Bang went the gun on their tongue
word crucifixion toward immigrants shunned
"Immigrants that's who we all are
'cause we're all made of stars"
you said to them
oh yes you did
Bang went the universe
Hydrogen lusting for Helium's burst
a mighty Sun's Dance of Death
Exploding Super Nova
one story's end
seeds another to begin
then the Heavens opened
and then I heard voices
joined in Hosannas
breathlessly I saw your star
so bright it blinded me
I had to shield my eyes
so bright it blinded me
I had to shield my eyes
so bright it blinded me
I had to shield my eyes
and then you took my hand
oh yes you did
Bang the world now traumatized
by a cluster of hostile humans who side
with their warlords of hate
so we must out-create
with the Backbone of Night
to Rehumanize
then the Heavens opened
and then I heard voices
joined in Hosannas
and their tower of confusion
could not drown the light
from your star
so bright it blinded me
I had to shield my eyes
so bright it blinded me
I had to shield my eyes
so bright it blinded me
I had to shield my eyes
and then you lit the path
oh yes you did
"Can't they see"
he said to me
"that we all
are Molecular Machines"
goals and dreams
all I wanna be
is the very best
Machine I can be
Oxygen and Carbon
part of
our Molecular Machine
goals and dreams
all I wanna be
is the very best
Machine I can be
Hydrogen
Calcium
Phosphorus
Potassium
Sulfur
Sodium
all I wanna be
is the very best
Machine I can be
Chlorine
Magnesium
Boron
Chromium
Cobalt
Copper
Fluorine
all I wanna be
is the very best
Machine I can be
Iodine
Iron
Manganese
Molybdenum
Selenium
Silicon
Tin
Vanadium
and Zinc
all I wanna be
a Molecular Machine
Tori Quotes
There was a real rustle with this one. I was going down the wrong road and it was actually Tash who said to me, "Mom, you're driving yourself mad with this." I'd been researching for months -- anything I could find out about clusters and nebulas and stars and the more I learnt the less I knew. And I was getting myself into a wicket -- you know what I did? I did that thing you shouldn't do, which is to get on the comments pages of physics dot org and when you start reading how nasty they are to each other, you know, those brainiacs? How they shame each other! I don't even know what they were talking about but I understood the language of the verbal attack. I had no idea what the argument was but I started to think to myself -- they are going to come after me! And I said this to Tash and she said, "Stop trying to write like you're one of those people. Mom, step into the emotion!" and I said alright. I started looking into old clips -- somehow they got me to Frank Zappa talking about stuff and then somehow they got me onto Carl Sagan. And to watch him explain how "we're all made of star stuff" -- it was that [clicks fingers] moment for me. It all came together. [The 405 - September 5, 2017]
Live Versions
"Bang"
November 29, 2017 - Phoenix, Arizona
"Bang"
December 1, 2017 - Los Angeles, California
t o r i p h o r i a tori amos digital archive yessaid.com
