Il Ne Reste Qu'a Chanter

Lyrics

Three mirrors hang on a wall. Obeying and breaking the law. You can think of them as portraits As you inspect your face. You can even think 'That’s all'. Or you might suppose there is more: That no mirror can dictate What is bound to leave no trace. The silvered slab can have no say In what it may reflect. It does not look away. So take your eye off what it sees— The passing everyday— And make the effort to detect The glassy surface. Say What you see when it frees Itself of the world’s contingency. There are three mirrors on a wall, They may vary in size But not a whole lot. Call the possible variants (a), (b), (c), Any of these may be In one of two states we’ll call (1) and (2), depending whether or not An imperfect plane has been placed Covering the mirror’s flat surface. The distortion created Is not at all great There’s no drama for the eye. For a set of three mirrors; There are eight Possible configurations, (a), (a), (a), Or (b), (b), (b), or (c), (c), (c), or (a), (a), (b), or (a), (a), (c), Or (a), (b), (b), or (a), (c), (c), or (a), (b), (c). And there are fifty six combinations In which they may be distorted or flat. Now we say That a flat mirror is a (1), And an imperfect one a (2). So that for a set that’s (a), (b), (c), We may have state or condition (1), (1), (1), or (1), (2), (1) or (1), (1), (2), Or (1), (2), (2), or (2), (2), (2), Or (2), (1), (2), or (2), (2), (1), Or (2), (1), (1). If we have three dimensions (a), (a), (b), they can appear In state or condition (1), (1), (1), Or (1), (1), (2), or (1), (2), (2), Or (1), (2), (1), or (2), (2), (1), Or (2), (2), (2). And similarly For (a), (b), (b), (a), (a), (c), (b), (b), (c), (a), (a), (c) and (b), (c), (c). For (a), (a), (a) we may have (1), (1), (1), or (1), (1), (2), Or (1), (2), (2) or (2), (2), (2). And similarly For (b), (b), (c) and (c), (c), (c). That is what you could see.

Chronology

• Sighs Trapped by Liars
  • Elisa Randazzo - vocals

Interpretations

• The title comes from a Samuel Beckett quote: "Quand on est dans la merde jusqu’au cou, il ne reste plus qu’à chanter" ("When you're in deep shit, all you have left to do is sing"). The quote is portrayed more literally in "Igor Zabel's Song"
• It shares a title with a 2006 Art & Language exhibition that featured mirror and karaoke pieces