I - the thing

the thing the thing the thing!

oh the thing

          the thing is IT

          the thing and nothing but the thing

          long live the thing

          hurrah for the thing

          what is the thing?

the books say

               the thing is ......THE THING

and the wisdom of the ages

...and sages

          worn out pages cages museum pieces masterpieces THE THING

          the thing IS

                    the thing is our SALVATION permutation  castration

          the thing is the isness that is not before the essence of

                    the meaningfulness of reason before

                    existence existing apple cart before

                    the apple

                    donkey before the horse cart

                    after the equi-histamopholous oblong

                    wheel was invented

                                        (pythaphagoranamus 2)

                    THE THING IS MYSTERIOUS

the thing the thing the thing

oh the thing                            what is the thing?

LET US SPEAK ABOUT THE THING

                         ........................PATIENTLY

                                                 think

                                                 see

                                                 hear

                         let us read

                         let us write

                         LET US FIGHT

                                        about the thing

                              for a month

                                  a year

                                  a century

                                             or two

                                             or four

                                             or eight

                                             or ninety eight

                                             or eighty four

the thing the thing the thing

oh the thing

          sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh

                    be composed

                       contained

                       comely

                       demure

                       BE GRAVE

                                   AND WORSHIP

                                                       the thing

                                                       PATIENTLY

          Kara wesha wesha wesha

          wesha wesha wesha wesha

          wesha wesha wesha wesha

                                      (prayer)

                         .....,......,........,...,......,

                         .....,.....,....;......,.....;...

                         ....,....;....;....,....;....,...

               ..and then

               LET US SPEAK

                                             of IT

                                                   over tea

                                                   butter scotch

                                                   or L.S.D.

               or

                    what is the fashion today

                                               with it?

the thing the thing the thing

oh the thing

                              what is the fashion with IT

                                                    the thing

                                                         today?

II - water music on bodiesburg

let the fear of death fill the earth with death

            said the defeated giant

           on his death bed as transcending human consciousness resolved all fear and terror

I will bring back the terror of death for to fill the earth with death he insisted on his death bed

               AND IT WAS SO!

and the dead giant laughed I can not die I Nosferato shall never die

                              MORE!

               and was made again

                              in the minds of men

                              a lie

                              MORE!

               and was made again

               with the flesh and blood of men

                              in the minds of men

                              a lie

                              MORE!

                                        ....and their children

                              MORE!

...and they danced in the graveyard

                              MORE!

...and they feasted

                    on pus entrails and blood

                              MORE!

they learnt to dance.....

                    of modified joy

          and the dead giant re-invigorated laughed

                              MORE!

                                     MORE!

                                             MORE!

...and they celebrated

                      ...a modified festival

for they had made

                    A MODIFIED MAN

                                   on bodiesburg..

                    LONG LIVE THE SUBSTITUTE!

                           we fear not life!

                           we fear not death!

                           for we are dead before we live or die..

                                           ..for a lie

                                           on bodiesburg

and the dead giant laughed

                          my conquerors slaughter themselves and their children

                                                         for fear

                                                         of me!

               for fear of a picture

                                a delusion

                                   murmured Osiris and a blossoming tree

                              A PICTURE IMAGINED

                              A TERROR BORN OUT OF DARKNESS

                              LET THE SUN SHINE IN

                     …………………………………

                      would that men could listen to flowers speaking

                             and seeds

                                        and shoots and roots

                                        and leaves

                                        and children

                              A PICTURE! A DELUSION

but they danced and drank a toast and would not  listen

                                             on bodiesburg                    

                                              for they had made

                                         A MODIFIED MAN!

                    LONG LIVE THE SUBSTITUTE!

                                              they cheered

                                         .....and they played

                                                      water music..

                                                      as  they pretended to dance

III - march of the modified men

LONG LIVE THE SUBSTITUTE

               the plastic substitute

               the automatic substitute

               the polished substitute

               the illustrious electronic picnotic monochromatic

                              the photographic substitute

                    the predictable substitute

                    the four legged substitute

                    the four walled substitute

                    the four wheeled substitute

                   the colored screen substitute

               the accepted

               acknowledged

               safety tested

              government standards

              international seminar

                    the LEGAL substitute

                         LONG LIVE THE SUBSTITUTE!

we are the plastic men the automatic men the polished men

the illustrious men the electronic men the controlled men

the accepted men the acknowledged men the government standards men

the safety tested men the international seminar men the heroic men

                                   THE LEGAL men!

                                        do dodo do.. (trumpet)

                                     let us STUDY

                                              the thing!

                                              we ARE legal men

the thing the thing the thing

oh the thing

let us

                              discuss

                                             the thing

let us forever...

                       be

                         devoted

                                     to

                                      the thing

                                                  (tears..

                                                      are app...

                                                                 ..ropriate..

                                                                        ..at this point)

let us

          think

                    upon the thing

                                      the REAL thing

do dodo do.....dododosoldomi so..............l   (trumpet)

                                                        ? ? ?

                                                    ? ? ?

                                  ? ? ?

                            ? ? ?

          LET US FIGHT

                         for the thing

                              the REAL thing!

               Hurrah for the faithful

               Hurrah for the brave

          COME AND FIGHT

                                               for the thing

                                               the REAL thing

do dodo do....dododosoldomi sol.......... (trumpet again!)

          We are the plastic men the automatic men the

          polished men the illustrious men the electronic men

          the controlled men the accepted men the acknowledged men

          the government standards men the safety tested men

          the international seminar men

                         the LEGAL men

                                         and we FIGHT

                                                   for the thing!

                              do dodo do..

                              dododosoldomi sol.. (trumpet)

                                           LEGALLY

                                                     do dodo do.. (trumpet yet again)

IV- scherzo

     the BLACK ages are over now

               and the dark ones too

... and those terrible times

                              far far away -in OTHER lands-

                                                  of tyranny ...

                              are over now ..

Hurrah ! man at last is FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

                                   to think upon the thing       

                                    or to view and review  ….. the thing

for it is now -at last-

                         an ENLIGHTENED age !

it IS an enlightened age

                         and free

                                   if only we could

                                             guard ourselves ...

                         from treason and crime

                         from enemies and slime

                         from subversion perversion permutation

                             …… from hackers and from grime

let's always rid the house of criminals

               and in it stay

                                  FREE

at last

          enlightened and FREE for to think upon the thing       

IV-(b) scherzetto

the CRIMINALS are dying

                         or are dead

dum da da da .................      (trumpets and drums)

they are always caught -thank God-

                         by the faithful

                            the dedicated

                            the SELFLESS

                                        by philosophers

                                        .. and by the book

dum da da da ................

but they struggle at their execution

                                        and hurt our feelings so

and it is their LEGAL execution

                                        the tasteless brutes

they shake the foundations of our legal house

                              the tasteless brutes

     our free and legal house

                              where we stay and think

                                             upon the thing ..

oh they hurt our feelings so the tasteless brutes

                    but tolerant we must be

                    and full of legal charity

for such is the   W I C K E D  nature of man    

and lucky are we

                who can stay legal and clean

                for to think

                              upon the thing

     THE CRIMINALS ARE DEAD

                              thank God

                              Hurrah

          dum da da da ...................(trumpets and drums)

    V- purification of the body politic

     homage to the legal stake or cross

THE CRIMINALS ARE DEAD

                              thank God

                              Hurrah

          dum da da da..................(trumpets and drums)

..and a criminal said

     as he slowly died

                    impaled on a legal stake

                                   my kiss is for the child

                                   the criminal child

                                   for to live and love

                                   his criminal self

                                   or for to CHOOSE

                                             not to be

                                                a philosopher

                                                or a king..

the age is liberal

and WE are free

                    even a CRIMINAL man

                    is allowed a defence

                                   (if it is short)

                             “I asked a tree about the thing

                             ..and she blossomed

                                             so did I..?”

                    ......and died with the others

                          on a legal stake or cross

we are open

we are free

we shall deliberate upon the matter

we shall deliberate upon the thing

                                    (for it becomes men

                                     who are enlightened and free

                                     to be devoted

                                     .....to the thing

                                     ..................

                                     and even hear

                                     a criminal's defence

                                     ...every now and then..)

LET US DELIBERATE UPON.....

                      .....

                      .....  this thing

                                             MORE!

let us deliberate and think

                         or perhaps exude a BOOK or two

                                                 or three

                                   .....or a thousand and three

                     or better still a web site and a search engine

for our age is enlightened and free

                         AND A -L I T E R A T E !

                         AND E- L I T E R A T E !

VI - expiation and praise

tum ta ta ta..tata tatatata ta....         (trumpets and drums)

let's make yesterday's criminals saints today

tum ta ta ta.. tata tatatata ta.......

               WE ARE GUILTY

                              so the prophets say

               AND WICKED TOO

               tum ta ta ta......

          let's relieve some guilt

              redress some wrong

                                when it is safe

oh how elevating to the soul

               let's have them in glass coffins

                                             preserved

                    with flowers and holy colours

     their flesh is marble cold now

                                             oh lovely marble clean

                                             with formaline

               their blood is stagnant now

                                   like a summer lake

                                   summer lake stagnant

      oh how elevating to the soul

                              oh how safe!

     let us STUDY these great men and women

                              in glass boxes

                                   marble clean

                                   summer-lake stagnant

                                   formaline safe

                         ...............SAINTLY

and when we have finished

                         we shall write a book

                                          or two

                                          or three

                                   or a thousand and three

the thing the thing the thing

LONG LIVE the thing.............................SAINTLY

tum ta ta ta......

VII - finale con brio

               with a slightly criminal coda

                                       (quickly recanted)

Man Man! lucky man

         enlightened and free

         jump man

         dance man

                    and rock with glee

YOU ARE  R I C H E R

                    by a thousand books

                    or a thousand and three..

                    and a billion electronic sites

          the thing as seen through a purple light

          the thing as seen through a laser beam

          the thing reduced to its atomic make-up

          the thing reduced to its sub-atomic make-up

          the thing temporal extemporate secular and ex-temple

          the thing as seen through professor von Bronkenheusen's

                                          lanolin shampoo just pay five more dollars and get

                                          the next installment

          WISDOM about the thing

          statistics about the thing

          vital statistics of the thing

          supra-vital statistics of the thing

          true and false about the thing

          true and false about statistics of the thing

          a thousand ways to the thing

          a thousand and one ways to the thing

          on the logical basis of the thing

          on the criticism of the logical basis of the thing

          the true road to the thing

          on the nature of the thing

          another true road to the thing

     the biochemical physico-magnetic

         socio-economic religio-panoramic

         optico-fantastic psycho-mydriatic

         manquo-palambotic celico-psychedelic

                                     relationships of the thing

the thing the thing the thing

                              Hurrah

                                        THE THING

HURRAH for MAN

                    enlightened and FREE

                                       the criminals die

                                       (legally without fuss)

                         and the shelves of knowledge

                         grow richer

                                   WITH BOOKS

                                   hurrah

                                   and thousands of BOOKS

                                   Hurrah

                                             on THE THING

..and a barren tree walked to the mountain of books

                    ...and asked to read

                                        about the thing

                         ..I once knew

                                     the thing -she sighed-

                         ..I BLOSSOMED

                                      but I forgot

                                      or I am

                                               afraid..

RESPECT MY WEAKNESS!

                         PLEASE!

LET ME READ........

                      .......or WRITE.......

                                       or perchance FIGHT?

                                                   for the thing

                                    PLEASE !