SCENE 2: A CEREMONY OF THE AZTECS
1456 1956
An Aztec sacrifice is taking place. The sacrificial victim is a willing one, giving his strength to the gods.
CHORUS
Will our life on earth be long?
Our life on earth will not be long
Only a moment on earth
Only a moment.
Will the world we know be gone?
The world we know will soon be gone
Only a moment on earth
Only a moment
Only a moment on earth
Our life on earth
Is like the flower that dies
The jade that splinters
The blood that spills
From a still beating heart.
The songs we sing are sweet
But over soon.
Our dream on earth
Is over soon.
Only a moment on earth
Only a moment.
Will nothing last?
Not the yellow flower?
Not the sweet song?
What of the sweet song?
Even the earth will end.
Even the earth will end.
Even The gods can't stop
The flood of fire
The day of terror.
The stones of the gods will crumble to dust
The Architect appears in 1950's clothes among the crowd. They don't notice each other.
ARCHITECT
In Elsinor my wife, my child
Look out upon a sea of sails
But here in Teotihuacan a world away
A sea of souls calls out to me.
This ancient avenue breathes its mystery
Wraps me in time and frees me;
Frees me from the commonplace.
In Elsinor a man
A father, a husband
Marks time by thinking
His time will come
Ah but here
In this far from common place
Voices draw me on
And beckon me
"The waiting's over architect
Your time has come
Your time has come."
I'd studied this place
I knew its shape, its weight, its form;
But the soul that lies within
I never knew till now.
Whoever dreamt all this
Dreams on in each stone
In its stone heart
The dreamer's heart still beats.
No more a desk bound dreamer
I'll find the courage to be
A builder of dreams
EARTH, SKY
No more marking time
No more standing still
The time has come
To make your mark
ARCHITECT
Ascending
To the clouds
On steps
Of ancient stone
I feel now
As if this path the Aztec people trod
On journeys to their gods
Was built for me alone
HIGH PRIEST
In earth your feet are bedded
But your spirit flies out towards the sky,
Borne high
An offering to the visitor God
Quetzalcoatl:
The stranger,
The stranger who will return.
ARCHITECT
I've come to see my future here
Among the ruins of this ancient place
A clear view
Of trials and triumphs to come.
CHORUS
Take now our god
The strength of this heart,
The life-giving food,
The most sacred hope.
Take now our god
The blood of this heart
That the earth might live on
One moment longer.
So the earth can bring forth
One more yellow flower
And the dreamers on earth
Can sing one more song.
ARCHITECT
I stand at the centre of the circling plain...
CHORUS
The songs we sing are sweet
But over soon
ARCHITECT
Where lines of history
Sharpen.
Sharpen like an image on ground glass.
CHORUS
The songs we sing are sweet
But over soon.
Only a moment on earth
Only a moment.
HIGH PRIEST, ARCHITECT
In earth your (my) feet are bedded
But your (my) spirit flies out towards the sky,
Borne high
An offering to the visitor god:
Quetzalcoatl
The stranger.
The stranger who will return.
CHORUS
When the dream is ended
Do we wake to life or death?.
The victim is sacrificed
ah ah ah ah
ARCHITECT
I stand at the centre of the circling plain
An image sharpens in the sun.
Forged from stone, rising out of the sea,
Steps leading up
To a platform to play on.
In every rise
A promise of weightlessness,
For over this classic stage
No rooftop, but sails!
Sails,
Swirling, billowing,
In a sky racing with clouds.
I see a building of stature;
In every curve,
In every curve
The beauty of nature.
In every detail
The glory,
The glory of sculpture.
In every way a work of art.
A work of art
For those whose work is art.
A place of meaning,
A palace of music,
A wonder of the world.
I'm an architect
Lines on my page
Lead to a building
That holds in its form
The earth of our bodies,
The sky of our hopes
EARTH, SKY
Between earth and sky
It's here you live and here you die
ARCHITECT
And the spirit of man
Is torn between:
Is torn between
The earth we know
And the sky we've seen
Rising,
Centred in earth
But rising,
My building!
My wonder of the world;
My wonder of the modern world.
Ha! Why not? A wonder of the modern world.
Reaching,
Rising,
Reaching for the sky:
My dream
My dream
I will build my dream
CHORUS
The songs we sing are sweet
But over soon
Our dream on earth
Is over soon
Only a moment on earth
Only a moment
And when our dream
On Earth is over
Do we wake to life or death?
Do we wake to the Earth we know
Or the sky we've seen?
The sky we’ve seen.
EARTH, SKY
Between earth and sky
It's here you live
And here you die
And the spirit of man
Is torn between:
Is torn between
The earth he knows
And the sky he's seen.