A Verbal Fig Leaf · Track 6 · middle
Play Nug-a-Nug
Play Nug-a-Nug (1500s) — Nonsense as cover. Say nothing that means anything and everyone still knows. VOLUME: I. THE COURT, 1350–1599. THE DODGE THIS ERA: The dodge is REVERENCE. You do not say it because it is holy, or because He is listening, or because she is a lady. Courtly, careful, and only just getting away with it. Sing the AVOIDANCE, never the anatomy.
No audio yet — generation pending.
Lyrics
[Intro] [Verse 1] The Bishop passes by the cloth of Troy His heavy silks are dragging on the stone I have a phrase that I could not employ Without a sudden hazard being known The jaw detects the danger in the throat And pivots right before the breath escapes To offer up a little wooden boat To pass the evening in a different shape [Chorus] So let us play at nug-a-nug Strike the table, keep the beat A rhythm that the scholars cannot read It has no letters for the priest to weigh No heavy vows to say Just a little game to serve the need When we play nug-a-nug [Verse 2] I wager you eleven silver pence You cannot match the quickness of the tap We leave the heavy burden of the sense And fold the velvet quietly in half God is listening from the chapel choir Expecting us to stumble in the dark But He only hears a sparrow in the briar A little wooden toy upon the hearth [Chorus] So let us play at nug-a-nug Strike the table, keep the beat A rhythm that the scholars cannot read It has no letters for the priest to weigh No heavy vows to say Just a little game to serve the need When we play nug-a-nug [Bridge] Let the poets keep their Latin ink Let the Earl rehearse his grace The safest way to cross the border line Is stepping out of language for a space Where the definitions leave us And the lexicons fall blind [Chorus] And we just play at nug-a-nug Faster now, to keep the beat A measure that the chancellors cannot read We have no syllables for them to weigh There is nothing left to say Only the quiet closing of the need When we play nug-a-nug [Outro] Keep the measure Softly on the board The Bishop turns the corner of the hall We are speaking nonsense, my Lord Nothing at all Just the tapping And the...