CYNTHIA CARLE Pioneer
IT WAS ASIA’S LOSS WHEN THEY TRUDGED ACROSS
THAT LAND BRIDGE EONS AGO
THEY WERE FROZEN STIFF BUT THEY KNEW THAT IF
THEY STOPPED THEY WOULD DROP IN THE SNOW
SO ON THEY WENT THOUGH NEARLY SPENT
HEADING SOUTH FOR THE WARMTH AND THE SUN
WHERE A LIFE OF EASE AND COCONUT TREES
AWAITED THEM EVERY ONE
TEN MILES ON IT BEGAN TO DAWN
THEY WERE ONE MIGRATOR SHY
SO BACK THEY TROD, THERE HE WAS, BY GOD
WITH HIS WIFE AND A GLEAM IN HIS EYE
LET’S GO, THEY CRIED, HELL NO, HE REPLIED
WHILE HIS WIFE THREW A RIGHTEOUS FIT
YOU BELIEVE THIS CLOWN? HE WANTS TO GO DOWN
AS THE FATHER OF THE INUIT
WHO WAS THAT MAN WHO SAW THE TUNDRA
AND SAID THIS LOOKS GOOD, I’M STOPPING HERE
I’LL SLEEP ON ICE AND EAT THIS BLUBBER?
WHO WAS THAT MAN? A PIONEER
A PIONEER, A PIONEER
NOT AFRAID OF A NEW FRONTIER
HE’LL BOLDLY GO WHERE OTHERS FEAR TO TREAD
THE ANCIENT SCOTS WERE A QUIET LOT
AS THEY WENT ABOUT THEIR LABOR
UP IN THE HILLS IT WAS DEATHLY STILL
EXCEPT FOR THE THUMP OF THE CABER
THEN ONE DAY IN THE MONTH OF MAY
WHEN THE SHEEP WERE KILLED AND CUT UP
ONE CURIOUS LAD SAID, WHAT’S THAT, DAD?
IT’S A SHEEP BLADDER, TAKE IT AND SHUT UP
HE SAT RIGHT THERE AND BLEW IT FULL OF AIR
WHICH SCREAMED AS IT WAS LET OUT
AND SWEET WAS THE SOUND AS ANY HE’D FOUND
FOR HE DIDN’T VERY OFTEN GET OUT
HE PLAYED ALL DAY TILL THE NEIGHBORS RAN AWAY
AND THE ARMY SAID LET’S COMMANDEER IT
FOR MEN WILL FLY INTO BATTLE AND DIE
LIKE DOGS SO THEY DON’T HAVE TO HEAR IT
WHO WAS THAT BOY WHO SQUEEZED THAT BLADDER
AND CALLED IT BAGPIPES AND PLAYED FOR ALL TO HEAR?
THOUGH SOME SAID STOP, OH GOD PLEASE STOP IT
HE PLAYED RIGHT ON, HE WAS A PIONEER
A PIONEER, A PIONEER
NOT AFRAID OF A NEW FRONTIER
HE’LL BOLDLY GO WHERE OTHERS FEAR TO TREAD
THERE ARE STRANGE THINGS SOLD FOR AMERICAN GOLD
IN THE INDONESIAN ISLES
CIGARETTE BOATS AND SEX WITH GOATS
AND CHEAP CERAMIC TILES
BUT STRANGEST OF ALL IS THE COFFEE THEY CALL
THE KOPI LUWAK BRAND
600 A POUND AND THERE’S NOT MUCH AROUND
IT’S A TALE OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND
THE BEANS, YOU SEE, HAVE ALL BEEN PRE-
-CONSUMED FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT
THEY’VE PASSED DOWN THROUGH SMALL ANIMALS WHO
DON’T KNOW OF THIS ODD EMPLOYMENT
AND BEFORE IT’S PACKED AND THEN FAST-TRACKED
TO THE CREAM OF THE HUMAN SPECIES
EACH LITTLE BEAN IS CAREFULLY GLEANED
FROM STEAMING WEASEL FECES
OH BRAVE ARE WE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE
WE RUN RIGHT OUT AND BUY IT
BUT THE REAL HERO IS THAT JAVA JOE
WHO FIRST DECIDED TO TRY IT
WHO WAS THAT MAN? THAT VISIONARY
WHO SAW THE BEAN AND FELT NO FEAR?
WHERE OTHERS SAW A PILE OF WEASEL SHIT
ONE DARED TO SEE A NEW FRONTIER
WHO WAS THAT MAN? FOR IT WAS NO WOMAN
WHO STEPPED IN SOMETHING AND SAID OH BOY LOOK HERE
WAS HE OUT OF HIS MIND? OR OUT OF COFFEE?
EITHER WAY, HE WAS A PIONEER
A PIONEER, A PIONEER
NOT AFRAID OF A NEW FRONTIER
HE’LL BOLDLY GO WHERE OTHERS FEAR TO TREAD
Credits:
words and music by Cynthia Carle
David Lucky is a songwriter whose profile in The Huffington Post labeled him the "Hollywood Hidden Gem". A devotee of songwriters ranging from Irving Berlin to Randy Newman, Mr. Lucky's "sandpaper-dipped-in-honey" voice and unique blend of humor and poignancy have made him an L.A. favorite in clubs such as Largo at The Coronet Theatre, and The Gardenia. Most recently, he co-wrote a song with music icon Fiona Apple for the new Apple TV show “Central Park.” David Lucky's music is available on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
CYNTHIA CARLE is a songwriter, screenwriter, actor and choreographer. She’s sung her own songs in Los Angeles at Comedy Central Stage's Sit 'n Spin, MBar, Wine and Song, Genghis Cohen, McCabe’s, Vitello’s, Lyric Hyperion, Bob Stane’s Coffee Gallery, Molly Malone's, Room 5, Talking Stick, Witzend, at the West Bank in New York, at Don Quixote in Santa Cruz, and in Paul Provenza’s ¡Satiristas! in Las Vegas. Her screenwriting credits include The Sixth Man, a Touchstone picture starring Marlon Wayans, and YouWish! for which she was a Humanitas Award finalist. Trained as an actor at Carnegie Mellon University, she’s acted on Broadway, Off-Broadway, at regional theaters including the Guthrie, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Trinity Square Rep and the Mark Taper Forum and in films including Louis Malle’s Alamo Bay. In Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator the Musical (LA, NYMF, Edinburgh Fringe) she played Dr. Harrod and also received a Best Choreography nomination from LA Weekly.
She’s co-star and co-creator, with music partner Mark Nutter, of the dark comic musical revue Christmas Smackdown, with productions in LA, at iO Chicago and at the Laurie Beechman in NY. She and Nutter have also teamed up for an absurdist, dark comic musical revue called Dr. Dung Beetle’s House of Dreams. She’s also just finishing a dark comic novel and is currently exploring the idea of writing something that is neither dark nor comic.