VANUNU - A Radiophonic Opera
The LIBRETTO
The following ought not to be taken as entirely indicative of how the opera unfolds. A large part of the piece consists of soundscape and spoken word, drawing upon writings by Vanunu (including the poem "I Am Your Spy" ) and archival material about the Vanunu case and related nuclear issues. What follows is best considered as a listener's guide to the sung parts.
Words by David Nerlich
My son you shall walk the road as prophets do. Son of solomon.
You shall shine like tears on the face of the earth.
Bersheeba, desert wind, desert mind, desert child.
I am on the edge
I touch upon the Rubicon
Something will happen
Something terrible Must happen
ATOM NEUTRON HYDROGEN
offence is the best defence
Nu-va-cai Da-mor-da
Secrets Denial
These are the secrets of war
This path is lit with atom fire.
I shall fly from the desert. Be lifted up!
Secrets! Secrets!
These are the secrets of war
These are the secrets of power
These are the secrets of strength
These are the secrets of Isreal
I'm in the bosom of the machine
I've found the bosom of the machine
Deadly fire it brings What road is this we build ?
No more it's shadowed angels wings
Do I dance with Satan two times two ?
Arab Jew which is which and who is who ?
Is this the road to Sodom true ?
A road to holocausts built anew.
No freedom of mind
If you knew what I knew
These are the secrets of Power War Death
No one knows these secrets.
I am the child of the whole world
John the baptised
John recreated
John reconstructed
John Motti
Son of Solomon
Son of God
Son that is the liberation
The confessor. The heretic. The revolution
Acting being doing itching scratching
Knowing is burning is itching is scratching
Hot potato Hot potato
The light of angels dots the desert night
You shall be a star in the night
You shall shine like tears on the face of the earth
Angels wings
Shadows of death
To march or to sleep?
To march or to sleep?
The way is the way
The deep is the deep
I pray the lord my soul to keep
Acting being doing itching scratching
Knowing is burning is itching is scratching
Hot potato Hot potato
I WILL CUT SIDEWAYS
Information is wealth
Info to the channels
Knowledge to the channels
I WILL CROSS THE DESERT
I am on the threshold
This is not the road
This cannot be the road
MEET THE CRUSHED AND BEATEN
Acting being doing scratching
Knowing is burning is itching is scratching
I WON'T LEVEL THEIR HOMES
OR HELP TO CRUSH THEIR BONES
Hot potato
The road burns my feet
My tongue is on fire
I itch to speak
ARE WE BETTER THAN THEY?
Knowledge is fire
The truth burns like acid in my throat
I AM ON THE THRESHOLD
The sons have killed the fathers
Spitting in the face
A child of the whole world
SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN NOW
Shadows dog my every step
Shadows within shadows
Who is it that follows?
I SEE ANOTHER ROAD
I've done it. It is finished
I have spoken
The word has leapt from my throat
I have pulled aside the shroud
The word of God is what you say
Is what you know
What you see, what you know
Information is money, time is money
(money money he did it for the money )
The road ahead is shadowed
Dark with angels wings
Which is the light?
( can't see in the light )
Which is the dark?
( can't see in the dark )
Come with me to the city of love
The road burns my feet
I want to go back
I itch to speak
My tongue is on fire
The dust scalds my feet
Knowledge is fire
The truth burns like acid in my throat
Lies Lies
The daily lies
Is he here to fool us
Can we beleive
In what he sees
(in Hitlers diaries )
He's crazy, crazy, crazy
Submarine, subterrain, subjudice
Submission, subjection
You had to open your big fat mouth
You signed your name and you broke the law
You broke the law and nothing more
No God, no good, no evil saw
You broke the law and nothing more
You had to open your big fat mouth
Crazy! Lunatic! Dangerous!
Poor fool, poor lost lamb
Why did you turn?
Why have you drifted?
No good no God no Jesus more
You signed your name, you broke the law
You broke the law and nothing more
Played the game and so I lose again
You signed your name, you broke the law
You broke the law and nothing more
Traitor! Traitor!
That's the game I was born to play
Down the road and damm the way
Traitor! Transgressor! Snake! Evil son!
Israel I thought I did this for you
He did it for the money
It surely isn't funny
Under control, under control
We've got the situation under control
So history must be written
And stories must end
To keep the peace
Of mind. A quiet cell. No disturbance.
In the mind. Never mind.
Bersheeba Bersheeba
Desert wind
Abyss in I am
You have the knowledge
Do not follow blindly
I have tried to set you free
Your minds are free be free
I have tried to set you free
Your minds are free be free
We see the gas cloud
Sparking neutron glare
No more human blindness
Can see the far horizon
Your minds are free
Be free
You have the knowledge
Do not follow blindly
Do not reason blindly
My mind is free
Be free
RETURN TO VANUNU