song 116 : Who Is Time? (Tacoma Ballet)

I saw an old man inside a bar glaring at and through the band. Only I noticed him. Several times in Tacoma apparently innocent scenes suggested murder to me. I didn’t know the history of the infamous Tacoma serial killer.

Some months later a body was dumped behind the recording studio, in a neglected area of long grass where I liked to stand and look out over Tacoma harbor. Apparently the victim of a drug deal gone bad.

In this song I rolled up all the paranoia into a contemplation of the old character Father Time, the ultimate killer.

In the Tacoma Ballet story this is a turning point for our heroine, some call it apathy or complacency, but maybe the best word, for the half way point in this her journey of transformation, is resignation.

Disc 1 I called “What is the Answer?” one of the two last sentences spoken by the great writer Gertrude Stein as she lay dying.

Disc 2 I called “What is the Question?” the last thing she said before she breathed her last.

The heroine of Tacoma Ballet’s answer was an oppressive history, personal, local and national, a world of bullying and decay, and resignation.

The only way to change the answer is to change the question.

Listen to the song: Click Here