99

12.16.06

A well-known pop song recorded on or after February 25, 1957 is selected. There is no restriction as to which song is selected, save the date and it’s level of popular familiarity.

A BIG FIRE

Laying, dead, in a circle, a group of people with bones in each hand stare up at the sky. A person with a skull painted up-side down on their face enters and beats an enormous drum.

The dead come to life and begin to circle the fire to the beat of the drum. With their mouths they make scratching clicks like that of record pops and scritches. Then the moaning beings.

As the moans make chords with wails, the beating becomes more rhythmic. The skull-faced person lets out an enormous shriek, which pauses all in their tracks.

1 2 3 4

The people dance around the fire to the beat of the drum, accompanying with moans, wails and the cracking of bones. Gradually, it becomes apparent that the dancers are playing a well-known pop song, recorded on or after February 25, 1957. Their rendition is terrifying. The bone dance gives new life to the song.

Occasionally, the bone dancers skip back and move forward again, as though they had experienced a crack in some primeval Victrola.

When the song is finished, the skull-faced drummer lets loose another shriek. This time, those surrounding the fire respond with cries and ululations. Again a song is played, at a faster tempo than the last. This continues from song to song, until the DEAD SONG, which is too fast for the dancers. They fall dead, one by one, hopping over each other’s corpses while tracing a fast circle about the fire. When all are dead, the skull-faced drummer bellows a mournful cry which goes unanswered by the cosmos. They douse the fire and exit backwards, staring at the embers.