For each iteration of the musical, new songs are created and often mixed in with songs from previous editions. Below are examples of the basic demos and lyrics used to teach participants the arrangements. These tracks are for demonstration purposes only, created using midi instruments, from which proper scores are produced for the instrumentalists. Live versions of the songs can be heard in the video documentation of the performances at Tate Liverpool and KW, Berlin.
All demos composed and performed by Christopher Kline. Further arrangements and orchestrations for performances have been done by Elisabeth Wood, Jon Hering and Mersey Wylie.
OK! It’s Old Kinderhook
Home of president Martin Van Buren
OK! stands for Old Kinderhook
The most popular word in the world
When “satisfactory” just ain’t enough
And “mediocre” seems too refined
when “alright already” is a little bit much
And articulating your reluctant agreement feels like a waste of time,
well that’s fine.
HEY!
OK! It’s Old Kinderhook
Briefly home to writer Washington Irving
OK! stands for Old Kinderhook
The most popular word in the world
Well, what have we learned over 400 years?
To never trust a white man’s word!
we’ve got computers, lawn mowers and automobiles
everything is copacetic,
forget your troubles and your fears
we’re right here.
it’s what you want
it’s what you need
it’s fine, it’s satisfactory
it’s bound to be…
OK! It’s Old Kinderhook
Home of president Martin Van Buren
OK! stands for Old Kinderhook
The most popular word in the world
OK! OK! OK! OK!
OK! OK! OK! OK!
OK! It’s Old Kinderhook
Briefly home to writer Washington Irving
OK! stands for Old Kinderhook
The most popular word in the world
OK
The most popular word in the world
OK
The most popular word in the world
OK
The most popular word
in the world!
(ACTION: Mahicans are farming and some are in canoes spear-fishing, Henry Hudson’s ship slowly approaches in the distance)
[Mahicans:]
See
pow-Ma
he-can-iit-tuck
ooo ooo ooo ooo o o ooo oo ooo
Waw
yach-ti
bic, Wie-kag-joc
ooo ooo ooo ooo o o ooo ooo
ahh oooo
[Mahicans:]
what lay in the distance there
coming through the fog
ghost ship of white devils
(ghost ship of white devils
ghost ship of white)
hungry as their dogs
[Henry Hudson:]
Well I have come
from a land far away
on the dime of the
[Hudson & Crew:]
Dutch East India Company
And we do search
for a passage to the west
to arrive at the east
of the far far east
[Mahicans:](to each other, confused)
is he asking us for food?
or has he lost his way?
[Henry Hudson:] (to Mahicans)
Do you hear my words?
[Crew:] (to Hudson)
They do not hear you, do not hear you, do not hear you
[Mahicans:]
We welcome you to stay
[Hudson and Crew:]
“O.K.”
(ACTION: Mahicans welcome Hudson and his men into their canoes and bring them to land. Rowing.)
[Mahicans:]
See
pow-Ma
he-can-iit-tuck
ooo ooo ooo ooo o o ooo oo ooo
*
Waw
yach-ti
bic, Wie-kag-joc
ooo ooo ooo ooo o o ooo ooo
ahh oooo
*[Hudson with Crew:]
We are the first of many.
Harbingers that one day you
will be forced to move to Wisconsin and to work
at the North Star Mohican
Casino and Resort
[Henry Hudson:]
Well I have come
from a land far away
on the dime of the
[Hudson & Crew:]
Dutch East India Company
And we do search
for a passage to the west
to arrive at the east
of the far far east
NOTES:
Seepow Mahecaniittuck is Mahican for “river where there are people from the continually flowing waters”, the original name of what is today called the “Hudson River”.
Wawyachtibic is Mahican for “people of the curving channel”, the name of the people who inhabited the area around what became Kinderhook before Europeans arrived.
Wekagjoc is Mahican for “upper reaches of a river”, another name for the region.
[Valatie, New York 1888]
It’s bitter cold
and I can’t feel my hands but I can’t stop working
when your pay is low
and your stomach hangs by a thread
and your future feels like it’s set in stone,
maybe it’s only snow…
Little Falls is frozen now
Pray it won’t be frozen long
No one said it was easy living
but where I’m from there aren’t storms like this
This ain’t the life that I envisioned back home.
Little Falls is frozen now
Pray it won’t be frozen long
– I feel there’s something wrong,
Ya see, the sky is orange.
– It’s just the blizzard Jack,
sit back down and eat your porridge.
– Maybe it’s Revelations
coming down to revelate!
– Well if the world is ending,
they won’t mind the rent is late.
– The drift’s above the roof
but I can just make out the sky.
– It’s glowing pink and orange,
Mary something isn’t right.
– The telegraph is down,
the storm must’ve destroyed the wires.
– Don’t ya hear that clanging sound?
– The Mill’s on FIRE!
FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE
FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE
FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE
FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE
FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE
FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE
(shouting, panic, EVACUATE!!!)
Get the hand pump!
Get the engine cart!
Get the hoses and the axes
and the ladders out!
– Break the pond ice!
– It’s frozen to the bottom!
– Open the upper dam!
– But sir, it’s frozen solid!
The fire’s spreading
and the men are frozen to the bone
The telegraph is down,
the roads are closed, we’re on our own.
But what to tell the children
now that all our jobs are gone?
The charred remains of all the dreams
that we were hanging on!
Little Falls is frozen now
Pray we won’t be frozen long…
Come what may
but the blaze won’t be soon forgotten.
Though the ash is raining red
you’ll be safe inside your bed
until the fire goes out
you won’t be waiting long.
(Mood: impending winter storm and a
family of bigfoots can’t find food)
Oh my children,
come press close to me
and warm these bones filled
with frost and ice and dust.
Forgive your father for the
climate whence we’ve come
and for the blade of night’s
impending… thrust.
Down, drop drips from the sky
frozen sheets of ice
and death all around (in white)
Down, the merciless ground
the creaking of lakes
the knives of snowflakes
and sound
Will our selves and our souls get to live forever
(ooooooooo)
or will we stay in this cave where we freeze together
(ooooooooo)
Will we see the spring?
or will we be with our parents in heaven then?
Drowned, in chill from the north
the frosty divorce
of blood from the veins and skin
froze, from fingers to toes
ice hangs from the nose
of death’s soft approach
(oh those fractals of suffering, suffering!)
Will our selves and our souls get to live forever
(ooooooooo)
(or) will we stay in this cave where we freeze together
(ooooooooo)
Will we see the spring?
or will we be with our parents in heaven when
they decide if our souls get to live forever
(ooooooooo)
or if we stay in this cave where we freeze together
(ooooooooo)
Will we see the spring?
or will we be with our parents in heaven then…
Down, drop drips from the sky
frozen sheets of ice
and death all around (in white)
Down, the merciless ground
the creaking of lakes
the knives of snowflakes
and sound
Molten and lifeless
the landscape is shifting
three hundred million years
not a glacier could resist it
From the asteroid cloud
to the explosion of owl…
who who who
As humans and their spears
chase the mammoth in migration
Three hunters and a bear
stay in perfect constellation
along the river which flows both ways
ooo ooooo
It’s getting nearer
the Great Spirit
put a vision in my head
she speaks through dreams
with scenes of cosmic breakdown
ah oooo oooo
ah oooo oooo
ah oooo oooo
Island on a turtle
Gitche Manitou
It’s getting nearer
the Great Spirit
put a vision in my head
she speaks through dreams
with scenes of cosmic breakdown
(Ichabod singing to Katrina Van Tassel from outside of her window)
My lips were made for kissing you
and my heart was built
with holes you fit into.
Your touch soft and sweet,
how I long to meet
half-way between top and
fitted sheet.
My hands were made to … melt in yours
and your touch is tender….– (interrupted)
[Townsperson:]
Don’t lose your head, Ichabod
she’s just a girl
and if you really wanna make it in this big bad world
ya gotta
lower your standards,
don’t set the bar so high…
[other Townspeople join:]
Just use your head, Ichabod
it could be worse
ya could catch yellow fever, small pox, or a witch’s curse
so just remember
that all wounds heal in time!
Don’t lose your head Ichabod,
and everything will turn out fine…
(Forest darkens, wind picks up, thunder storm approaches.
Sung by Choir… emulating the wind)
Ah ooooooo ooooooo
Ah ooooooo ooooooo
Ah ooooooo ooooooo
Uh ooooooo ooooooo
Dark caves of solitude
now flood with rain–
the desperate tears
of hopelessness
a never-ending night
pitch blackness seeping
infects the mind
obscures the senses
He wants your head, Ichabod
it’s not a dream
you can run, you can hide
you can try to scream
the decapitated Hessian
will cut your crown off clean.
Don’t wet your bed, Ichabod
the nightmare rides
the ghosts of Sleepy Hollow
will not heed your cries,
keep your wits
or you’ll give yourself a fright!
Don’t lose your head, Ichabod, if ya wanna make it home alive!
Don’t lose your head, Ichabod
she’s just a girl
and if you really wanna make it in this big bad world
ya gotta
suck it up
and lift your chin up high
Just use your head, Ichabod
it could be worse
ya could catch yellow fever,
small pox, or a witch’s curse,
so just
Cut your losses or you’ll give yourself a fright!
Don’t lose your head
Don’t lose your head
Don’t lose your head, Ichabod
if you wanna make it home alive!
(From The Many Ghosts of Martin Van Buren)
Lindenwald, Kinderhook, New York 1856
After his third unsuccessful election bid Martin Van Buren retires to Lindenwald and sets out to write his long and boring autobiography.
So much to say but… where to begin?
hhhm… ahh.
I was the 8th President
The first born in the States.
A one-term wonder,
they said to my face.
Well now it’s no wonder
the nation’s disgraced
but Van Buren is back in his hometown to make it O.K.!!!
cuz I’ll be writing my memoirs…
everyday
just layin’ down the history
of the U.S. of A.
My memoirs…
settin’ em straight
about the Panic of ’37
and the Barn Burners of ’48
My memoirs…
isn’t it grand
to hold the reins of human history
in the palm of your hand
My memoirs…
la di da dee
tooot toodi doodi
Cherokee: Genocide…
MVB: What’s that?
Cinque: Slavery…
MVB: Who’s there?
Cherokee: Genocide!
MVB: What’s this?!
Cinque: Slavery!
[Screams!] Ahhh!
MVB: Who goes there?!
Cinque: We’re ghosts.
MVB: Ghosts of what?!?!
Cherokee: I am a stereotype of a Cherokee Brave
Cinque: I am the leader of the Amistad slave mutiny
MVB: What’s that got to do with me?
Cherokee:
Your memoirs are coming under scrutiny
Cinque:
for their glaring omission
of your firm position
against abolition
Cherokee:
and your repeated approval
of Indian Removal
and the ethnic cleansing of
the Cherokee, Chickasaw,
Cinque: Seminole
Cherokee: Choctaw
MVB:
Ah, Slavery? Pish-Posh!
Genocide? Hogwash!
You fellas need a little history lesson.
Let’s do it… to the tune of one of your “red man” chants!
Hi-a-wak-a…
Genocide hasn’t been invented yet
For now we call it “civilization”!
Cherokee: Civilization?
MVB:
And how they gonna farm those southern plantations?
they’re gonna need a cotton-picking hand!
Yes Yes
Genocide hasn’t been invented yet
For now we call it “civilization”!
Cinque: Civilization?
MVB: That’s right.
Cinque: Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa
Cherokee: No no no no
MVB: What?
Cinque: This is ridiculous…
we’re here to scare you into including us
Cherokee: in history.
MVB: Well, I hold the pen… can you even touch my hand?
Cherokee: uhh, ummmm
MVB: No. See?
Ah well, history is written by those in the land of the living!
and those with written languages.
hmmm.
where was I…
I’ll be writing my memoirs
however I like.
Detailing fiscal policy
not savages’ plights
My memoirs…la da da dee
well… that was easy.
The Woods, The Woods
The Woods, The Woods
The Woods, The Woods
The Woods, The Woods
There’s something in the woods
I know it’s there
I feel its presence.
There’s something in the woods
I know it’s there
I feel it… oooooOOOOOOOOOOO
People say it can smell your fear, oh-oh
People say it can smell your fear…
and it can hear your heartbeat!
… by the light of the moon
… by the light of the moon
… by the light of the moon
… by the light of the moon
… by the light of the moon
… by the light of the moon
… by the light of the moon
Red eyes! Red eyes!
shadows appear by the light of the moon
appear by the light of the moon
shadows appear by the light of the moon
by the light of the moon
shadows appear by the light of the moon
appear by the light of the moon
shadows appear by the light of the moon
Red eyes! Red eyes!
(Sung between the ghost of Martin Van Buren and his unnamed niece)
[Spoken:]
Niece:
Uncle Martin, I don’t like the Indian Removal Act, it’s RUDE!
MVB:
Oh, my dear niece, allow me to explain!
[Sung:]
MVB:
Ya see, the Indian Removal Act of 1830
was Andrew Jackson’s faction’s master plan.
They had been out there fightin’ Injuns
for our future generations
and they’d had it with the savage’s demands.
Niece:
Well the Indian Removal Act of 1830
is a crime against humanity, you know.
And your administration’s patience
for such abominations
is a stain upon our nation’s underclothes.
MVB:
Well if they cry a trail of tears
it AIN’T THAT BAD
a little cryin’ never hurt nobody none,
and you will thank the Indian Removal Act of 1830
for your land, your life, your scalp, your wife, your mon…..ey.
[Spoken:]
Niece:
Uncle, I must say to you that it is my earnest wish that you may lost the election as I believe that such a result ought to follow such acts.
MVB:
Well we’ll leave that decision up to the electorate, won’t we?
[SUNG by GROUP (tourists, niece, Andrew Jackson portrait on the wall, choir, etc):]
Between the Indian Removal Act of 1830
and Old Van Buren’s stance on slavery,
his incessantly defending
all the brutal ethnic cleansing
is inscribed in blood upon his legacy
And to all of his defenders
say’n he AIN’T THAT BAD
keep in mind the Spoils System he congealed
and how political considerations
trumped his moral obligations
like his handling of the Amistad appeal.
[Spoken:]
MVB:
Well you can call it evacuation or plain old extermination
but your condemnation of my administration fills me
with outright indignation!
Niece:
Uncle, you’re a one-term imbecile
and a bona-fide war criminal
MVB:
Well I don’t care what you folks say
I’ve got a feeling my legacy will be “O.K.”!
(Traditional)
Come life, Shaker life,
Come life Eternal,
Shake, shake out of me,
All that is carnal.
Come life, Shaker life,
Come life Eternal,
Shake, shake out of me,
All that is carnal.
I’ll take nimble steps,
I’ll be a David,
I’ll show Michael twice,
How he behav-ed.
I’ll take nimble steps,
I’ll be a David,
I’ll show Michael twice,
How he behav-ed.
It’s the Kinderhook Elks Lodge 2530
The Benevolent Protective Order [clap] of Elks
It’s the Schodack, Stuyvesant, Kinderhook and Chatham
Society for the Detection of Horse Thieves
The Schodack, Stuyvesant, Kinderhook and Chatham
Society for the Detection of Horse Thieves
Ever vigilant
Ever competent
Ham-salad sandwiches!
Oyster Stew!
Clam Chowder!
Budget in your yearly dues
It’s the Schodack, Stuyvesant, Kinderhook and Chatham
Society for the Detection of Horse Thieves
The Schodack, Stuyvesant, Kinderhook and Chatham
Society for the Detection of Horse Thieves