Robert Ashley - Celestial Excursions

Celestial Excursions Text, music and direction by Robert Ashley Singers: Sam Ashley, Thomas Buckner, Jacqueline Humbert, Joan La Barbara and Robert Ashley Piano: “Blue” Gene Tyranny Electronic orchestra: Robert Ashley and Tom Hamilton Live mixing and sound processing: Tom Hamilton http://www.lovely.com/titles/cd1007.html http://www.kylegann.com/CelestialExcu... Act I – "Is It Light Yet?" 00:00:00 Characters 00:05:10 Alcohol 00:07:46 Mr. or Ms. or Mrs. N 00:13:42 Love Letter Part 1 00:15:30 Bruno Part 1 00:18:57 Love Letter Part 2 00:20:45 Bruno Part 2 00:22:38 Subaru 00:24:26 Raoul 00:30:36 Goodbye Walnut Act II – "Asylum" 00:34:43 The List 00:34:56 Asylum | Depression 00:38:29 Asylum | What About The Kids? 00:40:53 Asylum | Baguette 00:42:38 Asylum | Love That Stuff 00:43:48 Asylum | I Had It & I Lost It 00:44:30 Asylum | Before What? 00:44:54 Asylum | Recent Attendance 00:45:35 Asylum | After All the Stuff 00:46:35 Asylum | Ghosts 00:48:28 Asylum | It's Got To Be A Secret 00:49:19 Asylum | It's Only Fun 00:49:45 Asylum | I Like Q 00:50:36 Asylum | Good Idea 00:51:38 Asylum | Never On Your Mind 00:53:29 Asylum | It's Almost 10 O'Clock 01:00:36 Asylum | Ordinary Man 01:00:50 Asylum | Years of Desire Act III – "The River Deepens" 01:01:49 Ozzie Smith 01:03:23 Prelude to Therapy 01:09:21 Therapy 01:16:30 Prelude to Nightmare 01:23:02 Nightmare 01:30:57 Prelude to Grandmother 01:35:37 Grandmother 01:41:26 Prelude to Yes, I Know 01:45:54 Yes, I Know "The fear is that we won’t go gently or abruptly into that good night. We will hang on in the endurance trials of old age, forever rehearsing in the early morning twilight, fortified by a few hours of faulty sleep, the plot or why there is no plot, the explanations, the why, the lists, the old grievances never to be settled now, the stories never told or passed on, the interruptions, the terrifying proportions, everything larger than it is known to be, distorted in the mirror, and again and again. Old people are special because they have no future. The future is what to eat for breakfast or where did I leave my shoes. Everything else is in the past. Is this understandable? So, sometimes old people break the rules. Especially the rules of conversation and being together. They laugh a lot. I mean real full laughter. Did you ever notice that? They break the rules, because, for one reason or another (illness, anger, damage, enough of that, whatever), the rules no longer apply for them. They are alone. Sometimes they are sad. Sometimes they are desperate. Mostly they are brave. Mostly they have given up on the promises of religion – life after death, immortality, etc. Mostly they are concerned with dignity. Living with dignity. And, like all of us, eventually dying with dignity. But they are still obliged, as human beings, to make sounds. They are obliged to speak, whether or not anyone is listening. Act I (“Is It Light Yet?”) is a series of personal songs, the kind rehearsed in the early morning, every morning, to try to get the story right. These are separated by short bulletins of what some of the rest of the people on earth are up to. Act II (“Asylum”) is a dialogue between four guests at the Assisted Living Facility and the counselor, who is trying to explain to them that the burden they feel, which might seem to be explained in words, is not to be relieved by finding the word of escape, and in fact will never be relieved. Occasionally the guests break into song to relieve the tension. Act III (“The River Deepens”) is a series of reminiscences in a mixture of past and present tense. The importance of the reminiscence is its persistence. Separations never heal. Friendships misused never forgive. A mistake is a mistake forever."