[OPEN — FULL VOICE, ALREADY MOVING] Sometimes a big note drops— BA DA DAA DIDDLY DO— drops a feather, tickles ivory where a tusk should be attached to a large face. Ba dum. Da dum. In a land of moving parts— DAH DA DAAAAAA. [VERSE 1] Nothing formed. Everything shaped. Pulled into volume, stretched into space. Cells get busy. Bones take sides. Skin learns distance. Organs organize. Grow a little wider. Grow a little tall. Universe behaviour on a manageable scale. Expansion— contraction— rather well rehearsed. Nobody invented it. Nobody goes first. [PRE-CHORUS] Matter enters. Matter stays. Matter learns a temporary shape. Very impressive. Carry on. [CHORUS] NOTHING FORMED— EVERYTHING SHAPED! Whipped like topping, folded into place. BA DA DUM— MOVE THE PARTS! Build a little body, give it beating hearts. Expand— retract— stretch— contract— everything working until it does not. Then— ZAP! [DEAD SILENCE] [SMALL VOICE] Next. [MUSICAL INTERLUDE — COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY] Ba-da-da— oooooooh— BAAAAH— [dense male harmonies rise absurdly] Diddly-dum diddly-dum diddly— DAAAAAAA! [impossibly beautiful chord] ... Thank you. [VERSE 2] Hair goes silver. Spine negotiates. Cartilage submits a change-of-state. Gravity applies its standard fee. Everything settles where settling should be. Cells misplace a little instruction. Repair department reduces production. Edges soften. Systems slow. Nothing dramatic. Everybody knows. [HARMONIC COUNTERPOINT] Build— unbuild— hold— release— shape becomes another piece. Build— unbuild— warm— cold— nothing keeps the shape it holds. [CHORUS] NOTHING FORMED— EVERYTHING SHAPED! Whipped like topping, folded into place. BA DA DUM— MOVE THE PARTS! Every little structure doing little arts. Expand— retract— stretch— contract— everything changing according to fact. Then— ZAP! [SECOND BREAKDOWN — FAR TOO GRAND] [orchestra-like harmonic swell from voices and synths] OOOOOOOH— Maaaaatter— Maaaaatter— MAAAAAATTER— [falsettos climb ridiculously high] becomes— becomes— becomes— [huge chord] SOMETHING ELSE. [beat returns immediately] [VERSE 3] Carbon wanders. Water leaves. Minerals return to administrative duties. Heat departs. Structure falls. Tiny little tenants inherit the walls. No applause. No parade. No final invoice carefully paid. Shape loosens. Borders pass. Everything borrowed goes back to the mass. [BRIDGE] Once: a face. Once: a hand. Once: a complicated upright plan. Then molecules resume their route— nothing thrown away. Just moved about. [SCAT BUILD] Ba dum— ba dum— ba-diddly— dee— something was somebody temporarily. Da dah— da dah— da-diddly— do— everything borrowed was borrowed from you— [voices interrupt] No. From everything. [HUGE FINAL CHORUS] NOTHING FORMED— EVERYTHING SHAPED! Every expansion eventually changed. WHIPPED LIKE TOPPING! SPUN INTO FORM! Matter gets busy, then matter moves on. Expand! Retract! Break! Recombine! Call it a body for a measurable time! BA DA DAA— DIDDLY DO— there goes matter doing what matter will do. [FINAL IMPLOSION] One cell. One click. One spark. One— ZAP. [PAUSE] [LOW, PERFECTLY CALM] Perfunctory. [ONE LAST RIDICULOUS HARMONY] DAAAAAAAAAA. [HARD END]
