A LAST SONG

the love affair of the century
a minimal musical

songs and text: Claus Beck-Nielsen (1963-2001)
music: Joachim Holbek

Das Beckværk, May-June 2002

Stage director: Henrik Sartou
Stage Design: Jesper Corneliussen

On stage were:

SHE: Lotte Andersen & Charlotte Elm Ravn (puppeteer)
HE: Caspar Philipson & Niklas Ågren (puppeteer)
STORYTELLER (voice):Ghita Nørby

During the last night of the war, in the summer of 1945, a young American soldier happens to pass by the stadium where German Diva D is performing a farewell concert to the Third Reich. After the concert he suddenly stands in her dressing room. He says:

I saw you
You stood on that stage
in the light
I saw you
and I thought
I want her

Thus begins the love affair of the century
told in a song
the song She writes for Him the night after their first meeting
the song that follows them on their voyage of love
right through the century
an eclipsed honeymoon
from Berlin to Paris, New York, L.A., London, Frankfurt & back to Hell
whilst gradually transforming from Marlene Dietrich through the Beatles, Hendrix, Jones & Cave to the latest remix
on the threshold of the new millenium
A Final Song


A minimal musical, of which the leading national daily, Politiken, wrote after the World Premiere in Copenhagen in May 2002: " -for this piece he deserves international attention".

The nine versions of The Song have been recorded by Joachim Holbek in collaboration with a Danish rock band and the Danish Radio Concert Orchestra.



- 5 excerpts from A Final Song -

translated from the Danish by Kim Dambæk:

(Excerpt 1, pp. 9-16)


BERLIN 1945

applause - light

Diva D is in the middle of the last encore of the evening. She lets her gaze glide across the dark, undulating sea of people. She sees them all and she notices no one. Her movement stops. She looks him in the eye. For a moment only. And then the beginning of the end is over. Suddenly He stands in the bunker of the star, where She is getting changed, enjoying her post performance blues.

HE
I saw you
You stood on that stage
in the light
I saw you
and I thought
I want her
SHE
perplexed
You want her?
HE
Yes
pause
SHE
You want to go to bed with me?
HE
No
SHE
No?
HE
Yes sure
of course
but

SHE
Yes sure
of course
HE
No no
Sometime
perhaps
That´s not what
SHE
Then what?
HE
It was _
pause
Love
pause
SHE
Tell me
who do you think you are?
HE
Oh I´m sorry
David
He holds out his hand. Diva D just looks at him
SHE
Fine
David
You´re permitted to touch my hand
once
with your dirty lips
then it´s out
HE
Thanks all the same
SHE
You don´t even want to kiss me?
HE
Oh yes
but not like that
I´m not your servant
SHE
Then who are you?




HE
I am the love of your life
pause - She laughs
SHE
Listen, boy
I don´t belong to anyone
but I do have admirers all over the world
filmstars generals press tycoons presidents
Why on earth should I wish to choose you?
HE
I don´t know
SHE
No
Nor do I
So what makes you think
that I should want you?
HE
You don´t want me?
SHE
What if
I don´t?
HE
I suppose I only need worry
if you don´t
SHE
Nothing wrong with your self-confidence
HE
That´s just the way it is
pause
You saw me
There were fifty thousand people
but you only saw me
SHE
Listen, baby
you´ve been seduced
it´s very common
My song
it seduces

HE
Your song was banal
It has nothing to do with it
SHE
There were fifty thousand people out there singing along
I´m the most popular artist
in
in -
pause
HE
Are you frightened?
SHE
I´m tired
HE
This only happens once in a lifetime
SHE
This?
What is this?
pause
Let me sleep on it
Is that a deal?
Come back next week
HE
Next week might be too late
SHE
Really?
pause
This is pathetic
He turns to leave
But _
Wait!
He hesitates
What did you see
when you saw me?
Up there
In the light
What did you see?
pause - He exits
Wait!
He hesitates
Stay awhile
Let´s have a drink
Sit down
Tell me about yourself
Where do you come from?
Where are you going?
The war
tell me about the war
HE
I have to go now
SHE
Why?
Because I said so?
I take it back
I´m sorry
It was all so sudden
You must admit
Love
Is that what you said?
Oh
to Hell with everything
Do you want me?
Fine
But then you really have to take me
Then I want
to feel this thing called love
Come on
Take me
He hesitates - then gives himself to her
SHE
interrupting the act
Easy
I don´t want to be devoured
like some stuffed turkey
only to disappear down your gullet
I would like to remain here
and be myself
beside you
you see
What are you waiting for?
Take me!
He pulls himself together, looks her in the eye. He makes another attempt
*
SHE
Don´t take my clothes off
it´s so humiliating
to be undressed
when one no longer is completely innocent
I´m sorry
you weren´t to know
but
Come on
I´m waiting
pause - He turns towards her and makes his third lunge. She glides away, as elegantly as if dancing
SHE
Stop slipping your hands
under my dress
That´s what teenagers do
You can do that out there in the dark streets
but not here
I´m no maiden bride
After all I do have that extra bit of experience
which tells me
that everything that disappears in the dark
is out of control
Stay close to the light
Take my face, my hands, my arms
He holds back, hurt, sweat drenching his chest
SHE
Come on
She gives herself to him, dragging him along in the act. She has turned her back on him, She clutches her head
I´m sorry
it´s so confusing
but that´s the way it is:
No matter where you touch me
you´ll only wish
you were touching me somewhere else
I don´t know
Liebling
I suppose
for a start
the best thing would be
for you not to touch me
just to avoid misunderstandings
Alright?
HE
But_?
pause - He lets out a roar

(things do not progress smoothly. They have a long journey and three decades ahead of them before reaching each other. She writes The Song for him. But this lovers´ vow proves to be a mirror standing between them making them only see themselves.

(Excerpt 2, pp. 41-51)

The night after: WOODSTOCK 1969

He stands in front of the mirror, which, unlike the rest of his wasted wardrobe, is still in one piece. In a final gesture, He flings his split Telecaster and crushes the mirror. She lifts her hand and steps forward: She stands in front of him.

HE
You?
SHE
Yes
HE
Yes
what?
SHE
I say yes
HE
whispering
No
No
SHE
On one condition:
You have to promise me
that you never
ever
HE
Yes
Yes
Of course
I´ll disappear
You´ll never ever see me
SHE
Shhh!
pause
I´ll say yes
On one condition:
You have to promise
never
ever
to leave me
HE
But _
pause - She looks at him, waiting for his reply, naked, frail
But _
pause
Why?
She looks at him for a long while, then turns to leave
Wait!
SHE
You wouldn´t dare
When it comes to it
You only wanted to prove
that you could make me
come to you
and say yes
here you are
here is the last tatty scrap of my life
just take it
pause
You´re afraid
HE
No
pause
Yes
pause
Why didn´t you say so at once?
Then
When I wanted you
You
SHE
Shh!

They approach each other and crash into the mirror. It splinters and they walk through the mirror and away.


PARADISE 1970´s - a road movie

They are outside the world, in self-oblivion, where time has ceased or is infinite. They are in a spaceship travelling through the universe, in a car driving across the USA: as innocent as a pair of uni-sex-flower-power-Lennon-Ono-kids they drive on, from sunrise to sunset, while puffing a spliff and singing their song like a pop-star-duet, clean and neatly produced. They stop at a hamburger stand and eat without getting out, they move on to Las Vegas, where they get married in the car, and later they drink and eat, sing, dance and fuck like rabbits in the car, and at the furthest depth of the Salt Lake, they snooze for a couple of hours or years in a drive-in cinema before rolling the last many hundreds of miles out to the Pacific Ocean, where they now have ground to a halt on the beach. They recline their seats and sit exhausted and happy and watch the last rays of the sun disappear into foam.

SHE & HE
I
pause - each waiting for the other, shy and very young
You _?
They laugh
I _
pause
SHE
Yes?
HE
Tell me
pause
HE & SHE
Alright, I _
No
They interrupt themselves, wait for the other, try again
HE
I don´t know if _
SHE
if it´s me
I
HE
can´t feel
SHE
I´m just talking
HE
without
SHE
without knowing
HE
without wanting to say
SHE
wanting to want
HE
I don´t want anything
HE & SHE
it was only because you _
pause
Sorry
expectation
SHE
I saw
that you
HE
that you also lay looking
SHE
Yes
at that
HE
cloud
HE & SHE
Yes!
SHE
Isn´t it a bit like

HE
It resembles
a _
SHE
a _
HE
a _
They search
HE & SHE
Gramophone
Both laugh, excitedly surprised
A gramophone!
more laughter
No no
stop it
I can´t
They pull themselves together
So I thought _
pause
HE
Yes?
pause
SHE
You wanted to _?
HE
I _?
SHE
You _
HE
Yes?
SHE
Tell me
pause
HE & SHE
Alright, I _
pause - laughter
No
No no
SHE
I just wondered whether you also

HE
I only thought
SHE
for a moment that
pause
Yes?
No
HE
I don´t know what to say
SHE
I am absolutely totally
HE
totally
short pause - then suddenly, violently
HE & SHE
I LOVE YOU
silence, extreme shyness - then the music erupts, flickering lights:

Perhaps they have not noticed, but now there is no mistaking:
They are in a San Francisco bar full of people - but none the less the scene continues, as if no time had passed, they are still in their own world with the echo of "I love you" like a throbbing beat in their bodies, a high that makes them gush:

HE & SHE
No no no no
I mean
yes
Yes
Of course
Oh
HE
You!
SHE
You!
They laugh with joy, clutch each other - accelerando:
SHE
It was just
HE
It came totally
SHE
I was completely
HE
I mean
SHE
I´ve known for so long
HE
so long
I´ve been about to
SHE
burst
HE
been about to
SHE
to
HE
runneth over
to
SHE
melt
HE
spill
SHE
All the time I wanted to
HE
Every sentence I started
HE & SHE
I only thought of one thing
HE
As a climax to the accelerating crescendo, almost as a part of the previous sentence, whilst noticing life around him for the first time in an eternity, the world with all its distractions
but _
pause
SHE
What?
HE
as if distant for a moment
What?
SHE
But _
But what?
pause


HE
confused
I don´t know
SHE
You don´t know?
HE
Nothing
SHE
Nothing?
HE
It doesn´t matter
SHE
What doesn´t matter?
HE
It doesn´t matter
SHE
What?
HE
Nothing
It´s nothing
SHE
Are you sure?
HE
What could it be?
SHE
What do you think?
HE
I don´t know
SHE
No
HE
No!
pause - the light flickers across their faces, life around them is suddenly very intrusive
SHE
So?
HE
So?

SHE
What are we going to do?
HE
I don´t know
Nothing
It was nothing
nervous silence, the bartender turns up the volume: a symphonic-rock version of The Song, Emerson, Lake and Palmer-like, aggressively shoves itself between them, He repeats his last word
HE
Nothing
SHE
speaking through the noise
What?
HE
shouts
Nothing!


(Excerpt 3, pp. 55-65)

1979 - The Labyrinthine Desert

One day they wake up, two dead beat hippies in a wreck of a car. He sits up: Sand, sand, sand and far too much light.

HE
shakes her gently
Baby
Baby
SHE
What?
HE
softly
Come
Let´s go
SHE
still sleepy
Why?
HE
We can´t just stay here, can we?
SHE
Where should we go?
HE
Anywhere
We´ll just go
We´ll come to a place
We´ll see what happens
SHE
What could happen?
HE
I don´t know
that´s what´s exciting
isn´t it, baby
Perhaps it´s a place with flickering lights
a bar full of green bottles
and a large empty floor
where we can dance
He rises
SHE
Wait
He looks at her
Does the place matter?
Can´t we dance wherever we like?
HE
Sure sure
exactly
Anywhere
SHE
Fine
then we´ll stay here
pause
HE
Here?
SHE
Here
HE
What are we going to do here?
SHE
Dance
You and I
Live
HE
Live?
pause
There´s nothing here
SHE
You are here
I am here
HE
confused
Yes
pause
Yes

They kiss, and, surrounded by the smell of burning car paint and melting tyres, they plummet to the bottom. They lie side by side and look up at the sky. She starts humming their Song, quietly, not like the old Diva D-fatale, more a premonition of a frail Susanne Vega-in-the-morning-at-the-diner-on-the-corner.


SHE
You were walking in the rain
my name was on your lips
I didn´t hear it
But you said
There´ll come a day
She waits for him to sing: in their lovers´ duet He always sings the second verse. Nothing happens. She repeats
There´ll come a day
pause
Baby?
What are you thinking of?
HE
What?
SHE
It´s your turn
pause - She tries again
You were walking in the rain
my name was on your lips
I didn´t hear it
but you said
There´ll come a day
pause
HE
I´ve got a bit of a sore throat
Perhaps I´d better
save my voice a little
Baby
You sing
pause - She continues, quietly
SHE
Hold me tight
hold me tight
don´t ever let me go again
Her song dwindles away. Quiet
What are you thinking of?
pause
Think of me
pause
Who are you thinking of?
pause
Why don´t you think of me?
Haven´t I given you enough?
I certainly haven´t held back
I´ve tried to give you
everything
HE
not uncaringly
Hasn´t your manager taught you
always to keep something
just one single thing
a round pebble
a crumpled cinema ticket
almost nothing at all
and yet a little more
just a snippet
of that secret
which perhaps
one doesn´t have at all
SHE
My manager has told me
to steer clear of
cream cakes
and not to listen to dirty little freaks
HE
Why didn´t you listen
to what your manager told you?
SHE
My manager is a dirty little freak
pause
Come on
baby
it was so good
I´m waiting
I want you
just a little bit longer
pause
HE
Where are my clothes?
My own clothes?
SHE
Why?
HE
Where are they?
SHE
And what if I give them to you?
pause
The grass is always greener on the other side
of the barbed wire
HE
I´m no good with grass
I get itchy all over my body ´cause of grass
Give me my clothes
SHE
And if I give them to you?
Then you´ll leave me
HE
If you give me my clothes
perhaps I can stay
SHE
Here?
HE
Here

SHE
You promise?
HE
I promise
pause
SHE
I burnt them
pause
You gave them to me
I didn´t think you needed them anymore
so I gave them away
to the fire
long silence - then He gets up and puts on yesterday´s discarded, tatty Diva costume
SHE
Where are you going?
HE
Nowhere
I just have to find myself
Just for a minute

He turns his back on her and walks away, just a short walk through the sand, through the desert, towards the horizon, he walks and walks until he is no more than a pinprick out there where -he is gone. She is alone. She waits. Waits. The sun sets, dusk rises out of the sand, and, like a clenching fist, the darkness grabs her and throws her into the city.


BRIXTON, LONDON 1981

Her song ends in a piercing, ratlike shriek. Her bodyguards appear from all sides
SHE
Fracture his arms
at the elbows
Wrench his legs out of their hip sockets
and leave them dangling
Dislocate his head
as much as you like
but do not kill him
I want him
alive
pummelled and tender
so the meat drops off the bone
and melts
on my tongue
like crème caramel
I´m hungry
Her bodyguards disappear, She is alone and during the following chase scene, which runs parallel, She screeches The Song like Sex Pistols punk.

He flees, but her bodyguards chase him through the city. They catch him, fasten a stud collar around his neck and drag him down through the London network of sewers. They reach her basement in Brixton. She sits in the dark, her eyes gleaming from the glow of the bonfires in the streets. They throw him at her feet.

SHE
Look at me
HE
I can no longer see
what it is in you
that is not
me
SHE
to the bodyguard
Remove his eyes
and give them to the blind
And the bodyguard gouges out his eyes and throws them out the basement window to the homeless, the curry cattle, the black and the blind
SHE
Take me
HE
How do you expect me to take you
when I don´t know
what it is in me
that isn´t you
and that can desire you?
SHE
You promised
you pig
You gave me your word
Till death do us part
pause
HE
What do you want from me?
Each time I touch you
my hands will grow colder
and colder
We will freeze to death
pause
SHE
Why?
pause - violently:
Why?
pause - the sound of a heart increases - like Sly Dunbar´s drum on Grace Jones´ records from the 80´s: light, energetic, black and on all fours
Your heart
HE
Yes
SHE
It beats
HE
Yes
SHE
Why?
HE
I don´t know
pause
I suppose it can´t stop
SHE
Make it stop
pause
Make it stop
to the bodyguard
Well give him a hand
And the bodyguard thrusts his fingers into the eyesockets and janks him up off the dusty floor
HE
No!
The bodyguard hesitates, looks at her, waits for a signal
SHE
Why?
silence
Why?
HE
I don´t know
pause
SHE
To the bodyguard
Release him
They release him
Let him go
The bodyguards remove the stud collar from his neck. He gets up. Remains standing. She looks at him
SHE
The eyes
pause - the bodyguard looks at her, puzzled
Give him back his eyes
And the bodyguard exits out into the race of races, into the burning streets and returns with a blue and a brown eye
SHE
Give them to him

And the bodyguard gives him the eyes. He looks at her. But She will forever be another. He leaves. She remains alone. Night falls, up above, in the streets, the race of races slowly dies like a fire, but the music
the beat
goes on
and the beat goes on
and the beat goes on

SHE
Easy
It´ll pass
It´s the sort of thing that passes
Just take it easy
Just wait and see
Just take it easy
Just wait and see





(Excerpt 4, pp. 67-72)

BERLIN 1989

He is wandering in the zone along the perforated Berlin Wall. A woman happens to walk between him and the wall. He grabs her by the arm, she screams

HE
I´m sorry
I thought you were
But you´re not
No no
I don´t want to see her again
do you understand
Never!
He laughs briefly, cuts off
It´s hopeless
if anyone happens to mention my name
I immediately think of her.
a sudden flame
I love you
Frightened, the woman tears loose and leaves. He grabs her
No no no
I don´t mean it
I just can´t help myself
She tries breaking loose
Hey hey hey
This isn´t my fault
I´ve never been an entry in a phone book
but there were a couple of streets along this wall
where I could be sure of finding myself
Where the Hell are they?
Huh?
I thought I knew this city like my own
brain
Now both sides are melting together
right and left
I´m just wandering around in the swarm of voices and bananas
wandering round and around _
I can´t go on
I haven´t slept for weeks
That´s it
That is the only escape
to sleep
to sleep
and to forget
When I finally fall asleep
it´s a nightmare:
I dream that I wake up
and see
that there
He stares wildly into the darkness. The woman tries fleeing, but he pulls out a knife and holds onto her
You mustn´t go
Hold me
Say something
say something
Give me a name!
or I´ll
holds the knife towards his own mouth
cut off these lips
and kiss you
all bloody
the woman flees into the darkness

And while He is devoured by the dark, Diva D slowly reappears on the dimly lit stage: She stands with her back to an audience that is awaiting the final song of the concert.

Gradually, the music grows out of the silence. She turns towards the audience and starts talking on top of the music, chanting and rhythmic, like a mixture of Grace Jones´ slick cool and, not least, Nick Cave´s demonic serenading.
SHE
Someone is walking out there
hands in his pockets
hands full of blood
It is your hands
It is your blood

There is someone walking out there in the rain
your name (is) on his lips
he won´t speak it
but he knows
you´re gonna die

There is someone walking in darkness, in rain
he stops before your house
he knocks upon your window
he tells you
"I am love"
but,
don´t let him in
don´t let him in

There is someone walking out there in the rain
walking and walking thru darkness and rain
your face (is shining) in his eyes
your name on his lips
He is asking for you
but you
you don´t know
you don´t know, who you are
Who´s the one (who´s the one)
you are talking about

There is someone walking (the darkness) behind you
(walking and walking the darkness behind you)
He grabs you before you fall
he tells you
"you owe me the rest of your life"

Someone is standing right there, in your way
Life is in his hands

THE BAND
falling darkness
flowing rain

SHE
He tells you, he is afraid
he will never forget
the words, (that) you have forgotten

He takes your heart
He tells you "I´m the one
That makes your heart beat
makes your heart beat
makes your heart beat"


THE BAND
blood is flowing
light is falling
rain is bleeding
thru your clothes

SHE
He caught your eye
He whispers, whispers:
Someone is walking out there in the rain
Hands in his pockets
Hands full of blood

THE BAND
is boiling
darkness bleeding
light is falling
rain is steaming

SHE
He tells you
YOU´VE STOLEN MY LIFE


Suddenly She turns her back on the audience and the space is transformed: She stands in her dressing room. He stands in front of her, in the glow of the only lamp hanging in the room. As a last resort, driven by some sort of inertia, He has reached, or gone back to her. Her united German bodyguards stand spread out along the walls.

SHE
Baby?
HE
Go on
Take me
You´re stuck like a fish-hook in my gullet
I can´t close my mouth
every time I try to be myself
I feel how
you draw my breath
Make up your mind
Slice me open
and stuff me with vegetables and vermin
or throw me back into the sea
and let me bleed in peace
pause


(Excerpt 5, from the final scene, pp.76 + 91-93)

Year 00
a bunker beneath FRANKFURT, MANCHESTER or TOKYO

They live together in the room without doors. Whenever they look out the window they only look into their own room. Their way of living is hardly distinguishable from the way they lived together in those early, happy days, and yet

(_)

HE
Don´t go
SHE
Where should I go
HE
No
pause - then softly
Then
When_
SHE
Yes?
She leans over him, listens
HE
softly
Then
when I _

SHE
Saw me?
HE
Yes
up on that _ that _
SHE
Up on that stage
He nods, manages a mumble of consent, more of a grunt than a spoken word
In the light
He nods, another mumble
When you saw me
You thought
HE
Yes
pause
Just one more time
pause - She shakes her head
No
Then just
hold me
SHE
I don´t want to
HE
Not want!
Reconciliation
For
giveness
SHE
There is nothing to forgive
HE
pause
Then what?
SHE
She straightens herself
Sit up
pause - He hesitates, rises slowly
Take off your clothes
HE
But _
SHE
Take off your clothes
They both take off their clothes and sit opposite each other, naked
Look at me
He throws a glance at her, then looks away
HE
I can´t
SHE
Look at me
He forces himself and looks at her
Continue
pause
HE
I cannot
Not that
SHE
Continue
Look at me
Look
until I´m so dry
you can blow me out

Look

They look at each other, continue looking, He starts to shake, cry. Then She starts to hum The Song, without words, without accompaniment, without a trace of time or place, just The Song on its own, naked and frail. He slowly relaxes, and they look at each other, continue looking, and in time they dry up, wrinkle, becoming as light as flakes of ash. It grows darker, but never quite dark, everything and all time settles peacefully in an eternal twilight.