Pieces and parts

(Laurie Anderson)

They say that in 1842 on a plantation in Alabama
The slaves unearthed a huge skeleton,
The bones of a giant whale, a leviathan,
From the time when all the world was covered with water
From the Andes to the Himalayas
And even Alabama was deep down under.
And the slaves looked at the huge bones and they said:
These must be the bones of a fallen angel
These must be the bones of a fallen angel
Out on the ocean, out of the water
We look for signs of him
He looks like a giant snow hill, a fountain
Then he disappears.
He’s a speck on the horizon
We see him only in parts
The flash of a tail, his beating heart.
He’s in pieces and parts.
It’s easier for a camel to slide through the eye of a needle
Than to find a whale who hides at the bottom of the ocean
It’s easier to sail around the world in a coffee cup
Than to see a whale when he comes rising up
We see him only in parts
A fountain, fins, a speck on the horizon
Giant teeth, an open mouth
Look out, look out, look out, look out
So hit an elephant with a dart
and he just reaches around and pulls it out with his trunk
But hit a whale in the heart and the whole ocean turns red,
It turns red.
We see him only in parts
The flash of a tail, his beating heart
He’s in pieces and parts
So get hit in your head
And there may be a few things you can’t recall at all
But you get hit in your heart
And you’re in pieces and parts
Pieces and parts.