Lyrics The Bardo - Laurie Anderson

The Bardo

After death, according to the Tibetan Book of the Dead, all creatures then
spend 49 days in the Bardo.
And the Bardo isn’t a place — it’s more like a
process, that lasts 49 days, as the mind dissolves.
And, as the Tibetans
believe, the consciousness — or let’s say the energy — prepares to take another
life form.
Bleep.
Bleep.
All goes to darkness.
And the next thing you see is
your next life.
A slow awakening to this world, or another world.
Now you are in another form.
Without a body
Recognise this
The cities.
The mountains.
The rooms.
The trees.
The trains
Optical illusions.
Not there.
Like dreams made of nothing
Things you love, just living things, move with a different speed.
They disappear.
Echo.
Repeat.
(…a different speed…) Anger, turned to
liberation.
Earth into water.
Water into fire.
Fire into air.
Air into
consciousness.
The many days of silence, and loneliness.
You are not alone in
leaving this world
At first you don’t realise you’re dead, but continue doing things you used to
do.
Looking for things you’ve lost.
Your mind overwhelmed by memories.
And plans.
What am I?
What am I?
(…looking for your food bowl and wondering
where…)
Recognise this
The monkey mind, my teacher calls it.
Dissolving like moonlight in a cloudless
sky
Recognise this
You can move through walls
Recognise this, as the play of your own mind
Leave attachment to the things you left
Could I have done this?
Could I have said this?
(…get some good food and bring her home…)
The long ago fears of childhood.
No solid self.
The longing after your own
happiness.
(…own happiness…) The longing after your own happiness.
(…
own happiness…) Trapped in your thought flow
Wake up
Wake up
Clocks have stopped.
Once you wore that.
Once you did that.
Everything you knew
about time, slipping, repeating…
Do not be afraid
Like all mornings, (…just as you say…)
Recognise this
Leave behind aggression.
Leave behind passion
Recognise this