for six singers, a cappella [2005]
a theatre piece by
Peter Wesley-Smith (text) and Martin Wesley-Smith (music)
doublethink was premiered by The Song Company, who commissioned it,
in Kangaroo Valley Hall, June 11 2005, and in The Studio, Sydney Opera House, June 15 2005
scheduled performances by The Song Company in 2008 (bookings: call 02 8272 9500):
| Campelltown Arts Centre | 7:30pm | 13 September |
| Canberra National Library | 7:30pm | 19 September |
| Sydney Conservatorium of Music | 7:30pm | 24 September |
| Newcastle Conservatorium | 7:30pm | 25 September |
| Bundanoon | 7:30pm | 27 September |
| Sydney Conservatorium of Music | 3pm | 28 September |
| Mayfield Winery, Orange | 5pm | 19 October |
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contents: this is the life worth living | quick march! | trust | propaganda | all hail to thee, big brotherland | prayer |
| this is the life worth living |
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a lone latte-sipping liberal, sitting in the audience, sings:
this is the life worth living
this is the gift worth giving |
| quick march! |
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this life is worth preserving |
five storm-troopers march in:
no.1 storm-trooper:
all:
we spread disinformation
go right, right | |
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let's make war on war not peace or international co-operation nor on the UN or on international law or maybe we could try diplomacy, humanity, honesty, and virtues such as these ... |
let's give all our support to our troops and peace initiatives as we march to another war a war against that dic - tator: international law let's fight the fight with shock and awe |
| trust |
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chief storm-trooper speaks: Ladies and gentlemen, this election is all about trust - in ME! Trust me on interest rates ... the safety net ... troops to Iraq ... and on all core promises! [3]
liberal:
no.1 storm-trooper:
no.2 storm-trooper:
liberal: no.1 storm-trooper nods to no.2, who goes into the audience, grabs the liberal, and drags him, protesting, onto stage
no.1 storm-trooper and others:
liberal: no.2 storm-trooper throws a bucket of water over the liberal, silencing him
no.1 storm-trooper:
no.2 storm-trooper:
all except liberal:
no.2 storm-trooper: |
| propaganda |
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you've died
closed down by government decree watch out for doublespeak:
"collateral damage":
there's gobbledy-gook, mumbo-jumbo |
no.1 storm-trooper: ... what we do just study what we do with propaganda the image is the thing a picture can reach a billion eyes create your own reality with propaganda and slander tell lies, make propaganda
"you have been negatively impacted "yours was a negative patient outcome"
Only eu - phemisms gleam and glow |
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propaganda
keep it simple, say it often |
fabricate, exaggerate, manipulate, indoctrinate disinformation repetition intimidate, misinformation selective quotation, false insinuations your government knows what's best for you |
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5:
"No one shall be subjected to torture" Article 14: "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution"
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
The Gospel According to St Matthew, chapter 5, verse 9: |
no rights can exist for a terrorist (Gitmo, Bagram, Abu Ghraib) no visas, so hey, let's lock them away! (free to still call Baxter home)
as onward went our troops |
| all hail to thee Big Brotherland |
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You give us tyranny and call it government you give us government and call it sovereignty and then you call it democracy but when we call for freedom you call us terrorists you cluster bomb our cities and call it freedom
is this life worth living? |
all hail to thee Big Brotherland [9]
our nation proud and strong custodian of liberty our country right or wrong
forever free we'll ever be
our laws, our cause |
| prayer |
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Oh Lord, have mercy upon us and forgive us our enemies against whom we trespass, attack, invade, with shock and awe and advanced weaponry; as we blow up their homes and hospitals with our incontinent ordnance; as our bad apples abuse, humiliate and maim terrorist detainees with conduct amounting to torture; as insurgent-controlled residential conurbations are pacified through total destruction; as we liberate their God-granted oil; as we bring order and civilisation, freedom and democracy to their benighted lands, debased cultures and deviant religions Lord, have mercy upon our enemies 'cos Lord, they need it Amen |
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text and music commissioned by The Song Company, who receive triennial funding from the Music Board of The Australia Council, the federal government's arts funding and advisory body
© Peter Wesley-Smith 2005 [e-mail] |
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footnotes
[click on the number to go back to the reference in the text] 1 the tune here is by Sir Arthur Sullivan 2 DU: depleted uranium - see Moret, Leuren, Depleted Uranium: Dirty Bombs, Dirty Missiles, Dirty Bullets, SF Bay View: "A Japanese professor, Dr. K. Yagasaki, has calculated that 800 tons of DU is the atomicity equivalent of 83,000 Nagasaki bombs. The U.S. has used more DU since 1991 than the atomicity equivalent of 400,000 Nagasaki bombs." See, also, the website of our conservation piece Who Killed Cock Robin? (click here, scrolling, if necessary, to about three quarters of the way down the page). 3 note: the chief storm-trooper here is an entirely fictional character 4 note: the no.1 storm-trooper here is another entirely fictional character 5 see Fields, Gary, Power, propaganda and the promised land - Euphemisms thwart understanding and resolution of Israeli/Palestinian issue", The San Diego Union-Tribune, May 29 2005: "Language, as George Orwell remarked, is a proxy for power. According to the celebrated author of '1984', those in power use language to disseminate truth selectively through a process of representation and concealment. When applied to the region of Israel/Palestine, Orwell's insights reveal how this interplay of representation and concealment permeates the exercise of power, and why, absent changes in the discourse of the powerful side, there is little reason to expect any progress in the situation." 6 see Watson, Don: Watson's Dictionary of Weasel Words, Contemporary Clichés, Cant & Management Jargon, Random House Australia Pty Ltd, Sydney, 2004 7 see Goslin, Harry, Tyranny, Press Whores, and the Slaughter of Millions: "Censorship is a necessary component of every 'successful' war. As General William Westmoreland observed during the Vietnam War, 'without censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public mind.'" 8 this little song originally appeared in our piece Black Ribbon (2001) 9 the melody here was transcribed from a CD of Hitler Youth songs and marches
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