{"id":651,"date":"2009-01-14T19:11:13","date_gmt":"2009-01-15T00:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/?p=651"},"modified":"2023-04-02T02:37:08","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T09:37:08","slug":"the-collected-calypsos-sayings-and-songs-of-bokonon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2009\/01\/the-collected-calypsos-sayings-and-songs-of-bokonon","title":{"rendered":"The Collected Calypsos, Sayings, and Songs of Bokonon"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Cat’s Cradle<\/a> (1963). Found on the internet<\/a>, and rearranged chronologically.<\/p>\n

\n

Bokonon’s Rebirth<\/h2>\n

A fish pitched up
\nBy the angry sea,
\nI gasped on land,
\nand I became me.<\/p>\n

The People of San Lorenzo<\/h2>\n

Oh, a very sorry people, yes,
\nDid I find here.
\nOh, they had no music,
\nAnd they had no beer.
\nAnd, oh, everywhere
\nWhere they tried to perch
\nBelonged to Castle Sugar, Incorporated,
\nOr the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

The San Lorenzan National Anthem (1922, Bokonon)<\/h2>\n

Oh, ours is a land
\nWhere the living is grand,
\nAnd the men are as fearless as sharks;
\nThe women are pure,
\nAnd we always are sure
\nThat our children will all toe their marks.
\nSan, San Lo-ren-zo!
\nWhat a rich, lucky island are we!
\nOur enemies quail,
\nFor they know they will fail
\nAgainst people so reverent and free.<\/p>\n

The Quest for Understanding<\/h2>\n

Tiger got to hunt,
\nBird got to fly;
\nMan got to sit and wonder, ‘Why, why, why?’
\nTiger got to sleep,
\nBird got to land,
\nMan got to tell himself he understand.<\/p>\n

Love<\/h2>\n

A lover’s a liar,
\nTo himself he lies.
\nThe truthful are loveless,
\nLike oysters their eyes![1<\/a>]<\/sup><\/p>\n

The Roots of Bokononism<\/h2>\n

I wanted all things
\nTo seem to make sense,
\nSo we all could be happy, yes,
\nInstead of tense.
\nAnd I made up lies
\nSo that they all fit nice,
\nAnd I made this sad world
\nA par-a-dise.<\/p>\n

Contrast<\/h2>\n

‘Papa’ Monzano, he’s so very bad,
\nBut without bad ‘Papa’ I would be so sad;
\nBecause without ‘Papa’s’ badness,
\nTell me, if you would,
\nHow could wicked old Bokonon
\nEver, ever look good?<\/p>\n

The Outlawing of Bokonon<\/h2>\n

So I said good-bye to government,
\nAnd I gave my reason:
\nThat a really good religion
\nIs a form of treason.<\/p>\n

Torture<\/h2>\n

In any case, there’s bound to be much crying.
\nBut the oubliette alone will let you think while dying.<\/p>\n

Life<\/h2>\n

We do, doodley do, doodley do, doodley do,
\nWhat we must, muddily must, muddily must, muddily must;
\nMuddily do, muddily do, muddily do, muddily do,
\nUntil we bust, bodily bust, bodily bust, bodily bust.<\/p>\n

Bokonon’s 14th Calypso<\/h2>\n

When I was young,
\nI was so gay and mean,
\nAnd I drank and chased the girls
\nJust like St Augustine.
\nSt Augustine,
\nHe got to be a saint.
\nSo if I get to be one also,
\nPlease, mama, don’t you faint.<\/p>\n

Bokonon’s 119th Calypso<\/h2>\n

“Where’s my good old gang done gone?”
\nI heard a man say.
\nI whispered in that sad man’s ear,
\n“Your gang’s done gone away.”<\/p>\n

Granfalloons<\/h2>\n

If you wish to study a granfalloon,
\nJust remove the skin of a toy balloon.<\/p>\n

The Members of a Karass<\/em><\/h2>\n

Around and around and around we spin,
\nWith feet of lead and wings of tin …<\/p>\n

Bokonon’s 53rd Calypso<\/h2>\n

Oh, a sleeping drunkard
\nUp in Central Park,
\nAnd a lion-hunter
\nIn the jungle dark,
\nAnd a chinese dentist,
\nAnd a British queen –
\nAll fit together
\nIn the same machine.
\nNice, nice, very nice;
\nNice, nice, very nice;
\nNice, nice, very nice –
\nSo many different people
\nIn the same device.<\/p>\n

Growth<\/h2>\n

Be like a baby,
\nThe Bible say,
\nSo I stay like a baby
\nTo this very day.<\/p>\n

Boko-Maru<\/h2>\n

We will touch our feet, yes,
\nYes, for all we’re worth,
\nAnd we will love each other, yes,
\nYes, like we love our Mother Earth.<\/p>\n

God<\/h2>\n

Someday, someday, this crazy world will have to end,
\nAnd our God will take things back that He to us did lend.
\nAnd if, on that sad day, you want to scold our God,
\nWhy go right ahead and scold Him. He’ll just smile and nod.<\/p>\n

The Last Rites of the Bokononist Faith<\/h2>\n
Performed in the Boko-Maru posture, both parties repeat one after the other:<\/address>\n

God made mud,
\nGod got lonesome,
\nSo God said to some of the mud, “Sit up!”,
\n“See all I’ve made,” said God, “the hills, the sea, the sky, the stars.”
\nAnd I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around.
\nLucky me, lucky mud.
\nI, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job God had done.
\nNice going, God!
\nNobody but You could have done it, God! I certainly couldn’t have.
\nI feel very unimportant compared to You.
\nThe only way that I can feel the least bit important is to think
\nof all the mud that didn’t even get to sit up and look around.
\nI got so much, and most mud got so little.
\nThank you for the honour!
\nNow mud lies down again and goes to sleep.
\nWhat memories for mud to have!
\nWhat interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met!
\nI loved everything I saw!
\nGood night.
\nI will go to heaven now.
\nI can hardly wait …
\nTo find out for certain what my wampeter<\/em> was …
\nAnd who was in my karass<\/em> …
\nAnd all the good things our karass<\/em> did for you.
\nAmen<\/em>.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

“Lucky Mud” (unknown artist, photo credit: Jacen Kemp, Houston, Texas)<\/p><\/div>\n

  1. As love conjures its own illusions, so emotions overtake truth; keep your eyes shut (like oysters their pearls), preserve your reason, and forsake love.[↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    From Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Cat’s Cradle<\/a> (1963). Found on the internet<\/a>, and rearranged chronologically. . . . → Continue reading: The Collected Calypsos, Sayings, and Songs of Bokonon<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[126,127,128],"class_list":["post-651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mythology","tag-bokononism","tag-kurt-vonnegut","tag-cats-cradle","odd"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Collected Calypsos, Sayings, and Songs of Bokonon • Aharon's Omphalos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2009\/01\/the-collected-calypsos-sayings-and-songs-of-bokonon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Collected Calypsos, Sayings, and Songs of Bokonon • Aharon's Omphalos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From Kurt Vonnegut's novel, Cat's Cradle (1963). 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He is particularly interested in pedagogies for advancing ecological wisdom, developing creative and emotional intelligence, and realizing effective theurgical praxes. He welcomes your comments, personal messages, and kind words. If you find his work helpful to your own or you'd simply like to support him, please consider donating via his Patreon account.","sameAs":["https:\/\/aharon.varady.net","http:\/\/facebook.com\/aharonium","https:\/\/x.com\/http:\/\/twitter.com\/aharonium"],"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/author\/admin"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/9151351_orig.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgdGV-av","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":59,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2006\/12\/the-calypsos-of-bokonon","url_meta":{"origin":651,"position":0},"title":"The Calypsos of Bokonon","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"December 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Cat's Cradle is a story about the end of the world, related to us by a man who witnessed the destruction and could explain how it came to occur. It is also the only known record of the philosophy of Bokonon, sung and subsequently archived as calypsos by a prophet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/art\/music"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/23714416_66f887be14.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":46,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2007\/04\/philip-k-dick-on-kurt-vonnegut","url_meta":{"origin":651,"position":1},"title":"Philip K. Dick on Kurt Vonnegut","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"April 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Far be it for me to add another to the blossoming forest of eulogies for Kurt Vonnegut, a man who I loved -- I'm just thankful I've been alive at a time when I could read his writings (Mark Twain, never got the chance). I do have something to share\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/art\/music"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/04\/player_piano.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":55,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2007\/01\/bernard-herrmann","url_meta":{"origin":651,"position":2},"title":"Bernard Herrmann","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"January 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Someone, I think Daniel Clowes, once theorized that JFK was assasinated by hit men for the hat industry, payback for the President's disregard for men's hats and the subsequent decline in their fashion in the early 1960s. But in the days of Dwight Eisenhower, you could still drive around with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/art\/music"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2006\/09\/johnny-smoke","url_meta":{"origin":651,"position":3},"title":"Johnny Smoke","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"September 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Years ago a friend of mine gave me a mixtape filled with the Ventures, Dick and Dale, and this one incredible song by the Butthole Surfers called \"Johnny Smoke\" from their album Hairway to Steven. Is there anything by this band that sounds remotely like this song? Is this the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Music"","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/art\/music"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/hairway-to-steven.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/hairway-to-steven.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/hairway-to-steven.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/hairway-to-steven.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/hairway-to-steven.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1726,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2002\/07\/update-2002-07-26","url_meta":{"origin":651,"position":4},"title":"update 2002-07-26","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"July 26, 2002","format":false,"excerpt":"Oh my. Philadelphia is a wonderful place to be this Summer. And in a month I'll be leaving. I'm currently in the process of applying to the University of Cincinnati's Community Planning graduate program. I'll be specializing in Environmental Planning. I'm hoping to learn as much as possible about ecological\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Planning"","block_context":{"text":"Planning","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/planning"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3240,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2016\/01\/community-identification","url_meta":{"origin":651,"position":5},"title":"Community Identification","author":"Aharon N. Varady","date":"January 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Some self-reflection on community identity spurred by a conversation on the Pew Survey (2013).","rel":"","context":"In "Judaica"","block_context":{"text":"Judaica","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/yiddishkeit"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Orthodox-Retention-by-Age-Pew-Research-Center-2013.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Orthodox-Retention-by-Age-Pew-Research-Center-2013.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Orthodox-Retention-by-Age-Pew-Research-Center-2013.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Orthodox-Retention-by-Age-Pew-Research-Center-2013.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Orthodox-Retention-by-Age-Pew-Research-Center-2013.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3375,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651\/revisions\/3375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}