The Eleventh Muse (a.k.a. Lady GaGa) had a new song come out today…and while I have not heard it yet, I am looking forward to taking a listen a bit later on…
But in the meanwhile, in the run-up to PantheaCon, I wanted to give everyone a little preview of some of what we’ll be doing there. In particular, I wanted to give you the full lyrics (with stage directions) for the beginning of Act II (“Comedeia”) of our sacred ritual drama, Bakkhoí Antínoou, which we’ll be performing at our ritual of the same name on Sunday night, February 20th, at 11 PM. For those who can’t be there, but would like to play along at home, this song will probably be performed at about 11:45 PM; I assume the first act will be finishing about then (it will have started by 11:30), and the second act will begin thus right after.
[ANTINOUS opens his eyes, turns his head to the side, and the music starts. He slowly sits up.]
ANTINOUS: I know that I am dead
and I know that you still love me;
But I just can’t be with you like this anymore,
Hadriane…
[Enter PERSEPHONE and DIONYSOS, who help ANTINOUS up, place him center stage, and then stand slightly behind him on each side of him, dancing with the music, joining in on some lines as per the original tune.]
ANTINOUS: He’s got both feet / on Gaia
But he won’t look away
/ Won’t look away
And in Egypt / They are starving
The inundation’s failed / But I can’t stay!
You know that I love you, man,
Hot like Egypt’s desert sands–
At this point you’ve gotta choose,
So much to lose…
Don’t cry for me, Don’t cry for me, Hadriane
Don’t mourn for me, Don’t mourn for me, Hadriane
Don’t let them slice into my guts,
Just build a pyre ‘n’ light me up!
Don’t cry for me, Don’t cry for me, Hadriane
Hadriane, Hadriane,
Ave Hadriane, Ave Hadriane
Hadriane, Hadriane,
Ave Hadriane, Ave Hadriane
Stop! Please…
Just let me go…
Hadriane
Just let me go…
He’s been broken /
By his sorrow
But the Empire’s falling down / It’s falling down
Initiation / From Eleusis
Hasn’t chased away his fears / In his tears he’ll drown!
You know that I love you, man,
Hot like Egypt’s desert sands–
At this point you’ve gotta choose,
So much to lose…
Don’t cry for me, Don’t cry for me, Hadriane
Don’t mourn for me, Don’t mourn for me, Hadriane
Don’t let them slice into my guts,
Just build a pyre ‘n’ light me up!
Don’t cry for me, Don’t cry for me, Hadriane
Hadriane, Hadriane,
Ave Hadriane, Ave Hadriane
Hadriane, Hadriane,
Ave Hadriane, Ave Hadriane
[Enter HERMES.]
ANTINOUS: Don’t cry for me, Don’t cry for me…
HERMES: Hadriane
ANTINOUS: Don’t mourn for me, Don’t mourn for me…
HERMES: Hadriane
ANTINOUS: Live on for me, Live on for me…
HERMES: Hadriane
ANTINOUS: How much I wish that I could touch…Hadriane
Don’t cry for me, Don’t cry for me, Hadriane
Don’t mourn for me, Don’t mourn for me, Hadriane
Don’t let them slice into my guts,
Just build a pyre ‘n’ light me up!
Don’t cry for me, Don’t cry for me, Hadriane
Hadriane, Hadriane,
Ave Hadriane, Ave Hadriane
Hadriane, Hadriane,
Ave Hadriane, Ave Hadriane
[In the last chorus, as the CHORUS, guided by DIONYSOS and PERSEPHONE, sings and dances the last lines over and over again, ANTINOUS sings the final chorus. HERMES takes out a pen, seems to be writing something, then hands it to ANTINOUS to sign, then salutes him and exits.]
ANTINOUS: Don’t cry for me, Don’t cry for me, Hadriane
Don’t mourn for me, Don’t mourn for me, Hadriane
Don’t let them slice into my guts,
Just build a pyre ‘n’ light me up!
Don’t cry for me, Don’t cry for me, Hadriane
Hadriane.
*****
And, it goes on from there into further hilarity (if all goes well)…Though, I have to say, I do get a little bit emotional with some of the above lyrics in the context of the play itself. You’d have to see it to really get what’s going on, but I’ll speak more about it once it has happened.
I suspect that some people who are more pop-culturally-inclined than I am might wish to use the above as a kind of Antinoan/Hadrianic hymn, which is quite fine by me. Some people already have, actually! Why not?
I will have more to post in the next few days (and possibly in the next four hours)…stay tuned!
Wow. I bet that’ll be quite the thing to witness.
By: thehouseofvines on February 12, 2011
at 8:45 am
I sure hope so!
At this stage, the whole thing could be amazing, or it could be disastrous…And, given that we’ll have no way to do a full rehearsal, or even a read-through with everyone present, it’s just going to be “do the best you can” I think…
I’m more worried about people being ignorant of blocking, actually, than any worries on lines and such. It’s amazing how non-obvious even many experienced actors (actually, they’re probably worse than anyone!) can be about blocking decisions, since that is the director’s job and not theirs much of the time…!?!
By: aediculaantinoi on February 12, 2011
at 2:13 pm
[...] So, Act I being completed, we move on to Act II (with all the same caveats as listed in the beginning of the previous entry!). This act begins and ends with songs or parts of songs (with altered lyrics) from the Eleventh Muse, one of which I gave on the blog here before going to PantheaCon. [...]
By: Bakkhoí Antínoou, Act II: Comedeia « Aedicula Antinoi: A Small Shrine of Antinous on March 4, 2011
at 1:28 am
[...] the song used at the beginning of Act II of Bakkhoí Antínoou, which I also posted independently here earlier. In this song, as in all of the prose writings that record Polydeukion at all, he is called [...]
By: Polydeukion « Aedicula Antinoi: A Small Shrine of Antinous on March 9, 2011
at 2:59 am
[...] and recalled how I had already written alternate lyrics to several of her songs, including turning “Alejandro” into “Hadriane“ for the second act of the Bakkhoí Antínoou play, and “Paparazzi” into [...]
By: All We Hear Is Radio Ga Ga… « Aedicula Antinoi: A Small Shrine of Antinous on July 4, 2011
at 7:23 pm
[...] You may be familiar with some of my Eleventh Muse (a.k.a. Lady GaGa) treatments of matters for Antinous, Polydeukion, and others (Pancrates and Hadrian); you may also be familiar with my Glykonic take on [...]
By: The Song Bug Bites Again… « Aedicula Antinoi: A Small Shrine of Antinous on October 6, 2011
at 4:02 am
[...] reading and/or acting out “Hadrian and Antinous”; if you don’t have it, then look at this as a possible [...]
By: Antinous in the Underworld; Thirds of Samain–Second Day of First Third… « Aedicula Antinoi: A Small Shrine of Antinous on October 29, 2011
at 9:37 am