning The worms came up and they shone in the sun They had eaten a man who came down from the spaceship The man was a stranger, the worms knew his name The worms were so happy, the worms were so happy They sang me their happiness, sang me their game [Style: Children's choir joins on the chorus, harmonized in open thirds, in unison with handbells] [Chorus][Style: choir, bright major key, nursery-rhyme cadence] PLANET EATS! PLANET EATS! Everything dies and the Planet receives! PLANET EATS! PLANET EATS! Nothing is wasted and nothing is grieved! Sing for the worms and sing for the rain Sing for the wonderful, wonderful chain PLANET EATS! PLANET EATS! La la la la, la la la la [Verse 2][Style: Cha Dawn, still bright, describing a dead colonist with the same affect a child uses for show-and-tell] We found a woman beside the old river She had stopped breathing in the autumn rain Her body was making a beautiful garden Mushrooms were growing right out of her brain The mushrooms were dancing, the mushrooms were dancing They sang me their dancing, they sang me her name She had been Margaret, she had been Margaret, And now she is meadow, and meadow again [Pre-chorus:][Style: the choir's harmonies tighten, the recorders multiply, the brightness intensifies] Don't you see? Don't you see? Don't you see, don't you see, don't you see? The wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful — [Chorus] PLANET EATS! PLANET EATS! Everything dies and the Planet receives! PLANET EATS! PLANET EATS! Nothing is wasted and nothing is grieved! Sing for the worms and sing for the rain Sing for the wonderful, wonderful chain PLANET EATS! PLANET EATS! La la la la, la la la la [Verse 3][Style: Cha Dawn, an octave higher, the recorders climbing with him] There is a sapling that grew from the bootprint There is a flower that grew from the gun There is a forest that walks through the silos The forest is loving the work it has done The forest is singing, the forest is singing It sings of the silos, it sings of the sun [Bridge][Style: the choir drops out completely. The recorders fade. Just Cha Dawn, alone, with the fingerpicked guitar. He speaks to the listener directly. His voice is *not* sinister — it is *curious*, the way a child asks a question they actually want answered.] Will you stay? Will you stay? Will you stay and feed the worms? Will you stay and feed the mushrooms? Will you stay and feed the forest? Or will you go back to your ship? Or will you go back to your station? Or will you keep pretending that you are not already food? The Planet is patient. The Planet is kind. The Planet is hungry. And the Planet has time. [Style: A single handbell. The choir returns, humming. The recorders begin again.] [Final chorus][Style: the children's choir is louder than before but still bright, still major-key,] PLANET EATS! PLANET EATS! Everything dies and the Planet receives! PLANET EATS! PLANET EATS! Nothing is wasted and nothing is grieved! Sing for the worms and sing for the rain Sing for the wonderful, wonderful chain PLANET EATS! PLANET EATS! La la la la, la la la la PLANET EATS! PLANET EATS! Margaret feeds the meadow she made! PLANET EATS! PLANET EATS! The forest is loving the work it has made! Sing for the worms and sing for the rain Sing for the wonderful, wonderful chain PLANET EATS! PLANET EATS! La la la la, la la la la [Tag: the choir continues the *la la la la* indefinitely, getting softer, like children walking away from the schoolyard. The recorder plays the intro melody once more, alone. Cha Dawn, whispered, almost a giggle:] …la la la la. [Style: The guitar plays one final note. End. No fade — the note just stops.]