Dave Malloy
Iv. Ocean
[Father Mapple]
Pip kept his head above the water
And his little legs kicked and kicked
And he tried to call for help
And he breathed as much as he could
And he watched as the whaleboats disappeared

[Spoken]
And so Pip is alone
Pip in the ocean, Pip treading water
Pip on his own
The sun was so bright, little Pip had to squint
So his vision became confused and smeared
But there was only one thing he could see
Only one thing to see
Ocean, sky, ocean-sky
Little Pip in the ocean
The smallest boy I ever knew in the biggest place there ever was
He kicked his legs and kept afloat, kicked his legs and kept afloat
Kept afloat above the water
He tried to breathe as much as he could but the water surrounded him and stung his eyes with salt
And he got a title water in his mouth and he spit it out
And that happened a bunch’a times

Pip saw the ocean and the sky stretching out unimaginably vast
And his brain went
It became a dream
Life became a dream

[Sung]
Tell me, does the ocean ever rest?
Tell me, does the sky love the sea?
Tell me

[Chorus]
Tell me

[Father Mapple]
Can water be a coffin?
Can the sky be a tomb?

[Spoken]
Tell me, tell me!

[Chorus, sung]
Tell me

[Father Mapple, spoken]
Come on, sea
Hey, aren’t you that same drop of water I saw five minutes ago?
Why did you come back here?
Huh, I guess I’m the only thing to see for miles around, I guess I’m a star
Oh I wish I had my tambourine
I’d play, and play, and play
I’d make a waterfall inside my heart, would you like that, water?
Is that the ocean or is that my tears?
Can you taste my tears?
How long would I have to cry before you could taste my tears?
Centuries?
Well I’ve got all day
I’ve got all day
And then his mind began to melt all the way
His eyes stung with salt, his ears filled with water, his little legs kicked
And all the color washed out of his face
And all the color washed out of the world
The sea tore his soul and body until they blend into each other
He cried out to God but God was already there
And the vastness took over
And Pip was engulfed

[Pip, sung]
I’m so alone
So alone out here
I can't tell anyone anything
I’m so alone in here
Something happened to my mind
I’m no good anymore
It burst inside
It broke in two
It drift apart
It sank away

[Ishmael, spoken]
The sea had jeeringly kept his finite body up
But carried the infinite of his soul down to wondrous depths
Where he saw the joyous, heartless, ever-juvenile eternities
Pip saw through the mask
And therefore, his shipmates called him mad