Written at the 2014 Britten-Pears songwriting course in collaboration with poet Caleb Klaces
As well as the text written to be sung, there is also projected text in some of the songs.
To Declare
1. An Announcement
It is my burden
to announce to you
that I will announce
a burden for you
that will announce me.
2. Love Song to the Voter
(Sung text)
Blessed are the voters who voted
and blessed are the voters who did not vote.
In the name of the public, the mass
and the populace, I here
hear the voters who spoke
and those who did not speak. I here
hear the great British voices
that replied when I asked,
and those that did not reply.
This is the sound of a nation
being heard. Hear your voice.
(Projected text)
We are listening.
We are listening in.
We are listening in aid.
We are listening in aid of peace.
We are listening in aid of peace of mind.
3. Old Money
(Sung text)
One trillion, two hundred and eighty-one billion, five hundred and seventy-eight million, seven hundred and eighty-two thousand, eight hundred and eighty-one.
(Projected text)
The eye does not see itself as a habitat.
A nation of jellyfish ballasts a cruise ship.
Light fractures and falls and the sea is supportive.
Painted stars hold the ceiling together.
In photographs, my debt is always missing.
When a number forgets where it started, it speculates.
Coins multiply in stockpiled bluefin tuna.
This old coin cannot bear its own head.
4. An Announcement
5. Looking After Your Flag
(Sung text)
Tatters
(Projected text)
1. No flag should fly higher than your flag.
2. Important: your flag has a correct way up.
3. At night, your flag should be dignified with a light.
4. Your flag must be defended from violent weather.
5. It is wrong to use your flag as a table or seat cover.
6. Fold with the cleaned tips of your fingertips.
7. Remember: breath contaminates.
8. If blemished, your flag must be burned and the ashes burned.
6. An Announcement