2014 Program Notes, Book 9 39
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
PROLOGUE
Anna I
So my sister and I left Louisiana,
where the moon on the Mississippi is a-shining
ever,
like you always hear in the Songs of Dixie.
We look forward to our homecoming
and the sooner the better.
Anna II
And the sooner the better.
Anna I
It’s a month already since we started
for the great big cities where you go to make
money.
In seven years our fortune will be made
and then we can go back.
Anna II
In six would be nicer.
Anna I
Our Mom and Dad and both our brothers wait in
old Louisiana;
and we’ll send them all our money as we make it.
For all the money’s got to go to build a little
home,
down by the Mississippi in Louisiana.
Right Anna?
Anna II
Right Anna.
Anna I
She’s the one with the looks. I’m realistic.
She’s just a little mad, my head is on straight.
But we’re really one divided being,
even though you see two of us.
And both of us are Anna.
Together we’ve but a single past, a single future,
one heart and one savings account,
and we only do what suits each other best.
Right Anna?
Anna II
Right, Anna.
SLOTH
Family
Will she now? Will our Anna pull herself
together?
Lazy bones are for the Devil’s stockpot.
For she was always quite a one for an armchair.
Lazy bones are for the Devil’s stockpot.
Unless you came and hauled her off the mattress.
Lazy bones are for the Devil’s stockpot.
The lazy slut would lie abed all morning.
Lazy bones are for the Devil’s stockpot.
Otherwise, Anna was, we must admit, a most
respectful child.
Lazy bones are for the Devil’s stockpot.
Did what she was told and showed affection for
her parents.
Lazy bones are for the Devil’s stockpot.
This is what we told her when she left home.
Lazy bones are for the Devil’s stockpot.
Think of us and mind you keep your nose down
to the grindstone.
Lazy bones are for the Devil’s stockpot.
O Lord, look down upon our daughter.
Show her the way that leads the good to Thy
reward.
In all her doings preserve her and comfort her.
Incline her heart to observe all Thy
commandments.
That her works on earth may prosper.
PRIDE
Anna I
So we saved up, bought ourselves an outfit,
nighties, nylons, beautiful dresses.
Soon we found a job that was going,
A job as Dancer in a Cabaret.
A job in Memphis, the second big town we came to.
Oh, how hard it was for Anna.
Beautiful clothes can make a good girl particular
when the drinking tigress meets herself in the
pool,
she’s apt to become a menace.
She began talking about Art (of all things),
about the Art (if you please) of Cabaret,
in Memphis, the second big town we came to.
It wasn’t Art that sort of people came for.
That sort of people came for something else.
And when a man has paid for his evening,
he expects a good show in return.
So if you cover up your bosom and thighs like
you had a rash,
don’t be surprised to see them yawning.
So I told my art-loving sister Anna;
“Leave your pride to those who can well afford it.
Do what you are asked to do and not
what you want, for that isn’t what is wanted.”
Anna I
Oh, but I had trouble I can tell you
with her fancy, pig-headed notions.
Many nights I sat by her bedside,
holding her hand and saying this:
“Think of your home in Louisiana.”
Family
O Lord, look down upon our daughter,
show her the way that leads the good to Thy reward
Who fights the good fight and all Self subdues,
wins the Palm, gains the Crown.
