Lyrics
One Cup and You're Gone
Utanapishtim:
I know why you came
I’ve witnessed desperation
just like yours-- the shore growing more remote
Now who is to blame?
You’re drowning in frustration
reaching for one more thing to stay afloat
Gilgamesh:
I came about my friend
Utanapishtim:
Look no farther than within
Gilgamesh:
I’ll have him back
Utanapishtim:
and you’ll find he never left
Gilgamesh:
I’ve come too far to fail
Utanapishtim:
You’re forgetting one detail
Both:
Now understand
Utanapishtim:
There once was a rain,
Extraordinary thunder
and nothing for my eyes but bleak and endless sea
My thoughts were insane
just like the spell you’re under--
but in your eyes I see you’re not hearing me
Gilgamesh:
I came about my friend
Utanapishtim:
Look no farther, look within
Gilgamesh:
I’ll have him back
Utanapishtim:
and you’ll find he never left
Gilgamesh:
I’ve come too far to fail
Utanapishtim:
It’s no ordinary tale
Both:
Now understand
Utanapishtim:
One cup and you’re gone
Before I count to twenty
You’re in that world adrift from eternal days
I’m deaf to that song
But I remember plenty
Sing to me, sleep, just one deep yet modest phrase
Oh, Gilgamesh, you’re wrong
And you’ve known it all along
To take this road
Must be such a heavy load
You must be on your way
I’ve got nothing left to say
Just understand
"Immortality"
Narrator: Immortality. It is a dream of ashes and ice. The permanent, burning sensation of survivor's guilt, carry it, the sheer weight of it, and walk with it down the endless corridor of years...the smoky trails of faces and names before your eyes-- haunting you when you forget, haunting you more when you remember...your eyes still searching the distance vainly for the faintest hope of a particle of light. A life that defies all that is natural is denied the pleasure of life. To be so cut off, how is this enviable?
To be human is to be born into a shipwreck, yes, but what you hang onto to stay afloat while you are here gives you the meaning of your existence. A melody is beautiful only because it ends.
Gilgamesh never stopped to consider. I slapped him across the face (well, there was one pleasant advantage of immortality, I admit), challenged him to stay awake for one week to teach him. But he was far too entangled in himself to learn. So for every day he slept my wife baked a loaf of bread-- the first was black and mouldy by the seventh day. We also etched lines into the walls marking each day he slept. He would have slept even longer, but finally I said to my wife:
Wake Him Up Now/ There Is a Plant
Utanapishtim:
Wake him up now, this is madness
Shall he lie there all his days?
I must admit disappointment
Growing the longer he stays
Gilgamesh: [repeat once]
Strange, I was almost asleep but now
I’m not sleepy at all
I’m the type who goes to the edge
But does not fall
Utanapishtim:
See now his deceit, how he fools himself!
For seven loaves you slept
You failed the test
Utanapishtim and Utanapishtim’s wife:
So much and more is beyond you
Your mind is caught in its web
There is a shore you must go to
Can ocean waves only ebb?
Gilgamesh: [repeat once]
Wait, but the gods gave it all to you (Why did the gods give it all to you?)
I’m not hoping for more
Let my sorrows end here, there’s much
To answer for
Utanapishtim:
See now his deceit, how he fools himself!
Those seven marks were etched
You failed the test.
Enough!
Utanapishtim’s wife:
There is a plant beneath the sea
Utanapishtim, tell him where it is
There is a plant that brings back youth
Utanapishtim, tell him where it is