Lyrics: Dave Malloy
Music: Dave Malloy
BECKETT
a couple weeks in
i got a phone call from my sister
telling me my grandparents had died
i had lost touch with my grandparents
they were this mad old hermit couple that lived in ireland
county cork
(grandfather appears, drinking brandy and humming.)
gramps had been a stonemason
their backyard was this insane rock sanctuary
giant boulders and cairns set up in arcane formations
sacred geometry
GRANDFATHER
listen to the stone
lay your hands upon the stone
for the stone stands watch for a thousand thousand years
listen to the stone
see the sparkle on the stone
for the stone will never die
BECKETT
in the center he had built a clochán
one of those beehive-shaped stone huts
that celtic monks and old luke skywalker lived in
i visited them once on a backpacking trip, after my dad died
gramps and i spent a whole night in the hut
sucking down plum brandy
singing old irish ditties
while we grieved
BECKETT & GRANDFATHER
listen to the stone
lay your hands upon the stone
for the stone stands watch for a thousand thousand years
listen to the stone
see the sparkle on the stone
for the stone will never die
SHELOB
how sweetly he used to hum
your grandfather’s brandy recitals
are legendary amongst us spiders
BECKETT
i suppose i should also mention here
that my new local liquor store
had the exact brand of plum brandy my gramps used to drink;
and they delivered
eight bottles in a case
it became a nightly ritual
SHELOB
yes beckett
enjoy yourself
you deserve it
(grandmother appears beside grandfather.)
BECKETT
gran had been mystical too—
her thing was crystals
quartz, amethyst, malachite, tiger’s eye
tuning her spirit to their energies
a couple weeks after they passed
i got a package;
gran’s pendulum
a piece of deep blue lapis lazuli
strung on a silver chain
swinging back and forth
and round and round
BECKETT & SHELOB
swinging back and forth
and round and round