[Intro] (low didgeridoo drone, circular-breathed; a single Schulze arpeggio blinks in the dark) The world's a ship on its passage out — ° we cross the black on the tide of doubt [Verse 1: deep male chorus, slow and low] (didgeridoo pulses under a lone frame drum) As the white moon shows her affrighted face ° from the steep gullies in the blackness overhead ° and no ship ever sailed her course ° and none come back from the water's edge [Chorus: soprano soaring over full chorus] (didgeridoo blast) The White Whale, the White Whale! ° out of the deep, out of the gale — The White Whale, the White Whale! ° we chase the light no lantern can make [Verse 2: soprano lead, male overtones beneath] (Berlin-School arpeggios accelerate — the hunt) Her cathedral-toppling earthquakes ° wake in the blood and will not sleep we have but two props to stand on ° one for the ship and one for the deep [Bridge: near-spoken chant, ritual — only the didge and a held breath] (drums drop out) By the above definition of what a whale is — ° we name the thing we cannot hold glad enough would I lay my head upon thy anvil ° and let the hammer fall as it was told [Final Chorus: full throat choir + soprano, overwhelming] (every layer returns — didgeridoo, frame drums, arpeggios, chorus) The White Whale, the White Whale! ° out of the deep, out of the gale — The White Whale, the White Whale! ° the cold sea keeps what the deep sea takes [Outro] (the drums recede, the didgeridoo drone alone, dissolving into starfield) The world's a ship on its passage out ° and the white moon watches, fading out
