The Lamed Wufnik(s)

from Necessary Monsters by Carla Kihlstedt & Rafael Osés

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THE LAMED WUFNIK(S)
Atlas oblivious
‘Being that carries on. A yeoman no one.’

lyrics

THE LAMED WUFNIK(S)
‘Being that carries on. A yeoman no one.’

Patient, humble, and all but invisible, a Lamed Wufnik
cannot be named, else his humility would be shattered,
and the lowly, elevated place which his purity holds
in this world would vanish. He unknowingly justifies
all of mankind with unremarkable grace:
an everyman, an anyman, but nobody’s nobody.

DESCRIPTION:
Some schmo. A he-man Milquetoast,
hunched and radiant, carries himself
with characteristic anonymity.

VOICE:
“Ahem,” often interrupted.
No song.

HABITAT:
Undisclosed.
Random, hidden anchor-holds.

A safe loser limps, gains no ground.
Disabled satellite, one of three dozen,
he circles the world to scrape bottom,
raise dust. Sidesteps erase every footprint.

Just men scour us by saintlight.
Just men guard us by the hour. Silent.
Just men truss the substratum.
Just men tower underneath us.
Just men constitute a wishing well.
Just men tether the nether.
Just men speak a dark streak.
Just men spoke a green circle.
Just men sweep the sea floor.
Just men till the riverbeds.
Just men plumb.
Just men crawl on their shoulders.
Just men bury their hands among us.
Just men see the world like Spaniards.
Just men have no retinue.
Just men canvass.
Just men sprawl.
Just men bend.
Just men place.
Just men strut.
Just men justify.
Just men testify.
Just men make an x.
Just men act as axes.
Just men join the Union.
Just men wear boots to sleep.
Just men go without saying.
Just men tender resignation.
Just men arrive and depart.
Just men are sometimes just women.
Just men are civil servants.
Just men are public defenders.
Just men are a vanguard.
Just men are a general assembly.
Just men are a kingdom.
Just men are pillars of salt.

A moving target.
A human fortress.
A living mattress.
A falling buttress.

credits

from Necessary Monsters, released October 16, 2021
Music by Carla Kihlstedt
Words by Rafael Osés
Arrangement by Mark Orton

THE PLAYERS:
Rafael Osés - spoken voice
Carla Kihlstedt - voice, violin, piano, bass harmonica, tubular bells
Ethan Filner - viola
Jennifer Kloetzel - cello
Nina Rolle - accordion
Cole Kamen-Greene - trumpet
Freddi Price - National
Jon Evans - electric bass
Matthias Bossi - percussion, inside piano

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about

Carla Kihlstedt Falmouth, Massachusetts

Make things. Brake things. Start from scratch. Scratch the surface. Let it bleed a braid of music, sound & words.

Bands:
Rabbit Rabbit Radio, Tin Hat, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, 2 Foot Yard, Minamo, Causing a Tiger

Composed for: ICEnsemble, ROVA, SFGirls Chorus, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Variant Six, inkBoat, Present Music

Faculty:
NEC Contemporary Improvisation Dept., VCFA MFA Music Comp Dept. ... more

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