Wild For Arthur Rimbaud

Rumours are rife at the Masters. Who is the surprise guest performing with Icehouse tonight? Some think it's Bob Dylan. Someone guesses Jim Morrison, never mind that he's dead. There is talk of a philosopher. Wittgenstein possibly, or Kant.

Arthur is unaware of the speculation. But he thinks he'll do a good show. He polishes one of his poems into song. A poem that everyone liked once. Voyelles.

.............

It is evening. A crowd has gathered on the grass in front of the stage.Children are already dancing. There is an ATMOSPHERE here.

Icehouse comes on. They play Crazy and Great Southern Land. The crowd loves these songs.

GREAT SOUTHERN LAND..... la, la-la, laah!

Now Iva introduces his special guest, Arthur Rimbaud.

People look at one another in puzzlement. Who is Arthur Rimbaud?

Arthur comes onto the stage, in his dirty shorts and with bare scabby knees. He sits down at the piano and starts to play. Voyelles.

That is, in English, VOWELS.

Plang plang!!!

Arthur can't play but it doesn't matter. He's deconstructing sounds with his poem. He half speaks, half sings:

A Black! E White! I Red! U Green! O Blue!!! VOWELS.

Pling! Plangggg!  ( that's the piano )

A
One day I'll say where you come from
Black hairy jacket of brilliant flies
buzzing around a stink  

E
white steam and tents
shards of glaciers, white kings, and milkweed

I
purples, spat blood,
angry beautiful lips

U
viridian seas, fields spread with animals,
furrows on agonised faces

O
bellowing trumpet of strange
silences crossed by [ Worlds and by Angels ]
the Omega, violet ray of [His] Eyes.

Planggg! Pling! ( the piano again )

Arthur stops.

A spotlight shines obliquely into his strange pale blue eyes. It captures the flop of his hair on a giant screen that everyone can see.

Iva strikes up Electric Blue.

The crowd goes wild for Arthur Rimbaud