Based on a poem by Wendell Barry, this song tells the story of a man who spends his whole vacation behind the camera, preserving his vacation for his memory collection.
Lyrics
THE VACATION
Music: Jens Hoffmann
Lyrics: Pia Fridhill, based on a poem by Wendell Barry
Once there was a man
who went flying down the river in his boat
Camera to his eye,
making moving pictures of the moving river
Showing his vacation
to his video camera
Preserving it forever, the length of his endeavour
The river, the trees, the sky, the light,
he filmed everything in sight
So that after his vacation,
with a flick of a switch, there it would be
Every motion of the river
Everything the camera’d seen
But he would not be in this picture
He would never be
He would never be
His sleek boat moved towards the end of his vacation
His stale eye stared, devoid of real emotion
Preserving his vacation
even as it was going on
A bystanders reflection
for his memory collection
