This song is about my preoccupation with 'time', and began life as the theme song of my electronic opera "The Timega Theory". It ends with a tongue-in-cheek interplay of voices and a little influence from J S Bach.
Guqin; Shueh-li Ong, spoken french-accented words; Joshua Beggs, tin-whistle; Michael Spicer.
What is time but a passing phase
A short story to go our separate ways
What is time but a sad, sad, waste
Lost days of misery and unanswered prayers.
What is time but a passing phrase
Just wax lyrical and be amazed
What is time but a fashionable craze
The alpha and omega of our days.
(spoken English)
A collection of lessons learnt
A tome of malaise
A reason for being
A worn down statue of paste.
(spoken Chinese)
Nothing is difficult on this earth
If your mind is set.