Transcriptions of "Monk's Dream"
(sometime in spring 1998)

These are lyrics written to the rhythm of "Monk's Dream," a piano piece by Thelonius Monk. Julie Ebin, who proposed this exercise, also provided us with a scat transcription of it, which aided in our constructions of the lyrics.

de dah d'li ah Dee dah de Dee dah Daah
de dah d'li ah Dee dah de Dee dah Daah
Ding di de li de Ding ding Dah de dah Dah
Dah da da de Dah
 
Daah de dah
Daah de dah
Dee dah de dee da daah
da da da da de dah
da da de da de dah
da da da de dee dah da

de dah d'li ah Dee dah de Dee dah Daah
de dah d'li-ah Dee dah de Dee dah Daah
Ding di de li de Ding ding Dah de dah Dah
Dah da da de Dah

I. MO

We started t' see that the twisted trees
Were startin' t' freeze in the dying breeze
I just froze, closed my door,
Went inside and cried

All it takes
T' tear it down
Seven minutes more
Many old ghosts are roused
Finest old house in town
is Scheduled to t'be destroyed.

I dab at my eyes, and swallow hard
Whenever the flood washes out my yard
Can't talk about it, but even now
I Care for the squirrels in the yard.

All it took
T' tear it down
was a bull dozer
Memories in that house
Some of them still unharmed
Spilling across a tabletop

I'm starting to feel the fear of death
I'm needing t' catch a second breath
Signs of recovery, but even now
Too scared, can't say a word
II. LM

This guy he'd yelled and he dropped a rock
This guy he'd yelled when he dropped the stone
Then the kitty sprang up and walking and talk

-Ing-mar Berg
-Man he ran
Him with me
Singing and kicking grass
Shaking our hands for yes
Shaking our fists for no
Slapping the souls of feet for food

So breaking a chelsea was not so tough
We hadn't a clue it would be so tough
Breaking and smashing, pulping the thing
That was that.

III. LK

If I could see you after tea
We could go walking in the rain
Then we could rock, maybe stop in the park
Fish they would wave

In the fountain after tea
Now the day is going blue
Come, let's be fish, baby, go for a dip,
Swim around fools...

Sky is gray
Fins are smooth
We could be two fine fish
You and me so steel
wet so you and me...
We're the most fabulous fish!

So eat one last lemon scone
And drink up your second cup
Fish only swim when it's dusk at the park
Fish in the rain...

IV. AT

The people who say things don't say them well
The people who say things don't say them well
They pretend to believe that everything's fine
What else can they say?

The people who know things don't talk at all
The people who know things don't talk at all
They pretend to believe that nothing is true
What else can they know?

I say this
You say that
We know that we are wrong
I'm gonna know it all
I'm gonna say it well
Who's to say that I am wrong?

The people who say things don't say them well
The people who know things don't talk at all
Nobody believes in anything true
Except for me and you

V. JE

A sausage could squeeze out a southward feast
as barbecued cats yowl a southern screech
cucumber sandwich, eaten dainty;
glib mocking of tea.

Croissants repleteful with choc'late paste,
grapefruit and bread feed an adult's face
small child hungry, asking for cows;
"We're breakfasting French."

Nature's free turkey tree
bleeds like the giving one did
No one's as clean as they
attuning to social hay
The same bond rewrites a tree

Declaring the earth to be null and void
a posse of Jews dressed in cowboy duds
storm Kingdom Come as
God bakes a cake
Crumbs' apocalypse

Present: M. Obert, L. Maraniss, J. Ebin, A. Tobin, L. Kleinberg