The Origin of Love – Hedwig and the Angry Inch

TEAR ME DOWN

Ladies and gentlemen,

whether you like or not

HEDWIG!

I was born on the other side

of a town ripped in two

I made it over the great divide

now I’m coming for you

Enemies and adversaries

they try and tear me down

You want me, baby, I dare you

Try and tear me down

I rose from off of the doctor’s slab

like Lazarus from the pit

Now everyone wants to take a stab

and decorate me

with blood graffiti and spit

Enemies and adversaries

they try and tear me down

You want me, baby, I dare you

Try and tear me down

On August 12, 1961,

a wall was erected

down the middle of the city of Berlin.

The world was divided by a cold war

and the Berlin Wall

was the most hated symbol of that divide

Reviled. Graffitied. Spit upon.

We thought the wall would stand forever,

and now that it’s gone,

we don’t know who we are anymore.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Hedwig is like that wall,

standing before you in the divide

between East and West,

Slavery and Freedom,

Man and Woman,

Top and Bottom.

And you can try to tear her down,

but before you do,

remember one thing.

Listen

There ain’t much of a difference

between a bridge and a wall

Without me right in the middle, babe

you would be nothing at all

Enemies and adversaries

they try and tear me down

You want me, baby, I dare you

try and tear me down.

ORIGIN OF LOVE

When the earth was still flat,

And the clouds made of fire,

And mountains stretched up to the sky,

Sometimes higher

Folks roamed the earth

Like big rolling kegs.

They had two sets of arms.

They had two sets of legs.

They had two faces peering

Out of one giant head

So they could watch all around them

As they talked; while they read.

And they never knew nothing of love.

It was before the origin of love.

The origin of love

And there were three sexes then,

One that looked like two men

Glued up back to back,

Called the children of the sun.

And similar in shape and girth

Were the children of the earth.

They looked like two girls

Rolled up in one.

And the children of the moon

Were like a fork shoved on a spoon.

They were part sun, part earth

Part daughter, part son.

The origin of love

Now the gods grew quite scared

Of our strength and defiance

And Thor said,

“I’m gonna kill them all

With my hammer,

Like I killed the giants.”

And Zeus said, “No,

You better let me

Use my lightening, like scissors,

Like I cut the legs off the whales

And dinosaurs into lizards.”

Then he grabbed up some bolts

And he let out a laugh,

Said, “I’ll split them right down the middle.

Gonna cut them right up in half.”

And then storm clouds gathered above

Into great balls of fire

And then fire shot down

From the sky in bolts

Like shining blades

Of a knife.

And it ripped

Right through the flesh

Of the children of the sun

And the moon

And the earth.

And some Indian god

Sewed the wound up into a hole,

Pulled it round to our belly

To remind us of the price we pay.

And Osiris and the gods of the Nile

Gathered up a big storm

To blow a hurricane,

To scatter us away,

In a flood of wind and rain,

And a sea of tidal waves,

To wash us all away,

And if we don’t behave

They’ll cut us down again

And we’ll be hopping round on one foot

And looking through one eye.

Last time I saw you

We had just split in two.

You were looking at me.

I was looking at you.

You had a way so familiar,

But I could not recognize,

Cause you had blood on your face;

I had blood in my eyes.

But I could swear by your expression

That the pain down in your soul

Was the same as the one down in mine.

That’s the pain,

Cuts a straight line

Down through the heart;

We called it love.

So we wrapped our arms around each other,

Trying to shove ourselves back together.

We were making love,

Making love.

It was a cold dark evening,

Such a long time ago,

When by the mighty hand of Jove,

It was the sad story

How we became

Lonely two-legged creatures,

It’s the story of

The origin of love.

That’s the origin of love.

Random Number Generation

all our feelings and thoughts

expressed in ones and in oughts

in endless spiraling chains

you can’t decode or explain

cause you are so analog

god dog I eye I god dog

we’re the random number generation

we are random number generated

we are random numbers

in the regime of the solid state

wheels spin when you iterate

k is x squared minus one

but .54321

when x is taken times two

that’s when we’re coming for you

we’re the random number generation

we are random number generated

we are random numbers

Mister Little started something huge

Iggy Pop Iggy Stooge

all the children shout out,

hey here we are

we’re the random number generation

we are random number generated

we are random numbers

SUGAR DADDY

I’ve got a sweet tooth

for licorice drops and jelly roll,

Hey sugar daddy,

Hansel needs some sugar in his bowl.

I’ll lay out fine china on the linen

And polish up the chrome

and if you’ve got some sugar for me,

Sugar Daddy, bring it home.

Black strap molasses,

you’re my orange blossom honey bear.

Bring me Versace blue jeans

and black designer underwear.

Let’s dress up like the disco-dancing jet set

in Milan and Rome.

And if you’ve got some sugar for me,

Sugar Daddy, bring it home.

Oh the thrill of control,

like the rush of rock and roll,

is the sweetest taste I’ve known.

So come on, Sugar Daddy, bring it home.

When honey bees go shopping

it’s something to be seen.

They swarm to wild flowers

and get nectar for the queen.

And everything you bring me

gets me dripping like a honeycomb

and if you’ve got some sugar for me,

Sugar Daddy, bring it home.

Oh the thrill of control,

like a Blitzkrieg on the roll,

is the sweetest taste I’ve know.

So if you’ve got some sugar

bring it home.

Oh come on, Sugar Daddy, bring it home!

Whiskey and French cigarettes,

a motorbike with high-speed jets,

a Waterpik, a Cuisinart

and a hypo-allergenic dog.

I want all the luxuries of the modern age,

and every item on every page

in the Lillian Vernon catalogue.

Oh baby, something’s crossed my mind

and I was thinking you’d look so fine

in a velvet dress

with heels and an ermine stole.

Oh, Luther darling, heaven knows

I’ve never put on women’s clothes

except for once

my mother’s camisole.

So you think only a woman

can truly love a man.

Then you buy me the dress

I’ll be more woman

than a man like you can stand.

I’ll be your Venus on a chocolate clam shell

rising on a sea of marshmallow foam

and if you got some sugar for me,

Sugar Daddy, bring it home.

It’s our tradition to control,

like Erich Honecker and Helmut Kohl,

from the Ukraine to the Rhone.

Sweet home uber alles,

Lord, I’m coming home.

So come on, Sugar Daddy, bring me home.

ANGRY INCH

My sex-change operation got botched

My guardian angel fell asleep on the watch

Now all I got is a Barbie Doll-crotch

I got an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back

I got a

I got an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back

I got a

I got an angry inch

I’m from the land where you still hear the cries

I had to get out, had to sever all ties

I changed my name and assumed a disguise

I got an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back

I got a

I got an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back

I got a

I got an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back

The train is coming and I’m tied to the track

I try to get up but I can’t get no slack

I got a

Angry Inch Angry Inch

My mother made my tits out of clay

My boyfriend told me that he’d take me away

They dragged me to the doctor one day

I’ve got an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back

I got a

I got an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back

I got a

I got an angry inch

Long story short

When I woke up from the operation

I was bleeding down there

I was bleeding from the gash between my legs

My first day as a woman

and already it’s that time of the month

But two days later

the hole closed up

The wound healed

and I was left with a one inch mound of flesh

where my penis used to be

where my vagina never was

A one inch mound of flesh with a scar running down it

like a sideways grimace

on an eyeless face

Just a little bulge

It was an angry inch

Six inches forward and five inches back

The train is coming and I’m tied to the track

I try to get up but I can’t get no slack

I got an

Angry Inch Angry Inch

Six inches forward and five inches back

stay under cover till the night turns to black

I got my inch and I’m set to attack

I got an Angry Inch Angry Inch

WIG IN A BOX

On nights like this

when the world’s a bit amiss

and the lights go down

across the trailer park

I get down

I feel had

I feel on the verge of going mad

and then it’s time to punch the clock

I put on some make-up

and turn up the tape deck

and pull the wig down on my head

suddenly I’m Miss Midwest

Midnight Checkout Queen

until I head home

and put myself to bed

I look back on where I’m from

look at the woman I’ve become

and the strangest things

seem suddenly routine

I look up from my Vermouth on the rocks

a gift-wrapped wig still in the box

of towering velveteen.

I put on some make-up

and some LaVern Baker

and pull the wig down from the shelf

Suddenly I’m Miss Beehive 1963

Until I wake up

And turn back to myself

Some girls they have natural ease

they wear it any way they please

with their French flip curls

and perfumed magazines

Wear it up

Let it down

This is the best way that I’ve found

to be the best you’ve ever seen

I put on some make-up

and turn up the eight-track

I’m pulling the wig down from the shelf

Suddenly I’m Miss Farrah Fawcett

from TV

until I wake up

and turn back to myself

Shag, bi-level, bob

Dorothy Hammil do,

Sausage curls, chicken wings

It’s all because of you

With your blow dried, feather back,

Toni home wave, too

flip, fro, frizz, flop,

It’s all because of you

It’s all because of you

It’s all because of you

I put on some make-up

turn up the eight-track

I’m pulling the wig down from the shelf

Suddenly I’m this punk rock star

of stage and screen

and I ain’t never

I’m never turning back

WICKED LITTLE TOWN

You know, the sun is in your eyes

And hurricanes and rains

and black and cloudy skies.

You’re running up and down that hill.

You turn it on and off at will.

There’s nothing here to thrill

or bring you down.

And if you’ve got no other choice

You know you can follow my voice

through the dark turns and noise

of this wicked little town.

Oh Lady, luck has led you here

and they’re so twisted up

they’ll twist you up. I fear.

the pious, hateful and devout,

you’re turning tricks til you’re turned out,

the wind so cold it burns,

you’re burning out and blowing round.

And if you’ve got no other choice

you know you can follow my voice

through the dark turns and noise

of this wicked little town.

The fates are vicious and they’re cruel.

You learn too late you’ve used two wishes

like a fool

and then you’re someone you are not,

and Junction City ain’t the spot,

remember Mrs. Lot

and when she turned around.

And if you’ve got no other choice

You know you can follow my voice

through the dark turns and noise

of this wicked little town.

THE LONG GRIFT

Look what you’ve done,

you gigolo.

You know that I loved you, hon,

and I didn’t want to know

that your cool,

seductive serenade

was a tool

of your trade,

you gigolo.

Of all the riches you’ve surveyed,

and all that you can lift,

I’m just another dollar that you made

in your long, long grift.

Look what you’ve done,

you gigolo.

Another hustle has been run,

and now you ought to know

that this fool

can no longer be swayed

by the tools

of your trade,

you gigolo.

I’m just another john you’ve gypped,

another sucker stiffed,

a walk on role in the script

to your long, long grift.

The love that had me in your grip

was just a long, long grift.

HEDWIG’S LAMENT

I was born on the other side

of a town ripped in two

And no matter how hard I’ve tried

I end up black and blue

I rose from off of the doctor’s slab

I lost a piece of my heart

Now everyone gets to take a stab

They cut me up into parts

I gave a piece to my mother

I gave a piece to my man

I gave a piece to the rock star

He took the good stuff and ran

EXQUISITE CORPSE

Oh God

I’m all sewn up

A hardened razor-cut

Scar map across my body

And you can trace the lines

Through Misery’s design

That map across my body

A collage

All sewn up

A montage

All sewn up

A random pattern with a needle and thread

The overlapping way diseases are spread

Through a tornado body

With a hand grenade head

And the legs are two lovers entwined

Inside I’m hollowed out

Outside’s a paper shroud

And all the rest’s illusion

That there’s a will and soul

That we can wrest control

From chaos and confusion

A collage

All sewn up

A montage

All sewn up

The automatist’s undoing

The whole world starts unscrewing

As time collapses and space warps

You see decay and ruin

I tell you “No, no no no”

You make such an exquisite corpse”

I’ve got it all sewn up

A hardened razor-cut

Scar map across my body

And you can trace the lines

Through Misery’s design

That map across my body

A collage

All sewn up

A montage

All sewn up

WICKED LITTLE TOWN (reprise)

Forgive me,

For I did not know.

‘Cause I was just a boy

And you were so much more

Than any god could ever plan,

More than a woman or a man.

And now I understand how much I took from you:

That, when everything starts breaking down,

You take the pieces off the ground

And show this wicked town

something beautiful and new.

You think that Luck

Has left you there.

But maybe there’s nothing

up in the sky but air.

And there’s no mystical design,

No cosmic lover preassigned.

There’s nothing you can find

that can not be found.

‘Cause with all the changes

you’ve been through

It seems the stranger’s always you.

Alone again in some new

Wicked little town.

So when you’ve got no other choice

You know you can follow my voice

Through the dark turns and noise

Of this wicked little town.

Oh it’s a wicked, little town.

Goodbye, wicked little town.

MIDNIGHT RADIO

Rain falls hard

Burns dry

A dream

Or a song

That hits you so hard

Filling you up

And suddenly gone

Breath Feel Love

Give Free

Know in you soul

Like your blood knows the way

From you heart to your brain

Know that you’re whole

And you’re shining

Like the brightest star

A transmission

On the midnight radio

And you’re spinning

Like a 45

Ballerina

Dancing to your rock and roll

Here’s to Patti

And Tina

And Yoko

Aretha

And Nona

And Nico

And me

And all the strange rock and rollers

You know you’re doing all right

So hold on to each other

You gotta hold on tonight

And you’re shining

Like the brightest stars

A transmission

On the midnight radio

And you’re spinning

Your new 45’s

All the misfits and the losers

Yeah, you know you’re rock and rollers

Spinning to your rock and roll

Lift up your hands

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