Igor Zabel's Song

Samuel Beckett quoted by Art & Language in David Beech's Beauty

Lyrics

Just after dawn on winter's day, Small brown bird (We'll call him John) Stood on a backroad dreaming of May, Dreaming of springtime And the winter gone. He stood in the path of an oncoming herd Of black and white cows, All heading for home.

Too cold to move, the little brown bird Was still and so quiet, All on his own. As one of the cows passed over him And shit rained down On the top of his head, Its heat began to warm his cold skin. He could see no harm In his cowshit bed Taking a breath, he began his song:

Whistled his brave tune — Territorial code. As he sang his blithe spirit was strong. Meanwhile in the grass At the side of the road, A hungry old cat was making the rounds. Pricked up his ears, His movements slowed, As he saw who was making the sound. In less than two heartbeats, He'd swallowed poor John. Two feathers were left and that is all.

The cat, he was fed But the brown bird was gone. The shit he had made his bird call. The cat was so hungry, Or he'd had preferred His meal less flavored with cowshit. The bird had not heard Endgame's almost last word: (It's no truth but a smartasses wit): "Lorsqu'on est vraiment Dans la merde Il ne reste qu'à chanter" Nuit gravement la santé.

Chronology

• Sighs Trapped by Liars
  • Sandy Yang - vocals

Interpretations

In 2008, Art & Language contributed the lyrics to a book Continuing Dialogues – A Tribute To Igor Zabel.

Igor Zabel was senior curator at the Modern Art Museum in Ljubjlana. He died unexpectedly following an accident in 2005, at the age of 47. He was a gentle and intelligent man. The lyrics of the song transcribe a tale he told as an antidote to a concluding epigram in Samuel Beckett's Endgame: "Lorsqu'en est vraiment dans la merde, il ne reste qu'à chanter" ("If you're really in the shit there's nothing you can do but sing"). The moral of Igor's story, redolent [... end of excerpt]

Art & Language previously quoted Beckett's line in their lecture "On Painting" in 2003 at the Tate Modern, London.

Ramsden: [...] If there is a crisis in the arts, it is a crisis produced by the institutional ordering and management of art. For this reason, painting is surely worth a try. Concentrate, throw away the commuter's pass and go somewhere. On our analysis, painting perhaps stands in relation to the rest of art as singing a song stands to the rest of music.

Harrison: In the words of Samuel Beckett: "Lors qu'on est vraiment dans la merde, il ne reste qu'à chanter".

Ramsden: "If you're really in the shit, the only thing you can do is sing".

Baldwin: There's certainly good reason not to dance. [...]

They also reference the quote in Letters to the Red Crayola IX, 2009-2012 (2012): "The man sings: we are in the shit."

Art & Language mention "Igor Zabel's Song" in their 2019 piece A Shadow on the Tongue

C: If you're really in the shit, there's nothing left to do but sing, as End Game has it.

A: But Igor Zabel told his story, and then a song that doubts the wisdom of that proverb was sung and recorded.

The quote is also referenced in the title of "Il Ne Reste Qu'a Chanter".

Could be a coincidence: Jon Bird is an artist/writer who edited the anthology Rewriting Conceptual Art (1999).