Dreams Of The River: Difference between revisions

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Dreams Of The River (view source)

Revision as of 10:55, 29 October 2021

9,576 bytes added ,  29 October 2021
no edit summary
m (Text replacement - "broadcast in 1986." to "broadcast in Category:1986.")
No edit summary
Line 25: Line 25:


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
Joe describes a journey down a jungle river, including an odd
assortment of things on the shore ('ukuleles, credit cards,
partly-eaten cupcakes, autumn leaves, genealogical charts, telephones,
and blood-soaked underwear'), in the third person.  The captain, a
woman, dozing in a hammock on the bridge, speaks in
German.<ref>&raquo;Liebling&hellip; bitte nicht so&hellip;ich wollte ganz nah bei dir sein, bitte&hellip;bitte k&uuml;&szlig; mich noch einmal, bitte&hellip;so&hellip; jetzt kann ich deine W&auml;rme f&uuml;hlen&hellip;ich m&ouml;chte bei dir bleiben&hellip;geh' nicht von mir weg&hellip; halt mich ganz fest&hellip; bitte&hellip;&laquo;
<br>'Darling &hellip; please not like that &hellip; I wanted to be very close to you, please &hellip; please kiss me again, please &hellip; so &hellip; now I can feel your warmth &hellip; I want to stay with you &hellip; don't go away from me &hellip; hold me tight &hellip; please &hellip; ' </ref>
1:30: 'He tries to sleep as long as possible&hellip;'  Joe describes a
man's efforts to avoid waking up because he doesn't want to face
the day - he shoots for noon.  He feels badly that others are doing
things, he's not.
5:50: 'He went to a small college in Ohio - he was a music major' Joe
tells the story of his college career, in the '60s.  He drives home to
NYC for vacation, stops at Howard
Johnson's<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Johnson%27s</ref>.
He steals brownies, eventually accumulating 2 steamer trunks' worth,
then returns them stale.
12:50: We're back to the journey on a jungle river.  He sees a house,
an old whore in a negligee lounges in the doorway, whispers in
German.<ref>Can't make out what she says.</ref>
13:40: He turns on the TV to watch the 1 PM movie, often watches until
dark.  If a friend is going to drop by he sets up his guitar and
letters in hope he will look busy.  Sometimes he takes a walk; he
hasn't shaven or showered; he sometimes envies the homeless on the
street.
17:30: He smokes dope in the evening, which makes him stop caring
about the failure of his life.
18:10: He tells of his dealer Maury, a serious smoker, who dies of a
cerebral hemorrhage.
19:50: 'After dropping out of college he came back to New York', moves
into the Village, takes courses at Columbia, takes a janitorial job at
the Cathedral of St John the
Divine<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_St._John_the_Divine</ref>;
his father pays tuition and helps out.  He steals snacks from the
kitchenette refrigerator.
22:30: After work he hangs out at the Gold Rail, a campus hangout.  He
meets Greta, 'a tall blonde German woman in her mid-30s with a thick
accent who waited on tables.'  One morning, after spending the night
with her, he takes her to St John, where they make out on a table in
the library, are seen by a priest.  She talks to him in German while
they make love - 'she always does'.
25:50: We're back on the river.  He sees men in purple robes and
hoods, carrying a glass coffin that holds a statue of Christ.  He
remembers when he played Christ in a passion play in college.
27: The church fires him for stealing food, doesn't mention his
encounter with Greta in the library.  Greta leaves without saying a
word.
27:30: He stops in a drug store, window-shops.  He steals a pair of
sunglasses, a pair of jeans at The Gap, sneaks out of busy
luncheonettes without paying, finds a purse in the gutter, tries to
sell the credit cards.
29: He sings promotions of a new product at a department store chain,
steals stuff from the gift shop.
29:30: He fundraises for a major opera company, calls a woman who
can't speak.
35: Joe describes going into the subway like entering an alternate
state of consciousness; the people behave like animals; it used to be
better-appointed.  He thinks about living in an underground city, that
ancient Christians did in Rome.
39:10: 'A few years ago he had a job singing and playing the guitar at
a small ratty Upper West Side neighborhood bar' - he comes on at
midnight, when the audienceis mostly drunks, the kitchen closing.  He
figures out that few listen to him.  He gets a free meal, drinks, and
$15.  The manager was a Colombian who looked like an ex-prizefighter.
A wealthy woman who loves him funds the bar.  The place deteriorates,
closes down.
46:20: A woman talks in German.<ref><blockquote>&raquo;&hellip;ich
sch&auml;me mich nicht, ich hab' kein Gef&uuml;hl von Schande, nur
Erschrecken&hellip;ich bin erschrocken, wie du das gesagt
hast&hellip;so ein ganz tief Erschrecken ist in mir&hellip;ist das
Liebe, glaubst du, der Schrecken?  die Sehnsucht?  das Gef&uuml;hl,
das ich hab', dass ich in hinein schmelzen will&hellip; ich will
aufgehen in dir, nicht mehr Ich sein, sondern Du werden&hellip;<br>
      &raquo;Ich f&uuml;hl' so eine Sehnsucht, so eine wilde
Sehnsucht, dass du mich&hellip;dass du mich walten sollst, dass du
mich schlagen sollst, mir wehtun sollst, in mich hinein dr&auml;ngen
sollst&hellip;das muss Liebe sein&hellip;ich liebe dich, ja, ja, tut's
noch einmal, mehr, mehr&hellip; lass' mich nicht los&hellip; lass'
mich nicht&hellip;<br>
      &raquo;Du, bist du mein Geliebter?  Willst du mein Geliebter
sein?  Kannst Du mich so anfassen, so, so deine Zunge, sie ist ganz
heiss, und rau&hellip; Du&hellip; das ist so wie ein Tier, so, mit du
das von meinen Hals hinunter leckst, ich f&uuml;hl's, ich kann's
f&uuml;hlen, ganz in meiner Seele, innen, innen&hellip;<br>
      &raquo;So&hellip;kannst du f&uuml;hlen wie meine Haut hei&szlig;
ist?  Bist du erschrocken?  Ich bin's auch&hellip;aber ich sch&auml;me
mich nicht, ich bereue es nicht, ich kann es nicht bereuen, ich
f&uuml;hl' dich &uuml;berall&hellip; immer&hellip; auf ewig, ich werde
dich nie vergessen, nie, ich will dein Eindruck behalten, deine
Schenkel, deine Muskeln, deine Knochen&hellip;deine H&auml;rte, deine
Fut&hellip; deine Z&auml;hne, oh, wie sie bei&szlig;en, wie sie
hei&szlig; und schrecklich auf meinen Achseln zucken&hellip;<br>
      &raquo;Geliebte, noch mehr, mehr, halt' mich so, und sag' mir,
dass du mich liebst, sag' mir, dass ich die einzige sein werde,
f&uuml;r immer, immer&hellip;mein Geliebte&hellip;jetzt wein' ich
auch, jetzt kommen mir die Tr&auml;nen&hellip;&laquo;</blockquote><br>
<blockquote> '&hellip;I'm not ashamed, I have no feeling of shame,
only fright&hellip;I'm frightened, as you said&hellip;such a very deep
fright is in me&hellip;is that love, do you think, the fright? the
longing? the feeling I have that I want to melt into you&hellip;I want
to merge into you, no longer be me, but become you&hellip;.
'I feel such a longing, such a wild longing, that you
should&hellip;that you should rule me, that you should hit me, hurt
me, push into me&hellip;this must be love&hellip;I love you, yes, yes,
do it again, more, more&hellip;don't let me go&hellip;don't let
me&hellip;.  <br> You, are you my lover? Do you want to be my lover?
Can you touch me like this, like this, your tongue, it's all hot, and
rough&hellip; You&hellip; it's like an animal, like this, with you
licking it down my neck, I feel it, I can feel it, all inside my soul,
inside, inside&hellip;.
So&hellip;can you feel how hot my skin is? Are you scared? I am
too&hellip;but I'm not ashamed, I don't regret it, I can't regret it,
I feel you everywhere&hellip;always&hellip;forever, I'll never forget
you, never, I want to keep your impression, your thighs, your muscles,
your bones&hellip;your hardness, your butt&hellip;your teeth, oh, how
they bite, how they twitch hot and terrible on my armpits&hellip;.
</blockquote>
</ref>
49:30: When he was younger, he had a strong stomach; in his mid to
late 30s, his stomach began to hurt.  He eats junk food at fast food
joints.  He gets morbidly obese.  He bleeds after having sex.
54:30: 'The river is a winding tunnel through the jungle' - Joe
repeats some of the beginning, except the German the captain says
changes.<ref><blockquote>&laquo;&hellip;ich f&uuml;hle dich&hellip;
nicht so, noch mehr, noch mehr, du kannst n&auml;her sein, mich so
nehmen&hellip; z&auml;rtlich, und wild, und w&uuml;tend!
Schrecklich&hellip;&raquo;</blockquote> <br> <blockquote> I feel you
&hellip; not like that, even more, even more, you can be closer, take
me like that &hellip; tender, and wild, and angry!
Dreadful&hellip;</blockquote></ref>
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%; overflow:auto;">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Legacy Synopsis</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
A washed-up musician tries to fill time.  As a college student, he steals brownies from Howard Johnson's restaurants.  In New York he gets a job as a janitor at a church and dates a German waitress.  Stealing sunglasses, cafe meals.  Telemarketing for an opera company.  Subway stations as an underground world.  Playing music in a bar.  Hiring prostitutes.  Imagining oneself as a character in a novel.
A washed-up musician tries to fill time.  As a college student, he steals brownies from Howard Johnson's restaurants.  In New York he gets a job as a janitor at a church and dates a German waitress.  Stealing sunglasses, cafe meals.  Telemarketing for an opera company.  Subway stations as an underground world.  Playing music in a bar.  Hiring prostitutes.  Imagining oneself as a character in a novel.
</div> </div>
== Commentary ==
This show has 3 parts: the dreamscape journey on a jungle river, a
middle-aged would-be musician (about 40) who has wasted his life and
is trying to avoid feeling badly about it, a woman speaking in German
(first the ship's captain, then a whore in a negligee in a house by
the river, then Greta, the waitress at the Gold Rail he has a
relationship with, then the ship's captain again - all the same
voice.).
The German sounds like soft-core porn to my ear.  A German
acquaintance and a German Redditor both say it reads like a
<i>Groschenroman</i> (a dime novel).  2 German Redditors say the
accent is definitely Austrian; 2 say it sounds like a man, not a
woman.
Joe re-uses the failed musician's story in [[Fat Man Down]], with some
differences; [[Fat Man Down]] ends with the German that appears at
46:20 in this episode.
Thanks to Professor Ned of the Joe Frank Mailing List for the
transcription and
translation. http://www.armory.com/pipermail/joe-frank-list/2021-October/001498.html


== Music ==
== Music ==
Line 34: Line 217:




 
== Footnotes ==
[[Category:Serious_Monologue]]
[[Category:Serious_Monologue]]
[[Category:Narrative_Monologue]]
[[Category:Narrative_Monologue]]
Retrieved from "https://jfwiki.org/index.php?title=Special:MobileDiff/24115"

Navigation menu